Gay Hayden
{{Short description|American pioneer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gay Hayden
| image = Gay Hayden.png
| birth_name = Gay S B Hayden
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1819|4|9}}
| birth_place = Oneida County, New York, United States
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1902|5|14|1819|4|9}}
| death_place = Clark County, Washington, United States
| nationality = American
| known_for = Hayden Island
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Linda Ruth Hayden|1841}}
- {{marriage|Mary Jane Hayden|1847|1886}}
}}
| children = 6
}}
Gay Hayden (April 9, 1819 – May 14, 1902) was a prominent Oregon pioneer who owned a significant portion of what is now the city of Vancouver including properties previously owned by Esther Short.The Pacific reporter, Volume 94, West Publishing Co., St. Paul, pp. 909–911 Additionally, Hayden owned all of or part of what is now Hayden Island in Portland, Oregon, which is named in his memory.McArthur, Lewis A., [https://www.jstor.org/stable/20610356 Oregon Geographic Names, Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 3] (September., 1926), Oregon Historical Society, pp. 295–363.
Hayden arrived in the Oregon Territory in 1850 with his wife Mary Jane Hayden, whom he met in the wilds of Wisconsin and married in 1847. In 1851, after settling on what would become known today as Hayden Island, he built a grand home and lived on the island for five years with his wife Mary Jane Hayden.Hayden, Gay. [http://www.accessgenealogy.com/scripts/data/database.cgi?file=Data&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=0020608 Access Genealogy. 2010-06-13.] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130116164158/http://www.accessgenealogy.com/scripts/data/database.cgi?file=Data&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=0020608 |date=2013-01-16 }} Accessed: 2010-06-13. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20120301210024/http://www.accessgenealogy.com/scripts/data/database.cgi?file=Data&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=0020608 Archived by WebCite]) On March 10, 1886, Gay Hayden and Mary Jane Hayden separated and divided their property in court, from that point on each handling their own real estate and financial affairs. Hayden died intestate in May 1902.