Juneteenth Adventure

Today is Juneteenth 2026. Let's go on an adventure.

What will we find, who will we see, what will we discover, that's a good question. To our good fortune there happened to be a very strong and courageous former slave that made her way to Oregon via the Oregon Trail in 1845. Her name is Letitia Carson. She made this venture with her partner, David Carson, the father of her yet to be born child, and a thousand others leaving Platte County, Missouri that May. They traveled with one wagon, one cow, eight oxen, two horses, four guns, 600 pounds of bacon, 600 pounds of flour, three White men, and one woman—Letitia. On June 9, 1845, in present-day Nebraska, Letitia gave birth to their daughter, Martha.

When David and Letitia began their journey, Black people were not allowed to settle in the Oregon Country. The provisional government had passed Oregon's first black exclusion law in June 1844, outlawing slavery but allowing slaveowners a three-year grace period before they had to emancipate their slaves or remove them from Oregon. Formerly enslaved Black people would be forced to leave the Oregon Country, and free Black emigrants were barred from settling there. The voters rescinded the law on July 3, 1845, just a few months before David, Letitia, and their child arrived.

The family reached Oregon City by October 11, 1845. In December, David Carson made a claim for 640 acres in the Soap Creek Valley (now part of Benton County I laugh, back then all of SW Oregon was part of Benton County), where they built a home the following spring. David's claim was recorded in Oregon City on October 19, 1847. Over the next several years, David and Letitia grew potatoes and fruit trees and raised hogs and cattle. Letitia gave birth to a son, Adam, on September 15, 1849.

In short time, David died and Letitia lost the land. Several court dates later she won her possessions and land back in financial ways.

In short, Letitia Carson, was the first person of color allowed to own land in the state of Oregon. This marks a Win for Juneteenth!

In the mid-1800s in the Oregon Territory, black immigrants were subject to exclusionary laws and not allowed to own land, file suit or live in the Territory for more than six months. After arriving in Oregon in 1845, Letitia Carson did all three of these things.
Residing in Benton County and later Douglas County, Letitia sued a wealthy landowner after he stole her property. In June 1863, she filed a claim for 160 acres under the Homestead Act, which did not bar anyone according to race. It made her the only black woman in Oregon history to successfully secure a claim. She lived the rest of her days in Oregon and is buried in Myrtle Creek.

So this Friday, June 19th, we can brush away the cobwebs, branches, and dust to Letitia Carsons and family's last resting places. In or near Myrtle Creek is the gravesite of her Daughter Martha Jane Carson Bigham Lavadour Carpenter and Son, Andrew C. Carson, as well as her own.

Let's make it an adventure and Happy Juneteenth!

As always,