Dave Knows Portland

June 18, 1846: Oregon Treaty Ratified by the Senate

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Oregon TerritoryThe Oregon Treaty, which established the border between British held Canada and the United States of America, was ratified by the U.S. Senate on June 18, 1846.

Negotiated by the James K. Polk administration, some American interests (including the Polk presidential campaign in 1844) demanded the border be established at 54° 40′, but the end result was the 49th parallel. Neither the British nor the USA had the stomach, at the moment, for more war.

Map credit: Map by Matthew Trump, used under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 license.

June 16, 1879: David P. Thompson Elected Mayor of Portland

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David P ThompsonIn defeating William Strong by a total of 1404 votes to 1358, David P. Thompson was elected mayor of Portland, Oregon on June 16, 1879 (Morning Oregonian, 17-June-1879).

Originally from Ohio, Thompson traveled west to the Oregon Territory as a sheep herder at 19. He worked as a laborer and surveyor until the outbreak of the Civil War. He enlisted and attained the rank of captain (though his First Oregon Calvary never actually saw action during the war). Soon after the war Thompson entered politics.

During his political career he served in the Oregon State Senate (both as a Republican and Democrat), spent time as the governor of the Idaho Territory, and spent two terms as the Portland’s mayor. Briefly he served as the U.S. minister to the Ottoman Empire. In civic affairs he presided over both the Oregon Humane Society and the Portland Public Library as president.

He is most remembered, however, for a donation to the city of Portland: the Thompson Elk fountain, which you can see today in the middle of SW Main between 4th and 5th.

June 2, 1902: The “Oregon System” Is Born

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The Direct Legislation League, under leader William S. U’Ren, was a driving force of progressive democratic reforms at the turn of the last century. One of the league’s early successes occurred on June 2, 1902, when Oregon voters approved a ballot measure that created Oregon’s initiative and referendum process.

Direct primaries were enacted by voters in 1904, and a constitutional amendment permitting recall of public officials was passed in 1908. The combination of these democratic reforms, allowing citizens to directly propose and change laws and the constitution through general elections, became known nationally as the Oregon System.

May Day 2011

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May Day 2011It’s May Day, so you know what that means!

Well, for most Americans in means just another day to meekly report to work and grovel for a paycheck (or a day to spend recovering from said groveling if you have Sundays off).

But in the rest of the world, and yes, even for some Americans, May Day belongs to the People. And this being Portland, of course there will be a rally.

May 1 has been the traditional day of international worker solidarity since 1890, when American and European workers held mass demonstrations to commemorate the May 1, 1886 U.S. general strike that won American workers the eight-hour day.

Today, from revolutionaries in Cairo, to protesters in Wisconsin, to day laborers in Portland, workers are continuing to struggle for their rights.

On May 1, 2011, join workers around the globe in celebrating International Workers’ Day with a march against the attacks on the working class and immigrants.

Join your fellow citizens for a fair (2pm), rally (3pm), and march (4pm) Sunday, May 1 2011 in the South Park Blocks (SW Park Ave & Salmon).

Visit Jobs with Justice PDX for more details.

April 13, 1886: Oregon Supreme Court Admits First Woman Lawyer, Mary Leonard, to State Bar

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Mary LeonardOregon’s first woman lawyer Mary Leonard was a colorful character.

Born Marie Gysin in France to Swiss parents in the mid-1840s, she emigrated to Portland, Oregon when she was in her 20s. Eventually finding her way to Central Oregon, she married the proprietor of a hotel east of Wasco named Daniel Leonard in May, 1875.

The marriage did not go well however, and two years later Daniel sued for divorce, charging Mary with adultery. Mary countersued, charging Daniel had reneged on a promise of a large sum of money, physically abused her, and was cruel. They were separated already, and the court ordered Daniel to pay for Mary’s maintenance until the trial. He refused. Mary wrote him a letter demanding he pay and threatened she had the spirit to get even with him.

On January 4, 1878 Daniel Leonard was found dying with a gunshot to his head. He lingered several weeks, never declaring who had shot him (he may have been incapable of speaking). Mary was charged with the murder. Though she had a motive, there was no real evidence against her, and the jury found her not guilty. She was Daniel Leonard’s sole heir, and used the money to buy several boarding houses in Portland.

Mary moved to Seattle in 1883 to study law, and in 1885 became the first woman admitted to the Washington Territory bar. She returned to Portland to practice law – the state generally recognized lawyers who had passed the bar in other locales – but she was refused admittance. After much legal and legislative wrangling the Oregon Supreme Court ruled April 13, 1886 in her favor and Mary Leonard became Oregon’s first woman lawyer.

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