Gladstone is located on the north bank of the Clackamas River where it joins the Willamette River. The earliest residents were indigenous peoples (the most recent being the Chinook-speaking Clackamas) who occupied this area from earliest times until around 1840, when Jason Lee and his Methodist Mission claimed much of what is now East Gladstone and called it Klackamus Farm.

In 1843, James Robb, one of the emigrant Mission employees, purchased Klackamus Farm. The following year, he sold the tract to the Fendel Cason family from Virginia, emigrants who had arrived in Oregon the previous year. The family settled and began homesteading.

Early photo of present day Oatfield Road facing south towards Clackamas River (present day Park Place walking bridge)and site of Methodist Mission.