Champ Clark Vaughan

Champ Clark Vaughan retired as a lands and minerals adjudication program manager with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management after a thirty-one-year career with the federal government. He is a past president and current member of the Oregon Geographic Names Board, a past president of the Sons and Daughters of Oregon Pioneers, and a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel. His areas of expertise include historical geography, public land law, and disposition of the public domain. He has published articles in the Oregon Historical Quarterly and the U.S. Department of Interior BLM Cultural Resource Series and is the author of the book A History of the United States General Land Office in Oregon.

Author's Entries

  • U.S. General Land Office in Oregon, ca. 1850-1946

    With the acquisition of the Oregon Country in 1846, the United States was faced with an enormous challenge to administer what had become a significant part of the nation’s federally owned public domain. American Indian title, preemption settlement, existing land claims, and the great westward migration were urgent matters to …

    Oregon Encyclopedia

  • Willamette Stone and Willamette Meridian

    Land surveys accomplished under the U.S. Government's Rectangular Survey System are the basis for the establishment of land titles and boundaries within Oregon. The initial point for the land surveys in Oregon is referred to as the Willamette Stone; and the principal survey meridian, running north and south, is named …

    Oregon Encyclopedia