Waldo Hills facts for kids
The Waldo Hills are a group of hills in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, United States. They cover about 50 square miles (130 square kilometers). You can find them east of Salem. These hills get their name from an early pioneer named Daniel Waldo.
How the Hills Formed
The Waldo Hills stretch northeast from a stream called Mill Creek. These hills were created by a type of landform called a cuesta. A cuesta is a hill with one steep side and one gentle slope. They are made mostly of rock from the Columbia River Basalt Group.
The rocks in the hills include old volcanic rock and sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rock is formed from layers of sand, mud, and other materials. The hills also have basin fill from the Pliocene and Pleistocene periods. These are very old layers of sediment that were folded into long, dome-shaped hills.
The Waldo Hills help divide the upper and lower parts of the Willamette Valley. They are also the biggest geological feature in the middle of the Willamette Valley. Along with the Silverton Hills, they form the smaller hills at the base of the Cascade Mountains to the east.
Early Settlements
People from Europe and America started settling in the Waldo Hills in 1843. That year, Daniel Waldo claimed land there and began farming. Other early settlers included Homer Davenport and Samuel L. Simpson. Daniel Waldo's sons, John and William, also settled there later.
In 1846, the Waldo Hills were important for a group called the Oregon Rangers. This group was a militia, which is like a local army made of citizens. The Rangers were formed and trained here by the Provisional Government of Oregon. This was the first government set up by settlers in the Oregon Country before it became a U.S. territory.
