Francis Fletcher

Francis Fletcher (March 1, 1814 - October 7, 1871) was a prominent pioneer of the U.S. state of Oregon and a member of the Peoria Party.

Born in Yorkshire, England, he immigrated with his parents to Canada in 1825. Moving as a young man to Peoria, Illinois he joined the Oregon Dragoons and traveled overland on the Oregon Trail, arriving in the Willamette Valley of Oregon in 1840. There he took a Donation Land Claim along the Yamhill River adjacent to his lifelong friend Amos Cook. On May 2 1843 he was among the settlers present at Champoeg, Oregon who voted to create the Provisional Government of Oregon, the first American government west of the Rocky Mountains.

In 1843 he married Miss Elizabeth Smith and they raised eight children. He volunteered for service in the Cayuse War of 1848 and was on the first board of trustees of Willamette University. He died on his farm near Dayton, Oregon. His house in Dayton is on the National Register of Historic Places.citeweb |title=Oregon National Register List |url= http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/oregon_nr_list.pdf |date=July 16 2007 |publisher=Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department |accessdate=2007-12-29]

References

*Corning, Howard M., editor. Dictionary of Oregon History. Portland, Oregon: Binfords & Mort, 1956.
*Dobbs, Caroline C. Men of Champoeg. 1932. Reprint Cottage Grove, Oregon: Emerald Valley Craftsmen, 1975.

External links

* [http://oregonmag.com/OrHistArticle.htm Oregon or the Grave]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=fletcher&GSfn=francis&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=39&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=6306928& Francis Fletcher in Findagrave]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/indie/francisfletcher/ Francis Fletcher - Oregon Pioneer]