CHAMPOEG AND THE FOUNDING OF THE STATE OF OREGON
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| The Champoeg Vote, Mural at capitol in Salem |
The town that gave birth to Oregon as we know it no
longer exists. Today, Chamoeg isn't a town, but a state park. But it
has a colorful history. This is its story:
The first European settlers who came to Oregon may have
intended to build towns, but their initial priorities were building their farms.
Thus, beginning in 1829, a series of farms grew up along the south bank of the
Willamette River about 20 miles north of what is now Salem.
The first settlers were French-Canadian farmers who had
retired from the fur trapping trade.
Gradually, enough farmers built homes close enough
together to begin the natural process of forming villages. One impetus for
settlement formation was the necessity for a warehouse that would hold a
distribute grain for shipment on the boats that acarried freight on the
Willamette River. The building of such a warehouse was, in effect,
the seed that produced the town of champoeg.
The name itself is something of a puzzle. Some
early settlers claimed it was a name for the site used by the Kalapuyan (a group
of Native American tribes who shared a common language). Others say the
word is a corruption of the French "Campment du Sable" ("sand
camp"), used by many of the French-speaking settlers torefer to an early
camping place (and the site of Champoeg is, indeed, an area of sand surrounded
on three sides by loam and on the fourth by the river).
Still others say the name is a double corruption, a
combination of the French "champ" (field) and the Kalapupyan "pooitch"
(an edible root). Then again, it may be a corruption of "champoo,"
a native word for weed. At any rate, it was pronounced "champ-OO-ee."
Champoeg soon became a prime port for the thriving
river trade on the Willamette. The town was well established by 1843, when
it became the cradle of statehood for Oregon.
On May 2 of that year, meetings were held to discuss
the vital question of a provisional government, which would provide law, order,
and protection for residents of the territory.
The Vote
There are two schools of
thought as to just what was decided that day.
The most common idea is that the Oregon settlers
decided Oregon would be part of the United States, not part of Canada (and,
therefore, part of Britain).
A "yes" vote, there woul be a vote to divide
Oregon from Canada and Britain).
The second theory is that the May 2 vote established a
provisional government and was not, in and of itself, a vote to join The United
States.
The 102 farmers, trappers, laborers, and adventures who
gatherd that day included 52 who came from Canada and 50 who had come to Oregon
from American states.
They met in Champoeg because it was a convenient site
for the majority of them. The meeting was actually a group of small
meetings.
The climactic moment came when mountain man, trapper,
and farmer Joseph Meek forced the issue. He cried out "Who's for a
divide? All for the report of the committee and an organization, follow
me!"
Meek himself, speaking some years later, claimed he
actually said:
"Divide! Divide! Who's for a divide!
All in favor of the American Flag, follow me!" While this version is
more flamboyant, he was evidently the only person who remembered it that way.
Some accounts of the vote omit any reference at all to a "divide" from
Meek's statement.
Regardless of what he said, Meek's statement set the
future course of Oregon. The 49 other Americans joined him, and before the
men could be counted offically, Francis X. Matthieu (a
Canadian opposed to British ways) joined the group, accompanied by his friend Etienne
Lucier, also a Canadian.
They settled the issue by a vote of 52-50.
The formation of the Oregon Provisional Government
(Meek was elected sheriff and was one of the prime movers in seeking statehood
for Oregon) lead directly to the naming of Oregon as an official Territory of
the United States in 1848, and to statehoood in 1859. The Provisional
Government was also the first organized American government west of the
Mississippi.
Champoeg as a town continued to grow after the meeting.
The 1860 census estimates a population of 180 persons for the Champoeg precinct,
with up to 29 houses.
Of the 131 workers listed in the Champoeg Precint in
that year, 79 (60 percent) were farmers. The others ran shops and offered
services in suppport of teh community (including a professional gardener).
The End
A statewide economic slump had
begun in 1859. This slowed the growth of Champoeg, but far worse was just
around the corner.
Toward the end of November 1861, the Pacific coast from
Southern California to northern Washington suffered from torrential rain.
The rain lasted for 18 days in the Willamette Valley. On Dec. 2, 1861, the
Willamette River created a destructive flood from Albany to Portland and
Vancouver.
Accounts vary as to what this did to Champoeg.
Some say it literally wiped the area clean, leaving it as "untouched"
as when the trappers first saw it. But this wasn't quite true. A few
homes survived, as did a river warehouse, though it was moved 150 feet and left
a useless ruin.
Dispirited and fearful that it could all happen again,
the residents of Champoeg mostly moved away. Some left the state, some
went elsewhere in Oregon; many moved to mearby Butteville (situated just high
enough that flood damage was minor). The site of Champoeg, valuable for
servicing river traffic, was never completely abandoned, but no known attempt
was made to rebuild the town. In 1880, only 27 people were known to live
near what was once Champoeg.
A few structures were far enough from the river to
survive.
Robert Newell a mountain man and slef-taught doctor,
built a home a Champoeg in 1852 (some sources say 1854). He built it well
away from the river because minor floods had damaged his first home, which was
in the village proper, near the river. A former trapper, Newell was a
farmer, merchant, and orchardist.
He eventually moved away from Champoeg. His home
ws in near ruins in 1955 when it was restored. It is now a part of
Champoeg State Park, an area that encompasses the site of the town.
In 1900, it was decided taht a monument should be built
to commemorate the 1843 vote. So the Legislature informed Gov. Theodore T.
Greer taht the spot should be located and marked.
Geer took this (wrongly) as his appointment as a
one-man committee to get the job done. He contacted George H. Himes,
Assistant Secretary of the Oregon historical Society and Secretary of the Oregon
Pioneer Association, and asked him to make an appointment for the two fo them to
meet with Francis Xavier Matthieu, the 82
years old, the only known survivor of the 1843 vote. Himes made the
appointment for, fittingly enough, May 2, 1900. Matthieu was to take the
two men to the site of the vote.
Geer set out on his bicycle on May 2 and rode to
Matthieu's home near Butteville. There, he met Himes, but the two had to
pass the day talking and playing horseshoes because Matthieu had forgotten the
appointment and gone to Portland.
The Site
The three, accompanied by
Portland Photographer James H. Eaton and two local landowners, set off to
identify the site of the vote on May 3, 1900.
Matthieu had a good memory---though he insisted that there
really wasn't any one spot, since meetings and votes had occurred at various
places throughout the town. The place he picked was the spot where people
gathered around Joe Meek.
a stake was cut, the site was marked, and a photo was
taken. But when Geer returned to Salem, he was met with a disgruntled
staff and Legislature who had hoped to make more out of the search for the
spot--and be included in it.
Indeed, politics eventually prevailed. The actual
site of teh Meek gathering could not be seen from the river. River
traffic, both commercial and passenger, was still highly important to Oregon in
1900. So, the location of the monument was moved closer to the river, where it
could be seen by passing boats. There is no notice on the monument itself
that says it does not nark the actual site of the voting.
The monument was dedicated on May 2, 1901, and Matthieu
was given the honor of undraping it. If he officially objected to where it
was placed, that fact has not been recorded (he died in 1914 at age 96).
The face of the monument reads: Erected on
Thursday May 2, 1901 in honor of the first American government on the Pacific
coast organized here Tuesday May 2, 1843. 52 persons voting for 50 against, the
names of the former as far as obtainable are hereon inscribed.
On the other three faces are the names of the 52
persons who voted for the Provisional Government--sort of. There are
actually 53 names , since one, Adam Hewitt, was added later at the
insistence of his descendants.
The line "as far as obtainable" is also quite
necessary. In fact, it has since been determined that several of the
people listed on the monument were not a Champoeg on that day, and that the
names of several people who were there and voted 'yes' have been left off.
Provision to make the land state-owned had begun while
the monument was being planned, beginning with just the square rod of land upon
which the monument stood. But the State began to buy land around the
monument almost immediately, and Champoeg State Park (called Provisional
Government State Park in official documents) was formed over a period of many
years.
Celebrations of the vote have been held many times, and
will again this year. Champoeg State Park Founder's Day celebration will
be held on May 2 this year.
The event will take place in the Champoeg Memorial
Pavilion in the park.
There will be speakers, entertainment, and
refreshments. Sponsored by the Friends of Historic Champoeg in cooperation
with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, the event is free (though there
is a $3 per vehicle park entry fee). Call (503)678-1251 for more
information.
The standard work on the town, "Champoeg: Place of
Transition: A Disputed History," by John A. Hussey (Oregon Historical
Society, Portland: 1967), is, unfortunately, out of print. So is the
valuable "Champoeg; A Frontier Community in Oregon, 1830-1861," by Lou
Ann Speulda (Department of Anthropology, Oregon State University, 1988; Number 3
of the series Anthropology Northwest).
Both are available in many libraries. Visitors to the
park can obtain a copy of "Men of Champoeg" for $10. This book
provides short biographies of the men who voted for the Provisional Government.
-From Dan Hays