Waldo Hills

The Waldo Hills are a range of hills in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States. Encompassing an area of around 50 square miles (130 km2), the hills are located east of Salem.[1] The hills are named after pioneer Daniel Waldo.

Geology

The hills stretch out from Mill Creek in a northeasterly direction.[1] These hills were formed by a cuesta of Columbia River Basalt Group.[2] Rocks of the hills include Tertiary volcanic bedrock, sedimentary bedrock, and Plio-Pleistocene sedimentary basin fill shaped by elongate domical folds.[3] The Waldo Hills form part of the divider between the upper and lower Willamette Valley.[2] Additionally, the Waldo Hills as part of a larger fault system of low-lying hills in the mid-valley, are the largest geological structure in the mid-Willamette Valley.[2] Along with the Silverton Hills, these hills form the foothills to the Cascade Mountains to the east.[3]

Settlement

Euro-American settlement of the Waldo Hills began in 1843 when Daniel Waldo settled a land claim there and began farming.[1] Later settlers included Homer Davenport and Samuel L. Simpson, along with Waldo's sons John and William.[1] In 1846, the hills were the site of the formation and drilling of the Oregon Rangers, a militia formed by the Provisional Government of Oregon.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Corning, Howard M. Dictionary of Oregon History. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956.
  2. ^ a b c Yeats, Robert. Tectonic Setting of the Willamette Valley. Geological Society of America, Accessed September 10, 2007.
  3. ^ a b Terry L. Tolan and Marvin H. Beeson. Geologic Map of the Scotts Mills, Silverton, and Stayton Northeast 7.5 Minute Quadrangles, Oregon. Archived 2013-02-17 at the Wayback Machine United States Geological Survey, 1999.
  4. ^ Brown, J. Henry (1892). Political History of Oregon: Provisional Government. The Lewis & Dryden Printing Co.: Portland.

44°53′45″N 122°51′38″W / 44.89583°N 122.86056°W / 44.89583; -122.86056