George K. Gay

Infobox_Person
name= George Kirby Gay


image_size=
caption=
birth_date= August 1810
birth_place= Gloucestershire, England
dead=dead
death_date= October 7 1882
death_place= Hopewell, Oregon
occupation= Sailor, farmer
spouse= Louisa Hare
Mary Manson
Mary Ann Rubidow

George Kirby Gay (1810–1882) 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 United States west of the Rocky Mountains. Gay also participated in the Champoeg Meetings that created a government in what would become the U.S. state of Oregon.

Early years

Gay was born in Gloucestershire, England in August 1810. He became a sailor and traveled much of the world and came to the United States.Corning, Howard M. (1956) "Dictionary of Oregon History". Binfords & Mort Publishing.] As a sailor, his last trip was aboard the whaleship "Kitty", which he left at Monterey, California, where he joined up with fur trapper Ewing Young.Lyman, Horace S. (1903) "History of Oregon: The Growth of an American State". North Pacific Publishing Society, New York. Vol. III. p. 218.]

Oregon

In 1835, George Gay returned to the Oregon Country with a party led by John Turner. Two years later he joined Young again and invested in the Willamette Cattle Company. cite journal
title = Wallamette Settlement Articles of Agreement
journal = Provisional and Territorial Records
pages = 406
publisher = Oregon Provisional Government
date=1-13-1837] Gay and the others traveled to California by boat to purchase cattle and then overland back to the Willamette Valley.cite web
title = Ewing Young Route
work = Oregon's Historic Trails
publisher = End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center
url = http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/oregontrails/ewingyoung.html
accessdate = 2007-12-12 ] During the trip back, on September 14 they crossed the Shasta River and soon after William J. Bailey and Gay shot a "friendly" native boy in what was considered revenge for attacks on previous trips through the area.cite web
title = Diary of Philip Leget Edwards
work = Historical California Longhorns
publisher = California Association of Texas Longhorn Breeders
url = http://www.catl.com/diary.html
accessdate = 2007-12-12 ] The group finished the journey in October 1837 with around 630 head of cattle.

Gay then claimed some land along the Willamette River near Wheatland, Oregon and started farming. In 1841, he began building a home at the site, and when completed in 1842 it was the first brick house in the region. The bricks were fired on the property and used to build the walls and two fireplaces on the convert|14|ft|m|sing=on high structure. Gay’s home was convert|22|ft|m wide by convert|32|ft|m long. In 1843, he was selected to serve on a committee at the First Wolf Meeting, part of the series of Champoeg Meetings.

On May 2 1843, Gay voted with the prevailing party at the last of the Champoeg Meetings.cite book
last = Hussey
first = John A.
title = Champoeg: Place of Transition, A Disputed History
publisher = Oregon Historical Society
year = 1967] The 52-50 vote established the Provisional Government of Oregon that would last until the Oregon Territory's government superseded it in 1849. Gay’s home would serve as one of the markers of the boundaries within the government. The south wall of his house marked the boundary line between the Yamhill and Champooick districts, and though the house is no longer standing, the location of that wall currently marks the line between Yamhill and Polk counties. In 1848, he went south to the California Gold Rush and mined for a time before returning to Oregon.

Later years

Upon returning to Oregon, Gay was considered one of the wealthiest people in what had become the Oregon Territory. He was married on three different occasions and fathered eight children. He married Louisa Hare, Mary Manson and Mary Ann Rubidow.Flora, Stephenie. [http://www.oregonpioneers.com/1838.htm Emigrants to Oregon Prior To 1839.] Oregon Pioneers. Retrieved on December 12 2007.] Rubidow was born Marie Anne Toupin in 1826, and married Gay about 1870. [ [http://museum.bmi.net/MARIE%20DORION%20PEOPLE/marianne_toupin.htm Marianne Toupin.] www.museum.bmi.net. Retrieved on December 12 2007.] George Kirby Gay lost his fortune and died poor on October 7 1882, and was buried on his property near Wheatland, Oregon.Scott, Leslie M. (1924) "History of the Oregon Country". The Riverside Press, Cambridge. Vol. II. p. 227.] A granite and bronze marker placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution on the Yamhill-Polk County line on Oregon Route 221 commemorates the location of Gay's home and gravesite and his involvement in the Champoeg Meetings.Fact|date=July 2008

ee also

*Hopewell, Oregon
*Johnnie Ray

References

External links

* [http://www.oregonpioneers.com/graphics/gkgay.jpghtml Picture of Gay]
* [http://photos.salemhistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/max&CISOPTR=1080&REC=7 Oregon Historic Photograph Collections: Gay house]