Osborne Russell

Osborne Russell (1814–1892) was a mountain man and politician who helped form the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. He was born in Maine.^[1]

Russell first came to the Oregon Country in 1834 as a member of Nathaniel J. Wyeth's second expedition. He returned to the country in 1842 with the Elijah White party. He participated in the May 2, 1843 Champoeg Meeting, voting in favor of forming a government.^[1] In October of that year he was selected by the First Executive Committee to serve as the supreme judge for the Provisional Government of Oregon and served until May 14, 1844.^[2] In 1844, he was elected to the second Executive Committee of the Provisional Government of Oregon. He was allied with the group that planned to create an independent Republic of the Pacific^{[citation needed]} and thus was unsuccessful in his run for governor of the Provisional Government in 1845, losing to George Abernethy. Russell eventually went to California.^[1]

Osborne Russell was, in many respects, a common mountain man of the day. He was not affluent, he did not covet leadership, nor did his expeditions into the Great American West credit him with significant discoveries adding to the geographic knowledge of the Rocky mountains.

What distinguishes Russell is that he was a keen observer, and managed to keep and preserve a journal (Journal of a Trapper) documenting his exploits in the mountains from 1834 to 1843. Published in 1921, the journal grants readers a look into the day-to-day life of a genuine mountain man, where they found refuge, what types of food they ate, the dangers they faced, and how all of it changed with the seasons.

Works

• Russell, Osborne and Aubrey L. Haines. Journal of a Trapper: In the Rocky Mountains Between 1834 and 1843; Comprising a General Description of the Country, Climate, Rivers, Lakes ISBN 1-58976-052-2

References

External links

• Osborne Russell at Find a Grave

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