Joseph Lafayette "Joe" Meek (February 9, 1810 – June 20, 1875) was a pioneer,
mountain man, law enforcement official, and politician in the
Oregon Country and later
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 ...
of the United States. A trapper involved in the
fur trade before settling in the
Tualatin Valley
The Tualatin Valley is a farming and suburban region southwest of Portland, Oregon in the United States. The valley is formed by the meandering Tualatin River, a tributary of the Willamette River at the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley, ...
, Meek played a prominent role at the
Champoeg Meetings
The Champoeg Meetings were the first attempts at formal governance by European-American and French Canadian pioneers in the Oregon Country on the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. Between 1841 and 1843, a series of public councils was held ...
of 1843, where he was elected a sheriff. He was later elected to and served in the
Provisional Legislature of Oregon
The Provisional Legislature of Oregon was the single-chamber legislative body of the Provisional Government of Oregon. It served the Oregon Country of the Pacific Northwest of North America from 1843 until early 1849 at a time when no country had ...
before being appointed as the
United States Marshal
The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforc ...
for the Oregon Territory.
Early life
![The Enlistment, from Eleven Years in the Rocky Mountains](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/The_Enlistment%2C_from_Eleven_Years_in_the_Rocky_Mountains.png)
Joseph Meek was born on February 9, 1810, to James Meek and Spica Walker in
Washington County, Virginia
Washington County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,935. Its county seat is Abingdon.
Washington County is part of the Kingsport–Bristol–Bristol, TN-VA Metropolitan Statis ...
, near the
Cumberland Gap
The Cumberland Gap is a pass through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains, near the junction of the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. It is famous in American colonial history for its r ...
. At the age of 18 he joined
William Sublette
William Lewis Sublette, also spelled Sublett (September 21, 1798 – July 23, 1845), was an American frontiersman, trapper, fur trader, explorer, and mountain man. After 1823, he became an agent of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, along with his ...
and the
Rocky Mountain Fur Company
The enterprise that eventually came to be known as the Rocky Mountain Fur Company was established in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1822 by William Henry Ashley and Andrew Henry. Among the original employees, known as "Ashley's Hundred," were Jedediah ...
, and roamed 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 ...
for over a decade as a fur trapper. In about 1829, the nineteen-year-old Meek traveled with a trapping party along the
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the Western United States. Considered the principal tributary of upper Missouri, via its own tributaries it drains an area with headwaters across the mountains a ...
. A band of Blackfoot scattered the trappers, leaving Meek to travel into what is today
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowst ...
.
In a later account included in author
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 ...
's 1870 biography of Meek, ''The River of the West'', Meek described the region: "The whole country beyond was smoking with the vapor from boiling springs, and burning with gasses, issuing from small craters, each of which was emitting a sharp whistling sound."
[Breining, Greg, ''Super Volcano: The Ticking Time Bomb beneath Yellowstone National Park'' (St. Paul, MN: Voyageur Press, 2007). Popularized scientific look at the Yellowstone area's geological and historical past and potential future. . pp. 69-70.]
In
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
in 1838, Meek married a woman given to him by
Nez Perce
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 ...
chief Kowesota; it was customary for trappers to make what were called "country marriages".
Her Nez Perce name is not recorded, but Meek called her "Virginia". He had previously been married to a different Nez Perce woman.
By 1840, as it was becoming clear that the fur trade was dying due both to a change in fashion preferences and the overtrapping of
beaver
Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...
, Meek decided to join fellow trappers Caleb Wilkins and
Robert Newell in the
Oregon Country. On their way there, they met a small group of emigrants at
Fort Hall
Fort Hall was a fort in the western United States that was built in 1834 as a fur trading post by Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth. It was located on the Snake River in the eastern Oregon Country, now part of present-day Bannock County in southeastern Ida ...
who were also headed to Oregon. The trappers agreed to guide them to 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 ...
near
Fort Nez Percés
Fort Nez Percés (or Fort Nez Percé, with or without the accent aigu), later known as (Old) Fort Walla Walla, was a fortified fur trading post on the Columbia River on the territory of modern-day Wallula, Washington. Despite being named after the ...
. The single wagon that the group brought became the first ever to make it as far west as the mission on the
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, 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 ...
, although to get it there they ended up leaving the load behind.
Oregon Country
![Joseph Meek from Centennial History of Oregon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Joseph_Meek_from_Centennial_History_of_Oregon.png)
In Oregon Country, Meek took to wearing a bright red sash in imitation of the
French Canadian
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...
trappers employed by the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
. As the French trappers enjoyed good relations with most of the Indian tribes in the area, Meek seems to have hoped that the Indians would take him for a French Canadian or "Canadien" and leave him alone. In 1841, Meek settled in the
Tualatin Valley
The Tualatin Valley is a farming and suburban region southwest of Portland, Oregon in the United States. The valley is formed by the meandering Tualatin River, a tributary of the Willamette River at the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley, ...
, northwest of
Oregon City
)
, image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg
, imagesize =
, image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845
, image_flag =
, image_seal = Oregon City seal.png
, image_map ...
, and entered into the political life of the area. In the spring of 1841, Meek served as guide in Oregon for the
United States Exploring Expedition
The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...
. In 1843, at
meetings
A meeting is when two or more Homo sapiens, people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal or business setting, but meetings also occur in a variety of other environments. Meetings can be used as form of Decision-making, ...
in
Champoeg, Oregon
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 ...
called to form a provisional government, his was one of the foremost voices on the side of the American settlers. In 1843, when the provisional government was formed, Meek was appointed sheriff, and he was elected to the legislature in 1846 and 1847.
[Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956.]
In the late fall of 1847, some
Cayuse and
Umatilla Indians killed
Marcus Whitman
Marcus Whitman (September 4, 1802 – November 29, 1847) was an American physician and missionary.
In 1836, Marcus Whitman led an overland party by wagon to the West. He and his wife, Narcissa, along with Reverend Henry Spalding and his wife, E ...
, his wife
Narcissa, and 12 others at 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 ...
. Among the dead was Meek’s daughter by his first wife, Helen Mar Meek, age 10, who died in captivity. Meek traveled to Washington, D.C. with the news of the killings (known as the
Whitman massacre
The Whitman massacre (also known as the Walla Walla massacre and referred to as the Tragedy at Waiilatpu by the National Park Service) was the killing of the Washington missionaries Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa, along with eleven others, ...
) and the ensuing
Cayuse War
The Cayuse War was an armed conflict that took place in the Northwestern United States from 1847 to 1855 between the Cayuse people of the region and the United States Government and local American settlers. Caused in part by the influx of disease ...
. Leaving in early January, Meek,
George W. Ebbert, and John Owens made the difficult winter trip, arriving in
Saint Joseph, Missouri
St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which inclu ...
on May 4 and proceeding to Washington by steamboat and rail.
While in Washington, where he met with President
James K. Polk
James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and ninth governor of Tennessee (183 ...
(whose wife
Sarah Childress Polk
Sarah Childress Polk (September 4, 1803 – August 14, 1891) was the first lady of the United States from 1845 to 1849. She was the wife of the 11th president of the United States, James K. Polk.
Well educated in a successful family, Sarah met he ...
, was Meek's cousin), he argued forcefully for making the
Oregon Country a federal territory. The following spring,
Joseph Lane
Joseph "Joe" Lane (December 14, 1801 – April 19, 1881) was an American politician and soldier. He was a state legislator representing Evansville, Indiana, and then served in the Mexican–American War, becoming a general. President James K. P ...
was appointed Territorial Governor and Meek was made Territorial Federal Marshal.
[ Meek served as Territorial Marshal for five years. His account with the Hudson's Bay Company was often in debt, the mountain man owing the company over $300 in 1849, . In 1850 as Marshal, he supervised the execution of five Cayuse Indians found guilty of the ]Whitman massacre
The Whitman massacre (also known as the Walla Walla massacre and referred to as the Tragedy at Waiilatpu by the National Park Service) was the killing of the Washington missionaries Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa, along with eleven others, ...
,[ despite Archbishop ]François Norbert Blanchet
François Norbert Blanchet (September 30, 1795 – June 18, 1883) was a French Canadian-born missionary priest and prelate of the Catholic Church who was instrumental in establishing the Catholic Church presence in the Pacific Northwest. He was on ...
defending the men as innocent. Meek organized the Oregon Volunteers and led them in the Yakima Indian War and was promoted to the rank of major for his service.
Later years and family
On June 20, 1875 Meek died at his home on the land he settled on the Tualatin Plains
The Tualatin Plains are a prairie area in central Washington County, Oregon, United States. Located around the Hillsboro and Forest Grove areas, the plains were first inhabited by the Atfalati band of the Kalapuya group of Native Americans. Euro ...
just north of Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro ( ) is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Situated in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city hosts many high-technology companies, ...
, at the age of 65. His wife survived him by almost 25 years. Virginia Meek died on March 3, 1900. They are buried at the cemetery of the Tualatin Plains Presbyterian Church ("Old Scotch") north of Hillsboro, in Washington County, Oregon
Washington County is one of 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon and part of the Portland metropolitan area. The 2020 census recorded the population as 600,372, making it the second most populous county in the state and most populous "Wash ...
. As Meek said "I want to live long enough to see Oregon securely American... so I can say that I was born in Washington County, United States, and died in Washington County, United States."
His older brother Stephen Meek was also a trapper, and became known for his role in the ill-fated 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 ...
.[
The ]actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
Peter Whitney
Peter Whitney (born Peter King Engle; May 24, 1916 – March 30, 1972) was an American actor in film and television. Tall and heavyset, he played brutish villains in many Hollywood films in the 1940s and 1950s.
Early years
Whitney was born ...
was cast as Meek in the 1961 episode, "Who's Fer Divide?", on the syndicated television
Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...
anthology series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...
, ''Death Valley Days
''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...
'', hosted by Stanley Andrews
Stanley Andrews (born Stanley Martin Andrzejewski; August 28, 1891 – June 23, 1969) was an American actor perhaps best known as the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program ''Little Orphan Annie'' and later as "The Old Ranger", the first ...
. The episode focuses on the annexation of the Oregon Territory. John Alderson played Meek in the 1964 ''Death Valley Days
''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...
'' episode, "From the Earth, a Heritage." In that segment, a rival trapper, Nat Halper, played by Peter Whitney, pressures Meek to sell his beautiful Indian wife, Tula (Marianna Hill
Marianna Hill ( Schwarzkopf, February 9, 1942) is an American actress. She predominantly worked in American television and is known for her starring roles in the Western films '' El Condor'' and '' High Plains Drifter'' and the cult horror film ' ...
).
References
External links
*
Biography of Joseph Meek
from the Oregon Encyclopedia
The ''Oregon Encyclopedia of History and Culture'' is a collaborative encyclopedia focused on the history and culture of the U.S. state of Oregon.
Description
The encyclopedia is a project of Portland State University's History Department, thOreg ...
The River of the West: Joe Meek's Years in the Rocky Mountains
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meek, Joseph
1810 births
1875 deaths
American folklore
Mountain men
Champoeg Meetings
Members of the Provisional Government of Oregon
People from Hillsboro, Oregon
Oregon sheriffs
Oregon pioneers
American fur traders
Burials in Oregon
United States Marshals
People of the American Old West