Kelly Butte is a hill in west Springfield, Oregon, United States.[1]
The butte was named for John Kelly, who came to the Oregon Country in 1843 as an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company.[2] A native of County Wexford, Ireland, he had previously lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.[2] From Oregon he returned to the United States, served in the Mexican–American War, and returned to Oregon in 1849 as a wagonmaster with the U.S. Mounted Rifles.[2] He worked as a stock trader between Oregon and California, and eventually took a Donation Land Claim near Roseburg, Oregon.[2] He came to Springfield in 1866, where he became a miller and lumber contractor until 1869.[2] [3] He returned to Roseburg, serving in the United States General Land Office for the next 8 years.[2] [3] He worked in Portland as a customs collector from 1876 to 1880, and for a time was a commissioner of the Northern Pacific Railway in Montana.[2] [3]
John Kelly was born in 1818.[3] He married Elizabeth Parker.[2] He was the father of George H. and John F. Kelly, co-owners of the Booth-Kelly Lumber Company.[3] [4]