- Elijah White
Infobox Person
name= Elijah White
caption=
birth_date= 1806
birth_place=New York
death_date=April 3 1879
place_of_death=
known_for =Oregon Trail
occupation= Missionary
physician
religion = Methodist
title = United States sub-Indian Agent
spouse= Dr. Elijah White (1806-1879) was a missionary and agent for the United States government inOregon Country during the mid 1800s. A trained physician from New York State, he first traveled to Oregon as part of theMethodist Mission in theWillamette Valley . He would return to the region after a falling-out with mission leader Jason Lee as the leader of one of the first large wagon trains across theOregon Trail and as a sub-Indian agent of the federal government. In Oregon he used his authority to regulate affairs between the Natives and settlers, and even between settlers. White would leave the region in 1845 as a messenger for theProvisional Government of Oregon to theUnited States Congress , returning in 1850 before leaving again forCalifornia in the early 1860s.Early life
White was born in
New York , in 1806.Corning, Howard M. "Dictionary of Oregon History". Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956.] There he received his education, including medical training at a school of medicine inSyracuse, New York . Prior to 1836 he would marry, and the couple would have a son named Jason as well as adopting another son named George. In 1836, White accepted an appointment to join Jason Lee in Oregon Country at theMethodist Church’s mission. White and his family sailed to theSandwich Islands aboard the vessel "Hamilton", arriving in July 1836. Others on the ship bound for the mission includedWilliam H. Wilson ,Alanson Beers , and Miss Anna Maria Pittman who would become Lee’s second wife.Horner, John B. (1919). "Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature". The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. p. 71] On the islands both White and his wife taught to the Native Islanders until May 1837 when they continued on to Oregon.Oregon
After arriving the family took up residence at the
Methodist Mission along theWillamette River at Mission Bottom. His infant son Jason drowned in 1838 after a canoe his wife and David Leslie were traveling in flipped over on theColumbia River . His other son also drowned that year while trying to ford the Willamette River. Elijah White and Jason Lee would develop animosity towards each other and differences in opinion on the direction of the mission leading to White leaving in 1841 to return to the East. In 1842, White led the first wagon train over theOregon Trail to Oregon that had more than 100 people. Trapper and later politicianOsborne Russell served as guide to this migration. [http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/road2oregon/sa32firstmen.html The First Men In Charge.] End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, accessedNovember 5 2007 .] The party set out onMay 16 1842 , fromElm Grove, Missouri , with 112 people, 18 wagons, and a variety of livestock.Clarke, S. A. 1905. "Pioneer Days of Oregon History". Portland: J.K. Gill Company.] [Oregon Historical Society. 1925. [http://books.google.com/books?id=wR0LAAAAIAAJ&dq=elijah+white+oregon The quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society June 1925, volume xxvi, number 2.] Portland: Oregon Historical Society Press.] Along the journey, some in the migration grew wary of White’s leadership and L. B. Hastings was selected as leader for a time until the party split into two groups.François X. Matthieu along with several other Canadians joined the party along the way toOregon . White arrived atFort Vancouver ahead of the main party, arriving onSeptember 20 1842 .White also returned as an official agent of the United States Government, after appointment as sub-Indian agent. Also in 1842 in his official capacity he brokered a code of conduct for the Nez Perce tribe as well as placating tensions with the Walla Walla and Cayuse tribes near the
Whitman Mission in the eastern section of the region. In Oregon he served as teacher toWilliam J. Bailey , training Bailey as a doctor. OnSeptember 22 1842 , White organized a meeting at Champoeg where he informed inform the settlers that he had been commissioned by theUnited States War Department as a sub-Indian Agent and implied that the pioneers could select him as their leader.cite book
last = Hussey
first = John A.
title = Champoeg: Place of Transition, A Disputed History
publisher = Oregon Historical Society
year = 1967] He appointed judges to deal with disputes between Native Americans and United States citizens, and even between citizens.Gray, William Henry. 1870. "A History of Oregon, 1792-1849, drawn from personal observation and authentic information". Portland, Or: Harris & Holman.]In 1843, White was selected as one of twelve members of the second Wolf Meeting to determine if the settlers wanted to form a government while waiting for the
Oregon question to be resolved. He was not involved in the final meetings, but in May 1843 the settlers voted 52 to 50 in favor of creating theProvisional Government of Oregon . The following year White was involved with the Cockstock incident when the provisional government’s recorderGeorge LeBreton was killed by a Native American by the name of Cockstock. He had tried to capture Cockstock prior to the bloodshed, and then worked to resolve tensions between the settlers and Native Americans after Cockstock and two settlers were killed. [Jette, Melinda. [http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=8931E17D-CDFA-0C0F-B2564A92A5334C96 The Comstock Incident.] The Oregon History Project, accessedNovember 5 2007 .] White then discovered a pass trough theOregon Coast Range to what is nowNewport, Oregon in 1845 before leaving the region with a petition from the Provisional Government to theUnited States Congress that same year.Later life
Elijah White returned to what had become the
Oregon Territory in 1850 to promote the community ofPacific City, Washington along the Columbia River. Located near what is now Ilwaco, he partnered with James D. Holman to sell property to settlers. White received a second commission as an Indian agent in 1861 for the region west of theRocky Mountains and moved toCalifornia . Doctor Elijah White died onApril 3 1879 , at the age of 73.References
External links
* [http://bluebook.state.or.us/notable/notwhite.htm Notable Oregonians: Dr. Elijah White - Physician, Pioneer]
* [http://www.historynet.com/exploration/westward_expansion/3035616.html Oregon Trail: Wagon Tracks West]
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