As I am finishing my current novel, it dawned on me that I have not focused on how the settlers in Oregon obtained their water. I’ve just assumed they had plenty, mostly from creeks or springs near their cabins. This is probably a reasonable assumption, but I decided I should do a little research into what water sources the Oregon pioneers in the 1840s and ’50s used.
Oregon is full of rivers and creeks and springs, even more so in the 19th century than today, when many springs and drainage streams have been channeled and buried. But having a reliable water source was critical for farmers.
Here’s a description of the ideal farm characteristics, from Pioneer Houses and Homesteads of the Willamette Valley, Oregon, 1841-1865, by Liz Carter, prepared for the Historic Preservation League of Oregon (May 2013):
“Ideal claims included a water source and comprised a mix of prairie and timber. Prairie provided open land for grazing and wheat growing, and timberland supplied ample building material and fuel. ‘[To] gain access to as many resources as possible, settlers had to choose carefully from a large geographic area a single piece of property that could offer them various necessities for daily living. Euro-American settlers needed wood and water, which they obtained from the forests of the valley. They also needed land for grazing, which they obtained from the extensive prairies. In addition, setters sought out well-drained lands for early planting.’” [citing Peter G. Boag, Environment and Experience: Settlement Culture in Nineteenth-Century Oregon, (University of California Press, Berkeley, California, 1992), p. 73.]
And, in a contemporaneous source, The Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial Review, Volume 29, p. 299 (1853), John M. Forrest wrote:
“You ask whether we have limestone or freestone water. This is a question I am unable to answer, as this is neither a limestone nor a freestone country, but volcanic. I would say the water was rather a nondescript—nevertheless, cold, healthy, and well tasted. . . . And as respects the waters of the country, like the branches of the forest tree, you will find in each valley small streams that have their rise in the mountains, on either side, winding their way through the valley till they reach the main stream; besides these, at the foot of the hills and mountains, we frequently find good cold springs; but then in many of the large prairies and plains, water becomes scarce in the summer time in such situations the settlers dig wells, where they find good water at a depth of from 20 to 40 feet.”
So this description verified my suspicions—water was plentiful, often from streams and springs, but otherwise through wells. For an interesting account of how wells were dug (though the article doesn’t come from Oregon), see here.
Based on these articles, I’ve decided not to add anything about water sources to my current novel. It already covers problems with marshy farmland and cutting timber. But perhaps in a future novel, I will explore the difficulties if a stream runs dry.
What questions do you have about pioneer life?
Using a well as a refrigerator has been used in the not-too-distant-past. My father lived in rural Missouri in the early 1900s. They used the well as their cooling place for milk and butter. When someone accidentally spilled the bucket of milk, the whole well had to be dipped out in order to have clean water again.
In my book “The Late Sooner” the water-witcher had to come to locate where to dig the well which was a common practice.
Sally, thanks for this information about “refrigerators” of the past. Interesting to know.
Theresa