Kelly Butte is a hill in west
Springfield, Oregon
Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Willamette Valley, Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield, OR MSA, Eugene-Springfield metropolitan statistical area. Separ ...
, United States.
The butte was named for John Kelly, who came to the
Oregon Country
Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long Oregon boundary dispute, dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcat ...
in 1843 as an employee of the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
.
A native of
County Wexford
County Wexford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, he had previously lived in
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
.
[ From Oregon he returned to the United States, served in the ]Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...
, and returned to Oregon in 1849 as a wagonmaster with the U.S. Mounted Rifles.[ He worked as a stock trader between Oregon and ]California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, and eventually took a Donation Land Claim near Roseburg, Oregon
Roseburg is the most populous city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Oregon. It is located in the Umpqua River Valley in southern Oregon. Founded in 1851, the population was 23,683 at the 2020 census, making it the principal city of th ...
.[ He came to Springfield in 1866, where he became a miller and lumber contractor until 1869.] He returned to Roseburg, serving in the United States General Land Office
The General Land Office (GLO) was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government responsible for Public domain (land), public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 ...
for the next 8 years.[ He worked in ]Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
*Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon
*Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine
*Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel
Portland may also r ...
as a customs collector from 1876 to 1880, and for a time was a commissioner of the Northern Pacific Railway
The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...
in Montana.[
]
Kelly family
John Kelly was born in 1818.[ He married Elizabeth Parker.][ He was the father of George H. and John F. Kelly, co-owners of the Booth-Kelly Lumber Company.]
References
External links
John Kelly obituary
Hon. John Kelly
from ''Portrait and Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley''
{{coord, 44.0533797, -123.0309724, type:landmark_region:US-OR, display=title
Buttes of Oregon
Mountains of Oregon
Springfield, Oregon
Landforms of Lane County, Oregon