On February 7, 1841 Willamette Valley settlers held the first of a series of meetings in Champoeg, a former town (now a state park) on the banks of the Willamette about 5 miles southeast of Newberg.
The topic of discussion at that first meeting was what to do with all the cattle and land belonging to terminally ill wealthy pioneer Ewing Young; he had no will or heir.
Subsequent meetings over the next few years tossed around the topic of forming a government. And in 1843 they voted to establish the Oregon Country provisional government. Just five years later the provisional government was replaced with a territorial government when the US government established the Oregon Territory.
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