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Lafayette F. Cartee (December 2, 1823 – September 2, 1891) was an American pioneer surveyor and civil engineer who conducted the initial surveys of many areas of
Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
,
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
, and
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...
. He was also an Oregon state legislator, served two terms in Oregon's territorial legislature. This included one term as
Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives #REDIRECT List of speakers of the Oregon House of Representatives #REDIRECT List of speakers of the Oregon House of Representatives {{R from other capitalisation ...
{{R from other capitalisation ...
during the 1854 legislative session. He was later appointed surveyor general of the
Idaho Territory The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1863, until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as Idaho. History 1860s The territory ...
, a position he held for 14 years. While in Idaho he became an expert
horticulturist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...
, developing the territories first commercial
plant nursery A nursery is a place where plants are plant propagation, propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry, or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which se ...
. He also built the territory's first
greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...
and its first fruit and vegetable
cannery Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container ( jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although unde ...
.


Early life

Cartee was born in
Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...
on December 2, 1823. He was the son of John L. Cartee and Seclendia (Cartier) Cartee. In 1825, he moved with his family to
Coudersport, Pennsylvania Coudersport is a borough in and the county seat of Potter County, Pennsylvania. It is located approximately east by southeast of Erie on the Allegheny River. The population was 2,371 at the 2020 census. History The Coudersport and Port Alleg ...
, where he resided until 1844. When he was growing up, there were no schools nearby, so he was mostly self-educated at home.Leeson, Michael A.
"Lafayette Cartee"
''History of the counties of McKean, Elk, Cameron and Potter, Pennsylvania with biographical selections, including their early settlement and development, a description of the historic and interesting localities, sketches of their cities, towns and villages, portraits of prominent men, biographies of representative citizens, outline history of Pennsylvania, statistics'', J. H. Beers & Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1890, p. 1145.Olson, Jerry
"Cartee, Lafayette"
''Short Biographies A-E of All of the Surveyors and Individuals Associated with the Surveyor General's Office in Oregon 1851-1910'', copyright by Jerry Olson, 2021, pp. 477-478,"Lafayette Cartee"
''Pioneer Cemetery Walking Tour'', City of Boise, Boise, Idaho, accessed July 30, 2022. He left Pennsylvania in 1844 and took a job as a high school principal in
Newport, Kentucky Newport is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States. It is at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Licking River (Kentucky), Licking rivers across from Cincinnati. The population was 14,150 ...
. He held that position for two years before moving to
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
,
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
in 1846. In Cincinnati, he was hired as a professor of mathematics and civil engineering at St John's College. However, ill health forced him to resign from that position after two years. To restore his health, Cartee's doctor recommended a long sea voyage. So, in 1848, he booked passage on a sailing ship headed for
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
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 ...
. After sailing around
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
, he arrived in San Francisco in June 1849 with his health greatly improved. After spending several months in California, he moved to 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 United States, Union as the Oreg ...
, settling in
Oregon City Oregon City is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, located on the Willamette River near the southern limits of the Portland metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 37,572. Established in 1829 ...
.


Oregon Territory

After Cartee arrived in Oregon City, he opened a surveying and engineering business. The early 1850s were a good time to be a surveyor in Oregon since settlers attempting to secure property rights under the new
Donation Land Claim Act The Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, sometimes known as the Donation Land Act, was a statute enacted by the United States Congress in late 1850, intended to promote homestead settlements in the Oregon Territory. It followed the Distribution-Pre ...
needed their land accurately surveyed in order to file their claims. In addition, as a well-educated professional, Cartee quickly became a respected member of the Oregon City community, which was the seat of government for the Oregon Territory at that time.Olson, Jerry
"Lafayette Cartee (1823-1891)"
''Affecting Change to the Built Environment for over 50 Years'', Olson Engineering, Vancouver, Washington, November 16, 2008. In 1853, Cartee was elected as a delegate to the Oregon Territory's Democratic convention, representing
Clackamas County Clackamas County ( ) is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 421,401, making it Oregon's third-most populous county. Its county seat is Oregon City. The county was named after the na ...
. He served on the resolutions committee during the convention. Following the territorial convention, Cartee attended the Clackamas County Democratic convention, where he was selected as one of three Democratic nominees for a Clackamas County seat in Oregon's territorial House of Representatives. The other two Democratic nominees were F. C. Cason and B. B. Jackson. Cartee and his two fellow Democrats were elected to the three Clackamas County seats in the Oregon House of Representatives. He took his seat in the Oregon House on December 5, 1853. He served through the 1853 session which ended on February 2, 1854. During the session, Cartee was appointed to the joint code committee, responsible for proposing new public laws. Cartee ran for re-election in 1854. Once again, the Clackamas County's Democratic convention selected him as one of three candidates nominated to run for an Oregon House seat representing the county. The other two Democratic nominees were William A. Starkweather and J. Guthrie. Cartee and Starkweather won seats, but the third Clackamas County seat was won to
Asa Lovejoy Asa Lawrence Lovejoy (March 14, 1808 – September 10, 1882) was an American pioneer and politician in the region that would become the U.S. state of Oregon. He is best remembered as a founder of the city of Portland, Oregon. He was an attorney ...
, a Whig Party candidate. When the House was organized, Cartee was elected Speaker of the House. He served as speaker through the 1954 session, which ended on February 1, 1855. During the session, the legislature created
Wasco County Wasco County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,213. Its county seat is The Dalles. The county is named for a local tribe of Native Americans, the Wasco, a Chinook tribe ...
which at that time included all of
Eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost countie ...
. The legislature also combined eastern Washington County and a northern section of Clackamas County to create
Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland metropolitan area. The state's smallest and most populous county, it ...
. A bill was introduced that would have asked Oregon voters to approve holding a convention to draft a constitution, a mandatory first step in the process of seeking statehood. However, that bill did not pass. Between legislature sessions, Cartee continued his survey work. In 1854, he was awarded a government contract to survey from Camas, Washington south to
Estacada, Oregon Estacada is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, about southeast of Portland, Oregon, Portland. The population was 4,356 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and was estimated to be 5,421 in 20 ...
. During that time, he trained several assistant surveyors including David P. Thompson, who was later appointed governor of the Idaho Territory. After leaving the legislature in 1855, Cartee traveled back to Pennsylvania where he married Mary S. Bell. The newlyweds return to Oregon together and built a large brick house in Oregon City. Over the next few years, they had four children, a son and three daughters. After Cartee returned from Pennsylvania, he surveyed government lands east of the
Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as many of those in the ...
near Hood River,
Hermiston Hermiston () is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. Its population of 20,322 makes it the largest city in Eastern Oregon. Hermiston is the largest and fastest-growing city in the Hermiston-Pendleton Micropolitan Statistical Area, t ...
, and Maupin. In 1859, he spent a short time serving as the chief clerk for Oregon's surveyor general, William Chapman. The following year, he was awarded a government contract to survey parts of the
Deschutes River The Deschutes River ( ) in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many of the tributaries that descend from the drier, easte ...
basin. When that contract was completed, the scope was extended to cover an additional 300 miles of line. In 1861, he prepared the first city
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 Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...
map of
The Dalles The Dalles ( ;) formally the City of the Dalles and also called Dalles City, is an inland port, the county seat of and the largest city in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the large ...
. The map became an official part of the city record when it was approved by the city council later that year. Sometime after leaving the legislature, Cartee quit the Democratic Party and joined the newly formed Republican Party. During the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, he was a strong and active supporter of the Union cause, encouraging Oregon voters to support pro-Union candidates regardless of their party affiliation. In 1862, he was hired by the
Oregon Steam Navigation Company The Oregon Steam Navigation Company (O.S.N.) was an American company incorporated in 1860 in Washington with partners J. S. Ruckle, Henry Olmstead, and J. O. Van Bergen. It was incorporated in Washington because of a lack of corporate laws in ...
as chief engineer responsible for constructing a 14-mile portage railroad along the south shore of the
Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
. The railroad was necessary to bypassing the river's unnavigable rapids between
Celilo Falls Celilo Falls (; , meaning "echo of falling water" or "sound of water upon the rocks," in several native languages) was a tribal fishing area on the Columbia River, just east of the Cascade Range, Cascade Mountains, on what is today the border bet ...
and The Dalles. This short line was the first railroad built in Oregon. His wife, Mary, died in The Dalles in 1862 while Cartee was away from home working on the railroad. Cartee never remarried. In 1863, he moved with his children to Boise City in the Idaho Territory. When his son was fourteen-years-old, Cartee sent him to The Dalles to recover Mary's body and transport it to Boise for re-burial.


Idaho Territory

Cartee lived and worked in Boise for the rest of his life. In Idaho, he continued his successful surveying career and became well known for his horticultural expertise. His Boise home eventually became city landmark, noted for its fruit trees and beautiful flower garden. ''West Shore'' magazine published a lithograph picture of his home in its October 1878 edition. In 1866, President
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...
appointed Cartee surveyor general of Idaho, a position he held for the next 14 years. He was the first person to hold that position. His survey work was important because government land in the Idaho Territory could not be made available for homesteading until it was surveyed. Cartee got started in April 1867 when he chose the
initial point In surveying, an initial point is a datum (a specific point on the surface of the earth) that marks the beginning point for a cadastral survey. The initial point establishes a local geographic coordinate system for the surveys that refer to that po ...
to begin surveying the territory. Idaho's initial point is the place where the Boise meridian intersects the Idaho survey baseline. At the same time, he was overseeing the territorial survey, Cartee was expanding his knowledge of horticulture and developing his 24-acres garden into a commercial nursery. His nursery was located along the
Boise River The Boise River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. , accessed May 3, 2011 tributary of the Snake River in the Northwestern United States. It drains a rugged portion of the Sawtooth Range in so ...
in a very nice part of the city. In 1871, he built the territory's first greenhouse on his nursery property in Boise. For the next two decades, Cartee imported trees, shrubs, and flowers from the eastern United States. This was a challenge, since the plants had to be shipped by railroad to a station in
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
and then hauled by freight wagon 232 miles from the railhead to Boise. He also imported plants from
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, and India which had to travel to North America by sea before beginning their rail journey. He imported
cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The na ...
,
plum A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plums are ...
,
mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinat ...
,
quince The quince (; ''Cydonia oblonga'') is the sole member of the genus ''Cydonia'' in the Malinae subtribe (which contains apples, pears, and other fruits) of the Rosaceae family. It is a deciduous tree that bears hard, aromatic bright golden-yel ...
, and
orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...
trees. He also imported ornamental
fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...
trees,
Norway spruce ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very clo ...
,
sugar maple ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the ...
,
black walnut ''Juglans nigra'', the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to central and eastern North America, growing mostly in riparian zones. Black walnut is susceptible to thousand can ...
, and
box elders Box Elders, a self-described "Cave pop" band, began initially in 2005 as a goof-off project of fifteen-year-old Clayton and his twenty-nine-year-old brother Jeremiah McIntyre. The brothers' mother originally sang in the band, but soon quit. Even ...
. In addition, be brought new flowers to Boise including
magnolias ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...
and
lilacs The Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (in Portuguese language, Portuguese), acronym LILACS, and previously called Latin American Index Medicus, is an on-line bibliographic database in medicine and health sciences, main ...
. In 1878, he opened a fruit and vegetable cannery. Eventually, his cannery produced 30,000 cans a year. Between 1870 and 1890, plants from Cartee's nursery played an important role in making Boise a beautiful city."Trees in Early Boise"
''Idaho State Historical Society Reference Series #31'', Idaho State Historical Society, Boise, Idaho, accessed September 1, 2022. Cartee continued to be in demand as a supervising engineer into his later years. In 1890, Cartee was hired to oversee the construction for a new cell block at Idaho's territorial prison. In early 1891, he built a drug store in downtown Boise.


Personal life

Cartee was an active
Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a worker who lays bricks to assist in brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutti ...
for many years. He served as secretary of the
Grand Lodge of Idaho The Grand Lodge of Idaho (full formal name Grand Lodge of Idaho, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons) is one of several bodies that govern Freemasonry in the U.S. state of Idaho as recognized by the United Grand Lodge of England. It was established in ...
in 1871, 1872, 1879, and 1880. He was deputy grand master in 1881 and then grand master in 1882. He was a member of Ada County's horticultural society, serving as president of that organization in 1872. He was a member of the Idaho Grange, serving as state deputy for Boise City in the mid-1870s. He was also a member of the Idaho Livestock Association and served on its executive committee. In addition, Cartee was chairman of the Idaho Territorial Republican Central Committee in the 1870s. In the summer of 1891, Cartee fell ill. He died at his home in Boise on September 2 of that year at the age of 67. He was survived by his four children. He was so well respected in the community that all the businesses in Boise closed on the day of his funeral. Cartee was buried next to his wife in Boise's Pioneer Cemetery. Today, Cartee's papers and memorabilia are in the
Idaho State Historical Society The Idaho State Historical Society (ISHS) is a historical society located in the U.S. state of Idaho that preserves and promotes the state's cultural heritage. The society was founded as the Historical Society of Idaho Pioneers in 1881, nine ye ...
collection held in the Idaho State Archives. The Cartee papers includes personal letters, financial records from his nursery business, and various legal documents including his
will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...
.


References


External links


List of Oregon Legislators by Session
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartee, Lafayette 19th-century American people Speakers of the Oregon House of Representatives Members of the Oregon Territorial Legislature Oregon Democrats Idaho Republicans 1823 births 1891 deaths People from Boise, Idaho People from Potter County, Pennsylvania Politicians from Syracuse, New York