Settling Oregon

Once in Oregon Country, Marcus Whitman and Rev. Spaulding settled deep in the interior on the advice of John McLaughlin, from Hudson Bay Company.  In 1840, Oregon's American population amounted to fewer that 200 people, all of them in Willamette Valley.  Their right to settle there came from the Anglo-American agreement of 1818, but there was no governing body.  There seemed little need for courts or legislature until 1841.

In 1842 a situation arose that changed the need for a legal course of action.  A young, successful cattle rancher named Ewing Young had become the wealthiest American in Willamette Valley.  He also died suddenly without a will.  The question became - who got his property? 

Jason Lee called upon American settlers to meet and create a court to devise a constitution and a legal code.  They were to meet again in 1843.  These first meetings would give Oregon settlers a political structure from which to seek United States annexation.

Back East, missionary reports got wide publicity.  Letters from settlers told of rich land, giving Midwest farmers hope that economic conditions could be better for them and their families.  The Rockies were no longer the barrier to the limit of migration west.  The concept of Manifest Destiny was born - that the republic had a divine mission to spread from coast to coast.

In the spring of 1841, the first wagon train of 69 pioneers set out.  Half arrived in Oregon, the other half in California, but neither arrived with wagons in tow.  The next year, 1842, a group of 100 pioneers traveled from Missouri to Oregon also abandoning their wagons and possessions.  Finally in 1843, Whitman was returning from a trip east and helped guide the first wagon train of almost 1000 pioneers to the Pacific Coast. They arrived with all their wagons and supplies. 
The Great Emigration was in full swing.  By 1850, over 44,000 pioneers had traveled the Oregon Trail.

Next time...Jesuits Among the Native Tribes
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On January 24, 1848, Aamillwright named James Marshall discovers gold along the banks of Sutter’s Creek in California, forever changing the course of history in the American West.

The Great Reinforcement

Jason Lee's early attempts to recruit immigrants to Oregon County was strictly of a religious nature.  In early 1835 he wrote to the Methodist Board of Mission requesting recruits to aid in soul-saving.  Two years passed and a ship appeared at the mouth of the Columbia River with 13 men, women and children on board who were dispatched by the board in response to Lee's request.  One became Lee's wife in 1837 - the first Christian wedding ceremony to take place in Oregon.

The settlers were becoming anxious for the protection of the American flag.  In 1838, Lee traveled from Oregon overland to the East to get the settler's case before the US Congress, to find money, and also new recruits.  He failed of course to make Oregon a territory yet, but 50 people were willing (and eager) to travel west and establish themselves in Lee's area.

On October 9, 1839, these would-be "Oregonians" set sail from New York, arriving at the mouth of the Columbia River seven mouth later.  "The Great Reinforcement" as it became known, firmly established American presence in Oregon Country.  Jason Lee (religion), Nathaniel Wyeth (business), and Hall Jackson Kelley (expansionism) were the seeds to the development of America in the Pacific Northwest.

As a side note- here is a description of a neighbor of Jason Lee, building a home.  They start by living in a tent...

"The rainy season is fast approaching and a house to shelter is needed.  Our house advances slowly - caught in a violent storm drenching our tent, a poor protection.  In a few weeks, all the time hard at it, and the roof was completed, a good chimney, made of sticks and clay, a fireplace at one end.  Floors laid of plank split from the fir, and hewn on the upper side, door procured in the same way and hung on wooden hinges.  Then table, stools, and finally the luxury of chairs added to our self-made comforts.  Our mansion was built of logs 20-30 feet and lighted by four small windows.  The sashes partly made by Mr. Jason Lee with his jack-knife." 

Next time - Thomas Nuttall - Science Explorer
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On this Day in Pioneer History: "On January 5, 1846,  the U.S. House of Representatives passes a resolution calling for an end to British-American sharing of the Oregon region. The United States, one congressman asserted, had “the right of our manifest destiny to spread over our whole continent.”

Heeding the Call

Leading Wyeth's missionary call was 30 year old Jason Lee and his nephew Daniel, both clergymen, along with three layman.  They were charged by the Methodist Board of Missions with locating the supposedly brutal Flatheads who were assumed to flatten their infants foreheads. The Board ordered Lee and company to "live with them, learn their language, preach Christ and introduce schools, agriculture, and the art of cultural life."

The problem was John McLoughlin of the Hudson Bay Company (remember him?) wanted no American missionaries in the interior because Indian resentment might disrupt the beaver trade.  He didn't think he could protect white settlers in remote mountain valleys either.  He sent Lee to the Willamette Valley instead where there were already whites - and maybe a few Indians needing salvation too?

Once settled in Willamette Valley, Lee established a mission school near Salem, Oregon today.  It was a perfect spot for an American colony in Lee's eyes.  He decided his vision was more earthly with the superb soil, moderate climate and trade routes easily accessible.  Hall Jackson Kelley's hopes were reborn in Jason Lee...

Next time...The Great Reinforcement
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Today in Pioneer History: "On January 2, 1890 President Harrison welcomes the first female staffer to the White House, Alice Sanger. Alice Sanger’s appointment may have been an olive branch to the growing women’s suffrage movement that had gathered momentum during Harrison’s presidency