French Prairie
French Prairie is located in
"French Prairie" naming was first captured in writing in the early 1850s by a French Consul to California visiting Oregon. Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant referred to the area as "les prairies françaises".[3] French Prairie is also known as an early Métis settlement in the Pacific Northwest history.[4]History
Early settlement (non-Indigenous)
Wallace House was first established in 1812 by William Wallace Matthews and John C. Halsley. The Pacific Fur Company temporary outpost of
By 1829, Étienne Lucier was establishing a land claim nearby and starting to settle and retire with the help of its Hudson's Bay Company employer. Lucier was soon joined settling with Joseph Gervais (1831), Pierre Belleque (1833) and many more in following years.
By 1836, sixteen
The St. Paul Roman Catholic Church, in St. Paul, was built in 1846 by the original settlers of French Prairie and is the oldest brick building still standing in the Pacific Northwest.
Later settlement
For a short time in the 1880s the
French Prairie today
The French Prairie area is still an important agricultural area of the Willamette Valley, and there is concern about urban development encroaching on arable land.[9]
Geography
Generally, the French Prairie is bounded by the Pudding River on the east, the Salem-Keizer metropolitan area on the south, and the Willamette River on both the north and west as the Willamette makes a 90 degree turn to the south near Newberg.[8] Settlements on French Prairie founded by French Canadians include Butteville, Champoeg, Gervais, Saint Louis, and St. Paul.
Notable residents
- Pierre Belleque
- Marie Aioe Dorion
- Joseph Gervais
- Michel Laframboise
- Étienne Lucier
- François X. Matthieu
References
- ^ Edmonston, George P. Jr.; Patricia Filip. "Rewrites". A look at five OSU researchers who are revolutionizing their academic disciplines. Oregon Stater. Archived from the original on 2007-02-22. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
- ^ ISBN 0-87595-277-1.
- ^ "French Prairie".
- ^ Barman, Jean French Canadians, furs, and indigenous women in the making of the Pacific Northwest. UBC Press. Vancouver 2014. Chapter 7: "Initiating Permanent Settlement"
- ^ Henry, Alexander, and David Thompson. New Light on the Early History of the Greater Northwest: The Manuscript Journals of Alexander Henry, Fur Trader of the Northwest Company, and of David Thompson, Official Geographer and Explorer of the Same Company, 1799-1814 ; Exploration and Adventure among the Indians on the Red, Saskatchewan, Missouri, and Columbia Rivers. Edited by Elliott Coues. Vol. 2. New York City: Francis P. Harper, 1897. pp. 817-818.
- ^ Lenzen, Connie. "Settlers on French Prairie, Oregon Territory in 1836-1838". Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
- ^ "Willamette Settlers to the Bishop of Juliopolis". Oregon Historical Society. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
- ^ a b c d Chapman, J. S. (1993). French prairie ceramics: the Harriet D. Munnick archaeological collection, circa 1820-1860: a catalog and Northwest comparative guide. Anthropology northwest, no. 8. Corvallis, Or: Dept. of Anthropology, Oregon State University.
- ^ "Minutes of the Board Session". Marion County Board of Commissioners. 2006-03-08. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
External links
- List of Settlers West of Rockies, 1842 by Elijah White, Indian Agent
- French Canadians in the 1842 Oregon census (has detailed biographies of some of the settlers)
- Historic photos from the French Prairie area from Salem Public Library
- Friends of French Prairie land-use planning organization
- Jetté, Melinda. "French Prairie". The Oregon Encyclopedia.