Samuel Christopher Lancaster was an engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

 and landscape architect

Landscape architect

A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....

, most famous for his work on the Columbia River Highway. He was born in 1864 in Magnolia, Mississippi

Magnolia, Mississippi

Magnolia is a city in Pike County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2071 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pike County, which lies within the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

 and died from leukemia

Leukemia

Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...

 in 1941.

He came to Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 in 1908 and was hired by Sam Hill

Samuel Hill

Samuel Hill , usually known as Sam Hill, was a businessman, lawyer, railroad executive and advocate of good roads in the Pacific Northwest...

 to design his experimental roads

Maryhill Loops Road

The Maryhill Loops Road was an experimental road in south central Washington, United States, built by good roads promoter Samuel Hill with the help of engineer and landscape architect Samuel C. Lancaster, climbing the Columbia Hills from the Columbia River and Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway...

 at Maryhill in 1909. He did a plan for the campus of Linfield College

Linfield College

Linfield College is an American private institution of higher learning located in McMinnville, Oregon, United States. As a four-year, undergraduate, liberal arts and sciences college with a campus in Portland, Oregon, it also has an adult degree program located in eight communities throughout the...

 before beginning supervision of the Columbia River Highway in 1913. He also promoted Crown Point

Crown Point (Oregon)

Crown Point is the name of a promontory on the Columbia River Gorge and an associated state park in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in eastern Multnomah County, approximately 15 miles east of Portland. Crown Point is one of the scenic lookouts along the Historic Columbia River Highway,...

as the site of an observatory.