Champoeg Meetings
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The Champoeg Meetings in Oregon Country were the first attempts at governing in the Pacific Northwest by United States European-American pioneers. Prior to this, the closest entity to a government was the Hudson's Bay Company, mainly through Dr. John McLaughlin at Fort Vancouver in present day Vancouver, Washington.[1] There were a series of meetings over three years held at Champoeg on the Willamette River in present day Marion County, Oregon beginning in 1841.[2]
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[edit] Background
After Lewis & Clark’s journey through the region, leaving in 1806, other Europeans explored more and more of the land west of the Rockies.[3] These first explorers were mainly mountain men engaged in the fur trade.[3] Following behind these men were the trading posts set up by people such as John Jacob Astor and those created by the Hudson's Bay Company. The primary forts being Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River and Fort Vancouver near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. Later missionaries such as Jason Lee, Spaulding, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman would also travel overland to Oregon Country. As time passed many of these trappers and missionaries settled the land and developed farms and other instruments of economy.[3] Then in the 1840s more and more settlers arrived via the Oregon Trail that the early missionaries and trappers helped to pioneer.[3] Finally, enough Europeans were living in this land, that by Western standards was considered ungoverned, that a critical mass was reached and the settlers began to develop plans for a government.
[edit] Location
The meetings were held at the French-Canadian enclave of Champoeg on the banks of the Willamette River in the French Prairie area. Some of the meetings were held at the Oregon Institute (predecessor to Willamette University) and in Oregon City.[4]
[edit] 1841
In 1841 the early European settlers found themselves in need of a government after the death of pioneer Ewing Young. Young had accumulated much wealth as a successful rancher following the Willamette Cattle Company events of 1837 when he and a group of other settlers herded over 600 head of cattle from California to Oregon.[5] This made him very wealthy and intertwined him economically with many of the other pioneers in the valley.[5] Young had died without a will or heir, thus necessitating a need for a probate court.[2] The first meeting was on February 7, 1841 before Young died, followed by an additional meeting on February 17, 1841. Jason Lee served as chairman for these meetings.[3] The first meeting was a general meeting about the formation of some governing body, to which the need became more acute after Ewing Young's death.[3]
[edit] Decisions
The group decided on subsequent meetings on August 1, 1841 and the first Tuesday in October.[3] The first of the two meetings were held, but after consulting with Commodore Wilkes of the U.S. government and Dr. McLoughlin of the Hudson’s Bay Company concerning forming a government, the group was advised to wait on a government from Congress.[3] Thus plans for provisional government fell through, and the October meeting was never held.[3]
[edit] Elections
Doctor Ira L. Babcock of the Methodist Mission was elected as supreme judge with probate powers.[2] Babcock was to use the laws of New York to probate any estates.[6] Other positions created and filled by the group included: George Le Breton as Clerk of the Courts and Public Recorder; William Johnson as High Sheriff; William McCarty, Pierre Billique, and Havier Laderant as constables.[6]
[edit] Participants
The following people participated in these early meetings: François Norbert Blanchet, William J. Bailey, Mr. Charlevon, David Donpierre, Gustavus Hines, William Johnson, Jason Lee, Etienne Lucie, Robert Moore, J.L. Parrish, Sidney Smith, and David Leslie.[7]
[edit] 1842
In Oregon City at the Oregon Lyceum pioneers debated the aspects of forming a government or forming an independent country.[8] Those favoring an independent nation were led by the British faction and Dr. McLoughlin, while George Abernethy led those opposed to a new country.[8] Ultimately those favoring waiting for the United States to take ownership of the region won out in the debates.[8] On September 22, 1842, Dr. Elijah White organized and spoke at a meeting at Champoeg.[4] His purpose was to inform the settlers that he had been commissioned by the United States War Department as an sub-Indian Agent.[4] Additionally, he implied that the pioneers could select him as a magistrate for the region.[4] However, White was not popular among the settlers and this helped lead to additionally discussions about forming a government.[4]
[edit] 1843
On February 1, 1843, residents of the Willamette Valley met at the Oregon Institute in present day Salem, Oregon to discuss the issue of predatory animals attacking livestock and create a system of bounties on those wild animals in the First Wolf Meeting.[2] The Second Wolf Meeting took place on March 6, 1843, and set in motion the organizing of a provisional government.[4] At this meeting bounties were set up to deal with the preditory animals that were attacking livestock.[3] The last organizational meeting started May 2, 1843, where the pioneers voted on whether to create a provisional government.[2] A mural of the 1843 meeting is on the wall in the House of Representatives in the Oregon State Capitol Building in Salem, Oregon.
[edit] Decisions
Voted May 2, to create a provisional government with various powers to regulate the populace of the Oregon Country. The vote is recorded as 52 to 50 in favor of the creation of the government, but there is some controversy as to the accuracy of the count and who actually voted in favor of adoption (no controversy on a majority vote).[3]
Those voting for the creation of the provisional government:[9]
| Pleasant M. Armstrong | Ira Babcock | Dr. William J. Bailey | Alanson Beers |
| J.C. Bridges | Hugh Burns | Charles Campo | William Cannon |
| Harvey Clark | Medorem Crawford | Amos Cook | Allen J. Davie |
| William M. Doughty | George W. Ebberts | Francis Fletcher | George Gay |
| Joseph Gale | William H. Gray | John S. Griffin | Webley John Hauxhurst |
| David Hill | Joseph Holman | John Howard | Gustavus Hines |
| Thomas J. Hubbard | William Johnson | L.H. Judson | George W. Le Breton |
| David Leslie | Reuben Lewis | Étienne Lucier | François X. Matthieu |
| Joseph Meek | William McCarty | Charles McKay | Robert Moore |
| John L. Morrison | Robert Newell | James A. O’Neil | J.L. Parrish |
| John Edmunds Pickernell | James R. Robb | Osborne Russell | Robert Shortess |
| Alvin T. Smith | Sidney Smith | Solomon H. Smith | Calvin Tibbetts |
| David Weston | Caleb Wilkins | A.E. Wilson | W.H. Willson |
Those voting against the creation of the provisional government:[4]
| Alexis Aubichon | Jen B. Aubichon | Louis Ausant | Cyfois Bargeau | Pierre Beleque |
| Pascal Biscornais | Louis Boivers | Antoine Bonenfant | Alexis Briscbois | Oliver Briscbois |
| Joseph Brunelle | Andre Chalifoux | Adolph Chamberlain | Joseph Cornoyer | Joseph Delard |
| Pierre Depot | Joseph Despart | David Donpierre | Andre Dubois | Jean B. Ducharme |
| Antoine Felice | Louis Forcier | Luc Gagnon | Pierre Gauthier | Joseph Gervais |
| Jean Gingras | Étienne Gregoire | Andre La Chapelle | Louis La Bonte | Xavier Laderout |
| Michel La Framboise | Jean B. Lalcoure | Augustin Lambert | Alexis La Prate | Andre Longtain |
| Moyse Lore | Joseph Matte | Fabien Maloin | David Mongrain | Pierre Papin |
| Pierre Pariseau | Augustin Remon | Thomas Roi | Charles Rondeau | Andre Sanders |
| Gideon Senecalle | Jacques Servant | Louis B. Van Dalle |
After this vote, the people elected members for a legislative committee to draft a working government. The members selected were: Hill, Shortess, Newell, Beers, Hubbard, Gray, Moore, O’Neil, and Doty.[3]
Other offices elected on May 2:[3]
| Position | Name |
| Supreme Judge | A.E. Wilson |
| Court Clerk & Recorder | George W. LeBreton |
| Sheriff | Joseph L. Meek |
| Treasurer | W.H. Willson |
The entire territory was then divided into four administrative districts:[3] Tuality, Yam Hill, Clackamas, and Champoick. Tuality (also Twality, and later Washington County) was the area north of the Yamhill Valley (all the way to present Alaska) and west of the Willamette River to the Pacific Ocean. Yam Hill (also Yamhill) was then south of Tuality all the way to the California border and also west of the Willamette to the ocean. Clackamas (also Klackamas) was north of the Champoick district with a northern boundary of 54’40” and was then east of the Willamette to the Rocky Mountains. Champoick was the remainder of the area, south of Clackamas to California and east of the Willamette to the Rockies.
Adopted the original Organic Laws of Oregon on July 5 that was modeled after the Ordinance of 1787 and Iowa’s Organic Law, laying out the framework for a working government with the three traditional branches of government.[4] Designed to operate until another country extended its laws over the region, with the implication being that it would be the United States.[4] Is the de facto first Oregon constitution.
[edit] Elections
Created the First Executive Committee with Joseph Gale, David Hill, and Alanson Beers elected as the committee members to serve in place of a governor.[10]
[edit] Participants
[edit] Subsequent History
The Provisional Government of Oregon operated as a fully functioning government that taxed, built roads, authorized ferries, passed laws, and even waged war in the Cayuse War. Over the next few years the boundary dispute with Great Britain was settled in 1846, which reduced the area claimed as governed by the provisional government. Then a new territorial government was formed after 1848 when Oregon was added as a United States territory. The presidentially appointed governor of Oregon Joseph Lane arrived March 3, 1849 and he officially ended the provisional government by declaring U.S. laws and government as in effect over the territory.[3]
[edit] See Also
[edit] External Links
- Oregon Bluebook
- Oregon Bluebook
- Oregon Historical Society
- Oregon Historical Society
- Oregon Historical Society
[edit] References
- ^ Public Meeting at Champoeg, 1843. The Oregon History Project. Oregon Historical Society. Retrieved on 2006-11-21.
- ^ a b c d e Beginnings of Self-Government. Settling the Oregon Country. End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Retrieved on 2006-11-21.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Clarke, S.A. (1905). Pioneer Days of Oregon History. J.K. Gill Company.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hussey, John A. (1967). Champoeg: Place of Transition, A Disputed History. Oregon Historical Society.
- ^ a b Ewing Young Route. Oregon's Historic Trails. End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Retrieved on 2006-12-21.
- ^ a b Brown, J. Henry (1892). Brown’s Political History of Oregon: Provisional Governement. Wiley B. Allen.
- ^ Oregon Legislative Assembly (Pre-Provisional) 1841 Meetings
- ^ a b c Hines, Joseph Wilkinson. CHAPTER VIII. The Provisional Government.. Touching incidents in the life and labors of a pioneer on the Pacific coast since 1853. Library of Congress. Retrieved on 2007-02-11.
- ^ (1917) Oregon Blue Book: 1917-1918. Oregon Secretary of State.
- ^ The First Men In Charge. Settling the Oregon Country. End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Retrieved on 2006-11-21.
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Pioneer History of Oregon (1806–1890) |
|---|---|
| Topics |
Oregon Country · Oregon Treaty · Oregon missionaries · Executive Committee · Oregon Trail · Oregon boundary dispute · Pacific Fur Company · Provisional Government of Oregon · Hudson's Bay Company |
| Events |
Treaty of 1818 · Russo-American Treaty · Champoeg Meetings · Whitman massacre · Donation Land Claim Act |
| Places |
Fort Astoria · Oregon Mission · Fort Vancouver · Champoeg, Oregon · Fort William · Barlow Road · Whitman Mission |
| People |
George Abernethy · Sam Barlow · Tabitha Brown · Abigail Scott Duniway · Philip Foster · Peter French · Joseph Gale · William Gilpin · David Hill · Jason Lee · Asa Lovejoy · John McLoughlin · Joseph Meek · Ezra Meeker · John Minto · Joel Palmer · Sager orphans · Henry H. Spalding · Marcus Whitman · Narcissa Whitman · Ewing Young |
| Oregon History |
Native Peoples History · History to 1806 · Pioneer History · Modern History |
