PlacesPages: Oregon City #5: Mountain View Cemetery

500 Hilda Street

Mountain View Cemetery is a very old cemetery, with graves dating from the pioneer days, though burials still take place here today. The first burial here took place in December 1847: the infant John Barclay, son of Dr. Forbes Barclay and his wife. The next burial was that of Dr. William Allen, who died June 9, 1851. The cemetery was officially established in 1854. Landowners William Livingston and Mary Holmes deeded five acres to the Oregon City city council for $5.00 for use as a public cemetery on April 29, 1863. An additional acre was deeded to the Masonic Lodge to be a Masonic cemetery. Today, Mountain View Cemetery includes 54 acres.

In such an historic cemetery, there have been some significant figures interred here. I managed to find a few of the early pioneers buried here.

Charles & Sarah Eliza Pope

Charles Pope was born in England on August 23, 1807. His wife Sarah Eliza was born on November 12, 1812 in New York City. They came to Oregon City in 1851. Charles Pope established a hardware store and later served as Oregon City Treasurer.

Charles Pope died June 11, 1871 and his wife died September 11, 1898. Their graves are both marked by this single large monument.

Two of the sides bear the information for Charles and his wife, one side is blank, and the last side bears the following verse:

“O, honored, beloved in earth unconfined,
Thou hast soared on high, thou hast left us behind
But our parting is not forever,
We will follow thee by heaven’s light,
Where the grave cannot dissever,
The souls whom God will unite.”

Mary E. White, Colonel W. L. White & Thomas W. Rhoads

Colonel White and his wife Mary were both born in Virginia; he on August 16, 1819; she on September 23, 1822. They came to Oregon in 1850. Colonel White was very active in the early territorial and state governments, serving as a clerk in both. He also operated hotels in the area, and served as a Clackamas County judge from 1874 to 1890.

The Whites share a large marker with Thomas W. Rhoads. Rhoads was born in Ohio on August 16, 1832. He came to Oregon in 1857, and died February 17, 1885. I do not know what his connection to the Whites was. Mary White died February 20, 1887, and Colonel White died May 3, 1897.

Charles David & Sedonia Shaw Latourette

Charles Latourette was a son of early pioneer L.D.C. Latourette, who is also buried at Mountain View Cemetery (though I didn't spot his marker). Charles was born in 1854, and his wife was born in 1881. Charles co-founded the Bank of Oregon City with his brother and went on serve as mayor of Oregon City. Charles died in 1930, and Sedonia in 1932. Small markers for each of them sit in front of a monument labeled only "C.D. Latourette."

DeWitt Clinton & Ellen Scott Latourette

DeWitt Clinton Latourette was a son of L.D.C. Latourette and brother of Charles Latourette. He was born in 1856. His wife Ellen was born in 1855. D. C. Latourette co-founded the Bank of Oregon City with his brother Charles and went on to become a city attorney and city councilman. D. C. Latourette died in 1937, and Ellen died in 1943. They share a monument bearing the inscription "A FRIEND OF GOD AND MAN."

Kenneth Scott Latourette

Kenneth Scott Latourette was born in 1884; son of DeWitt Clinton Latourette. He was a scholar and a Baptist minister, and went on to become a professor at Yale University. He was known for writing a two-volume History of Christianity in 1953, which is still in print today. He wrote a number of other works on Christianity and China as well. He died in 1968. His marker bears the inscription "STERLING PROFESSOR OF MISSIONS AND ORIENTAL HISTORY IN YALE UNIVERSITY."

Other notable figures buried at Mountain View Cemetery (but whom I failed to locate the markers for) include:

Robert Caulfield - 1805-1891, early pioneer & Clackamas County's first judge.

Peter Skene Ogden - 1794-1854, explorer, rescuer of Whitman Massacre survivors.

Absolom F. Hedges - founder of Canemah to the south, early steamboat operator.

Peter Rinearson - 1818-1889, established early ferry service, hosted first state fair.

Sidney Moss - 1810-1901, surveyed Oregon City for Dr. McLoughlin in 1842, established first hotel and first store west of the Rocky Mountains.

Bell-West Family Tombstones