Tag: McLoughlin

colonization, columbia river, General History, Native Issues, Oregon indians1 Comment

Blanchet’s Mission to Vancouver, 1841

David G. Lewis, PhD

Reverend Blanchet traveled to Fort Vancouver after his mission to the Clackamas. In Vancouver, there was much more orderly town life, the chapels in the fort being served by the Anglican priests. Nevertheless, he is likely politely invited to give sermons in the various chapel locations. The Chapels are likely based on the highly segregated populations at the fort, one for the officers, one for the white laborers and one for the Natives who provided the vast majority of labor for the fort, yet most were never allowed to enter the fort and lived instead in the Kanaka village. Blanchet … Continue reading Blanchet’s Mission to Vancouver, 1841

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Salmon-Skinned Aristocracy: Beginnings of Oregon Statehood

David G. Lewis, PhD

Robert Shortess was an 1839 emigrant to Oregon. In 1843 he was was elected to the Oregon Territorial Legislature in the 2nd wolf meeting (teh founders of Rome were suckled by a wolf). This early Oregon government worked to take control of the territory, from the British. In 1844, Shortess and some 65 other American settlers signed a petition to Congress, largely written and coordinated by Shortess, filing charges in Congress against the Hudson’s Bay Company, for unfair trade practices. Shortess, and co-author George Abernethy, claimed that John McLoughlin, and the Hudson’s Bay Company, took complete control of all trade … Continue reading Salmon-Skinned Aristocracy: Beginnings of Oregon Statehood