Mrs. Letitia Carson came to Oregon with her common law husband in the mid 1800's. Mr. Carson was a recently naturalized Irishman, and it is unclear whether Letitia was his slave or she was a free woman when they arrived in Oregon.
Nonetheless, slavery was illegal in Oregon at that time, yet there were Exclusion Laws on the books that prohibited blacks from coming and staying in Oregon - otherwise they would be publicly beaten until they left. Can you imagine???
The laws were reversed in 1926, but the language stayed on the books until 2002. So...yeah.
But that happened well after Letitia staked her claim here. When she and her husband arrived in Oregon after 6 months traversing the Oregon Trail, they were granted a land claim under the Homestead Act of 1862, but because they were not legally married, their claim was reduced by half.
Then suddenly, her husband died and one of their greedy, entitled neighbors (who was white and maybe a little racist) by the name of Greenberry Smith, stole Letitia's land, livestock and personal possessions, auctioned them off and kept the money for himself.
Bastard. Little did he know, she wasn't the one to mess with. :)
So...she sued him. Twice. And she won.
Soon thereafter, she found a new place and was the first black woman to be granted a land claim in Oregon, and likely in the entire United States. There are many details that add context and "juice" to this story, so I hope you listen in to the details, because it is fascinating.
These days when I find stories like these, I wish I lived back then. Land has become prohibitively expensive. People like me, farmers, who desire to own a little piece of land to grow food and raise livestock simply cannot afford it and still run a profitable business providing food for our communities. #bummer
Sure, there are many farmers who are doing well...but many of those farmers do not carry the burden of debt and were given land (or had the means to purchase land many years ago) thanks to their parents or grandparents who had the foresight to invest in land and food security for their family. It really is a sad conundrum that isn't going to shift anytime soon.
So, that leaves a lot of farmers like me in flux. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a story about my woes. I have no clue whether I will ever own land in this life. I might need a "fairy-land Godmother" or something, but for now, I stay inspired by people like Letitia Carson.
I do hope you are well and thriving. I think about you all when I'm writing these emails and am so grateful for you being here and reading and I really appreciate you listening to this week's episode and sharing it with someone you love! Until next time, remember to eat clean, liberate yourself and dig deeper into your food supply chain. Chow! |
