Abernethy Green
Originally called Green Point, Indians gathered here for over 3,000 years to fish at Willamette Falls.
George Abernethy arrived here June 2, 1840, with the "Great Reinforcement" of Jason Lee's Willamette Mission. He took 640 acres just north of Oregon City including a neck of land that extended to the Willamette River. This area became known as Abernethy Green. George and Anna (Pope) Abernathy built their house at the mouth of Abernathy Creek next to the Methodist Mission where the first laws of Oregon were drafted.
Oregon Trail emigrants started arriving on rafts from Fort Vancouver in 1843. They put in at Abernethy's house and climbed up to Abernethy Green. Arriving in late fall or early winter, most of them opted to winter over in encampments at Abernethy Green. During their stay they would scout out their piece of the Willamette Valley, file their claim at the Government Land Office and resupply in Oregon City at places like Pettygrove's Red Store or Governor Abernathy's Mercantile.
Beginning in 1846 two-thirds of Oregon Trail emigrants took Sam Barlow's Mount Hood Toll Road which ended right here at Abernethy Green. During peak years of the Oregon Trail migrations, Abernethy Green would be filled with covered wagons and neighbors Hiram Straight, Hugh Burns, Daniel Tompkins, and Jacob Hunsaker took the overflow. In 1851 Hunsaker's wife took in an emigrant family with mountain fever, and she lost a son and daughter to the disease. A rose from Mayor John McLoughlin still grows on their grave.
A devastating flood in 1861 destroyed everything nearby. George Abernethy was financially ruined and left for Portland. By this time improvements along the Oregon Trail had cut travel time almost in half and emigrants no longer needed to winter over. Abernethy Green ceased being the encampment at the end of the Oregon Trail.
Research by Jim Tompkins and the Northwest Chapter of The Oregon-California Trails Association.
This is part of your American heritage. Honor it, protect it, preserve it for your children. . This historical marker was erected in 2000 by The Oregon-California Trails Association. It is in Oregon City in Clackamas County Oregon