Philip Foster At Eagle Creek

An early arrival in 1843 to the Oregon Country was Philip Foster, who had come by ship around Cape Horn. He settled in Oregon City, the town that Hudson Bay Company’s Dr. John McLoughlin established in 1829 and in 1844 became the first incorporated city west of the Rocky Mountains.

     Foster, active in the community, was elected the second Treasurer of the Oregon Provisional Government in the election of 1844. He was successful at Oregon City in the flour mill business and was listed as a prominent land-holder in 1844.

     In 1847, Foster acquired 640 acres of property east of Oregon City in what now is known as Eagle Creek at the junction of State Highway 211 and 224. The settlement that evolved there was first known as “Jackknife” and was built around the Foster Store. (Fortunately, the local historical society has adopted the great name, “Jacknife, Zion, Horseheaven'' for their historical society that has maintained and preserved the historic Foster home. Replicas of the store, blacksmith shop and log cabin have been built on the site. When Foster first arrived, he couldn’t have known that Sam Barlow would find a route for a road around the south side of Mt. Hood and that the first sign of civilization to the Barlow party would be Foster’s settlement!

     Foster was able to sell supplies to the many pioneers that would travel this new route. He also gave much help to the weary travelers, many of whom rested at the Foster campground for a few days or even on the family’s parlor floor before making the final lap of the trip to Oregon City. The Fosters even provided home-cooked meals, as well as services such as blacksmith work when needed. The Philip Foster Farm at 22725 SE Eagle Creek Rd, Eagle Creek, OR 97022 is presently open for drop-ins from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the second Sunday of the month. 

     In 1850, Foster and his neighbors petitioned the Territorial Government for a public school in their area. Approval was granted in August of that year. The Eagle Creek District was a huge area that included what we now know of as Sandy, Boring, Orient, Cottrell, Lusted, Cherryville, Dover, Firwood, Welches, and all other districts south of the Sandy River. The school was about seven miles south of the present Sandy area. This was the first school in the Sandy-Estacada area, but there would have been no pioneer children from the Sandy area yet, as the first settlers to stay here were the Revenues who arrived in 1853 with a three-year-old daughter. The Eagle Creek District boundaries did not change, however, until the Revenue School District was formed in 1870.

     Philip Foster died Monday, March 17, 1884, of a heart attack at home in Eagle Creek. Mary-Charlotte had died in 1880 of typhoid fever.

Jonsrud, Philip. 80 Years in the Same Neighborhood. Clackamas Education District, copyright 2002, pp. 3-4.

 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Foster