Archives West Finding Aid

Five Oaks, called Chatakuin ("Place of the Heavy Stone") by the Atfalati (Tualatin Kalapuya) people, is a group of five Oregon white oaks in Hillsboro, Oregon, and was a gathering place for Native people. When Euro-Americans emigrated to Oregon and claimed the land, they chose the site to hold the first Fourth of July celebration in Oregon in 1845. Euro-American emigrants would later hold court sessions and other meetings at the site.

The land on which Five Oaks is located became part of the land claim of Alexander Zachary and Sarah Zachary. Later, the Swiss American Berger family purchased part of the Zachary land claim, including Five Oaks, and farmed around the site. In the 20th century, the Five Oaks Garden Club encouraged subsequent owners of the site to preserve the trees. Two of the trees fell in storms shortly after World War II, and a third fell during the Columbus Day Storm in 1962. In 1998 and 1999, PacTrust, which then owned the site, planted three replacement trees and established a small park at the site. As of 2024, only one of the original five trees remains, with four replanted trees.

Sources: Five Oaks Historic Site Guide, Five Oaks Museum, 2022 (accessed October 29, 2024), https://fiveoaksmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Five-Oaks-Historic-Site_Learning-Packet_final.pdf; "Two Oaks Stand to Become Five Oaks, Once Again," Oregonian, April 9, 1998; "Pavilion Marks Oaks' Spot in History," Oregonian, September 20, 1999.

Ruth Eleanor Pasley (née Lundgren) was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1912, and lived in Washington County, Oregon, for her whole life. She studied at Oregon State Agricultural College (now Oregon State University), and worked as an administrative secretary. She was an active member of the American Association of University Women, and a member of multiple garden clubs, including the Five Oaks Garden Club. She died in 2012.

Sources: Obituary on Duyck and Vandehey Funeral Home website, https://www.dvfuneralhome.com/obituary/1504435; "Two Oaks Stand to Become Five Oaks, Once Again," Oregonian, April 9, 1998.