Oregon History: Dr. John McLoughlin & George Abernethy - West Linn, Oregon - Oregon Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

    CHIEF FACTOR OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY AT FORT VANCOUVER
PHILANTHROPIST, AND FOUNDER OF OREGON CITY. THE LAND ON
THE EAST BANK OF THE WILLAMETTE RIVER AT THE FALLS WAS CLAIMED
BY DR. McLOUGHLIN AND THE HUDSON'S BAY CO. IN 1828-29. FIRST
CALLED WILLAMETTE FALLS, THE TOWN WAS PLATTED IN 1842 AND
WAS NAMED OREGON CITY BY DR. McLOUGHLIN. OREGON CITY WAS
THE FIRST INCORPORATED U.S. CITY WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
1844, PROVISIONAL AND TERRITORIAL CAPITAL, 1843-52, AND THE
CONTINUOUS SEAT OF GOVERNMENT FOR CLACKAMAS COUNTY SINCE
1843. DR. McLOUGHLIN BECAME AND AMERICAN CITIZEN AND WAS
ELECTED MAYOR OF OREGON CITY IN 1851. HIS HOME WAS BUILT
IN 1845 NEAR THE FALLS AND WAS MOVED TO THE TOP OF THE BLUFF
IN 1909. THE McLOUGHLIN HOUSE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE IS OPEN
TO THE PUBLIC. DR. McLOUGHLIN IS REMEMBERED AS "THE FATHER
OF THE OREGON COUNTRY" BECAUSE OF THE AID HE PROVIDED TO THE
MISSIONARIES AND PIONEERS WHO CAME OVER THE OREGON TRAIL.

   FROM 1845 TO 1849, GEORGE ABERNETHY WAS THE FIRST PROVISIONAL GOVERNOR
OF THE OREGON COUNTRY, WHICH EXTENDED FROM THE PACIFIC OCEAN TO THE
ROCKY MOUNTAINS AND FROM CALIFORNIA TO NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA.
   AFTER ARRIVING IN OREGON IN 1840 AS PART OF THE METHODIST MISSION AT
CHAMPOEG, HE WAS INVOLVED IN A SERIES OF MEETINGS THAT ENDED IN THE
CELEBRATED MAY 2, 1843, VOTE TO ORGANIZE A PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT
UNDER THE UNITED STATES RATHER THAN GREAT BRITAIN. AFTER ABERNETHY
SERVED TO TERMS AS GOVERNOR, THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT CEASED TO
EXIST WHEN OREGON BECAME A TERRITORY IN 1849. GOVERNOR ABERNETHY'S
PIONEER HOME WAS LOCATED ON THE EAST BANK OF THE WILLAMETTE RIVER
NEAR THE INTERSTATE 205 BRIDGE.
   THE BRIDGE ACROSS THE WILLAMETTE ONE-HALF MILE EAST FROM THIS LOCA-
TION HAS BEEN DESIGNATED BY THE 1979 OREGON LEGISLATURE AS THE "GEORGE
ABERNETHY MEMORIAL BRIDGE" IN FITTING TRIBUTE TO OREGON'S FIRST PIONEER
GOVERNOR.