Salt Creek is an

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

historic community in

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, United States on

Oregon Route 22 Oregon Route 22 is an Oregon state highway that runs between the Oregon Coast community of Hebo, Oregon, Hebo, to an interchange with U.S. Route 20 in Oregon, U.S. Route 20 near Santiam Pass in the Cascade Mountains. OR 22 traverses several ...

about six miles northwest of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. As an early

European American European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent Eu ...

settlement of the

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, co ...

, the cemetery at Salt Creek has graves dating back to 1847. Salt Creek, a tributary of the

South Yamhill River The South Yamhill River is a tributary of the Yamhill River, approximately long, in northwest Oregon in the United States. It drains an area of the Northern Oregon Coast Range, as well as part of the Willamette Valley west of the Willamette River ...

, was named by early settlers for the

salt lick A mineral lick (also known as a salt lick) is a place where animals can go to lick essential mineral nutrients from a deposit of salts and other minerals. Mineral licks can be naturally occurring or artificial (such as blocks of salt that farm ...

s found on its banks. The Salt Creek post office, named after the creek, was established in 1852 and closed in 1903.

James B. Riggs James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, who arrived in Oregon via the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what ...

and the

Meek Cutoff Meek Cutoff was a horse trail road that branched off the Oregon Trail in northeastern Oregon and was used as an alternate emigrant route to the Willamette Valley in the mid-19th century. The road was named for frontiersman Stephen Meek, who wa ...

in 1845, was the first postmaster. Riggs previously been the first postmaster of Yoncalla, followed by

Jesse Applegate Jesse Applegate (July 5, 1811 – April 22, 1888) was an American pioneer who led a large group of settlers along the Oregon Trail to the Oregon Country. He was an influential member of the early government of Oregon, and helped establish the ...

. Salt Creek is where Jesse, Lindsay, and

Charles Applegate Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

first settled after arriving in Oregon. James B. Riggs was their neighbor.

References

External links

Historic image of Salt Creek Baptist Church
from Salem Public Library
Historic image of James Berry Riggs House
from 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 ...

digital collections
Salt Creek Cemetery burial listing
from

Ancestry.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

Unincorporated communities in Polk County, Oregon 1852 establishments in Oregon Territory Unincorporated communities in Oregon {{PolkCountyOR-geo-stub