[1] 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.
[1][2] Eventually Ruckle left the OSN and ran his own boat along the river.
[1] The road ran from the northwest to the southeast, offering a more direct connection to Walla Walla, despite being longer than the Meacham Road.
[1] Several towns were platted along the road: Summerville in 1873, and Cove sometime in the 1870s.
[3] 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.