Supplina Hamilton - Gang Plow Competition - Linn County Fair - Oct. 1869

November 30, 2018

Supplina & Jane Hamilton moved back to Linn County, Oregon Territory from Walla Walla County in 1867. They were back for a bit over two years and then moved north to Marion county by 1870. This is a newspaper article on the 12th Annual Linn County Fair in Oct of 1869. 'S. Hamilton' (almost assuredly Supplina, at age 37) competed with a few others in the plowing competition, using a 'gang plow' -- two or more 'bottomed' plows pulled behind a hitch of draft horses, likely a hitch of four to six horses. Contest rules: contestants would plow approx 3/4 of an acre in 3 hours (roughly 9 to noon), judged on a 100-point scale for evenness, conformation and straightness of the furrows, the look of the central ridge, and general neatness -- with 4 points deducted for each linear foot of land left unplowed if not finished on time.

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