David Matteson Risdon (June 3, 1821 – 1905) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician of the Oregon Territory of the United States. He

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...

ted Eugene City in 1851 with

Eugene Skinner Eugene Franklin Skinner (September 13, 1809 – December 15, 1864) was an early American settler in Oregon and the founder of the city of Eugene, Oregon, which is named after him. Skinner was born in Essex, New York. His father was Major John Jo ...

. He served in the House of the 3rd Oregon Territorial Legislative Session in 1851.

Early life

Risdon was born on June 3, 1821, in Fairfield, Vermont. In 1845, Risdon traveled to Stark County, Illinois, where he taught school for one season. He then studied law in Peoria under H. O. Merriman. He was admitted to practice law in the courts of Illinois in 1849 and moved to

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

. In spring 1850, he traveled west to Weaverville, California to participate in the

California gold rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

. After achieving success he sailed to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, arriving in December 1850. He later traveled south to what became Lane County.

Oregon Territory

Risdon came to what is now Eugene in 1851, as the second

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

in the Eugene area after Skinner. He hired Hilyard Shaw to build his house, which was the first within Eugene's

city limits City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. Similarly, corporate limi ...

. After serving as the first representative from Lane County in the territorial legislature, he moved to

Irving Irving may refer to: People *Irving (name), including a list of people with the name Fictional characters * Irving, the main character's love interest in Cathy (comic strip) * Lloyd Irving, the main protagonist in the ''Tales of Symphonia'' vide ...

in 1853, returning to Eugene City in 1857. On October 8, 1853, he married Pauline Wright.

University of Oregon

In 1872, he was one of founders of the Union University Association, which worked to establish a public university in Eugene and helped raise funds to build the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

's first building, Deady Hall (now University Hall).

Washington Territory

Risdon moved to Whitman County, Washington Territory, in 1877 returning to Eugene in 1880.

Later life

Risdon moved to

Lewiston, Idaho Lewiston is a city and the county seat of Nez Perce County, Idaho, United States, in the state's north central region. It is the second-largest city in the northern Idaho region, behind Coeur d'Alene, and ninth-largest in the state. Lewiston is ...

in 1896. He died in Lewiston in 1905 and is buried in

Eugene Pioneer Cemetery Eugene Pioneer Cemetery (also Pioneer Memorial Cemetery and Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) Cemetery) is a pioneer cemetery in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It is one of the three oldest cemeteries in Eugene. It is the largest in both ...

, where one of the lanes is named for him.

References