Joseph L. Meek
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S5280ft
N 45° 34.670 W 122° 58.206
10T E 502332 N 5047144
Located on a side road (Victory Lane) on the south side of exit 59 on US-26 (Sunset Highway).
Waymark Code: WM381G
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 02/24/2008
Views: 25
This marks the land claim of Joseph L. Meek, famed and unlettered ”mountain man,” who arrived in 1840 after driving from Fort Hall to Walla Walla in the first wagon on that part of the Oregon Trail. He was a founder of the Provisional Government; served as the first sheriff, the first marshal, the first census taker. He carried word of the Whitman Massacre to Washington D.C., where President Polk, whose wife was his cousin, received him. Named marshal under the New Territorial Government, he accompanied Governor Lane to Oregon. His final Indian fighting was as a soldier in the Yakima War, 1855-56. He died here in 1875. A neighbor called him: “very popular and as brave as Julius Caesar.”
Historic Topic: Pioneer
Group Responsible for placement: State of Oregon
Marker Type: Roadside
Region: Metro/Portland
County: Washinton
State of Oregon Historical Marker "Beaver Board": [Web Link]
Web link to additional information: [Web Link]
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