booth gardner - Washington Secretary of State

The French-Canadians who came to the meeting at the Champoeg warehouse on
May 2, 1843, knew they were being rapidly outnumbered but stood their ground. The
proposal to form a provisional government and authorize a militia was rejected on a voice
vote. The Americans protested that many were confused over what acceptance of the report
would mean. The secretary called for a division of the house, a parliamentary procedure
requiring factions to physically divide into groups. It was then that a larger-than-life character
– Joseph Lafayette Meek – plopped himself in the middle of Northwest history. At 6-2 and a
lithe 200 pounds, Meek cut an intrepid figure in his beard, buckskins and white vest. Leaving
Virginia as a teenager, he became a Rocky Mountain fur trapper. Meek engaged in hand-topaw
combat with more than one big bear and had mixed relations with the Indians, literally
and figuratively. He married the daughter of a Nez Perce chief and had several mixed-race
children whom he loved dearly, fuming when they were ostracized. Tales of his exploits sound
too good to be true. Happily, most of them are.
At Champoeg that fateful day, Meek bellowed,
“Who’s for a divide? All for the report of the committee
and an organization follow me!” Robert Moore strode to
his side, together with Medorem Crawford. When they
counted noses, the Americans had narrowly prevailed.
Meek reportedly waved his hat and gave a shout, “Three
cheers for our side!” The Americans roared. Meek, Moore
and Crawford went on to serve in the Oregon Legislature.
Often romanticized, the events at Champoeg hold
their own in objective accounts. They “symbolize the
entire movement to establish a provisional government”
for what was to become the Oregon Territory, historian
John A. Hussey concludes. Champoeg State Park near
Newberg, a lovely diversion midway between Portland
and Salem, is one of the Northwest’s most important
historic sites. As the breeze rustles in the trees along the
ridge above the river, you get the feeling you’re not alone.
(Champoeg is, and was, pronounced chuhm-POIeek by
Native Americans. The settlers said cham-POH-eg, while the common pronunciation today
is sham-POO-ee.)
* * *
“Uncle Joe” Meek, 33 years old, was chosen sheriff. A nine-member legislative
committee was elected to draft a code of laws until the sovereignty questions could be
resolved. The committee lacked a lawyer, but Booth Gardner’s great-great-great grandfather
served ably as its chairman. Robert Moore had acquired some 1,000 acres on the west side
of Willamette Falls, opposite Oregon City. Most settlers simply took whatever land they
Joe Meek when he was Oregon’s U.S.
Marshall. Oregon Historical Society photo.
184