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Judge John Breckenridge Waldo (1844-1907) was born in Oregon on October 6, 1844 to Malinda Lunsford Waldo and Daniel Waldo, a pioneer of the 1843 wagaon train over the Oregon Trail with the Applegate party. John Waldo studied law at Willamette University in Salem and graduated in 1866. He was admitted to the Oregon state bar in 1870 and married Clara A. Humason in 1877. Beginning in 1880, Waldo served six years on the Oregon Supreme Court, the last two as Chief Justice. A member of the Republican Party, Waldo also served one term in the Oregon State Legislature. During his term, Waldo introduced House Joint Memorial No. 8, which asked Congress to set aside as a public reserve a portion of Oregon's Cascade Range. Waldo explored the area on summer backcountry trips to alleviate an asthma condition and indulge his love of the outdoors. Bowing to sheep grazing interests, the Senate tabled the bill. Following the passage of what became known as the Forest Reserve Act of 1891, William Gladstone Steel of Jacksonville, Oregon revived Waldo's idea for a large forest reserve along the crest of the Cascade Range. On September 28, 1893, President Grover Cleveland created the Cascade Forest Range. Judge Waldo continued to support the Cascade Range until his death in 1907 and his name is reflected in several geographic names in the region, including Waldo Lake.
The collection comprises papers of Oregon judge and conservationist John Breckenridge Waldo, including his diary from 1891-1905; letters, journals and photographs from his travels in Oregon's Cascade Range, 1880-1907; and articles about Waldo and his conservation efforts, 1984-1989. The materials in the collection present a portrait of Oregon's Cascade Range at the time it came under protection as a national forest reserve from the perspective of one who knew it well and cared for it deeply.
John Waldo's diary, a single volume of approximately 100 pages, contains accounts of activities, as well as thoughts and observations, from 1891 to 1905. Notable in the diary are literary quotations and reflections on outdoor experiences that offer insight into Waldo's appreciation of nature and his conservation ethic.
The letters and journal entries in the collection were written by Waldo during his summer backcountry trips in the Cascade Range from 1880 to 1907. They document his travels and present an intimate portrait of the area he proposed for a forest reserve. The letters and journal entries were transcribed from the originals, which are now lost, by Leonard H. McMahan, who corresponded with Waldo from the 1890s until 1907. A bound copy of these transcriptions, with an introduction and summary by Gerald W. Williams, was published by the Forest Service in 1988 and is also included in the collection.
The collection includes 45 photographs by Waldo or others of backcountry camps, lakes and mountains, and flora and fauna in the Cascade Range. Major subjects of Waldo's writings and photographs are Crater Lake, Diamond Lake, Odell Lake and Waldo Lake, as well as Three Sisters, Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Hood.
The collection also includes two articles about Waldo and his conservation efforts from the periodicals Wild Oregon and Oregon Historical Quarterly, published in 1984 and 1989 respectively.