As school children, we bused out on field trips to Champoeg State Park to see where Oregon was “born”. Most of us kids had little idea of the events which transpired here. We, like our parents, also lack a fundamental knowledge of a history of the times in which the meetings and subsequent events took place. The Provisional Government of Oregon simply did not mean much then or later.
But Champoeg gave the Northwest got its first version of a Eurocentric government. The United States and England decided to agree to not agree in 1818 forming a condominium of political control over the vast region. A major problem with the agreement, no mention made of internal government. That was not much of a problem when the only Europeans in the region were busy searching for animal pelts. However, events took a big turn as the 1830’s became the 1840’s and American settlers began coming onto the scene.
A CONDOMINIUM IN THE NORTHWEST
With the War of 1812 behind them, on 20 October 1818, the United States and the United Kingdom signed the Convention of 1818. This left a huge territory from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean from the 42°N latitude to 54°40’N latitude open to both nations. While land could be claimed, the treaty constrained both nations from accelerating settlement of the region working to the advantage of the Hudson’s Bay Company, by far the dominant player on the scene at the time. The treaty signed by both countries lasted for ten years after which both sides could further reflect. In 1827, the treaty gained another ten years of life.
By treaty, the political sovereignty over the region became shared by both countries. Condominiums are rare in the world of international law because cooperation between the two countries must be ongoing. If the cooperation fails, the whole thing falls apart.
For the first ten years life went on fairly easily. The country was new to both countries. The US gained claim by the explorations of Robert Gray and Lewis and Clark. Former Spanish claims to the west coast of North America north of the 42°parallel transferred to the U.S. through the 1819 Adams-Onis Treaty – that treaty’s main goal included the immediate gain of Florida to the American States.
British claims came through the explorations of James Cook and his successors, men like John Mears and George Vancouver. Also, two years after Lewis and Clark, David Thompson from the North West Company of Montreal navigated the length of the Columbia River from its headwaters it the Rocky Mountains, claiming land for Britain along the way.
FIRST EUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS
FORT GEORGE
The first constructed European site in the region was American. This, the development of the fur-trading post, Fort Astoria, of the Pacific Fur Company commissioned by John Jacob Astor in 1810-1811. The timing of the building was bad with the onset of the War of 1812. Astor, realizing he could not hold onto the post with the war, sold out to the North West Company. On 30 November 1813, Captain William Black with the HMS Racoon crossed the Columbia River bar.
Since the post was already owned by a British firm, the fort could not be captured as a prize of war. Black ran up a flag, anyway, taking possession on 12 December 1813 renaming it Fort George (hence the name of Astoria’s fine brewery). The treaty ending the war, the Treaty of Ghent, restored all possessions to their original owners. The U.S. informed the English of their intention to restore American control over the fort in 1817. However, the 1818 treaty confirmed North West Company’s ownership of the post.
Fort George served the company as a main collection point for furs from the Columbia Basin between 1813 to 1824. Stationed at the post were 150 men – French Canadian – with an additional thirty Hawaiian workers. Hudson’s Bay Company – HBC – absorbed the North West Company in 1821. HBC decided to move their operations control post upstream to Fort Vancouver. This site better suited for cultivation serving for the post’s self-sufficiency and more protected from possible attacks from the sea. With that, Fort George retreated into the mists of time as power swam upstream.
FORT VANCOUVER
The post at Fort Vancouver, overseen by the HBC Chief Factor John McLoughlin, grew. It became the center of European civilization for the Oregon Country – known as the Columbia District on the British side. Culturally diverse with employees including people from England, Scotland, former French Canada, Ireland, Hawaii and over thirty Native American groups. Cultivated lands grew from 120 acres in 1829 to 1,420 acres in 1846. Dairy, livestock, flour mills were added to the new post along with a small shipbuilding program and a school for the children of employees.
John Jacob Astor remained a significant player in the fur trade after his removal from the Oregon Country in 1813. Following the war, Congress forbade foreign traders from operating on American territory. His fur trading enterprise, now the American Fur Company, thrived in American-controlled territories east of the Rocky Mountains. With fur availability declining over the years of the 1820 – 1830’s, HBC attempted to keep American fur traders out of the region by depleting the source of fur in the Snake River region. Those attempts highlighted by the expeditions of Peter Skene Ogden.
ENTER THE MISSIONARIES
While the fur trade wars went on, churches in the U.S. became convinced Native Americans desired Christianity. Jason Lee, a New York Methodist minister, became the first missionary to Oregon in 1834. They came with a small party outfitted by Nathaniel Wyeth across the Rockies. Then venturing down the Snake to the HBC post at Fort Nez Percés and eventually Fort Vancouver. Wyeth tried to begin fur operations south of the Columbia River and into the Snake River region. He established outposts at Fort Hall in the Snake and Fort William on what is Sauvie Island today. His operations ran afoul of HBC dominance and Wyeth sold out his posts to the HBC in 1837.
Jason Lee, on the other hand, remained. Originally, he planned to be a missionary to the Flathead tribes in the Rockies but with McLoughlin’s advice, Lee settled on building his mission in the Willamette Valley. He created his post at Mission Bottom near today’s Wheatland Ferry a few miles downstream from Salem.
He quickly noted the land he settled in to be an area of depopulation. Diseases created havoc among the Native populations. Lee noted in 1836 “unless the God of heaven undertake their cause, they must perish from off the face of the Earth, and their name blotted out from under heaven.” Like other missionaries such as Marcus Whitman, Lee eventually changed his mission. From a mission converting Native Americans to Christianity, the new theme saw Oregon as a home for future white civilization.
MISSION BOTTOM AND THE “GREAT REINFORCEMENT”
In the region of Mission Bottom north to the Willamette Falls, includes an area known as the French Prairie, a flat rich agricultural area settled by several French-Canadian retired HBC employees and the families. It was to these areas new American settlers coming to the valley also settled. These settlers were whom Lee began to focus a newer message from.
Lee returned to the East in 1838. The Methodist Board of Managers wanted a fuller description of the Mission activities accounted. Lee also provided Congress with a petition from residents in the Willamette Valley. The petition requested the establishment of American rule over the Oregon Country south of the Columbia River. As he traveled to the East, Lee gathered funds for his missionary work. Lee worked hard promoting Oregon as a destination for settlers. He convinced the Board to allow the recruitment of laymen with valuable skills such as business operations, blacksmith, mill operators, all to come and further fill out the mission in Oregon. In addition to the laymen, Lee recruited an additional five missionaries. All sailed on the Lausanne around Cape Horn as part of the “Great Reinforcement” reaching Oregon 1 June 1840.
Lee would soon face dismissal from his position due to complaints about record keeping and his declining interest in converting the Native peoples. But Lee had built up an American counterpoint by that time in the Willamette Valley to the HBC and French-Canadian farmers. That counterpoint dramatically increased as time went on. Even so, the total American population in Oregon was only 137 versus 63 French-Canadians.
POPULATION FLUXES
HBC attempted too late to turn the tables on settlements. Previous to 1841, HBC discouraged settlers because they conflicted with the main mission of the company – to acquire furs. From the Red River Colony – today, mainly the province of Manitoba – almost 200 settlers came to Fort Vancouver in an attempt to counter American settlement. This attempt at retaining political control through feet on the ground proved too little, too late. In contrast, between 700 and 1,000 American emigrants came to Oregon in the 1843 “Great Migration”.
With more and more people coming to the Oregon Country, a need for some form of government arose. American settlers influenced by the Methodist ministers began writing laws and electing officers in 1841. The precipitating factor was the problem of settling of the will of Ewing Young, a recent emigrant who died without heirs. Also, a fear existed of the economic power of the HBC, especially represented by John McLoughlin, seen as an obstacle to American control.
THE WOLF MEETINGS
Two meetings were held in February and March 1843 to address a plan to deal with wolves and other predation to emigrant livestock. A committee of twelve decided only a governmental structure could deal adequately with the problem.
From the Wolf Meetings, more meetings were proposed. Held at Champoeg, the site a main landing point along the Willamette central to trails into the French Prairie and other settlements beginning to appear in the valley. Meeting attendance was encouraged to the French-Canadian and other former HBC workers by McLoughlin. Initially, the only accomplishment included a probate judge appointed to determine what to do with Young’s estate. The meetings went on into May, however, with ideas changing. Americans looked to develop a government while the ex-HBC members saw such a development as only solidifying American claims to the Oregon Country. 2 May 1843, through a slender majority, American settlers voted to form a provisional government for Oregon. The laws drawn up into an Organic Act used Iowa’s Organic Law and the American Northwest Ordinance of 1781 as a base.
PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT APPEARS ONSTAGE
The Organic Act established a provisional government consisting of a three-man executive committee with a secretary, treasurer and a nine-man legislative committee. All offices became held by Americans. The executive branch later modified into a single man as governor which took place in 1845. The Provisional Legislature and new governor moved to Oregon City in 1845 with the town growing to 687 by 1850, by far the largest settlement in the Oregon Country.
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Six different men served the Executive Committee during its two years of existence until George Abernethy became the sole governor at the end of 1845. Abernethy won re-election in 1847 serving as the only governor during the era of the Provisional Government of Oregon. He acted to build roads, levy taxes and send men to lobby Congress for official territorial status. He also became a member of the Oregon Exchange Company, a mainly private organization developed to establish a mint to create coins in an attempt to fund expenses for the Cayuse War.
Originally, Abernethy came to Oregon as part of the “Great Reinforcement”. He was in charge of temporal activities first at Mission Bottom and then, the Mission store at Chemeketa (Salem). Abernethy represented the high point for men of the so-called Mission Party which dominated politics during the years of the Provisional Government.
JUDICIAL BRANCH
In addition to the legislature and executive branches, a judiciary branch arose with one Supreme judge and two justices of the peace. The former position was elected by the people, though the legislature could appoint someone if a replacement was needed. Differences in jurisdiction over legal matters was delineated between the upper and lower courts.
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The region divided into four administrative districts – Yamhill, Champooick, Twality and Clackamas. No attempts were made to control regions north of the Columbia River due to the influence of the HBC. The Columbia River, in June 1844, became the north border of the Provisional Government for Oregon though that expanded to the 54°40’N parallel in December reflecting an increase of awareness of the Oregon boundary debates. The districts gained new districts which became renamed into counties near the end of 1845 – Clatsop, Vancouver, Linn, Clark, Polk and Benton.
The original Legislature Committee consisted of nine members elected from the four districts apportioned by population with meetings in June and December of each year proscribed. The number of representatives increased to a minimum of13 (maximum of 61) with the body’s title change to the House of Representatives. New elections held with a special session run during August 1845. Included in the business was a ban on hard liquor, incorporation of Oregon City, development of the Oregon Institute (today, Willamette University) and approval for the toll road around Mt. Hood – the Barlow Road.
The session supposed to happen in December of 1848 did not take place since so many representatives were in California looking for gold. The last session allowed for minting of coins which created the short-lived Beaver Coins, rescinded shortly thereafter by the arrival of the new territorial governor, Joseph Lane.
LAWS OF THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT
For the next almost six years, the Provisional Government of Oregon set down laws to rule over the Country. A major law gave the right to claim 320 acres of land by any white male who made improvements to the land while 640 acres became available for a wedded couple. This act later became the heart of the U.S. Congressional Donation Land Claim Act of 1850. Among the rights of the government included to the right to organize and call out a militia as needed.
Another more controversial measure decided African Americans could not settle in the Oregon Country. Punishment included whipping every six months to freedmen who disobeyed. This law was never enforced and was struck down in July 1845. Later, the Territorial legislature would bring back act in a slightly different form in 1849. Distilled alcohol sale became banned in 1844. This ban resulted from the power of the Mission Party. The informal Mission Party dominated politics in the Provisional era.
TAXING CONUNDRUM
Taxes were to be voluntary donations at first. With only scant funds accrued, that changed in 1844, to a tax on real estate and personal property leveled in 1844. Failure to pay resulted in disenfranchisement. The sheriffs – like Joseph Meek – acted as tax collectors keeping a small amount for their efforts. Due to a lack of coinage in circulation in the Oregon Country, taxes were generally paid in the form of wheat or other agricultural products. Those measures lasted until the end of 1847. Then wheat was removed as legal tender with gold, silver and treasury drafts instituted as valid currency. Poll taxes became instituted in addition in 1845. Total tax collected did not keep up with spending. Spending became a serious problem especially with the onset of the Cayuse War at the end of 1847.
With taxation, the legislature created the Oregon Rangers. This militia body created to protect the white community from potentially hostile Native groups. That body existed only until June 1846. At the same time the Oregon Treaty came into effect. After this new treaty, the entirety of the Oregon Country south of the 49°N parallel became United States owned. A second militia group was called up in response to the Whitman killings of December 1847 – the Oregon Rifles.
HBC COMES ON BOARD
Slowly, against the wishes of some American members, the HBC incorporated into the idea of the Provisional Government of Oregon. The company paid taxes and some employees became part of the government. Frances Ermatinger, a chief trader for HBC gained election to Treasurer via the French-Canadian vote. James Douglas, another Chief Trader, became a justice for the Vancouver District. Both he and another HBC man, Henry Peers, were elected to the legislature in 1846.
GOVERNMENT REORGANIZATION
Even with the addition of Oregon to the U.S. in 1846, it was not until the problems of the Cayuse War before Congress in Washington, D.C. got around to organizing Oregon into a territory. The delay was due to problems relating to slavery and the issue of potentially additional voting power to non-slave states. President Frederick Pierce appointed Joseph Lane as governor of the new territory. Lane came cross country with Joseph Meek, the new Territorial Marshal, arriving in Oregon City 2 March 1849. Lane maintained most of the legal code of the Provisional Government of Oregon and that body passed into history.
The mint – illegal under the U.S. constitution which only allowed for a federal mint – created coins containing 8% more gold than U.S. coinage of the time. $5 and $10 Beaver Coins minted during the short operation. Not open until 10 March 1849, eight days after Lane had arrived in Oregon City to take up his duties as territorial governor. With the official U.S. government now in place, the act creating the mint was struck down. Coins in circulation were bought up in exchange for U.S. currency and taken out of circulation.
Oregon underwent several changes as the 19th century went along politically. Discovery-Fur Trade-Condominium-Missions all leading up to the Provisional Government of Oregon of 1843 (other phases included the Territorial/Salem Clique-Civil War-post Civil War-Mitchell/Williams ascendency).
The Provisional Government of Oregon, first try for Eurocentric regional internal rule, lasted from 1843-1848 forebearer to 1859 statehood..