PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF OREGON

The 'Provisional Government of Oregon' was a popularly elected government created in the Oregon Country that was in effect from May 2 1843 until March 3 1849. Created at a time when no country had sovereignty over the region, this independent settler government filled the void to provide a legal system for the pioneers and even a common defense. As laid out in Section 1 of the preamble to the Organic Laws of Oregon, which were adopted in 1843 to serve as a constitution, they only agreed to the laws “until such time as the United States of America extend their jurisdiction over us.” Brown’s Political History of Oregon: Provisional Government, , J. Henry, Brown, Wiley B. Allen, ,

The government had three branches that included a legislature, judiciary, and executive branch. This executive branch was first the Executive Committee which consisted of three members in effect from 1843 to 1845 when a single governor position was created. A judicial branch had a single supreme judge along with several lower courts, while a legislative committee of nine served as a legislature until 1845 when it was replaced by a House of Representatives.

Background

Main articles: Champoeg Meetings

Beginning in 1841 a series of meetings were held at Champoeg on the French Prairie and a few other sites in the Willamette Valley of present day Oregon. The first meetings were held in part as a response to the death of Ewing Young.^[1] Young had died without a will and had extensive business dealings with many other pioneers requiring a probate court to administer this estate. In February of 1841 a probate judge was appointed as were a few other positions, but no further movement towards government occurred. The movement towards self-government picked up momentum in early 1843 as over 100 immigrants had come across the Oregon Trail the previous year.
On February 2, 1843, the first “Wolf Meeting” was held at the Oregon Institute in what is now Salem to discuss problems with predatory animals attacking livestock. Then in March the second “Wolf Meeting” was held to further discuss there issues and to set up bounties on the animals, and then discussions about forming a government began.^[2] Meetings continued in the valley over the next few months until a large general meeting was held at Champoeg on May 2, 1843. At this meeting the proposal for forming a provisional government was discussed and eventually a committee recommendation to form a government was put to a vote. Joseph L. Meek then called for a vote by the pioneers splitting up to which side they were in favor of, and the final tally was 52 for forming a government and 50 against. With this the Provisional Government of Oregon was formed, and on July 5, 1843 the Organic Laws of Oregon were adopted and people were elected to government offices.

Structure

The Organic Laws were drafted by a legislative committee on May 16 1843 and June 28 1843 before their adoption by a vote of the committee on July 5th.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. Although not a formal constitution, it outlined the laws of the government. Two years later on July 2 1845, a new set of Organic Laws were drafted to revise and clarify the previous version, with this newer version then adopted by a majority vote of the people on July 26 1845. This constitution-like document divided the government into three separate departments consisting of a judiciary branch, an executive branch, and a legislature. The executive branch had previously been modified, in late 1844, from a three person committee to a single governor to take effect in 1845.

Executive branch

George Abernethy

With the first set of laws in July of 1843 the people created a government that was lead by a three person committee to act as an executive instead of a single person. The First committee served until May of 1844, then a second three person committee was elected. On May 14 1844, the Second Executive Committee was elected and served until June 12 1845. In December of 1844 the legislature authorized the amending of the Organic Laws including the elimination of the Executive Committee in favor of a single governor that would take effect in June 1845. At that time George Abernethy was elected as the first governor. Abernethy would be the only governor under the Provisional Government, serving until 1849 after reelection in 1847.

Legislative branch

Main articles: Provisional Legislature of Oregon

The Provisional Legislature held session mainly in Oregon City. They met at different times each year to deal with various issues that would arise, and in 1848 they did not met due to a lack of people from the exodus of men to the California gold fields.^[3] The legislature enacted various laws, sent memorials to Congress, incorporated towns and organizations, and even granted divorces and licenses to run ferries.

Judicial branch

James W. Nesmith

In addition to an executive, the Provisional Government included a judiciary. This forerunner to the Oregon Supreme Court consisted of a single supreme judge and two justices of the peace.Gray, William H. A History of Oregon, 1792-1849, Drawn from personal observation and authentic information. Harris & Holman: Portland, OR. 1870. The supreme judge was elected by the people, but the legislature could select someone as presiding judge as a replacement if needed. Oregon Supreme Court Justices
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 of those serving as judges included Nathaniel Ford, Peter H. Burnett, Osborne Russell, Ira L. Babcock, and future senator James W. Nesmith.

Districts

In addition to the divisions of power between the government agencies, the region was divided into administrative districts. These districts are the predecessors to the counties that would form later, and the Organic Law authorized from three to five districts with additional districts as the population expanded. At first there was Twality district, Yamhill district, Clackamas district, and lastly Champooick district. The districts divided the entire Oregon Country into these four districts, however the effective area of control was limited to the lower Columbia and Willamette Valley.
Twality or Tualatin District boundaries were the northern boundary line of the United States south to the Yamhill River, with the Pacific Ocean as the western boundary and the Willamette River as the eastern boundary. Champoeg District was the land south of a line drawn from the mouth of the Haunchauke River east to the Rocky Mountains, north of the border with California, and west of the Willamette River. Clackamas District was all land north of the line drawn from the mouth of the Haunchauke to the U.S. border, and east of the Willamette to the Rockies. Yamhill District was the remaining southeast section of Oregon Country south of the Yamhill River and west of the Willamette.
In 1845 the Provisional Legislature passed a law creating a new district, Polk District, from the southern section of Yamhill District. Governor Abernethy signed the bill into law on December 22 1845, and at this point districts became counties. Benton County was created out of the southern section of Polk County on December 23 1847.

Other

Other government positions included Recorder, Treasurer, Attorney, and Sheriff. The recorder position would later become the position of Secretary of State. In 1845 Francis Ermatinger (a Hudson's Bay Company employee) was elected to the position of Treasurer after carrying the French vote.
The seal of the government was named the Salmon Seal and was circular with three sheaves of wheat and a salmon with the word OREGON on the top. A flag with a single star and several stripes was used by some troops during the fight against the Cayuse tribe.

Laws

Over the course of nearly six years under the provisional government, the settlers passed numerous laws. One law allowed people to claim 640 acres if they improved 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. Other rights included no cruel and unusual punishment, no unreasonable bails for defendants, and no takings of property without compensation to name a few of these listed rights.

Main settlements in the area.

Then in 1844 the legislature passed a law banning the sale of ardent spirits for fear of the Native Americans becoming hostile if intoxicated, and an additional law banning any additional Blacks from settling in the region (slavery had already been banned in the Organic Laws). The law banning Blacks authorized the lashing of any Black forty times from time to time until they left the region, but this punishment was never carried out on anyone. Then in 1849 one of the last laws passed authorized the minting of coins. These coins would be called the Beaver Coins and were created as a result of significant amounts of gold dust circulating in the area due to the California Gold Rush.

Revenue

The first attempt at raising money for the government came in the form of voluntary subscriptions in 1843. However, as this failed to raise enough funds, in 1844 the Executive Committee authorized a property tax. This taxed all property, real estate and personal property, with some exceptions at the rate of 0.00125%. In 1845 the rate was doubled to .0025% and a 50¢ poll tax was levied as well. Failure to pay resulted in disenfranchisement.
Collections were difficult as many citizens either refused to pay or were unable to pay what was owed. Therefore, the government began issuing scrip for its loans, which became a sort of currency in the region. During the government's existence it collected around $8,000 from the poll tax and property tax combined, considerably less than the $23,000 that the government expended during the same time.

Militia

The organic laws laid out plans for a militia that included a battalion of mounted riflemen led by someone at the rank of major. This militia was to assemble once per year in September for inspection. Every male between 16 and 60 was considered a member of the military (a situation which remains the case under modern Oregon law, though including both sexes and with a narrower age range of 18 to 45).^[4] 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 March of 1844 the first need for the militia came about when a member of the Molala killed the government’s recorder George LeBreton and one other on the fourth in Oregon City. From this incident a company of 25 men were organized into the Oregon Rangers at the Oregon Institute led by Captain Thomas D. Keizer, who resigned shortly thereafter. Charles H. Bennett then took command of these mounted riflemen who were to be paid $2 per day for service, or $1 if drilling. These men were also expected to provide their own weapons, however the company never saw action at this time.

Cayuse War

Main articles: Cayuse War

Following the Whitman Massacre in 1847, settlers were worried about additional attacks by the natives. In December of 1847 Governor Abernethy and the legislature met to discuss the situation after learning of the attack from the Hudson’s Bay Company. On December 8, a company of 50 men were to be organized immediately and sent to The Dalles to protect that settlement and to prevent any forces from penetrating to the Willamette Valley. An additional force of 500 men were to meet in Oregon City by December 25. This group would then prosecute the war east of the Cascades under the command of Cornelius Gilliam. The Cayuse War would continue until the chiefs of the bands turned over several members to be tried for the murders. These men were found guilty and hanged on June 3, 1850, at Oregon City.

Subsequent history

On June 15 1846, the Oregon boundary dispute between the United States and Great Britain was resolved with the Oregon Treaty that set the international boundary between the U.S. and British North America in the Oregon country at the 49th parallel.American settlers in Oregon declare a provisional government on May 2, 1843. Two years later on August 14 1848 the United States Congress created the Oregon Territory out of the territory south of the boundary that includes all of the current states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and parts of several others. This extended U.S. sovereignty over the region, but effective control would not occur until government officials arrived from the United States.

On March 2 1849, Joseph Lane arrived at Oregon City as the appointed Governor of Oregon Territory. Originally from Indiana, Lane had been appointed by President Polk in August of 1848 when the Oregon Territory was officially created by Congress. When Governor Lane arrived he dissolved the provisional government, but the only law of the government struck down was the law authorizing the minting of the Beaver Coins as this was in contradiction to the United States Constitution. Then in 1853 the Washington Territory was created from the northern section of the Oregon Territory.^[5] Lastly, on February 14, 1859, the Oregon Territory became the state of Oregon.^[6]

References

1. Horner, John B. (1921). "Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature". The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland.
2. Pioneer Days of Oregon History, , S.A., Clarke, J.K. Gill Company, 1905,

3. Beginnings of Self-Government

4. Oregon Revised Statutes 10§396. Published by the Legislative Counsel Committee of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. 2005. Access date: July 20, 2007.
5. WSU: Early Maps
6. Oregon Blue Book Oregon History: Statehood

External links

★ Oregon Secretary of State: Historical County Offices and Duties

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