Dr. Elijah White (1806–1879) was a missionary and agent for the United States government in Oregon Country during the mid-19th century. A trained physician from New York State, he first traveled to Oregon as part of the

Methodist Mission The Methodist Mission was the Methodist Episcopal Church's 19th-century conversion efforts in the Pacific Northwest. Local Indigenous cultures were introduced to western culture and Christianity. Superintendent Jason Lee was the principal leader fo ...

in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the eas ...

. He returned to the region after a falling-out with mission leader

Jason Lee Jason Lee may refer to: Entertainment *Jason Lee (actor) (born 1970), American film and TV actor and former professional skateboarder *Jason Scott Lee (born 1966), Asian American film actor * Jaxon Lee (Jason Christopher Lee, born 1968), American v ...

as the leader of one of the first large wagon trains across the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what is now the state of Kans ...

and as a sub-

Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. Background The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...

of the federal government. In Oregon he used his authority to regulate affairs between the Natives and settlers, and even between settlers. White left the region in 1845 as a messenger for the

Provisional Government of Oregon The Provisional Government of Oregon was a popularly elected settler government created in the Oregon Country, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Its formation had been advanced at the Champoeg Meetings since February 17, 1841, ...

to the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, returning in 1850 before leaving again for California in the early 1860s.

Early life

White was born in New York, in 1806.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. There he received his education, including medical training at a school of medicine in Syracuse, New York. Prior to 1836 he married, and the couple had a son named Jason as well as adopting another son named George. In 1836, White accepted an appointment to join Jason Lee in Oregon Country at the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

Church’s mission. White and his family sailed to the

Sandwich Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Ku ...

aboard the vessel ''Hamilton'', arriving in July 1836. Others on the ship bound for the mission included William H. Wilson,

Alanson Beers Alanson Beers (August 19, 1808 – February 20, 1853) was an American pioneer and politician in the early days of the settlement of the Oregon Country. A blacksmith by trade, he was a reinforcement for the Methodist Mission in what would become the ...

, and Miss Anna Maria Pittman who became Lee's first wife.Horner, John B. (1919). ''Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature''. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. p. 71 On the islands both White and his wife taught to the Native Islanders until May 1837 when they continued on to Oregon.

Oregon

After arriving the family took up residence at the

along the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

at Mission Bottom. His infant son Jason drowned in 1838 after a canoe his wife and David Leslie were traveling in flipped over on the Columbia River. His other son also drowned that year while trying to ford the Willamette River. Elijah White and Jason Lee developed animosity towards each other and differences in opinion on the direction of the mission leading to White leaving in 1841 to return to the East. In 1842, White led the first wagon train over the

that had more than 100 people. Trapper and later politician

Osborne Russell Osborne Russell (19 June 1814 – 1 May 1884) was a mountain man and politician who helped form the government of the U.S. state of Oregon. He was born in Maine. Early life Osborne Russell was born 19 June 1814, in the village of Bowdoinh ...

served as guide to this migration.The First Men In Charge.
End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, accessed November 5, 2007. The party set out on May 16, 1842, from Elm Grove, Missouri, with 112 people, 18 wagons, and a variety of livestock.Clarke, S. A. 1905. ''Pioneer Days of Oregon History''. Portland: J.K. Gill Company. Along the journey, some in the migration grew wary of White’s leadership and L. B. Hastings was selected as leader for a time until the party split into two groups. François X. Matthieu along with several other Canadians joined the party along the way to

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. White arrived at

Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of th ...

ahead of the main party, arriving on September 20, 1842. White also returned as an official agent of the United States Government, after appointment as sub-Indian agent. Also in 1842 in his official capacity he brokered a code of conduct for the

Nez Perce tribe The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...

as well as placating tensions with the

Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to: * Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named * Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...

and Cayuse tribes near the

Whitman Mission Whitman Mission National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located just west of Walla Walla, Washington, at the site of the former Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu. On November 29, 1847, Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa ...

in the eastern section of the region. In Oregon he served as teacher to

William J. Bailey William J. Bailey (January 13, 1807 – February 5, 1876) was a British-born physician who migrated to the United States, where he became a pioneer and politician in the Oregon Country, particularly the Willamette Valley. Bailey participated in the ...

, training Bailey as a doctor. On September 22, 1842, White organized a meeting at

Champoeg Champoeg ( , historically Horner, John B. (1919). ''Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature''. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. p. 398.) is a former town in the U.S. state of Oregon. Now a ghost town, it was an important settlement in the W ...

where he informed the settlers that he had been commissioned by the

United States War Department The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

as a sub-Indian Agent and implied that the pioneers could select him as their leader. He appointed judges to deal with disputes between Native Americans and United States citizens, and even between citizens.Gray, William Henry. 1870. ''A History of Oregon, 1792-1849, drawn from personal observation and authentic information''. Portland, Or: Harris & Holman. In 1843, White was selected as one of twelve members of the second Wolf Meeting to determine if the settlers wanted to form a government while waiting for the

Oregon Question The Oregon boundary dispute or the Oregon Question was a 19th-century territorial dispute over the political division of the Pacific Northwest of North America between several nations that had competing territorial and commercial aspirations in t ...

to be resolved. He was not involved in the final meetings, but in May 1843 the settlers voted 52 to 50 in favor of creating the

. The following year White was involved with the Cockstock Incident when the provisional government’s recorder

George LeBreton George W. LeBreton (1810 – March 4, 1844) was a pioneer politician in the Oregon Country and served as the official recorder in the Provisional Government of Oregon. Early life LeBreton was born in 1810 in Massachusetts.

was killed by a Native American by the name of Cockstock. He had tried to capture Cockstock prior to the bloodshed, and then worked to resolve tensions between the settlers and Native Americans after Cockstock and two settlers were killed. White then discovered a pass through the

Oregon Coast Range The Oregon Coast Range, often called simply the Coast Range and sometimes the Pacific Coast Range, is a mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region, in the U.S. state of Oregon along the Pacific Ocean. This north-south ru ...

to what is now

Newport, Oregon Newport is a city in Lincoln County, Oregon, United States. It was incorporated in 1882, though the name dates back to the establishment of a post office in 1868. Newport was named for Newport, Rhode Island. As of the 2010 census, the city had ...

in 1845 before leaving the region with a petition from the Provisional Government to the

that same year. According to historian

Frances Fuller Victor Frances Auretta Fuller (Barritt) Victor ( pen names: Florence Fane, Dorothy D.) (May 23, 1826 – November 14, 1902) was an American historian and historical novelist. She has been described as "the first Oregon historian to gain regional and nat ...

, White, through his exploration and advocacy for a southern cutoff to the Willamette Valley, may have been primarily responsible for the disastrous

Meek Cutoff Meek Cutoff was a horse trail road that branched off the Oregon Trail in northeastern Oregon and was used as an alternate emigrant route to the Willamette Valley in the mid-19th century. The road was named for frontiersman Stephen Meek, who wa ...

party of 1845.

Later life

Elijah White returned to what had become the

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. O ...

in 1850 to promote the community of Pacific City, Washington along the Columbia River. Located near what is now Ilwaco, he partnered with

James Duval Holman James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

to sell property to settlers. White received a second commission as an Indian agent in 1861 for the region west of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

and moved to California. Doctor Elijah White died on April 3, 1879, at the age of 73.

References

External links

Elijah White (1806-1879)
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Elijah Oregon Country Methodist Mission in Oregon Champoeg Meetings People from New York (state) Oregon Trail United States Indian agents 1806 births 1879 deaths Oregon pioneers