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 Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, co ...

, particularly 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 east, ...

. Bailey participated in 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 ...

that led to the creation of a provisional government in Oregon. He was selected as a member of that government, first on the executive committee and later 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 ...

Early life

William Bailey was born in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

on January 13, 1807.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. In England he was said to have studied medicine, before emigrating with his mother to the United States sometime before 1834. In the U.S. he enlisted in the Navy and traveled to the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

as a seaman, but deserted his ship in San Francisco. There is no evidence that he practiced medicine in the United States.

Oregon

William Bailey moved to

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

from California in 1835, settling in the

. Bailey's group included John Woodward,

George K. Gay George Kirby Gay (August 15, 1810 – October 7, 1882) was an English sailor and later settler in the Oregon Country. He was a member of the Willamette Cattle Company that brought livestock to Oregon and built the first brick house in the Unit ...

, and

John Turner John Napier Wyndham Turner (June 7, 1929September 19, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada from June to September 1984. He served as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and leader of t ...

. On this journey north, the group fought with the

Rogue River Indians Rogue River Indians are a conglomeration of many tribal groups in the Rogue River Valley area, belonging to three language families: Athabascan, Takelma and Shastan. Groups The principal tribes grouped under the name Rogue River Indians were: * ...

, losing four of their eight members of the party. Woodward, Gay, Bailey, and Turner were the survivors. Years later, Bailey and Gay murdered a Native American youth in the same area in retaliation during a cattle drive north from California. Bailey was working in the

Willamette Cattle Company The Willamette Cattle Company was formed in 1837 by pioneers in the Willamette Valley of present-day Oregon, United States. The company was formed with the express purpose of purchasing cattle in Mexican California. Nearly 750 head of cattle and ...

cattle drive from Mexican-owned California to Oregon. Leading the cattle drive was

Ewing Young Ewing Young (1799-February 9, 1841) was an American fur trapper and trader from Tennessee who traveled in what was then the northern Mexico frontier territories of Santa Fe de Nuevo México and Alta California before settling in the Oregon Country. ...

. In 1834 his party had killed several Rogue River natives on their journey to Oregon. This prompted their retaliation against Bailey's party the following year.

Politics

When the wealthy Ewing Young died without a will or known heir in February 1841, discussions about forming a settler government based in the Willamette Valley began. During these settler meetings, Bailey was selected as chairman of the committee to draft a constitution and laws for the region. The plans fell through due to the opposition by French-Canadians and instead only a probate court was established. Many participants in the talks were active in the later Champoeg Meetings, which led to the creation of the Provisional Government of Oregon. During the provisional government, William Bailey served as a member of the Second Executive Committee, along with

Peter G. Stewart Peter Grant Stewart (September 6, 1809 – August 27, 1900) was a jeweler and pioneer of the Oregon Country in what later became the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington (U.S. state), Washington. A native of New York state, he traveled the Orego ...

and

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 Bowdoinha ...

. This body acted in place of a single executive, though it was replaced with a governor in 1845 to streamline the

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...

of the government. The first and only governor was

George Abernethy George Abernethy (October 7, 1807 – March 2, 1877) was an American politician, pioneer, notable entrepreneur, and first governor of Oregon under the provisional government based in the Willamette Valley, an area later a part of the American sta ...

. In 1848, Bailey was elected to the provisional legislature from the Champoeg district.Grover, La Fayette
''The Oregon Archives.''
Salem: A. Bush. 1853, p. 260

Marriage and Later life

In Oregon Bailey married

Margaret Jewett Smith Margaret Jewett Bailey ( Smith; later Waddle and Crane; c. 1812 – 1882) was an American pioneer, missionary, and author from Oregon. Bailey, using the pen name Ruth Rover, wrote one of the earliest literary works published in Oregon, ''The Gr ...

from 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 ...

on 4 March 1839.Hussey, John A. ''Champoeg: Place of Transition, A Disputed History.'' Portland: Oregon Historical Society. 1967. pp. 90-91 In 1842 he sold his farm for $300 and left the Oregon Country for the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. The couple returned two years later in May 1844, having to spend $700 to purchase his old farm. Selling his farm for $1,275 in 1850, the Baileys by September 1853 had established a homestead in

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 ...

. Bailey at this point was openly having sex with any willing native woman.Lavender, David. ''Land of Giants; The Drive to the Pacific Northwest, 1750-1950.'' Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday Publishing, 1958. The couple's marriage continued to deteriorate, with Margaret fearing William's violent behaviors. The two did not have any children and divorced in 1854. On 2 November 1855 Bailey remarried to Julia M. Sheil. Bailey developed his property in Champoeg. He died there on February 5, 1876. He was buried at St. Paul Cemetery in St. Paul, Oregon.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, William J. 1807 births 1876 deaths Champoeg Meetings Members of the Provisional Government of Oregon Oregon pioneers English emigrants to the United States