[155] The Butte was a landmark on the upper Willamette, a high escarpment prominent from the river. Here was formerly a landing for the settlers of French Prairie, whose farms lay south and east of this point. The town of Butteville was laid out by merchants of Oregon City—Abernethy and Beers—to facilitate the commerce in wheat. F. X. Matthieu took up land here as early as 1846, and in 1850 kept a store. He still lives at Butteville, which in 1900 had a population of 483.—Ed.
[156] For Champoeg see De Smet's Oregon Missions in our volume xxix, p. 179, note 75. The early meetings of the provisional government were held at this place, which was the centre for the old Canadian-French inhabitants of the country.
Dr. Robert Newell was born in 1807 at Zanesville, Ohio. His fur-trapping experiences were under the auspices of the American Fur Company (not the Hudson's Bay Company), as companion of Joseph L. Meek. See F. T. Victor, River of the West (Hartford, 1870). His first settlement (1840) after the migration to Oregon, was at Tualatin Plains; but before 1842 he removed to Champoeg, where by his influence over the settlers he became the political as well as social leader. Possibly also Newell laid out a town at this place, but he was by no means the founder of the village. Newell represented Champoeg in the provisional government for several years, and in 1846 was speaker of the lower house of the state legislature. After the Whitman massacre (1847) he was chosen one of the commissioners, with Palmer, to treat with the Indians. He also raised a company for the Indian war of 1856. In later life he was connected with railway projects and died at Lewiston, Idaho, in 1869.—Ed.
[157] For the early settlement of French Prairie, see De Smet's Letters in our volume xxvii, p. 386, note 203; also our volume vii, p. 231, note 83. For the Chinook jargon see our volume vi, p. 240, note 40; also pp. 264-270 of the present volume.—Ed.
[158] For the earliest site of the Methodist mission see our volume xxi, p. 299, note 84. Matheny's Ferry is mentioned in note 147, ante, p. 174.—Ed.
[159] For Jason Lee see our volume xxi, p. 138, note 13. His first wife was Anna Maria Pitman, who came out from New York in 1837, the marriage taking place soon after her arrival in May of that year. The following spring Lee returned to the United States. Upon his journey a messenger overtook him, announcing the death of Mrs. Lee on June 26, 1838. The first interment was at the old mission, as here stated. Later the grave was removed to Salem. H. H. Bancroft, History of Oregon, i, p. 170, gives the inscription on the tombstone.—Ed.
[160] For the origin of the Willamette Institute see De Smet's Oregon Missions in our volume xxix, p. 165, note 62.—Ed.
[161] In 1843 the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal church decided that the Oregon mission, being no longer useful for the conversion of Indians, should be closed, and the charges organized into a mission conference for whites. In pursuance of this resolve, Rev. George Gary of Black River Conference, New York, was appointed to supersede Jason Lee as superintendent. Early in June, 1844, Gary settled the affairs of the mission, dismissing the lay members, who immediately bought in the mills and other property of the mission. Gary remained in Oregon until 1847, making his headquarters at Oregon City.
The native name of the site at Salem—Chemekata—was interpreted by Rev. David Leslie as having the same significance as the term Salem—i. e., rest, or peace. The site was chosen in 1840 for the erection of mills on Mill Creek. The trustees of Oregon Institute laid out the town, which grew slowly until in 1851 it became the territorial capital. By the terms of the state constitution the capital was located by popular vote, which resulted in favor of Salem. Its population in 1900 was 4,258.—Ed.
[162] The Santiam River takes its name from the head chief (Sandeam) of the Kalapuya Indians, who dwelt upon its banks. April 16, 1851, the federal commissioners made a treaty with the Santiam branch of the tribe, whereby the latter ceded to the whites a large portion of their lands. Their number at this time was a hundred and fifty-five. Santiam River drains a considerable portion of Marion and Linn counties, its North Fork forming the boundary between the two. The road up this fork leads to Minto Pass; the South Fork formed the line for the Willamette and Cascade Military Road. Palmer's use of the term "Santa Anna" for this stream, in the two following paragraphs, would seem to indicate his ignorance of the Indian origin of the term, and an idea that it had been named for the Mexican general of that period.—Ed.