David Carson: Overland Trail and Oregon
In April 1845, hundreds of Americans traveling the Oregon Trail met along the Wolf River in Missouri and formed the “Savannah Oregon Emigrating Society” - an organization set to create safety and order amidst the treacherous journey to Oregon Country. They drafted a constitution, collected fees, elected officers, and compiled a comprehensive census of those journeying from Missouri to Oregon Country. David Carson was one of seven men elected to draw up resolutions for this new group. The census listed his party as having one cow, eight oxen, two horses, four guns, 600 pounds of bacon, 600 pounds of flour, one wagon, three armed men, and a woman. That woman was Letitia Carson.
David, Letitia, and Martha arrived in the Soap Creek Valley in 1845, making Letitia and Martha two of the first Black women to settle anywhere in Oregon. In December of 1845, David journeyed south to the mid-Willamette Valley where he claimed 640 acres of land –the amount entitled to married couples. They likely built their homestead in the following spring of 1846.
After the passage of the Donation Land Claim Act, David had to refile his Soap Creek Valley claim. In the process, his claim was halved to 340 acres, indicating that county officials did not recognize David and Letitia’s union as legitimate either because interracial marriages weren’t lawful or because it was believed Letitia was enslaved.
There is a limited understanding of Letitia and David's homestead life in Benton County before his death in 1852. Their second child, Andrew "Jack" Carson was born in Oregon in 1849. Adam’s name is inconsistent as it appears as “Andrew J” in some records but at some point, he seems to have gone by “Jack” in his adult life.
We know that David and Letitia kept animals and grew a smattering of crops which they likely sold to community members or passersby. They planted potatoes and likely established an orchard. They also raised cattle and hogs, with Letitia acting as the primary caretaker of the cattle. The couple may have sold produce, meat, and dairy products to those traveling on the nearby Applegate Trail.
David Carson died after a short illness on September 22, 1852. Greenberry Smith, a wealthy neighbor, was then appointed as the administrator of David Carson’s estate on November 25th, 1852, two months later. He was at one point considered the most wealthy man in Benton County. Through becoming the administrator of David Carson’s estate, he was paid $1,000, and additionally gained revenue from estate sales of their belongings, as well as the eventual sale of Carson’s estate property.
David's life in Oregon went mostly undocumented, if there were documents, they have not survived to the 21st century. One of the documents from David's brief time in Oregon is from the Oregon Statesman, a notice for a lost cow that he had found, just months before his death, asking the owner to come to collect the lost brindle calf.
Another piece of evidence of David Carson's Oregon days comes from right after his death - a bill for $50 from his doctor, who was likely treating whatever short illness David passed away from.
Many years after David's death, he was remembered by Oregon pioneers as a mountaineer with "more than ordinary courage and endurance." Fellow travelers spoke of him fondly calling him "Uncle Davy" a persona in direct contrast with the man we have seen in the White vs Carson case, as well as many others.
1877 Hon. Stephen Staats: The Occasional Address
This speech, made by Hon. Stephen Staats to the Oregon Pioneer Association in 1877, is found in a compilation of Oregon Pioneer Association materials from the year 1877. It comes as part of an annual series of pamphlets published by the Oregon Pioneer Association, founded in 1873, following the Oregon Pioneer Society (est. 1867). At the time of Staat's address, the group had only been around for five years. In this address, Staat speaks of David Carson fondly as Uncle Davy and remembers him kindly as a tough pioneer. Staats and Carson came on the same trail in 1845 and became friends on the trail, it is likely Staats would've then interacted with Letitia as well, but he does not speak of her.