Thomas and Ruckle Road

{{Short description|Former California wagon road}} {{Use American English|date=May 2025}} The '''Thomas and Ruckle Road''', also known as '''Ruckles Road''' or '''Ruckels Road''', was a wagon road over the Blue Mountains.

George Thomas was a stagecoach driver who came west to California in 1849, before moving to Walla Walla.<ref name="rr">{{cite book|last=Deumling|first=Dietrich|title=The roles of the railroad in the development of the Grande Ronde Valley (masters thesis)|publisher=Northern Arizona University|location=Flagstaff, Arizona|date=May 1972|oclc=4383986|pages=13–15, 27–28}}</ref> Colonel J. S. Ruckle arrived in Oregon in 1855 as a steam boat pilot for the Oregon Steam Navigation Company (OSN) along the Columbia River.<ref name="rr" /><ref name="bancroft">{{cite book|last=Bancroft|first=Hubert Howe|title=History of Oregon|year=1888|volume=II|pages=481}}</ref> Eventually Ruckle left the OSN and ran his own boat along the river.<ref name="rr" /> The two men planned and built the road in 1864 and 1865, as well as a stage line from Walla Walla to the Idaho Mines.<ref name="rr" /> The road ran from the northwest to the southeast, offering a more direct connection to Walla Walla, despite being longer than the Meacham Road.<ref name="rr" />

The Ruckle Road, as well as others over the Blues, charged $3 to $5 per wagon.<ref name="rr" /> Several towns were platted along the road: Summerville in 1873, and Cove sometime in the 1870s.<ref name="main" /> Mail was delivered over the road, causing it to bypass La Grande in favor of Union and Summerville, helping Union become elected as the county seat in 1872.<ref name="rr" />

The road washed out in 1886 and was never rebuilt.<ref name="main">{{cite book|last=Bailey|first=Barbara Ruth|title=Main Street: Northeastern Oregon|publisher=Oregon Historical Society|year=1982|isbn=0-87595-073-6|page=106}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Roads in Oregon Category:Historic trails and roads in Oregon Category:1865 establishments in Oregon