A little weekend history
Did you know Peoria played a major role in the settling the Oregon territory?
On the first day of May 1839 a group of 16 armed and mounted men rode up to the courthouse in the town square of Peoria, Illinois, bowed their heads, pledged themselves never to desert one another, turned and rode west to the cheers of local citizens who had turned out to see them off. Their stated intent was to colonize the Oregon country on behalf of the United States and drive out the English fur trading companies operating there. Their organizer and elected captain was a Peoria lawyer, Thomas Jefferson Farnham and he called his men the Oregon Dragoons. They carried with them a flag emblazoned with the motto Oregon or the Grave, a gift from Mrs. Farnham.
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The seed for the expedition had been planted the previous fall when Rev. Jason Lee visited Peoria on a national speaking tour about the Oregon country.
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When Lee spoke at Peoria’s Main Street Presbyterian Church on October 1, 1838, he had with him five Native American boys from the Calapooya tribe. One of these, Thomas Adams, became ill and was left in Peoria to recuperate. Indian Tom, as he was called, created quite a sensation as he described his life in Oregon. The combination of Adams’ stories and Lee’s speech created the incentive to form the Oregon Dragoons with the intention of claiming Oregon for the United States.
Almost all the Dragoons were single, in their early twenties, with a romantic sense of adventure. When they left Peoria, each man had his own horse, a rifle with powder and 120 balls, a Bowie knife weighing as much as 7-9 pounds, and $100-150 for supplies. The party jointly owned a tent large enough for all 16 men to sleep, a wagon with two horse team, provisions and a communal kitty of $100 for contingencies.
Read the whole dramatic story [here]
An alternate, shorter version is [here]
…and the Wikipedia entry is [here]
March 31st, 2008 at 11:33 am
Wow. Even then people were getting out of Peoria as quickly as they could.
March 31st, 2008 at 11:40 am
They were not heading for Morton.
March 31st, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I sure hope not. Oregon’s the other way!
March 31st, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Astoria, IL was named after Jacob Astor — just as Astoria, OR was.
You know your woman really loves you when she makes you a flag that says “[Destination] or the Grave.”
m.
March 31st, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Hey! Morton is not that bad!!
April 1st, 2008 at 7:54 am
That should be on the sign, Morton, we’re not that bad.
April 1st, 2008 at 8:03 am
Blahahaha!
April 1st, 2008 at 11:23 am
“Morton: We’re Not as Snobby as We Used to Be”
April 1st, 2008 at 11:33 am
“Morton: We have a Cracker Barrell”
April 1st, 2008 at 11:49 am
“Morton: We’re a barrel of crackers”
April 1st, 2008 at 11:56 am
“…and we’re mostly poor white folk too.”
That’s what you meant, right?
April 1st, 2008 at 11:58 am
What I want to know is how my history lesson went down this path? It’s more comments than I expected (zero), but STILL.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:55 pm
This is payback for ravaging my Voicemail is the Devil article. And the ladies DO call me Dr. Love!
Wait…Where are the poor white folk in Morton? OH, that’s right, they live IN MY APARTMENT BUILDING.
April 1st, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I should ask Mr. Carter if I can borrow his Ritz costume for Halloween this year. I might have to get it altered. I’m a bit broader than he is.
May 24th, 2008 at 8:41 am
[...] Although these pictures bear some resemblance to Pottstown, this is actually Peoria, Oregon, named after Peoria, Illinois and the adventuresome group of Peorians who helped settle the Oregon Territory in the early 1800’s. You can read my entry on the subject here. [...]