Harry V. Gates

Harry Verner Gates (July 30, 1847 – October 13, 1935) was an American engineer and politician in the state of Oregon. A native of Massachusetts, he later lived in Iowa worked on the railroads before settling in Hillsboro, Oregon, where he shifted to water projects. A member of the Republican Party, he served a single term in the Oregon House of Representatives. His former home in Hillsboro is the historic Rice–Gates House, and his former ranch in Central Oregon is now the Crooked River Ranch.

Early life Harry Gates was born on July 30, 1847, in Lowell, Massachusetts, to John M. and Lydia S. (née Bowker) Gates. He grew up in Iowa where he attended the local public schools in DeWitt. In 1880, he worked for the Northern Pacific Railway where he was responsible for the locating party through the Cascade Range. Gates was also the chief engineer for the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company for a time. Gates represented District 56 and served only in the 1895 legislative session. Gates also served as the engineer for the Heppner Light & Water Company in Eastern Oregon in addition to his duties as engineer, superintendent, and president of the Hillsboro Electric Light & Water Company at the turn of the century.

Gates was selected as the Commander of the Oregon Department of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1899. He served three more terms as Commander of the Oregon chapter in the 1930s. He was a member of the Thirteenth National Irrigation Congress held in 1905 in Portland.

As early as 1909 and through at least 1920 he served as a director for the Shute Savings Bank in Hillsboro. He continued as president of what was later the Hillsboro Power and Investment Company. He was granted a license by the state to install an irrigation system and power generating facility on the Crooked River in Jefferson County in 1925 that provided electricity and water for his adjoining ranch.

Along with his son Oliver, he owned a pipe making factory in Hillsboro and over 500 miles of telephone lines in Southern Oregon. His former home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as the Rice–Gates House. His ranch in Central Oregon became the Crooked River Ranch.