Charles B. Moores

“ Nothing was definitely and finally settled at Champoeg . Seldom does the fate of an empire hinge on the act of a single man or the occurrence of a single event . The meeting of May 2 simply opened the door a little more widely to welcome the caravan of 1843 , the movement which , Horace Greeley declared , bore “an aspect of insanity . ” That was several years before he sounded the slogan "Go west young man .” It is a singular coincidence that led to the saving of Oregon twice in the same year , once by Whitman in March and later by Meek in the ensuing May . ”

“ Nixon, one of the authors of the legend, says: "He left Boston with an aching heart," and Barrows, Mowry and other friends agree, while still adhering to the untenable claim that the primary object of the ride was to save Oregon. The story has done Whitman an injustice, especially when it has been coupled with the claim that he was the organizer of the immigration of 1843. The true Whitman , the devoted , heroic missionary , who braved every hardship and imperiled his life , is not to be saddled with responsibility for all that his friends have claimed. ”

“ Our pioneer leaders were of a superior , stalwart and courageous type , and our pioneer women , in facing the drudgery , the perils , the isolation and the forced economies of pioneer life dis played a courage that was not of a fitful or impulsive type , but a continuous habit that enabled them to fearlessly face any emergency . The story of these men and thes women almost forces a mild form of pioneer hero worship that is so deprecated by the critics of the " School Masters ' Club . " Oregon has a million people . ”

“ That immigration of 1000 souls would have come to Oregon if the Champoeg meeting had never been held and if Meek had never made a call for a divide . The arrival of that multitude alone would have determined the outcome of the controversy between the United States and Great Britain . ”

“ Our subject this evening will be “Pioneer Pot Pourri,” which is elastic, as well as comprehensive.
As pioneers of Oregon we are today facing conditions entirely different from those of the real pioneer era. Most of us are only nominally pioneers. ”

“ Men may be as positive in error as in truth.”
The most prolonged and bitterly contested controversy that has divided the ranks of pioneers and pioneer historians is what is known as the Whitman legend. Possibly not ten per cent of the people of the state have anything but a passing interest in this controversy or special knowledge of the merits of the question.
question. It was over twenty years after Whitman's ride before it attracted any general attention. The Whitman mission was a child of the American Board of Foreign Missions. Dr. Whitman was its representative in the Oregon country. ”

“ This in no way lessens the credit due for any heroic exploit . The tendency to extravagance in hero worship is well illustrated in the following estimate of Meek quoted in one of the publications of the Oregon Pioneer As sociation : " The Oregon of today was only made as U. S . territory by the action of Joe Meek . Had he not that day at Champoeg walked out and shouted for all who favored the United States to follow him and stand up and be counted — had he remained quiet on that memorable occasion , it is more than likely — almost a certainty , that this would today be British soil. ”

“ They still exist and postponement of their final settlement results in continuous complications . Although we are now in the recent 1920s, a president has revamped and given his quasi-approval of the fable that Dr. Whitman saved Oregon. The school children of the state have been invited to turn in their pennies for the erection of a memorial to Judge J. Q. Thornton for giving them the 36th section, and the story that Col. Jos. L. Meek turned the tide and settled the question of American sovereignty at Champoeg by calling for "a divide" is still being continuously propagated. ”

“ The action of the Champoeg meeting was but one of a series of influences that brought about the desired culmina tion . Whitman , Meek and Thornton were not myths. They were influential entities who are entitled to their meed of credit , but they have been awarded more than their pro portionate share . There must be a more reasonable adjust ment . The plain , ordinary , garden variety of history is a l l that i s needed i n a land that i s a s richly endowed a s i s the Oregon country . ”

“ He was murdered by an Indian desperado in defending the settlement at Oregon City March 4 , 1844. The minutes relating to the vote taken are as follows :
"It was moved by Mr. Le Breton , and accepted by Mr. Gray , that the meeting divide preparatory to being counted , those in favor of the objects of the meeting taking the right hand and those of a contrary mind taking the left , which being carried by acclamation , and a great majority being found in favor of organization , the greater part of the dissenters withdrew . " ”

“ There i s enough that i s attractive i n the homely recital o f the real trials and hardships and achievements o f our early days . We hold our anual reunions a t Champoeg a s a his toric center , and we celebrate there a concentration o f a series o f achievements and notable events that have marked the development o f the entire Oregon country . The great westward trek across the American continent i n the ' 40s and ' 50s was the movement o f a people whose mental and
moral equipment was equal , if not superior , to that of al most any other human migration in the history of the world . ”

“ He came to Oregon in 1846 and was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1847 , and in 1848 was sent to Washington to aid in the frame - work and pas sage of the Oregon Territorial organization act .” He was active and aggressive and of a combative temperament . During the session of 1847 , J . W. Nesmith offered a resolution for the sending of " a remonstrance of this House to the President of the United States against the appointment of J. Quinn Thornton to any office in this Territory . ”

“ They do not rest on spectacular stunts , or extravagant adulation. Extravagant claims invite resentment and array group against group.
“The strength of our persuasions is no evidence of their rectitude. ”

“ Gray does not explain why the qualifying adjective " great ” was deleted in his purported copy of the minutes of the meeting . Mr. Geo . W. Le Breton , who was secretary of the meeting , was the first secretary of the Provisional Government and has been described as a highly educated man . ”

“ The fame o f the most important factors o f our pioneer days rests upon something more substantial than fanciful episodes that will not bear analysis and cannot b e sustained . A surplus o f rhetoric , o f romance and o f rhapsody ultimately grows extremely tiresome . ”