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150-623: The Provisional Government of Oregon was a popularly elected settler government created in the Oregon Country , in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Its formation had been advanced at the Champoeg Meetings since February 17, 1841, and it existed from May 2, 1843 until March 3, 1849, and provided a legal system and a common defense amongst the mostly American pioneers settling an area then inhabited by

300-463: A carpenter who had been working on the house, managed to escape the massacre and reach Fort Walla Walla to raise the alarm and get help. From there he tried to get to Fort Vancouver but never arrived. It is speculated that Hall drowned in the Columbia River or was caught and killed. Chief "Beardy" tried in vain to stop the massacre, but did not succeed. He was found crying while riding toward

450-502: A citizen" had to be a part of the military; failure to do so would incur fines. (This remains so under modern Oregon law , though now both sexes are included, and the age range is only 18 to 45.) Under the first Organic Laws, power to call out the militia was vested in the Executive Committee, though any officer of the militia could also call them out in times of insurrection or invasion. In December 1847, after learning of

600-490: A code of laws known as the Organic Law . It included the creation of an executive committee of three, a judiciary, a militia, land laws, and four counties. There was vagueness and confusion over the nature of the 1843 Organic Law, in particular, whether it was constitutional or statutory . In 1844, a new legislative committee decided to consider it statutory. The 1845 Organic Law made additional changes, including allowing

750-551: A demand for Oregonian wheat; proceeds from the sale of barrels of flour amounted to $ 10 per keg in 1847. The start of the Gold Rush caused an immense rise in demand for various products in Californian markets. Economic transactions with the pioneer settlements of Oregon increased greatly, with the number of visiting vessels in 1849 was triple that of the previous eight years. Between 1848 and 1851 Oregon lumber and wheat sent to

900-472: A farmer be hired to work at his station and advise the Cayuse. The Cayuse started to harvest various acreages of crops originally provided to them by Whitman. Despite this, they continued their traditional winter migrations. The ABCFM declared in 1842 that the Cayuse were still " ... addicted to a wandering life". The board said that the natives were "not much inclined to change their mode of life ... " During

1050-608: A governor replaced the committee. The judicial branch had a single Supreme Judge along with several lower courts, and a legislative committee of nine served as a legislature until 1845 when the Oregon House of Representatives was established. A series of frontiersmen assemblies were held over several years across the Willamette Valley , with many on the French Prairie at Champoeg . On February 9, 1841,

1200-458: A granary in Champoeg, where a receipt for its market value was given, valid for use at HBC stores. Another item used for transactions by French-Canadian and later American pioneers were beaver skins. The first Organic Laws only authorised voluntary donations, a measure deemed a "utopian scheme", and provided scant funds. A tax on real estate and personal property was created in 1844, that covered

1350-498: A hotel on wheels during their stay." The Automobile Club of Western Washington encouraged motorists to take the drive over Snoqualmie Pass because of good road conditions. "We have been informed that the maintenance department of the State Highway Commission is arranging to put scraper crews on all the gravel road stretches of the route next week and put a brand new surface on the road for the special benefit of

1500-587: A line extending from its course, and south of the Yamhill River . Champooick District was adjacent to the east, its northern border the confluence of the Pudding and Molalla Rivers. Twality District was directly north of Yamhill District, its eastern border extending from the mouth of the Willamette River. Clackamas District was to contain "all the territory" that was not decreed a part of

1650-433: A little sick ... " During the winter of 1846, Young was employed on the mission sawmill. Whitman gave him instructions to place poisoned meat in the area surrounding Waiilatpu to kill Northwestern wolves . Several Cayuse ate the deadly meat but survived. Tiloukaikt visited Waiilatpu after the people recovered, and said that if any of the sick Cayuse had died, he would have killed Young. Whitman reportedly laughed when told of

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1800-501: A measles epidemic, was not trying to save them but to poison them. The Columbia Plateau tribes believed that the doctor, or shaman , could be killed in retribution if patients died. It is likely that the Cayuse held Whitman responsible for the numerous deaths and therefore felt justified to take his life. The Cayuse feared that he had treated them with strychnine, or that someone from the Hudson's Bay Company had injected strychnine into

1950-518: A message from the government in 1844, the rising settler population was beginning to flourish among the "savages", who were "the chief obstruction to the entrance of civilization" in a land of "ignorance and idolatry". The government had three branches that included a legislature , judiciary, and executive branch. The executive branch was first the Executive Committee , consisting of three members, in effect from 1843 to 1845; in 1845,

2100-616: A northern boundary for Spanish California, nor did it extinguish Spanish rights to the Pacific Northwest. Spain later relinquished any remaining claims to territory north of the 42nd parallel to the United States as part of the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819. In the 1820s, Russia gave up its claims south of 54°40′ and east of the 141st meridian in separate treaties with the United States and Britain. Meanwhile,

2250-544: A party to such provocations. Whitman and his fellow missionaries urged the adjacent Plateau peoples to learn to adopt European-American style agriculture, and settle on subsistence farms. This topic was a common theme in their dispatches to the Secretary of ABCFM, Rev. David Greene. Trying to persuade the Cayuse to abandon their seasonal migrations consumed much of Whitman's time. He believed that if they would cultivate their food supply through farming, they would remain in

2400-543: A pioneer government floundered until travel over the Oregon Trail led to an increase in the American settler population. Initiated by William Gray , the "Wolf Meetings" of early 1843 created a bounty system on predators of settler livestock. Further discussions began among the settlers until a gathering was held at Champoeg on May 2, with under 150 Americans and French-Canadians participating. The proposal for forming

2550-465: A prized item by settlers for example, during a sale of lots in Oregon City a property manager offered a discount of 50% if paid in specie. A traveler who visited Oregon before the arrival of American merchants reported that HBC stores sold goods at rates lower than in the United States. As merchants from the United States became established in the region, they chaffed under the economic hegemony of

2700-601: A provisional government at Champoeg . Political pressure in the United States urged the occupation of all the Oregon Country. Expansionists in the American South wanted to annex Texas , while their counterparts in the northeast wanted to annex the Oregon Country. It was seen as significant that the expansions be parallel, as the relative proximity to other states and territories made it appear likely that Texas would be pro-slavery and Oregon against slavery. In

2850-762: A provisional government was tabled and voted on twice. The first vote rejected the presented report due to the inclusion of a governor, with a second vote on each individual item proposed. On July 5, 1843, the Organic Laws of Oregon , modeled after Iowa's Organic Law and the Ordinance of 1787 , were adopted by colonists of the Willamette Valley, establishing the Provisional Government of Oregon. The government was, according to pioneers Overton Johnson and William H. Winter , intended from

3000-512: A replacement if needed. This Supreme Court had original and appellate jurisdiction over legal matters, whereas the lower probate court and justice courts that were also created could only hear original jurisdictional matters when the amount in controversy was less than $ 50 and did not involve land disputes. Some judges under the Provisional Government were Nathaniel Ford , Peter H. Burnett , Osborne Russell , Ira L. Babcock , and future United States Senator James W. Nesmith . During its existence

3150-519: A river flowing to the west named Ouaricon . This theory was endorsed in Oregon Geographic Names as "the most plausible explanation". George Vancouver explored Puget Sound in 1792. Vancouver claimed it for Great Britain on June 4, 1792, naming it for one of his officers, Lieutenant Peter Puget . Alexander Mackenzie was the first European to cross North America by land north of New Spain, arriving at Bella Coola on what

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3300-476: A room was established specifically for Indigenous that the missionaries would "not permit them to go into the other part of the house at all ... ". According to Narcissa, the Natives were "so filthy they make a great deal of cleaning wherever they go ... " She wrote that "we have come to elevate them and not to suffer ourselves to sink down to their standard." In the beginning of 1842, when the Cayuse returned to

3450-726: A third of that year's expenses. The next year the property tax was doubled to .0025% and a 50¢ poll tax was levied as well, with failure to pay resulting in disenfranchisement . Sheriffs acted as tax collectors, but their position was made difficult due to the poverty or unwillingness of many colonists to pay what was owed. Taxes were paid in wheat and gathered at appointed locations for the district, largely HBC warehouses. A small amount of silver coins from Peru and Mexico freely circulated as legal tender. Minor financial agreements were completed in lieu of currency with assorted agricultural products, such as "wheat, hides, tallow, beef, pork, butter, lard, peas, lumber and other articles of export of

3600-608: A three-person committee to a single governor; this change took effect in 1845. When appealing for military aid from the American Government in the aftermath of the Whitman massacre , the settlers detailed the structural weaknesses of the Provisional Government: The very nature of our compact formed between the citizens of a republic and the subjects and official representatives of a monarchy,

3750-505: A thriving colony of mixed origin, including Scottish Canadians and Scots , English , French Canadians , Hawaiians , Algonkians , and Iroquois , as well as the offspring of company employees who had intermarried with various local native populations. Astor continued to compete for Oregon Country furs through his American Fur Company operations in the Rockies. In the 1820s, a few American explorers and traders visited this land beyond

3900-469: A variety of other kinds of woods. Between these high lands lie what is called the valley of the Wallamitte [ sic ], the frequented haunts of innumerable herds of elk and deer ... In ascending the river, the surrounding country is most delightful, and the first barrier to be met with is about forty miles up from its mouth. Here the navigation is interrupted by a ledge of rocks, running across

4050-554: Is considering removal of the statue, while in 2021, Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation to remove and replace the statue of Whitman in Statuary Hall with a statue honoring tribal treaty activist Billy Frank Jr. After some persuasion by Chuck Sams , the first Native American director of the National Park Service (NPS), Whitman College announced that they will offer five full scholarships to students from

4200-613: Is now the central coast of British Columbia in 1793. From 1805 to 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explored the territory of the United States on the Lewis and Clark Expedition . David Thompson , working for the Montreal -based North West Company , explored much of the region beginning in 1807 with his friend and colleague Simon Fraser , following the Fraser River to its mouth in 1808, attempting to ascertain whether it

4350-442: Is such that the ties of political union could not be drawn so closely as to produce that stability and strength sufficient to form an efficient government. This union between democrats of a republic and wealthy aristocratic subjects of a monarchy could not be formed without reserving to themselves the right of allegiance to their respective governments. Political jealousy and strong party feeling have tended to thwart and render impotent

4500-473: The Beaver had shown the growing value of coal economically and strategically. A general HBC shift toward Pacific shipping and away from the interior of the continent made Victoria Harbour much more suitable than Fort Vancouver's location on the Columbia River. The Columbia Bar at the river's mouth was dangerous and routinely meant weeks or months of waiting for ships to cross. The largest ships could not enter

4650-514: The 1844 U.S. Presidential election , the Democrats had called for expansion into both areas. After being elected president, however, James K. Polk supported the 49th parallel as a northern limit for U.S. annexation in Oregon Country. Polk's uncompromising support for expansion into Texas and relative silence on the Oregon boundary dispute led to the phrase "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!" referring to

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4800-778: The 1844 U.S. presidential election , the United Kingdom and the United States agreed to settle the problem with the Oregon Treaty in 1846. It established the British-American boundary at the 49th parallel (except Vancouver Island ). With the end of joint occupancy, the region south of the 49th parallel became Oregon Territory in the United States while the northern portion became part of the British colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island . The area, which once encompassed Oregon Country, now lies within

4950-543: The Cockstock Incident in 1844, the legislature decreed that African Americans could not reside in the Oregon Country, only David Hill and Asa Lovejoy voting against the bill. The punishment for any freemen was to be administered every six months of their residency being "not less than twenty nor more than thirty-nine stripes". The law was never actually enforced and was struck down in July 1845. However, in 1849

5100-668: The Columbia Plateau , but offered material support for their venture regardless. In particular, he allowed the women to reside at Fort Vancouver that winter as the men went to begin work on constructing the Waiilatpu Mission. Because the beaver population of the Columbian Plateau had declined, British fur trading activities were being curtailed. Despite this, the HBC practices during previous decades shaped

5250-484: The Kootenai River and Columbia River following the southern portion of the well-established York Factory Express trade route. The Canadian effort proved to be too little, too late. In what was dubbed " The Great Migration of 1843 " or the "Wagon Train of 1843", an estimated 700 to 1,000 American emigrants came to Oregon, decisively tipping the balance. In 1843, settlers in the Willamette Valley established

5400-634: The Mexican–American War . In 1805, the American Lewis and Clark Expedition marked the first official American exploration of the area, creating the first temporary settlement of Euro-Americans in the area near the mouth of the Columbia River at Fort Clatsop . Two years later, in 1807, David Thompson of the Montreal-based North West Company penetrated the Oregon Country from the north via Athabasca Pass , near

5550-489: The Ordinance of 1787 , creating the de facto first Oregon constitution. Scholars and historians have appraised the First Organic Laws as being "very crude and unsatisfactory", not allowing for an effective government body to function. Over the course of nearly six years under the provisional government, the settlers passed numerous laws. One law allowed people to claim 640 acres (2.6 km) if they improved

5700-667: The Rocky Mountains into portions of the modern states of Idaho , Oregon , and Washington to locate potential mission locations. Parker hired a translator from Pierre-Chrysologue Pambrun , manager of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) trading post Fort Nez Percés . He wanted help in consulting with the elite of the Liksiyu (Cayuse) and Niimíipu (Nez Perce) in order to identify particular places for missions and Christian proselytizing. During specific negotiations over what became

5850-657: The Ukase of 1821 , which was quickly challenged by the other powers and withdrawn to 54°40′N by separate treaties with the U.S. and Britain in 1824 and 1825, respectively. Spain gave up its claims of exclusivity via the Nootka Conventions of the 1790s. In the Nootka Conventions, which followed the Nootka Crisis , Spain granted Britain rights to the Pacific Northwest. However, it did not establish

6000-591: The Umatilla Reservation where Cayuse Tribal members live. Whitman Mission National Historic Site was established in 1936 to preserve the location of the mission and surrounding land. In 1997, the NPS stopped referring to the historical event as the "Whitman massacre" calling it the "Tragedy at Waiilatpu" in an attempt to more neutrally and holistically describe not only the murder of the Whitmans, but

6150-736: The United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcated by the Treaty of 1818 , consisted of the land north of 42° N latitude , south of 54°40′ N latitude, and west of the Rocky Mountains down to the Pacific Ocean and east to the Continental Divide . Article III of the 1818 treaty gave joint control to both nations for ten years, allowed land to be claimed, and guaranteed free navigation to all mercantile trade. However, both countries disputed

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6300-612: The Whitman Massacre from HBC Chief Factor James Douglas , Governor Abernethy and the legislature met to discuss the situation. Major Henry A. G. Lee was placed in charge of a company called the Oregon Rifles on December 8 and was ordered to The Dalles . At that location the force established Fort Lee on December 21. An additional force of 500 men was to meet in Oregon City by December 25. This group prosecuted

6450-640: The Whitman Mission , six miles from the site of the present-day city of Walla Walla, Washington , Parker told the assembled Cayuse men that: I do not intend to take your lands for nothing. After the Doctor [Whitman] is come, [ sic ] there will come every year a big ship, loaded with goods to be divided among the Indians. Those goods will not be sold, but given to you. The missionaries will bring you plows and hoes, to teach you how to cultivate

6600-494: The arcades . These commonalities include a large number of actor/participants, multiple stage/tableaux settings, and the propagation of ideological concerns. The Pageant contributed to a narrative that divine providence had ensured the success of European settlers over Native Americans in the conquest of western lands. Situated in Eastern Washington 250 miles east of the ports of Seattle and Portland , Walla Walla

6750-736: The dispute between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United States, by dividing the Oregon Country at the 49th parallel. This extended U.S. sovereignty over the region, but effective control would not occur until government officials arrived from the United States. Two years later, on August 14, 1848, the United States Congress created the Oregon Territory ; this territory included today's states of Oregon , Washington , and Idaho , and parts of Montana and Wyoming . Appointed Governor of

6900-465: The maritime fur trade , with many vessels between the 1790s and 1810s coming from Boston . The Hudson's Bay Company , whose Columbia Department comprised most of the Oregon Country and north into New Caledonia and beyond 54°40′ N, with operations reaching tributaries of the Yukon River , managed and represented British interests in the region. After the dispute became an election issue in

7050-413: The 49th parallel, excluding Vancouver Island. Despite McLoughlin's stalling, the HBC had begun the process of shifting away from Fort Vancouver and toward Vancouver Island and the northern coast in the 1830s. The increasing number of American settlers arriving in the Willamette Valley after 1840 served to make the need more pressing. In 1848, the U.S. portion of the Oregon Country was formally organized as

7200-407: The Cayuse diet and lifestyle. He asked to be supplied with a large stockpile of agricultural equipment, so that he could lend it to interested Cayuse. He also needed machinery to use in a grist mill to process any wheat produced. Whitman believed that a mill would be another incentive for the Cayuse nation to stay near Waiilaptu. To allow him some freedom from secular tasks, Whitman began to ask that

7350-760: The Cayuse for how exchanges and dialogue with whites would operate. Primarily the early Euro-Americans engaged in the North American fur trade and the maritime fur trade . Marine captains regularly gave small gifts to indigenous merchants as a means to encourage commercial transactions. Later land-based trading posts, operated by the Pacific Fur Company , the North West Company , and the Hudson's Bay Company , regularized economic and cultural exchanges, including gift giving. Interactions were not always peaceful. Native Americans suspected that

7500-413: The Cayuse leader impeded Gray's cutting of timber intended for various buildings at Waiilatpu. He demanded payment for the lumber and firewood gathered by the missionaries. These measures were intended to delay the use of the wood resources, as a settler in the Willamette Valley had suggested to the noble that he would establish a trading post in the vicinity. During 1841, Tiloukaikt kept his horses within

7650-421: The Cayuse was the missionaries' use of poisons. John Young, an immigrant from the United States, reported two cases in particular that strained relations. In 1840, he was warned by William Gray of the mission melon patch, the larger of them poisoned. This was from Cayuse taking the produce, to safeguard the patch Gray stated that he " ... put a little poison ... in order that the Indians who will eat them might be

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7800-675: The Columbia River "hurricane river" le fleuve d'ouragan , because of the strong winds of the Columbia Gorge . George R. Stewart argues in a 1944 article in American Speech that the name came from an engraver's error in a French map published in the early 18th century, on which the Ouisiconsink ( Wisconsin River ) was spelled Ouaricon-sint , broken on two lines with the -sint below, so that there appeared to be

7950-510: The Columbia River by David Thompson and on prior discovery and exploration along the coast. Spain's claim was based on the Inter caetera and Treaty of Tordesillas of 1493–94, as well as explorations of the Pacific coast in the late 18th century. Russia based its claim on its explorations and trading activities in the region. It asserted its ownership of the region north of the 51st parallel by

8100-481: The Columbia River, then under the influence of the Hudson's Bay Company through Fort Vancouver . In June 1844 the Columbia River was declared as the northern border of the Provisional Government, but by December the most expansive American claim in the Oregon boundary dispute of Parallel 54°40′ north was adopted. On December 22, 1845 districts were renamed to counties. Additional districts were created over time from

8250-558: The Columbia River. Despite the posturing, neither country wanted to fight what would have been the third war in 70 years against the other. The two countries eventually reached a peaceful agreement in the 1846 Oregon Treaty that divided the territory west of the Continental Divide along the 49th parallel to Georgia Strait , with Vancouver Island remaining under British control. Today, this border divides British Columbia from neighboring Washington, Idaho, and Montana. In 1843,

8400-601: The Columbian Plateau was no longer important in the fur trade and that: ... most of its people were not dependent on agriculture, but traders had spread Christianity for thirty years. When Catholic and Protestant missionaries arrived they met Indians already content with their blend of Christianity and native religions, skeptical toward farming, and wary of the whites' apparent power to inflict diseases. Local Indians expected trade and gifts (especially tobacco) as part of any interaction with whites, religious or medical. Samuel Parker and Marcus Whitman journeyed overland in 1835 from

8550-459: The HBC shifted its Columbia Department headquarters from Fort Vancouver to Fort Victoria on Vancouver Island. The plan to move to more northern locations dates back to the 1820s. George Simpson was the main force behind the move north; John McLoughlin became the main hindrance. McLoughlin had devoted his life's work to the Columbia business, and his personal interests were increasingly linked to

8700-406: The HBC. The vendors pressed for the HBC to charge more for sales to pioneers, which the company did for two years, only for American customers. Joel Palmer reported that without the British company "the prices would be double what they are now". The small American merchant class and officers of the HBC loaned settlers more credit than most could refund. Fears of creditors demanding restitution from

8850-455: The Indians. Jason Lee , a Methodist minister from New York , was the first Oregon missionary . He built a mission school for Indians in the Willamette Valley in 1834. American settlers began to arrive from the east via the Oregon Trail starting in the early 1840s and came in increasing numbers each subsequent year. Increased tension led to the Oregon boundary dispute . Both sides realized that settlers would ultimately decide who controlled

9000-577: The Oregon Country because of the Hudson's Bay Company policy of creating a "fur desert": deliberate over-hunting of the area's frontiers so that American trades would find nothing there. The mountain men, like the Metis employees of the Canadian fur companies, adopted Indian ways, and many of them married Native American women. Reports of Oregon Country eventually circulated in the eastern United States . Some churches decided to send missionaries to convert

9150-404: The Oregon Country's Indian nations retained a sizeable majority in their land, prior to the rapid and devastating arrival of European diseases in the 1860s , and were able to maintain relative economic independence thanks to the necessity of their hunting skills in the fur trade. The eventual partition of the Oregon Country into national domains by the two colonial powers, increasing settlement, and

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9300-407: The Oregon Territory by President Polk , Joseph Lane arrived at Oregon City on March 2, 1849. Governor Lane kept the legal code of the dissolved provisional government, apart from immediately repealing the law authorizing the minting of the Beaver Coins , as this was incompatible with the United States Constitution (Article I, Section 8). The creation of the Washington Territory in 1854 removed

9450-477: The Oregon Territory. In 1849, Vancouver Island became a British Crown colony —the Colony of Vancouver Island —with the mainland being organized into the Colony of British Columbia in 1858. Shortly after the establishment of Oregon Territory, there was an effort to split off the region north of the Columbia River. As a result of the Monticello Convention , Congress approved the creation of Washington Territory in early 1853. President Millard Fillmore approved

9600-399: The Provisional Government a satisfactory way to pursue the debts owed to the HBC by settlers, and protect company property against claim jumpers. Additionally he felt if the government were to openly declare independence from outside powers he could "be elected head were I to retire among them". The negotiations ended with the condition that only sales with settlers would be taxed. Taxes paid to

9750-405: The Provisional Government by the HBC and the Puget Sound Agricultural Company amounted to $ 226 that year. Several more employees of the HBC were then included in the government. Chief Trader James Douglas was appointed as a justice for Vancouver after the signing of the agreement and in 1846 he and fellow employee Henry Newsham Peers were elected to the legislature. If there were any sessions of

9900-410: The Provisional Government's authority was restricted to the pioneer settlements, generally located in or around the Willamette Valley. The entire Oregon Country was decreed to be covered by four administrative divisions. Initially created on July 5, 1843, were the Twality, Yamhill, Clackamas and Champooick (later Champoeg) districts. Yamhill district claimed the lands west of the Willamette River and

10050-459: The Provisional Government. At the same time a member of the legislature, David Hill , tabled a bill on August 15 that would deny any HBC employees citizenship or suffrage. The measure failed to pass, but demonstrated the feelings of the "Ultra-Americans" towards the company. While Applegate and McLoughlin held a conference, plans for the administration of the territory above the Columbia River, to be named Vancouver, were begun. The Chief Factor found

10200-459: The Rocky Mountains. Long after the Lewis and Clark Expedition and also after the consolidation of the fur trade in the region by the Canadian fur companies, American mountain men such as Jedediah Smith and Jim Beckwourth came roaming into and across the Rocky Mountains, following Indian trails through the Rockies to California and Oregon. They sought beaver pelts and other furs, which were obtained by trapping . These were difficult to obtain in

10350-418: The United States and Britain negotiated the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, which extended the boundary between their territories west along the 49th parallel to the Rocky Mountains. The two countries agreed to "joint occupancy" of the land west of the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean. In 1843, settlers established their government, called the Provisional Government of Oregon . A legislative committee drafted

10500-435: The Vancouver court, none of the records or correspondence remain. Claims were filed by British subjects covering the HBC forts of Vancouver , Cowlitz , and Nisqually . Vancouver in particular was covered by 18 claims. British reaction to the agreement was generally negative. It was seen as unneeded by William Peel , son of Prime Minister Peel , who arrived with small flotilla several days after its signing. Mervin Vavasour

10650-483: The Waiilatpu farm, earning Whitman's enmity as the horses destroyed the maize crop. Whitman claimed that the farmland was specifically for the mission and not for roving horses. Tiloukaikt told the doctor " ... that this was his land, that he grew up here and that the horses were only eating up the growth of the soil; and demanded of me what I had ever paid him for the land." Aghast at the demands, Whitman told Tiloukaikt that "I never would give him anything ... " During

10800-472: The Whitman Mission. The Cayuse took 54 missionaries as captives and held them for ransom including Mary Ann Bridger and the five surviving Sager children. Several of the prisoners died in captivity, including Helen Mar Meek, mostly from illness such as the measles. Henry and Eliza Spalding's daughter, also named Eliza, was staying at Waiilatpu when the massacre occurred. The ten-year-old Eliza, who

10950-580: The Whitman killings were instigated by Catholic priests. According to their accounts, the Catholics may have told the Cayuse that Whitman had caused disease among their people and incited them to attack. Spalding and other Protestant ministers suggested that the Catholics wanted to take over the Protestant mission, which Whitman had refused to sell to them. They accused Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet of being

11100-596: The Whitman mission killings. The head chief attempted to explain why they had killed the whites and that the Cayuse War that followed had resulted in a greater loss of his own people than the number killed at the mission. The explanation was not accepted. Eventually, tribal leaders Tiloukaikt and Tomahas, who had been present at the original incident, and three additional Cayuse men consented to go to Oregon City (then capital of Oregon), to be tried for murder. Oregon Supreme Court justice Orville C. Pratt presided over

11250-445: The Whitmans found Narcissa's haughtiness and Marcus' refusal to hold sermons in the mission household to be rude. The Cayuse allowed construction of the mission, in the belief that Parker's promises still held. During the summer of 1837, a year after construction had started, the Whitmans were called upon to make due payment. The chief who owned the surrounding land was named Umtippe. Whitman balked at his demands and refused to fulfill

11400-597: The [Pacific] coast from California to the North ... " Religious strife continued between the two Christian denominations. Cayuse and related natives "brought under papal influences" was, according to the ABCFM board, "manifest less confidence in the ceremonies of that delusive system." Despite this claim, in 1845 the board admitted that no Cayuse had formally joined the churches maintained by ABCFM missionaries. Henry Spalding and other anti-Catholic ministers later claimed that

11550-555: The acts of a government, from its very nature weak and insufficient. With the first set of laws, the people created a three-person Executive Committee to act as an executive. The Second Executive Committee was elected on May 14, 1844, and served until June 12, 1845. A December 1844 amendment of the Organic Laws eliminated the Executive Committee in favor of a single governor , taking effect in June 1845. At that time George Abernethy

11700-545: The agent McLoughlin to complain of the Catholic activity. McLoughlin responded saying he had no oversight of the priests, but would advise them to avoid the Waiilaptu area. The rival missionaries competed for the attention of Cayuse noble Tawatoy . He was present when the Catholic priests held their first Mass at Fort Nez Percés. Demers returned to the trading post for two weeks in the summer of 1839. One of Tawatoy's sons

11850-628: The agreement, insisting that the land had been granted to him free of charge. Umtippe returned the following winter to again demand payment, along with medical attention for his sick wife. He informed Whitman that "Doctor, you have come here to give us bad medicines; you come to kill us, and you steal our lands. You had promised to pay me every year, and you have given me nothing. You had better go away; if my wife dies, you shall die also." Cayuse men continued to complain to HBC traders of Whitman's refusal to pay for using their land and of his preferential treatment of incoming white colonists. In particular,

12000-488: The area in 1811. This settlement later became the nucleus of present-day Astoria, Oregon . During the construction of Fort Astoria, Thompson traveled down the Columbia River, noting the partially constructed American Fort Astoria only two months after the departure of the supply ship Tonquin . Along the way, Thompson had set foot on and claimed for the British Crown the lands near the future Fort Nez Percés site at

12150-521: The area in 1840, Whitman preached to assembled Cayuse on several occasions, saying that they were in a "lost ruined and condemned state ... in order to remove the hope that worshipping will save them." While he faced threats of violence for denying the power of worship, Whitman continued to tell the Cayuse that their interpretation of Christianity was wrong. Whitman had opposed closing the Waiilatpu Mission, as suggested by Asa Bowen Smith in 1840, because he thought it would allow "the Catholics to unite all

12300-532: The attack occurred, later wrote in her reminiscences that "Tiloukaikt chopped the doctor's face so badly that his features could not be recognized." Narcissa later went to the door to look out; she was shot by a Cayuse man. She died later from a volley of gunshots after she had been coaxed to leave the house. Additional persons killed were Andrew Rodgers, Jacob Hoffman, L. W. Saunders, Walter Marsh, John and Francis Sager , Nathan Kimball, Isaac Gilliland, James Young, Crocket Bewley, and Amos Sales. Peter Hall,

12450-614: The confluence of the Columbia and Snake rivers. This claim initiated a very brief era of competition between American and British fur traders. During the War of 1812 , Fort Astoria was captured by the British and sold to the North West Company. Under British control, Fort Astoria was renamed Fort George. In 1821, when the North West Company was merged with the Hudson's Bay Company, the British Parliament moved to impose

12600-399: The conversation, saying he had warned the Cayuse several times of the tainted meat. Measles was an epidemic around Sutter's Fort in 1846, when a party of primarily Walla Wallas were there. They carried the contagion to Waiilatpu as they ended the second Walla Walla expedition , and it claimed lives among their party. Shortly after the expedition reached home, the disease appeared among

12750-637: The country to the White House to warn president John Tyler of a British, Catholic, and Native American plot to "steal" Oregon. He also claimed that the British and Catholics had persuaded the Cayuses to kill Whitman. These myths were debunked in 1901, but Washington state still sent Whitman's statue to the U.S. Capitol in 1953. In 2021, Whitman College discontinued the nickname "the missionaries" for its athletes. Colleges and towns have debated removal of statues of Whitman. The city of Walla Walla (WA)

12900-458: The creditors of the territory were able to protect their financial standing by removing wheat as tender. Around $ 8,000 from the poll and property taxes were collected over the course of the government, far short of the expenses amounting to $ 23,000. After the Conquest of California during the ongoing Mexican–American War , American settlers began to move to the newly seized land. This created

13050-596: The death of his daughter Helen, was also involved with the process. The verdict was controversial because some observers believed that witnesses called to testify had not been present at the killings. On June 3, 1850, the Cayuse Five , Tiloukaikt, Tomahas, Kiamasumpkin, Iaiachalakis, and Klokomas, were publicly hanged. Isaac Keele served as the hangman. An observer wrote, "We have read of heroes of all times, never did we read of, or believe, that such heroism as these Indians exhibited could exist. They knew that to be accused

13200-454: The death of prominent settler Ewing Young – who left no will nor had any heir in Oregon Country – left the future of his property uncertain. On February 17, Jason Lee chaired the first meeting organised to discuss the matter. He proposed the creation of an authority over the pioneers centered on a governor. French-Canadian settlers blocked the measure and instead a probate judge and a few other positions were appointed. Further attempts at

13350-484: The drastic decline of the fur trade due to diminishing supply all contributed to catastrophic decline in Indian population after 1846, and the arbitrary seizure of their land over the following two decades in the interests of newly arrived settlers. The earliest evidence of the name Oregon has Spanish origins. The term orejón comes from the historical chronicle Relación de la Alta y Baja California (1598) which

13500-477: The establishment of the Oregon Territory , the legislature was replaced with the two house Oregon Territorial Legislature . The Provisional Government also included a judiciary. The forerunner of the Oregon Supreme Court consisted of a single Supreme Judge and two justices of the peace . The Supreme Judge was elected by the people, but the legislature could select someone as presiding judge as

13650-497: The farmers lead to wheat receipts and scrips issued by the government declared valid currency in 1845. The law decreeing wheat as currency was ridiculed for not establishing financial standards for the merchants, who were de facto bankers. Between 1847 and 1848 the local market for wheat became flooded from overproduction, causing a decline in its value. The legislature repealed previous regulations on December 20, 1847, making only gold, silver and treasury drafts on valid currency. Thus,

13800-526: The first winter, Whitman purchased several horses from the Cayuse. Additionally, the initial plowing of the Waiilatpu farm was done primarily with draft animals loaned by a Cayuse noble and Fort Nez Percés. The missionary family suffered from a lack of privacy, as the Cayuse thought nothing of entering their quarters. Narcissa complained that the kitchen was "always filled with four or five or more Indians--men especially--at meal time ... " and said that once

13950-431: The general population around Walla Walla and quickly spread among the tribes of the middle Columbia River. By the 1940s, historians no longer considered the measles epidemic as a main cause of the murders at Waiilaptu. Robert Heizer said that "This measles epidemic, as an important contributing factor to the Whitman massacre, has been minimized by historians searching for the cause of the outrage." The Cayuse involved in

14100-466: The government, though it could "scarcely hope" to force the HBC company posts to adhere to its authority, made establishing an agreement with the HBC a priority. An employee of the company, Francis Ermatinger , was elected to the position of Treasurer in July after carrying the French-Canadian vote. In August Applegate inquired to Chief Factor John McLoughlin if the HBC would pay taxes and join

14250-440: The government. Two years later, on July 2, 1845, a new set of Organic Laws was drafted to revise and clarify the previous version; this newer version was adopted by a majority vote of the people on July 26, 1845. This constitution-like document divided the government into three departments: a judiciary branch, an executive branch, and a legislature. The definition of the executive branch had previously been modified, in late 1844, from

14400-481: The greater Walla Walla community. It was produced as a theatrical spectacle that was allegorical in nature and spoke to prevalent social themes of the frontier period, such as manifest destiny . The Whitman Massacre was presented as a small but significant part of a production in four movements: "The White Man Arrives," "The Indian Wars," "The Building of Walla Walla," and "The Future." The production included 3,000 volunteers from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The Pageant

14550-412: The group was asked why they offered themselves to the militia, Tiloukaikt stated "Did not your missionaries teach us that Christ died to save his people? So die we to save our people." At a military court Tiloukait and the four other Cayuses, Tomahas, Klokamas, Isaiachalkis, and Kimasumpkinhese, were found guilty and hanged on June 3, 1850, at Oregon City. Signed on June 15, 1846, the Oregon Treaty ended

14700-487: The growing settlements in the Willamette Valley. He fought Simpson's proposals to move north in vain. By the time Simpson decided in 1842 to move the headquarters to Vancouver Island, he had many reasons for doing so. There was a dramatic decline in the fur trade across North America. In contrast, the HBC saw increasing profits with coastal exports of salmon and lumber to Pacific markets such as Hawaii . Coal deposits on Vancouver Island had been discovered, and steamships such as

14850-572: The headwaters of the Columbia River. From there he navigated nearly the full length of the river through to the Pacific Ocean. In 1810, John Jacob Astor commissioned and began the construction of the American Pacific Fur Company fur-trading post at Fort Astoria, just 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the site of Lewis and Clark's former Fort Clatsop, completing construction of the first permanent Euro-American settlement in

15000-483: The incident had previously lived at the Waiilatpu mission. Among the many new arrivals at Waiilatpu in 1847 was Joe Lewis, a mixed-race Iroquois and white "halfbreed". Bitter from discriminatory treatment in the East, Lewis attempted to spread discontent among the local Cayuse , hoping to create a situation in which he could ransack the Whitman Mission. He told the Cayuse that Whitman, who was attempting to treat them during

15150-454: The intention of the North West Company to build a trading post on the site. Later in 1811, on the same expedition, he finished his survey of the entire Columbia, arriving at a partially constructed Fort Astoria two months after the departure of John Jacob Astor 's ill-fated Tonquin . The Oregon Country was originally claimed by Great Britain, France, Russia, and Spain; the Spanish claim

15300-401: The land, and they will not sell, but give them to you." Whitman returned the following year with his wife, Narcissa, mechanic William H. Gray , and the missionary couple Rev. Henry Spalding and Eliza Hart Spalding . The wives were the first known white American women to enter the Pacific Northwest overland. HBC Chief Factor Dr. John McLoughlin advised against the missionaries residing on

15450-636: The land, which would be solidified later by Congress ' adoption of the Donation Land Claim Act . Another law allowed the government to organize a militia and call them out by order of the Executive or Legislature. Under the first Organic Laws of 1843 inhabitants were guaranteed due process of law and a right to a trial by jury. Some other rights established were: no cruel and unusual punishment, no unreasonable bails for defendants, and no takings of property without compensation. Following

15600-466: The laws of Upper Canada upon British subjects in Columbia District and Rupert's Land and issued the authority to enforce those laws to the Hudson's Bay Company. Chief Factor John McLoughlin was appointed manager of the district's operations in 1824. He moved the regional company headquarters to Fort Vancouver (modern Vancouver, Washington ) in 1824. Fort Vancouver became the centre of

15750-652: The legislature passed a law banning the sale of ardent spirits , out of concern that the Native Americans would become hostile if intoxicated. Prior to the creation of the Provisional Government, the economic activities by in the Oregon European descendants Country were focused on the fur trade . A system called "wheat credit" was established in the 1830s for French-Canadian settlers on the French Prairie. The farmers would take their harvests to

15900-554: The legislature passed a new law once again prohibiting African Americans in the territory, but differed from the original 1844 law in that it applied to African Americans entering after it was passed, and it used different means to enforce it. Despite facing legal discrimination that denied them suffrage and threatened violence, black pioneers remained in Oregon. While the USS Shark was in the region in 1846, its commanding officer estimated there were around 30 black settlers. In 1844,

16050-434: The many Indigenous Nations . Much of the region's geography and many of the Natives were not known by people of European descent until several exploratory tours were authorized at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Organic Laws of Oregon were adopted in 1843 with its preamble stating that settlers only agreed to the laws "until such time as the United States of America extend their jurisdiction over us". According to

16200-435: The medicine after Whitman had given it to the tribe. On November 29, Tiloukaikt , Tomahas, Kiamsumpkin, Iaiachalakis, Endoklamin, and Klokomas, enraged by Joe Lewis' talk, attacked Waiilatpu. According to Mary Ann Bridger (the young daughter of mountain man Jim Bridger ), a lodger of the mission and eyewitness to the event, the men knocked on the Whitmans' kitchen door and demanded medicine. Bridger said that Marcus brought

16350-472: The medicine, and began a conversation with Tiloukaikt. While Whitman was distracted, Tomahas struck him twice in the head with a hatchet from behind and another man shot him in the neck. The Cayuse men rushed outside and attacked the white men and boys working outdoors. Narcissa found Whitman fatally wounded. He lived for several hours after the attack, sometimes responding to her anxious reassurances. Catherine Sager, who had been with Narcissa in another room when

16500-410: The new markets fetched rates two to three times higher than in 1847. Significant amounts of gold dust began to circulate in the Willamette Valley, though impurities were common. The Oregon Exchange Company was authorized by the legislature to begin producing Beaver Coins in early 1849, though production began on March 10, a week after the dissolution of the Provisional Government. The mounting debts of

16650-506: The new territory on March 2, 1853. Alexander Ross , an early Scottish Canadian fur trader, describes the lower reaches of the Willamette River, in the south of the Oregon Country (known to him as the Columbia District): The banks of the river throughout are low and skirted in the distance by a chain of moderately high lands on each side, interspersed here and there with clumps of wide spreading oaks, groves of pine, and

16800-454: The northern border of the region and often erroneously attributed to Polk's campaign. The goal of the slogan was to rally Southern expansionists (some of whom wanted to annex only Texas in an effort to tip the balance of slave/free states and territories in favor of slavery) to support the effort to annex Oregon Country, appealing to the popular belief in manifest destiny . The British government, meanwhile, sought control of all territory north of

16950-602: The northern half of the Oregon Territory. Established on February 14, 1859, the State of Oregon was composed of roughly the western half of the territory, the remaining eastern section being added to the Washington Territory. Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and

17100-662: The original four, including the Clatsop , Vancouver , Linn , Clark , Polk , Benton counties. Other government positions included Recorder, Treasurer , Attorney , and Sheriff. The recorder position would later become the position of Secretary of State . With the formation of the Provisional Government, a committee of nine individuals were elected to frame the laws of the government. This Legislative Committee consisted of David Hill , Robert Shortess , Alanson Beers , William H. Gray , James A. O'Neil , Robert Newell , Thomas J. Hubbard , William Dougherty, and Robert Moore who

17250-489: The other three districts, located east of Twality District and north of Champooick District. The extent of land claimed north was vague, being "south of the northern boundary of the United States". Despite this the government was defined to extend over all the lands east to the Rocky Mountains and north of the Mexican territory of Alta California . Throughout 1843 and 1844, no attempts were made at controlling lands north of

17400-522: The pageant tourists." The Pageant brought 10,000 tourists to Walla Walla each year, including regional dignitaries such as Oregon Governor Walter E. Pierce and Washington Governor Louis F. Hart . Recent scholarship has helped to understand the origins of myths regarding the Whitman Massacre. In 2021, Blaine Harden published "Murder at the Mission" to explore how the Whitman massacre myth

17550-505: The participation of British subjects in the government. Although the Oregon Treaty of 1846 settled the boundaries of U.S. jurisdiction, the provisional government continued to function until 1849, when the first governor of Oregon Territory arrived. A faction of Oregon politicians hoped to continue Oregon's political evolution into an independent nation, but the pressure to join the United States prevailed by 1848, four months after

17700-673: The perceptions and expectations of the Cayuse in relation to the missionaries. Whitman was frustrated because the Cayuse always emphasized commercial exchanges. In particular, they requested that he purchase their stockpiles of beaver skins, at rates comparable to those at Fort Nez Percés. The Mission supplies were, in general, not appealing enough to the Sahaptin to serve as compensation for their labor. Whitman lacked sizable stockpiles of gunpowder, tobacco, or clothing, so he had to assign most labor to Hawaiian Kanakas (who had settled after working as sailors) or whites. To bolster food supplies for

17850-456: The present-day borders of the Canadian province of British Columbia and the entirety of the U.S. states of Oregon , Washington , and Idaho , as well as parts of Montana and Wyoming . Throughout this period, the Oregon Country was inhabited by numerous independent American Indian peoples, who received no recognition by the British or American governments in the eventual disposition of

18000-614: The region. The Hudson's Bay Company, which had previously discouraged settlement as it conflicted with the lucrative fur trade, belatedly reversed its position. In 1841, on orders from Sir George Simpson , James Sinclair guided more than 100 settlers from the Red River Colony to settle on HBC farms near Fort Vancouver. The Sinclair expedition crossed the Rockies into the Columbia Valley , near present-day Radium Hot Springs , British Columbia, then traveled southwest down

18150-583: The regional Indigenous and Catholic settlers. François Norbert Blanchet and Modeste Demers arrived at Fort Nez Percés on 18 November 1839. This began a long-lasting competition between the ABCFM and the Catholic missionaries to convert the Sahaptin peoples to Christianity. While Blanchet and Demers were at the trading post for one day, they preached to an assembled group of Walla Wallas and Cayuse. Blanchet would later allege that Whitman had ordered local natives against attending their service. Whitman contacted

18300-490: The return of the 49 surviving prisoners. The Hudson's Bay Company never billed the American settlers for the ransom nor did the latter ever offer cash payment to the company. A few years later, after further violence in what would become known as the Cayuse War , some of the settlers insisted that the matter was still unresolved. The new governor, General Mitchell Lambertsen, demanded the surrender of those who carried out

18450-414: The river at all. The growing numbers of American settlers along the lower Columbia gave Simpson reason to question the long-term security of Fort Vancouver. He worried, rightfully so, that the final border resolution would not follow the Columbia River. By 1842, he thought it more likely that the United States would at least demand Puget Sound , and the British government would accept a border as far north as

18600-462: The river from side to side in the form of an irregular horseshoe, over which the whole body of water falls at one leap down a precipice of about forty feet, called the Falls . After living in Oregon from 1843 to 1848, Peter H. Burnett wrote: [Oregonians] were all honest, because there was nothing to steal; they were all sober, because there was no liquor to drink; there were no misers, because there

18750-533: The southern part of the region. It is most probable that the American territory was named by the Spaniards, as there are some populations in Spain such as Arroyo del Oregón , which is in the province of Ciudad Real , also considering that the individualization in Spanish language el Orejón with the mutation of the letter g instead of j . Another theory is that French Canadian fur company employees called

18900-529: The start as an interim entity, until "whenever [the United States] extends her jurisdiction over the Territory". (Johnson would go on to serve as Recorder for the provisional government for a few months in 1844.) The Organic Laws were drafted by a legislative committee on May 16, 1843 and June 28, 1843, before being adopted on July 5. Although not a formal constitution, the document outlined the laws of

19050-456: The start of 1842, Narcissa reported that the Cayuse leaders "said we must pay them for their land we lived on." A common complaint was that Whitman sold wheat to settlers, while giving none to the Cayuse landholders and demanding payment from them for using his grist mill. The Catholic Church dispatched two priests in 1838 from the Red River colony to minister to the spiritual needs of both

19200-607: The terms of the international treaty. Oregon Country was the American name, while the British used Columbia District for the region . British and French Canadian fur traders had entered Oregon Country prior to 1810 before the arrival of American settlers from the mid-1830s onwards, which led to the foundation of the Provisional Government of Oregon . Its coastal areas north of the Columbia River were frequented by ships from all nations engaged in

19350-430: The territory" One pioneer recalled the lack of currency, receiving at most 25¢ in transactions between 1844 and 1848. To overcome the lack of circulating coins, Abernethy gathered scraps of flint left over from arrowhead production by local indigenous. After attaching scraps of paper to them, the amount owed by Abernethy was written on one and given to customers, transferable for other supplies at his store. Coins remained

19500-464: The territory. Indian traders nevertheless played a critical role in the ongoing fur trade that still formed the Oregon Country's primary economic activity until mid-century, and the language of the Chinook nation of the lower Columbia river ( Chinook jargon ) formed the lingua franca between Indians and the small European population during and after the 1818-46 period. This was the last period in which

19650-710: The trial of five Cayuse accused of the killing, they used the defense that it was tribal law to kill the medicine man who gives bad medicine. Today, the Cayuse are one of three tribes comprising the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR). Sahaptin nations came into direct contact with white colonizers several decades before the arrival of the members of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). These relations set expectations among

19800-480: The trial, with U.S. Attorney Amory Holbrook as the prosecutor. In the trial, the five Cayuse who had surrendered used the defense that it is tribal law to kill the medicine man who gives bad medicine. After a lengthy trial, the Native Americans were found guilty; Hiram Straight reported the verdict as foreman of the jury of twelve. Newly appointed Territorial Marshal Joseph Meek , seeking revenge for

19950-431: The vicinity of Waiilaptu. He told his superiors that if the Cayuse would abandon their habit of relocating during the winter, he could spend more time proselytizing among them. In particular, Whitman told Rev. Green that " ... although we bring the gospel as the first object we cannot gain an assurance unless they are attracted and retained by the plough and hoe ... " In 1838, Whitman wrote about his plans to begin altering

20100-399: The vicinity of Waiilatpu after winter, the Whitmans told the tribesmen to establish a house of worship for their use. The Cayuse noblemen disagreed, stating that the existing mission buildings were sufficient. The Whitmans tried to explain that "we could not have them worship there for they would make it so dirty and fill it so full of fleas that we could not live in it." The Cayuse who visited

20250-493: The war east of the Cascades under the command of Cornelius Gilliam . The war continued until five Cayuse emissaries, which according to Archbishop François Norbert Blanchet , were sent to "have a talk with the whites and explain all about the murderers, ten in number, who were no more, and had been killed by the whites, the Cayuses and were all dead." However, the Cayuse party was imprisoned and transported to Oregon City. When

20400-590: The whites had power over the new diseases that they suffered. Reports from the period note that members of the Umpqua , Makah , and Chinookan nations faced threats of destruction through white-carried illnesses, as the natives had no immunity to these new infectious diseases. After becoming the premier fur gathering operation in the region, the HBC continued to develop ties on the Columbian Plateau . Historian Cameron Addis recounted that after 1840, much of

20550-443: The winter of 1843-44, food supplies were short among the Cayuse. As the ABCFM recounted: The novelty of working for themselves and supplying their own wants seem to have passed away; while the papal teachers and other opposers of the mission appear to have succeeded in making them believe that the missionaries ought to furnish them with food and clothing and supply all their wants. An additional point of contention between Whitman and

20700-401: Was baptized at this time and Pierre-Chrysologue Pambrun was named as his godfather. According to Whitman, the Catholic priest forbade Tawatoy from visiting him. While Tawatoy did occasionally visit Whitman, he avoided the Protestant's religious services. Also, the headman gave the Catholics a small house which Pambrun had built for him, for their use for religious services. After Demers left

20850-494: Was conversant in the Cayuse language , served as interpreter during the captivity. She was returned to her parents by Peter Skene Ogden , an official of Hudson's Bay Company . One month following the massacre, on December 29, on orders from Chief Factor James Douglas , Ogden arranged for an exchange of 62 blankets, 62 cotton shirts, 12 Hudson's Bay rifles, 22 handkerchiefs, 300 loads of ammunition, and 15 fathoms of tobacco for

21000-471: Was created by an erratic, self-promoting Henry Harmon Spalding who avoided the massacre. Although Spalding had "periodic bouts of irrationality" and "fellow missionaries wrote countless letters about his erratic, spiteful, and annoying behavior," he was able to persuade the US Senate to print an official pamphlet in 1871 about Whitman. Spalding falsely claimed that Whitman had in 1842 travelled by horse across

21150-481: Was directed by Percy Jewett Burrell . "The pageant of today is the Drama of our Democracy!" declared Burrell. He praised the merits of the pageant, citing "solidarity," "communal [artistry]," and "spirit." The pageant's success was due, in part to the popularity of the theatrical form during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which held certain commonalities with other spectacular events, such as world's fairs and

21300-507: Was elected as the chairman of the committee. Each member was to be paid $ 1.25 per day for their services with the first meeting held May 15, 1843. On July 4 a new gathering began at Champoeg with speeches for and against the proposals of the committee. Then on July 5, 1843 the Organic Laws of Oregon are adopted by popular vote after being recommended by the Legislative Committee, with the laws modeled after Iowa's Organic Law and

21450-574: Was elected as the first governor. Abernethy would be the only governor under the Provisional Government. He was reelected in 1847, and served until 1849. The Provisional Legislature held session mainly in Oregon City . They met at different times each year, and in 1848 they did not meet; too many members had left for the California gold fields. The legislature enacted various laws, sent memorials to Congress , incorporated towns and organizations, and granted divorces and licenses to run ferries . After

21600-442: Was in the Oregon Country gathering intelligence about the defensive capabilities of the HBC posts and voiced the minority view that the compact was to the benefit of "peace and prosperity of the community at large". The organic laws laid out plans for a militia of a battalion of mounted riflemen commanded by an officer with the rank of major , with annual inspections. Every male settler between 16 and 60 who wanted to be "considered

21750-454: Was later taken up by the United States. The extent of the region being claimed was vague at first, evolving over decades into the specific borders specified in the U.S.-British treaty of 1818 . The United States based its claim in part on Robert Gray's entry of the Columbia River in 1792 and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Great Britain based its claim in part on British overland explorations of

21900-557: Was no money to hoard; and they were all industrious, because it was work or starve. 48°N 122°W  /  48°N 122°W  / 48; -122 Whitman massacre The massacre is usually ascribed to the inability of Whitman, a physician, to prevent the measles outbreak. Cayuse in at least three villages held Whitman responsible for the widespread epidemic that killed hundreds of Cayuse while leaving settlers comparatively unscathed. Some Cayuse accused settlers of poisoning them so they could take their land. In

22050-463: Was not an easy location to access in 1923–24. But local businesses worked with the Chamber of Commerce to provide special train service to the area, which included "sleeping car accommodations for all who wish to join the party", for a round-trip fare of $ 24.38. Arrangements were made for the train to park near the amphitheater until the morning after the final performance, "thus giving the excursionists

22200-477: Was the Columbia, as had been theorized about its northern reaches through New Caledonia, where it was known by its Dakleh name as the "Tacoutche Tesse". Thompson was the first European to voyage down the entire length of the Columbia River. Along the way, his party camped at the junction with the Snake River on July 9, 1811. He erected a pole and a notice claiming the country for the United Kingdom and stating

22350-580: Was to be condemned, and that they would be executed in the civilized town of Oregon city ... " How the West was Won: A Pioneer Pageant , was performed in Walla Walla, Washington on June 6–7, 1923, and again on May 28–29, 1924. Originally conceived by Whitman College President, Stephen Penrose, as an event marking the 75th anniversary of the Whitman Massacre, the Pageant quickly gained support throughout

22500-631: Was written by the New Spaniard Rodrigo Motezuma and which made reference to the Columbia River when the Spanish explorers penetrated into the North American territory that became part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain . This chronicle is the first topographical and linguistic source with respect to the place name Oregon . There are also two other sources with Spanish origins, such as the name Oregano , which grows in

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