John Bayless Tabor "J.B." ( October 14, 1821

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

- October 7, 1907

Colfax, Washington Colfax is the county seat of Whitman County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,805 at the 2010 census. The population is estimated at 2,911 per the State of Washington Office of Financial Management in 2018 making Colfax the secon ...

) was a 49er who crossed the plains to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

shortly after the discovery of gold. He later settled in the

Washington Territory The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

and was one of the founders of Whitman County where he served as a County Commissioner. He had large holdings of fruit orchards and wheat ranches. Congressman William La Follette was his son-in-law.

Pioneer

John Tabor crossed the plains to California along with thousands of others during the gold rush of 1849. He soon gave up panning for gold as a livelihood and instead shot game which he sold to the miners. He headed north where he married a young widow, Mary Taylor Hamilton, and they settled on a farm in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...

in the

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Ori ...

. He fought with General Cornelias in the Indian Wars, whose skirmishes took him all over the Inland Empire. When the land which had been off limits to settlers after the

Whitman massacre The Whitman massacre (also known as the Walla Walla massacre and referred to as the Tragedy at Waiilatpu by the National Park Service) was the killing of the Washington missionaries Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa, along with eleven others, ...

opened up, John Tabor moved his family to the

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a distinct geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of north central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and, by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, primaril ...

in the

Rancher and Public Servant

When he first arrived in the Palouse only a few other settlers were in the area. The town of Colfax was formed, and he was elected one of the first County Commissioners of the newly established Whitman County as a Democrat. After serving one term, he stepped down and concentrated on his fruit orchards and wheat ranches. He was one of the first to bring apples to the region which were planted on his ranch in Wawaiwai on the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...

. This ranch, which he later sold to his son-in-law William La Follette, eventually became one of the largest in the region, producing a wide variety of fruit which were shipped to market via steamboats on the Snake River and later by rail with the coming of the railroad.

Family

John Tabor's family had been moving steadily westward since the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. He was descended from one of the last British governors of Georgia . His wife's family, the Taylors, had crossed from Virginia into the

in 1848. His daughter, Mary Tabor, married William La Follette in 1886, shortly after the young homesteader from Indiana had begun his own farming and ranching ventures and more that twenty-five years before he took his seat in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

. John Tabor lived to see many changes come to the land he had helped pioneer. He died when he was walking near the railroad track in Colfax and was struck by a passing train. He was eighty-five years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabor, John 1821 births 1907 deaths County commissioners in Washington (state) People from Colfax, Washington People from Oregon People from Tennessee 19th-century American politicians