Howdy all you listers! Did you all lose your "voices" the past few days? I thought we were on a roll there for a while, with all the activity we had. Let's try that again. I liked it. <G> Since I never did get around to posting *my* surnames for Wasco Co., I thought I'd do that right now. My earliest ancestors to Oregon were James & Malinda (DAVIS) HURST. They came in from Gasconade Co., MO in 1851, going first to Linn Co. Malinda was in her last trimester of pregnancy with their first child when they got to Oregon, so she had a rather unique pregnancy experience the first time around. I don't think they planned it that way. When they got to Wasco Co., they took the Barlow Trail to cut around Mt. Hood & get to where they settled at Sodaville in Linn Co., but Malinda was too pregnant to go over Barlow Trail because it was so rough. Their solution? She & a couple of other women in the party were put back into the same wagon box they had floated the Columbia River in, and they floated down the river, meeting up with the men on the other side of Mt. Hood. James & Malinda stayed in Linn Co. from 1851 until sometime between 1854 and 1860. They settled a Donation Land Claim in January of 1854 in Linn Co. Then, leaving family still in Linn Co., for reasons unknown they came back down the trail to Wasco Co., settling right at the Wasco Co. end of the Barlow Trail. That's where they lived out their days & raised their family. That area is known as the "other" 15-Mile area. The 15-Mile that is on the map is just off of the freeway, about 15 miles (whaddya know) *east* of The Dalles. But the Hurst's 15-Mile is the one that is that far *south* of The Dalles as you're heading toward Maupin. That's lesson #1 for anyone whose family came from one of the many x-mile settlements: there are some in each direction. At any rate, I'd love to hear from anyone who has good historical data about the area south of The Dalles, and also from anyone who had family go to Linn Co. or near the coast and then come back to Wasco Co later. James & Malinda's children were: Joseph, Jane, Susan, Emma, Uriah (Jack), James, Malinda (Millie), Sina, Benjamin, William, Melissa, Nancy, Minerva and Rufus (Marion). They were all born between 1851 and 1880 and about half of them stayed in the area. My direct line is through Susan HURST above, who married James Jackson GRAY in 1876. He was from TN (as was the elder James HURST). They had 10 children, most of whom stayed in the area near The Dalles. One of those was my grandpa, John Elmer GRAY. Susan remarried after James Gray's death in 1900. First she married L.S. "Doc" Covey, but they divorced, and then she married a sweetheart of a man named William Brown, with whom she is buried at Friend, OR (which is between 15-mile and The Dalles on that road going south). Any scrap of information would be appreciated greatly. I'm heavily into the historical aspects of this family's journey and their Oregon lifestyle, so all types of info are wonderful. I would also like to learn more about William Brown's family if anyone might know which family that would be. I know he did have family near The Dalles somewhere. Cheri (whew!) puny@mail.com --->>>^<<<--- Freebies for Gen. Addicts---> http://www.historysavers.com/