ResearchFiles James J.Kopp Documenting Utopia in Oregon TheChallenges ofTracking the Questfor Perfection The task of documenting utopia in Oregon is in itself a Utopian ordeal. Using the dichotomous nature of the word given by Thomas More in Utopia, published in 1516, it is both a "good place" and a "no place."1 Documenting Oregon's historic utopias shares the good place/no place dichotomy because, although Oregon's Uto pian heritage is rich, the challenges of documenting it are significant. It is a "good place" in that historians, archivists, and interested individuals wish tohave records available to understand the important role that the quest for perfection has played inOregon's history. It is a "no place" because, much likeMore's fictitious island, the documentation ? and inmany cases the topics of the documentation ? do not seem to exist.2 Oregon's Utopian heritage is rooted in the dreams of landscapes and opportunities that attracted pioneers and settlers to this land, individuals labeled "eden seekers" by Malcolm Clark, Jr.3 The physical space and its beauty conjured visions of Eden, but asWilliam L. Lang notes, "The im age of Oregon carried more than just a symbolic physical resemblance to Eden; it also suggested a community that had a regenerative quality, one that could restore damaged lives."4 This regenerative quality served and ? as Lang points out, still serves? as the basis forOregon's reputation as an "Eden of expectations." While this view is generally manifested in the state's broad social, cultural, and political history, it is also clear in themany specific attempts to seek perfection inOregon. These efforts range from nineteenth-century communal colonies such asAurora and New Odessa to 308 OHQ vol. 105, no. 2 ? 2004 Oregon Historical Society OHS neg.,OrHi 54865 The community band mingles behind thePioneer Hotel inAurora, in the lowerWillamette ValleyjustnorthofWoodburn. Both the Aurorabandand thehotelbecamesymbols ofthe success of theAurora Colony. the post-1965 outburst of communes and other "intentional communities." Oregon's Utopian heritage is also reflected in Utopian literature produced by Oregon writers such as Jeff W. Hayes and Ursula K. Le Guin.5 My own Utopian quest is to locate, review, and record resources concerning Utopian experiences inOregon in order to produce a guide to documents about Oregon's often overlooked Utopian heritage.6 Although based ina long-standing interest inOregon's Utopian past, my immediate impetus for this project was the acquisition, inNovember 2002, of three documents associated with the dissolution of theAurora Colony in Oregon and the Bethel Colony in Missouri. These two Utopian settlements were founded byWilliam [Wilhelm] Keil, who died on December 31,1877, without an heir apparent to lead the two colonies. After his death, the trustees of both enterprises sought an orderly and legal dissolution of the properties, and the three documents I obtained are all related to this action. One is an Kopp, Documenting Utopia inOregon 309 eight-page manuscript letter related to the appraisement of the Keil estate, dated September 28,1878, from the trustees ofAurora to JacobMiller and other trustees of Bethel. The second isa six-page manuscript letterfromW.H. Effinger, a Portland attorney who represented theAurora trustees, to Jacob Miller, dated September 30,1878, dealing with the same issue. The third item is a detailed appraisement of Keil's entire estate. Included with theMiller letter is an envelope addressed to him inBethel with an annotation on the back reading, "Letters of Effinger & of theAurora Community concerning our appraisement. Take this along to Ogn." These documents provide an intriguing and important glimpse into the final years of theAurora Colony as a Utopian settlement. Beyond their historical significance, the recent availability of these documents raises questions about their provenance and about where other documentation related to the Aurora Colony may exist. In his pseudo historical narrative Bethel and Aurora (1933), Robert Hendricks notes: "There was a long series of lettersbetween the trustees atAurora and those at Bethel. A chest full of this correspondence still exists."7 The documents inhand certainly are likely to be part of those Hendricks mentions, but the questions remain about where that "chest full"of documents was in the early 1930s and about what has happened to them since. Seeking a solution...