Chauncey Nye

Born in Michigan in 1823 to Nathan Nye, he accompanied his brother Nathan B. Nye (1831–1913) to Logtown, (Presently, El Dorado) El Dorado County, California, in 1849 or early 1850, during the California Gold Rush to work claims in that area.{{Citation needed|date=May 2007}} By 1852, Nathan had arrived in a pioneer party in Oregon, and Chauncey may have come with him.{{Citation needed|date=May 2007}} It is certain Chauncey was in Oregon by 1860 where he is listed, age 37, in Jackson County.{{cite web |url=http://www.us-census.org/pub/usgenweb/census/or/jackson/1860/indx-n-z.txt |title=1860 United States Census of Jackson County |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}

He is known as the first person to publish an account about Crater Lake:

In 1862, Chauncey Nye and his party of prospectors also came upon the lake. Nye wrote the first published article about the lake, stating "the waters were of a deeply blue color causing us to name it Blue Lake."{{Cite web |url=http://craterlake.wr.usgs.gov/history.html |title=History of Crater Lake by the USGS |access-date=2006-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011108050535/http://craterlake.wr.usgs.gov/history.html |archive-date=2001-11-08 |url-status=dead }}

By 1870, Chauncey had given up hunting gold{{Citation needed|date=December 2012}} and settled down on a farm with his wife Amarantha, who was born about 1834 in Illinois or Michigan.1870 Federal Census The family lived for at least thirty years at Flounce Rock, Jackson County, Oregon.Federal Census of Jackson County, 1860-1900 Their children were Etta (1867), Nelson (1871), and Elsie Amarantha (1879).1880 Federal Census In 1882, Chauncey completed his homestead at Township 33S Range 2 East.

He is buried next to his wife at Nye Cemetery in Jackson County.

Nye Spring and Nye Ditch are both named for him.{{cite gnis | id = 1159073 | name = Nye Spring }}{{cite gnis | id = 1116718 | name = Nye Ditch }}

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060713182920/http://www.nps.gov/crla/brochures/history.htm History of Crater Lake by the Park Service]
• 1870, 1880 and 1900 US Census, online at www.ancestry.com
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070121022718/http://www.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/oregon/jackson.html Cemeteries of Jackson County]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060901165611/http://nwdata.geol.pdx.edu/OR-GIS/PlaceNames/N.html Place Names in Oregon]
• [http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/or/jackson/vitals/deaths/dcnyenat.txt Death Certificate (extract) of Nathan Nye]

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311143915/http://www.transpartisanmeshworks.org/port.gov/Nye_Ditch_Users_Incorporated%2C_Oregon_%28irrigation_district%29 Nye Ditch]
• [http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/or/jackson/history/rs1885.txt Road Surveyors of Jackson Co, OR]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nye, Chauncey}}

Category:1823 births

Category:1900 deaths

Category:People from Jackson County, Oregon

Category:Oregon pioneers

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