Letitia Carson

Letitia Carson was an Oregon pioneer and the only black woman to successfully make a land claim in Oregon under the Homestead Act of 1862.She was the inspiration for Jane Kirkpatrick's 2014 novel A Light In The Wilderness.

Carson was born into slavery in Kentucky between 1814 and 1818.Some time before 1845, she arrived in Missouri.In May 1845, she set out for Oregon with David Carson, an Irish immigrant who owned land in Platte County.It is not clear whether Letitia was ever enslaved by David.On June 9, 1845, Carson gave birth to their daughter, Martha Jane.

Upon their arrival, the Carsons staked a 640-acre land claim in the Soap Creek Valley, located in modern-day Benton County, Oregon.Government officials reduced the Carsons' land claim by half in 1850, possibly because David and Letitia could not legally marry.Letitia Carson gave birth to a son, Adam, in 1849.

In September 1852, David Carson died from an illness.Neighbor Greenberry Smith was named executor of his estate.Smith claimed that Carson and the children were slaves who "were themselves property and therefore could not be heirs to the estate."Carson took Smith to court, stating that David Carson had promised "he would make me his sole heir or that he would give me his entire property" in the event of his death.She asked that the court award her $7,450 as compensation for her seven years of work on the Soap Creek Valley claim, "plus the value of livestock and other property to which she claimed she was entitled."On May 12, 1855, Carson was awarded $300 by a Benton County Jury, plus $229.50 to pay her court costs.On October 25, 1856, a federal court awarded her $1399.75 for the loss of her cattle.During or after the federal trial, Carson moved with her children to the upper Cow Creek Valley of Douglas County, Oregon, where she worked as a midwife.

On June 17, 1863, Carson filed a 160-acre claim under the Homestead Act of 1862.Her claim was certified on October 1, 1869.She was the only black woman to successfully file an Oregon claim under the act.Carson spent the rest of her life on her claim, which was located along South Myrtle Creek in Douglas County, Oregon.She built "a two-story house, a barn, [and] smokehouse" on the property, which also included a fruit orchard.Carson died on February 2, 1888, and was buried at Stephens Cemetery in Myrtle Creek, Oregon.

Carson's daughter, Martha Jane, moved to the Umatilla Indian Reservation in 1886.She had one child before her marriage, and ten children after her marriage to Narcisse Lavadour, a former Hudson's Bay Company employee.

Carson is the heroine of Jane Kirkpatrick's 2014 historical fiction novel, A Light In The Wilderness.The novel chronicles her relationship with David Carson, journey to Oregon, and legal battle with Greenberry Smith.