William P. Bryant

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William P. Bryant
1st Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
In office 1848 – 1850
Preceded by	(none)
Succeeded by	Thomas Nelson
1st Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court
In office 1848 – 1850
Appointed by	James K. Polk
Preceded by	(none)
Succeeded by	Thomas Nelson

William P. Bryant was the first Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. President James K. Polk appointed Bryant, of Indiana, once the Oregon Territory was established in 1848.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Oregon 3 Oregon Supreme Court 4 References

[edit] Early life

Bryant was originally from Indiana. He migrated to the Oregon Territory in 1849, arriving April 9.^[1]

[edit] Oregon

While in Oregon, Bryant purchased an island and milling operation from George Abernethy in the Willamette River called Abernethy’s Island.^[1] However, the island near Oregon City was previously claimed by Doctor John McLoughlin.^[1] Later this became an issue between McLoughlin and Samuel R. Thurston.^[1] Thurston had worked the Donation Land Claim Act in Congress to exclude McLoughlin’s claim to Oregon City and the island.^[1]

[edit] Oregon Supreme Court

On August 14, 1848, Bryant was nominated by President Polk to be “chief justice of the supreme court of the United States for the Territory of Oregon” and was subsequently unanimously confirmed by the Senate.^[2]

As the only federal judge in the territory, Bryant presided over the first criminal trial in what is now the state of Washington in 1849.^[3] At that time the Oregon Territory encompassed all of present states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming. On May 1, 1849 a group of roughly 100 Snoqualmie and Skewahamish tribesmen showed up at Fort Nisqually.^[3] Fort Nisqually at this time was a fur trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company. The Native Americans were not there to attack, but eventually an American named Leander Wallace was killed by the natives.^[3]

Following the murder, U.S. troops were deployed and demanded the tribes turn over the killers.^[3] Only after giving the tribe’s chief 80 blankets did they turn over anyone.^[3] These six Snoqualmies were charged with murder and Justice Bryant began the trial on October 1, 1849, at Fort Steilacoom after a grand jury returned indictments for all six.^[3] The outcome was that two, Kussus and Quallalwowt, were convicted of the murder and sentenced to hanging on October 2.^[3] On October 3, the two were hanged by U.S. Marshal Joseph L. Meek .^[3] The total cost of the trial was $2,379.54, which included the cost of the 80 blankets.^[3]

The next year Chief Justice Bryant resigned from the court.^[4] His resignation was effective January 1, 1851, and he then returned east.^[5]

[edit] References

	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