The Blue Rooster Inn sits on 65 acres of hillside forest and farmland.  The main house  is just one part of a very early historic farm group, which includes a barn, a fresh-water spring and the original orchard.  Some of the plants on the property are direct descendents from original plantings.

The adjacent county road alignment, now known as Territorial Road, was at times known as the Oregon and California Trail, the Old Trail, and Stage Road.  The Blue Rooster Inn is the last of the original late 1850's houses still standing proudly along this historic road.

The house is connected with the 1850's Overland Migration on the Oregon Trail through members of the Zumwalt family - the first settlers on the property.  David Zumwalt, his wife Philesta and their four daughters arrived here on September 9, 1853.  They secured their land site on November 1st, 1853.  Work on the house started in 1854, with the dwelling completed by 1859.  The lumber used to build the house and barn was harvested on the property.  A summer kitchen was incorporated into the structure of the house as an ell in 1875.  The Zumwalts were known to bring up at least 10 children on the site.  David and his wife raised cattle on the farm.  The barn was completed in 1898, with the date proudly hammered into the top of the structure.  It is clearly visible to this day.

David preceded Philesta in death, but she continued to run the farm until 1909 when it was sold to the Shaffer family, who had three sons.  The Shaffers eventually added timberlands and other homesteads until they accumulated 1700 acres of land.  For many years Charles Shaffer farmed with horses, cleared the land with mattock and axe, raised cattle and sheep, and even tried his hand at dry wheat farming.  He bought the first crawler tractor that was used for farming in the valley.  The home stayed in the Shaffer family until 1993.  Throughout the years, portions of the land were logged and sold.  Charles owned the homestead until 1993, when it was sold to the Reuschers.  Nancy Pelton purchased the home in 2001.  The farm is the original homestead and includes 65 acres of forest and farmland.