Victor Trevitt (c. 1827-1883) was a soldier, publisher, and legislator in the U.S. state of Oregon. He was born in New Hampshire in about 1827 and lived in Ohio prior to enlisting for the Mexican War, in which he lost an eye. He was a publisher of the '' Salem Statesman'' and the '' Vox Populii'', and later served as a member of the

Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 65,000. The House meets in the west wing of the ...

and the

Oregon State Senate The Oregon State Senate is the upper house of the statewide legislature for the US state of Oregon. Along with the lower chamber Oregon House of Representatives it makes up the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 30 members of the state Sena ...

. He was a

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...

. He owned and operated a toll bridge over the

Deschutes River Deschutes River may refer to: *Deschutes River (Oregon) The Deschutes River in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many ...

, but sold it upon the successful launch of the ''Colonel Wright'' steamship. He died in 1883 after moving to San Francisco, and his dying wish was to be buried among the native people of Oregon, who he avowed to be more honorable than white people. His is the only grave marker on Memaloose Island in the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

near

Mosier, Oregon Mosier is a city along the Columbia River in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 433 at the 2010 census. History Mosier was first settled in 1854 and incorporated as a city in 1914. The building now known as the post office ...

References

External links

Find-a-grave entry

"Island of the Dead"
Pacific Northwest Adventures blog (Oct. 2019)
Biography at Historic The Dalles website
containing a thorough bibliography Oregon state senators Members of the Oregon House of Representatives American military personnel of the Mexican–American War Journalists from Oregon 1820s births 1883 deaths 19th-century American legislators {{Oregon-politician-stub