Newspaper Article Excerpts:
July 30, 2017 Tillamook Headlight Herald
Sutherland has become somewhat of a historical detective traveling many miles to find even the slightest clues.
March 8, 2017 Oregon City News
Many of those traveling with Wyeth died on that journey or turned back, but Tibbets stayed and settled at Champoeg.
February 28, 2017 Daily Astorian
Wyeth and Kelley would fail in their ventures, but Tibbets, being one of the men they brought to Oregon, would become an Oregon pioneer by forging good relationships with his Canadian neighbors and native tribe...to pave the way for other Americans to follow.
December, 2016 SE Examiner
Calvin Tibbets: Oregon's First Pioneer is a thoroughly investigated account of Oregon's early trailblazers, researched and written by Jerry Sutherland, SE Portland resident.
November 17, 2016 Coast Weekend
Labeling anyone “the first” is a dangerous business. Fact checkers make a habit of nailing any writer who makes such a claim. But Jerry Sutherland is willing to take that chance and back it up with research.Goodreads:
Jerry Sutherland’s Calvin Tibbets: Oregon’s First Pioneer is a tapestry woven from fragments. In the process, the author recounts the history of Oregon prior to becoming a United States Territory. Calvin Tibbets arrived in the Pacific Northwest in 1832 when it was still contested between the US and Great Britain, more than a decade before wagon trains traversed the Oregon Trail. Tibbets is mentioned in the writings of several contemporaries but otherwise all we have is a few letters, some signatures on bills of sale and petitions, and his name appears on the passenger lists for boats as well as inscribed on a monument that commemorates the 1843 meeting in Champoeg that gave rise to Oregon’s provisional government. Sutherland has created a fascinating narrative backed up by evidence contained in 115 endnotes, laboriously researched, which should be read as its own saga, the story of creating history.
***** By Eleanor Culhane on October 23, 2016:
Calvin Tibbets: Oregon's First Pioneer by Jerry Sutherland is a wonderful read. It is packed with well researched historical information detailing the the settlement of Oregon. The book contains copies of logs, pictures and maps. Calvin obviously played an important role of Oregon being designated a territory in 1848. It is fascinating that he associated with many famous Oregonians, yet he remained obscure. I enjoyed learning more about this period of Oregon's history and Calvin's adventures.
Amazon:
***** Calvin Tibbets: Oregon's First Pioneer — A Winning Story of a Simple Stonemason Who Came West & Stayed by Ginny Mapes on September 4, 2016:
Calvin Tibbets: Oregon's First Pioneer, is hot of the press by a local author and historian, Jerry Sutherland. This is a very well-researched, well-documented and well-written account of Calvin Tibbets, an early Oregon Country pioneer. I use the term Oregon Country, because when Tibbets arrived in 1832 at Fort Vancouver, the hub of the Hudson's Bay Company, Oregon was not even a territory. This is the true story of a simple stonemason who came west and stayed — Oregon's first pioneer. Take a step back into history and see all the people he came in contact with, names like Hall Kelley, Jason Lee, Nathaniel Wyeth, John Ball, Ewing Young, Michel La Framboise, Navy Lt. William Slacum, and Lt. Charles Wilkes, (just to name a few) pop off the pages as Tibbets' story unfolds. The book has drawings, maps, photos, letters, log entries, and the Willamette Cattle Company Agreement. Research is sourced with Notes. A must-have for the Pacific Northwest history buff, teachers, libraries, and anyone interested in the people and those early times leading up to Oregon becoming a state. It is non-fiction that reads like fiction!
***** Must read for Oregon history lovers by Oregon Reader on September 13, 2016:
What a fascinating read! I grew up in Oregon City and learned all things John McLoughlin, but never really thought about any other pioneers or settlers as individuals. Jerry Sutherland's well-researched book showed me a different side of the early Oregon country and the men and women who populated it. Calvin Tibbets truly went from sea to shining sea, starting in Maine then traveling to Oregon. I didn't know, for example, that the first Americans in Oregon were New Englanders, called Boston men; not the Midwestern farmers I always heard of. The text is very readable, with a bit of humor thrown in. Even the Notes include fun tidbits like #71, talking about the resentment of the British having named "Mount Hood after one of their own," so the Oregonians (years before the area was part of the US) should get to name the rest of the natural features.
***** Definitely a worthwhile read! by Sue B on September 24, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Calvin Tibbets, a resourceful pioneer not widely recognized as a Northwest historical figure but who contributed to Oregon Country in many ways. This is a story about a man whose purpose was to settle permanently in Oregon before there was even an Oregon Trail. He wasn’t a Hudson Bay Co. employee, a trapper, or someone seeking his fortune in the west. He was, however, a person who made a difference, from donating land for a church to building a gristmill on Clatsop Plains to leading the first Oregon cattle drive. The author shows Tibbets’ determination to settle, his struggles, and his successes as well as his connections to well-known figures and Oregon Country politics. You won’t find the traditional repetition of Oregon history, but, by following Tibbets’ journey, learn new historical information. Well worth a read, this book is meticulously researched and skillfully written. Don’t forget to check out the extensive endnotes that are filled with even more facts and interesting tidbits.
***** An important read for those who live in Clatsop County! by James C. Casterline on March 1, 2017
I enjoyed this book (booklet?) a lot. I had read the name but knew little about him before today. I live in the area where he settled. His accomplishments are important to those of us who live nearby. I particularly appreciate the author's efforts to establish the location of the first grist mill and Calvin Tibbet's role in the establishing of the Pioneer Presbyterian Church on Clatsop Plains. I recommend this book. It doesn't take long to read. For locals, it answers important questions.
