By Richard Botteri When Roswell Lamson was appointed clerk of Oregon’s federal district court in 1877, he had already lived a life story deeply engrained with the state’s and nation’s history. The Oregon Trail. Indian wars. Slavery and secession. The first Oregonian to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy. The Civil War. Recognizing him as one of its best officers in that struggle, the navy named three destroyers for him in the twentieth century. An extraordinary life, largely forgotten now. History, however, is never settled. We study it to confirm the stories we already know, and to uncover the necessary stories yet to be told. Lamson’s story is one of…