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Cities and Places You can find more information on the cities or places mentioned in the Butler Family Letters:

Illinois

Monmouth, Illinois
City that many of Monmouth, Oregon's founders came from and the city name that was chosen for their new settlement in Oregon. Monmouth, founded in about 1831, is the county seat of Warren County, Illinois and home of Monmouth College, established in 1853 by Presbyterians.

Warren County, Illinois
County in which Monmouth, Illinois is located. Warren Street in Monmouth, Oregon is named after Warren County, Illinois.

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Dutch Creek, Iowa
A town that existed once, probably in Keokuk County.  Joseph Butler, son of Peter and Rachel Butler, settled here.

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Allen Creek, Kansas
William Cooke Butler settled in this area several miles north of Emporia in Lyon County.

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Barren County, Kentucky
Peter Butler was born in Barren County, and the Elijah Davidsons resided there before moving to Illinois. Squire Whitman married Elizabeth Davidson in Barren County. The county is located in southern Kentucky, next to Warren County.

Bowling Green, Kentucky
County seat of Warren County.

Warren County, Kentucky
County in southern Kentucky. The county seat is Bowling Green. To the east of Warren County is Barren County, where Peter Butler had been before moving to Illinois.

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Oregon Territory(OT)
Letters written prior to 1859 reflect the fact that the area of Oregon and Washington was called the Oregon Territory between the years 1848 -1859.

Polk County, Oregon
Created in 1845, and named for President James Knox Polk who was in office between 1845 - 1849. The county seat is Dallas.
Newspapers and publications published in Polk County in the 19th and 20th centuries available at the WOU Library.
Polk County History (State Archives)
Polk County, Oregon(OR GENWEB project)
Polk County City Maps

Bloomington
A community that once existed south of Monmouth, in Polk County, Or. It had a post office from 1852-1863. After that the town and postal services were absorbed by the nearby community of Parker. [Since there is a Bloomington Illinois, perhaps the early Illinois pioneers named it to remember that town; there is no evidence to support this theory, however.]

Bridgeport
An unincorporated community on the Little Luckiamate River, located 8 miles west of Monmouth, and 3 miles east of Falls City. It was served by a Post Office between 1854-1874.

Buena Vista
A community founded in 1850 by Reason G. Hall on his Land Donation Claim located along the Willamette River in the south east portion of Polk County. The Land Donation Claims of both Peter Butler and Edward Ground were near Buena Vista.

Dallas
County seat of Polk County. Named for George Mifflin Dallas, vice president under President Polk, between 1845-1849, when Polk County was named. Originally called Cynthia Ann and settled in the 1840s, the city was first located near the Rickreall Creek, but settlers relocated to its present location by 1852 when its Post Office was established. It was incorporated in the state of Oregon in 1874.

Luckiamute
An area in the southwest portion of Polk County that takes its name from the Luckiamute River, a tributary of the Willamette River, that runs through it. It had a post office from 1851 - 1874. Of Indian origin, the meaning of the name is unknown, but several variant spellings can be found including Lackemute. There is no current city known as Luckiamute in Polk County.

Monmouth, Oregon
City in Polk County settled in the early 1850s by pioneers families from Monmouth, Illinois, most of whom were members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Some of the pioneers donated 640 acres of their Land Donation Claim property to establish the town and found a university (present day Western Oregon University). The Whitman Land Donation Claim was located in Monmouth. It was surveyed in 1855 and the first post office was begun in 1859. However, it did not become officially incorporated in the state of Oregon until 1881.

The early founders of Monmouth supported temperance and were opposed to the sale of alcohol. When Monmouth was incorporated in 1881, the first ordinance forbade the sale of alcohol within city limits. Monmouth remained a "dry" town until the ban on alcohol was ended with a popular vote in November 2002.

Map of Monmouth, OR (in Polk County City Maps)
Monmouth Public Library
Western Oregon University
Bibliography about Western Oregon University History

Parker
A community that once existed south of Monmouth , near the former Bloomington. It had a post office from 1852 -1927 (although it closed for some years in between). There is no current city known as Parker in Polk County.

State of Oregon
Oregon achieved statehood on February 14, 1859 , becoming the 33rd state of the union.

Salem
Founded in the 1840s, Salem became the state capitol and the county seat for Marion County. It was named to honor Salem, Massachusetts, the home town of one of its founders.

Willamette Valley
The longest river in the state of Oregon at 200 miles, the Willamette River was discovered in 1792 but not given the name Willamette until the early 19th century. The river runs through 7 counties that make up the Willamette Valley: Benton, Clackamas, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, and Yamhill.

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