More Than the Man Who Built a Road
Mention the name Samuel Kimbrough Barlow, and most Oregonians immediately think of the Barlow Road. For generations of schoolchildren, history books have portrayed him as the pioneer who found a wagon route around the south side of Mount Hood, completing the final overland link of the Oregon Trail. While that achievement alone secured his place in Oregon history, it tells only part of the story.
Before Samuel Barlow became one of Oregon’s best known pioneers, he had already lived a remarkable life. He was a tailor by trade, a farmer by necessity, a devoted family man, a politician, entrepreneur, and road builder. He also carried with him a chapter from his life that many modern biographies barely mention – a homicide that led to a conviction for manslaughter, followed by a pardon after witnesses and even members of the victim’s family insisted he had acted to protect others.
His story is more complicated – and far more interesting – than the brief summaries found in most history books.
From Kentucky to the Frontier
Samuel Kimbrough Barlow was born in Nicholas County, Kentucky, in December 1795. While still a young man, he learned the tailor’s trade before moving west to Indiana, where he married Susannah Lee around 1817 or 1818. Together they raised seven children while clearing farmland and establishing a new life on the American frontier.
Family accounts describe Barlow as independent, outspoken, and unwilling to compromise his principles. One early biography claims he opposed slavery despite growing up in a slaveholding household, eventually leaving Kentucky in search of a place where he believed he could live according to his convictions. While some of those family stories cannot be fully documented today, they consistently portray a man who was stubborn, self-reliant, and determined to chart his own course. Those same qualities would later define his life in Oregon.
The Hendricks County Tragedy
In October 1826, Barlow became involved in an incident that changed his life. George Matlock, his brother-in-law, had reportedly been absent from home for nearly a year before returning and threatening his wife and children. According to testimony preserved in the court record, members of the family summoned Samuel Barlow to help protect them from what witnesses described as “imminent danger.”
During the confrontation, Barlow struck Matlock in the thigh with an ax. Although the wound was not immediately fatal, Matlock died nine days later.
A Hendricks County grand jury indicted Barlow for murder, but after hearing testimony, the jury convicted him of the lesser charge of manslaughter. He received a sentence of one year of hard labor. But the story did not end there.
Friends, neighbors, members of the jury, and even George Matlock’s own brother joined petitions asking Indiana Governor James B. Ray to pardon Barlow. They argued that he had acted while attempting to protect Matlock’s wife and children from violence rather than with criminal intent. Governor Ray granted the pardon on December 6, 1827.
Heading West
Nearly two decades later, Barlow once again chose a new beginning. On March 30, 1845, at nearly fifty years of age, he left Illinois with his family for Oregon. Like thousands of other emigrants, they followed the Oregon Trail to The Dalles, where pioneers faced an expensive and uncertain journey down the Columbia River by boat.
Rather than wait for expensive and dangerous transportation, Barlow proposed something many considered impossible. He would take wagons across the Cascade Mountains, over the south shoulder of Mount Hood.
Joined by Joel Palmer and several other pioneers, Barlow led an expedition south of Mount Hood in search of a practical wagon route. The journey proved far more difficult than expected. Trees had to be felled, cliffs bypassed, rivers crossed, and families often abandoned their wagons while scouting ahead on foot.
At one point, Barlow, Joel Palmer, and another member of the party climbed high onto Mount Hood’s southern slopes, reaching nearly 9,000 feet, to study the country to the west. From that lofty vantage point they searched for a practical wagon route through the maze of ridges, canyons, and river valleys leading toward the Sandy River and the Willamette Valley.
What followed was weeks of grueling work. Near the Cascade divide, the emigrants established a log cache known as Fort Deposit, where much of their property was stored while scouting and opening a route down the mountain. They then struggled west through dense forests, across icy rivers, and over steep slopes as early winter storms closed in. Progress was measured in miles rather than days, but perseverance ultimately prevailed.
On Christmas Day, 1845, Samuel Barlow and his fellow emigrants finally reached Oregon City, completing one of the most remarkable overland journeys in Oregon Trail history.
Building the Barlow Road
Recognizing the importance of the route, Barlow petitioned the Provisional Government of Oregon for permission to build a permanent wagon road across the Cascades. The legislature approved the proposal in December 1845.
Working with financial backing from Philip Foster and a crew of laborers, Barlow transformed the rough trail into a toll road that opened in 1846. Although often steep, muddy, and difficult, it gave wagon trains an overland alternative to the Columbia River and soon became the preferred final leg of the Oregon Trail. Thousands of emigrants entered the Willamette Valley by way of the Barlow Road during the next two decades.
Despite popular belief, the road never made Samuel Barlow wealthy. Construction costs greatly exceeded his estimates, constant maintenance consumed toll revenues, and many emigrants who could not afford the toll were allowed to pass with only a promise to pay later. Historical records suggest Barlow viewed the project less as a business venture than as a public improvement for future settlers.
A Builder of Oregon
In Oregon Barlow’s contributions extended well beyond the road that bears his name. He served as a Justice of the Peace, participated in civic affairs, promoted agriculture, helped develop Canemah, near Oregon City, and donated land for military purposes during the Civil War. He continued improving his farms and remained active in Oregon affairs well into his later years.
In 1853, following the death of his first wife, Susannah, Barlow married Elizabeth Shepherd. The following year he deeded his 639-acre Donation Land Claim to his son William before moving to Canemah.
Samuel Kimbrough Barlow died there on July 15, 1867, at the age of seventy-one. Although the town of Barlow was ultimately named for his son William, Samuel’s name lives on in Barlow Pass, the Barlow Road, Sam Barlow High School, Barlow Trail Road and countless other places throughout Oregon.
A Legacy Worth Remembering
History often reduces people to a single accomplishment. For Samuel Kimbrough Barlow, that accomplishment was building the road that helped complete the Oregon Trail.
Yet his life was far richer than that single achievement. He experienced hardship, controversy, public service, personal loss, and remarkable perseverance. He made difficult decisions, accepted enormous risks, and helped shape the future of Oregon during one of its most important periods of settlement.
Understanding the man behind the road gives us a deeper appreciation for both.
Sources
This article was compiled from primary records and early historical sources, including:
- Joel Palmer, Journal of Travels Over the Rocky Mountains to the Mouth of the Columbia River (1847).
- History of the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and Washington (1889), including the biography by William Barlow.
- Portrait and Biographical Record of the Willamette Valley, Oregon.
- History of Hendricks County, Indiana (1885).
- Hendricks County Historical Society, “Hendricks County’s First Murder Trial.”
- Indiana Executive Proceedings, Pardons and Remissions.
- Clackamas County marriage records.
- Donation Land Claim and deed records.
- United States Census records (1850 and 1860).
- Oregon Provisional Legislature records concerning construction of the Mount Hood (Barlow) Road.
- Contemporary newspaper accounts and family genealogical records consulted during the preparation of this article.