In 1852 Amos Dunham hitches a ride with a wagon train looking for gold
By Steve Lent, Historian
Amos Dunham was born on his father’s farm near Clarksville, Missouri in 1834. Amos and his brother, Samuel, joined a wagon train when he was 18, and travelled west in 1852. It is believed that they were on the same train as Ezra Meeker. Their father, George Washington Dunham, allowed them to go west to look for gold. They started in Pike County and left for Fort Leavenworth. Their route took them to Fort Kearney on the Platte River, then Fort Laramie and across the Rockies to Fort Hall and Fort Boise and into the Oregon Territory. Their Uncle and Aunt died on the trip. Their destination was Jacksonville, Oregon where Amos filed a mining claim.
He later moved to a place between Albany and Harrisburg, Oregon. On November 6, 1863 he married Eliza Churchill. She was the daughter of Lewis Churchill and Mary Ann (Cooper) Churchill. They had crossed the plains in 1853 settling in Linn County near Albany, Oregon. Amos and Eliza were married by Reverend Joab Powell, the famous early circuit rider. The Dunham's had seven children.
They moved to old Crook County in Central Oregon in 1884 and Amos purchased the George and Bud Thompson Ranch in the Hay Creek area. Bud Thompson played a major role in the Prineville Vigilantes. Their land joined Dr. Baldwin's Hay Creek Ranch on the west and reached the timber on the east. He raised sheep in the area for several years, marketing lambs and wool in The Dalles prior to the rise of Shaniko at the turn of the century. He later sold the ranch and moved to the John Lucky Ranch in the Prineville area. Sometime later he leased what is now known as the Keystone Ranch from Sam Smith for a few years and was inactive as a cattleman after that.
The children born to Amos and Eliza were Mary Melvina (Douthit), David Harvey, Nancy Evaline (Doak), Preston M., Lydia (McCollum), and Claude Clifton. Their three son's remained in Crook County and became prominent cattlemen. Harvey operated a ranch on the Upper Crooked River and Claude and Preston operated a ranch in the Bear Creek area. Daughters Lydia and Nancy remained in the area. Amos died on March 3, 1905 and Eliza died on April 12, 1923. Both are buried in Juniper Haven Cemetery in Prineville .