Beverlee Jory Koutny

Woodburn (Images of America) Beverlee Jory Koutny

For hundreds of years, French Prairie was the playground and home of the Kalapooya Indians, members of the Bannock Tribe. By the time pioneers started arriving on the Oregon Trail, the Indian population was diminishing due to exposure to diseases brought by earlier settlers. Jesse Settlemier had a vision of a nursery business and a town that could supply its workers, and he purchased property and began clearing it. Ultimately, the development of a railroad, along with fertile soil, hardy pioneers, an ideal climate, and a favorable location (between the large cities of Salem and Portland) produced the formula for a thriving city.