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"Benton
County was created from Polk County by an
act of the Provisional Government of Oregon
in
1847. It is one of seven counties in the
United States to be named after Senator
Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, a longtime
advocate of the development of the Oregon
Territory. The county was created out of an
area originally inhabited by the Klickitat
Indians, who rented it from the Calapooia
Indians for use as hunting grounds. At that
time, the boundaries began at the
intersection of Polk County and the
Willamette River, ran as far south as the
California border and as far west as the
Pacific Ocean. Later, portions of Benton
County were taken to form Coos, Curry,
Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Lane and
Lincoln Counties, leaving it in its present
form with 679 square miles of land area."
Oregon Blue Book
Surrounding Counties:
Thomas Hart Benton photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [LC-USZ62-109983 DLC ]
Harris Covered Bridge & Finley refuge photos: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives.