I don't have a lot of info about John Briles at this point. My time in Eugene went so fast over Christmas break! We are back in Alaska now. While we were there we did go to the Mt. Vernon Pioneer Cemetery and located the graves of Noah and Catherine Briles..parents of Margaret and John. We also were able to locate the original homestead land with help from the folks at BLM and an area neighbor. What a beautiful area! However, it was wet and miserable the whole time we were in Eugene. I can only imagine how hard it was for those early pioneers trying to build a shelter!
Online I discovered that John Briles planted an apple orchard on his homestead in Davis Creek that was very successful. Other than that, I don't have much else. My husbands grandmother is still alive, but I don't think she knows much about her father in laws parents and grandparents...John Briles. Looking at ancestry.com has been really fun. I am glad to hear from someone who has some history of the other children of Noah and Catherine. I can see why some of their children up and went to Los Angeles for some sunshine. LA would have been really nice back then. The 1880 census lists Catherine as an asthma sufferer. She passed in 1882 at the age of 51. Perhaps the weather in Oregon contributed to her demise?