Editing Woodburn, Oregon (section)

==History==
[[File:Settlemier House - Woodburn Oregon.jpg|thumb|left|Settlemier House in 2007]]
Originally, the area around Woodburn was inhabited by the [[Kalapuya]] Native Americans. After the [[Provisional Government of Oregon]] set-up land claims in the [[Oregon Country]], the United States annexed much of the Pacific Northwest and established the [[Oregon Territory]] in 1848. Congress passed the [[Donation Land Claim Act]] in 1850 and many earlier land claims became donation land claims.

[[Eli C. Cooley]], Bradford S. Bonney, George Leisure, and Jean B. Ducharme all established donation land claims on the eastern part of the [[French Prairie]] where Woodburn would later be founded.<ref name=parker>{{cite web|last=Parker|first=Ivan C.|title=The History of Woodburn, Oregon: 1851–1900|publisher=City of Woodburn|year=1940|url=http://www.woodburn-or.gov/communitydevelopment/history/HistoryofWoodburn(Parker).pdf|access-date=May 26, 2011}}</ref> Cooley immigrated to Oregon in 1845, and Bonney established his land claim in 1849.<ref name=parker/> Ducharme's land was sold off in 1862 in a [[foreclosure]], with [[Mt. Angel, Oregon|Mt. Angel]] farmer Jesse Settlemier purchasing the {{convert|214|acre}} on the cheap.<ref name=parker/>

Settlemier had traveled west over the [[Oregon Trail]] in 1849 and first settled in California before moving north to Oregon in 1850.<ref name=Oregon>Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 219.</ref> He settled in the Mt. Angel area where he was a successful nurseryman.<ref name=Oregon/> Settlemier then moved to his new property in 1863 and established the Woodburn Nursery Company.<ref name=parker/> Despite improvements to the land, including construction of his home, title in the land remained in doubt due to the purchase via a foreclosure.<ref name=parker/>

During the litigation over title in the land, Settlemier borrowed money from capitalist William Reed with the land as collateral.<ref name=parker/> When Reed began to build a railroad through the area, he decided to run the line through what became Woodburn in anticipation of acquiring the land himself, as he expected Settlemier to default on the mortgage.<ref name=parker/> However, Settlemier did not default and eventually his case made it to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] in ''[[Settlemier v. Sullivan]]'', 97 U.S. 444 (1878). He gained a favorable ruling and retained the land.<ref name=parker/>

Meanwhile, transportation baron [[Ben Holladay]] ran his [[Oregon and California Railroad]] through what became Woodburn in 1871, at which time Settlemier platted the first four blocks of the town.<ref name=parker/>

Originally, the town and station were called Halsey, but the name was changed to Woodburn due to the existence of [[Halsey, Oregon]], further down the valley.<ref name=parker/> The name Woodburn came about after a slash burn that got out of control and burned down a nearby woodlot in the 1880s, after the railroad line had been laid through the area.<ref name=OGN>{{Cite OGN|7th|pages=1056}}</ref> A railroad official witnessed the fire and renamed the community.<ref name=parker/> The city was incorporated by the [[Oregon Legislative Assembly]] on February 20, 1889.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Baker|first=Frank C.|year=1891|title=Special Laws|journal=The Laws of Oregon, and the Resolutions and Memorials of the Sixteenth Regular Session of the Legislative Assembly Thereof|publisher=State Printer|location=Salem, Oregon|page=861|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yr2wAAAAIAAJ&q=oregon%20legislature%20hillsboro%20incorporation&pg=PA861|access-date=May 26, 2011}}</ref>

[[File:OR Woodburn 2ndSt.JPG|thumb|Corner of 2nd and Garfield. [[Willamette Ballet Academy]] and Cornwell colonial chapel.]]