Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 5-7-1996 Oregon Territorial Governor John Pollard Gaines: A Whig Appointee in a Democratic Territory Katherine Louise Huit Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the History Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Huit, Katherine Louise, "Oregon Territorial Governor John Pollard Gaines: A Whig Appointee in a Democratic Territory" (1996). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 5293. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.7166 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. THESIS APPROVAL The abstract and thesis of Katherine Louise Huit for the Master of Arts in History were presented May 7, 1996, and accepted by the thesis committee and the department. COMMITIEE APPROVALS: Tom Biolsi Re~entative of ;e Office of Graduate Studies DEPARTMENT APPROVAL: David John.Sor}{ Chair Department-of History AA*AAAAAAAAAAAAA****AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**********AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ACCEPTED FOR PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY BY THE LIBRARY on za-/4?£ /<f9t;, ABSTRACT An abstract of the thesis of Katherine Louise Huit for the Master of Arts in History presented May 7, 1996. Title: Oregon Territorial Governor John Pollard Gaines: A Whig Appointee In A Democratic Territory. In 1846 negotiations between Great Britain and the United States resulted in the end of the Joint Occupancy Agreement and the Pacific Northwest became the property of the United States. Nineteenth Century Oregon represented a new beginning for many citizens of the United States and around the world. The settlers arriving in the Oregon Country consisted of a hardy, self reliant, breed; yet they sought the protection of the United States government from Native Americans living in the region and from Great Britain's Hudson's Bay Company. When Oregon became a territory, in 1848, the pioneers struggled to preserve their independence. They resented federally appointed officials sent to govern them by the United States Government. Governor John Pollard Gaines, the subject of this study, came to Oregon as a federally appointed official. Previous studies of the Oregon Territorial Government have examined in detail the marked conflict between the political parties of the Oregon Territory. Before 1850 Oregon did not have two distinct political parties. Governor Gaines, a Whig, acted as a catalyst for the birth of a strong Democratic party in Oregon. On the federal level the Whig and Democratic parties had been at odds since the time of Andrew Jackson. The Whigs were proponents of economic progress contained within a social and political framework. Whigs promoted individual and national independence; Democrats promoted the dependence cf one class upon another. Whigs believed the pursuit of individual liberty and national prosperity depended upon an active government representative of its citizens' interests. This study examines "home rule" Democrats, their treatment of Governor Gaines, and the ramifications of the Governor's reactions at a local and federal level. As a federally appointed official sent to govern the distant Oregon Territory, Gaines endured abuse from "home rule" citizens. Conclusions drawn from this study demonstrate that Gaines's affiliation with the Whig party is secondary to his being an "outsider." His treatment as governor would not have been much different if he had been a Democrat sent to the Territory by the federal government. OREGON TERRITORIAL GOVERNOR JOHN POLLARD GAINES: A WHIG APPOINTEE IN A DEMOCRATIC TERRITORY by KATHERINE LOUISE HUIT A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in HISTORY · Portland State University 1996 OREGON TERRITORIAL GOVERNOR JOHN POLLARD GAINES: A WHIG APPOINTEE IN A DEMOCRATIC TERRITORY TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One: The Appointment ............................................................................. 1 Chapter Two: Slavery, Economic Depression, and Manifest Destiny ................ 22 Chapter Three: A New Territory, Its Officials, and Partisan Politics ................... 33 Chapter Four: Whigs, Democrats, The Mexican War, and The Presidential Election Of 1848 ................................................................................................... 49 Chapter Five: Around The Horn To Oregon ........................................................ 61 Chapter Six: A Whig Appointee In A Democratic Territory ................................. 80 Chapter Seven: Inextricable Aggravation and Gallant Perseverance .............. 100 Chapter Eight: Forgotten Deeds ........................................................................ 135 Chapter Nine: The Post-Governor Years .......................................................... 178 Chapter Ten: Epilogue ....................................................................................... 198 Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 203 Chapter One THE APPOINTMENT "My Father having rec'd an appointment from the President as Gov. Of the Territory in the month of Oct-49 ... determined to sell his property in the county of Boone, State of Kentucky . and make permanent residence in that country­ The policy of his sudden, unexpected and hazardous change was doubted by some of his friends- Many more loathed to part with him on account of the valuable services he had rendered the stdte politically ... "1 Late in the evening of December 1, 1849, two men sat with the President in Washington City, engrossed in a discussion about the Oregon Territory. 2 Zachary Taylor, major general in the recent war with Mexico, had attained the presidency of the United States as a Whig. Major John Pollard Gaines, a distant relation of the President's, 3 had also fought in the Mexican War where he became a prisoner of war and received several commendations for his service. Taylor originally asked Abraham Lincoln to be Oregon's territorial governor; however, Lincoln declined, so the president chose Gaines. As Taylor and Oregon Territorial Delegate Samuel Thurston explained the duties of territorial governor, Gaines reflected back over his life. Gaines and his family had spent the last few months preparing for the trip around the Horn to the Oregon Territory. Upon learning about his appointment in 1 Archibald K. Gaines, Archibald K. Gaines Journal. Coe Manuscript Collection, (Yale University Library, New Haven, Connecticut, unnumbered pages). This manuscript appears to be part journal, part remembrance. The later part of the diary is written at John Pollard Gaines's passing, and recounts his years in Oregon as well as the voyage around Cape Hom. A hand written copy of the remembrance portion of the journal is located in the Gaines Family Papers, MSS 683, Oregon Historical Society Library. 2 Samuel Royal Thurston, "Diary of Samuel Royal Thurston, November 21, 1849 -August 28, 1850." Oregon Historical Quarterly, XV (number 3, September 1914), p. 156. 3 Letter to Katherine Huit from Pendleton Gaines, May 28, 1994. This letter refers to Gaines family history and genealogy. It is in Katherine Huit's possession. 2 October 1849,4 Gaines sold his Kentucky plantation to his brother, Archibald K. Gaines.5 The Gaines family had lived in the same area of Kentucky ever since 4 The appointment date and from whom Gaines received his appointment to the position of Territorial Governor of Oregon differs from source to source. The Biographical Encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the Dead and Living Men of the Nineteenth Century (Cincinnati: J.M. Armstrong & Company, 1878), p. 518, gives Gaines's appointment date as September of 1850 by President Millard Fillmore. This differs from Lang, H. 0., ed., History of the Willamette Valley (Portland, Oregon, Geo. H. Himes, Book and Job Printer, 1885), which states, "In April, 1850, Governor Lane received notification that he had been removed by the Whig President, Taylor, and Major John P. Gaines appointed in his place on the second of the previous October." Archibald Kinkead Gaines, John Pollard Gaines's son, refers to his father's appointment date as October 1849. See Archibald K. Gaines Journal. This seems to verify the account given by Lang. H. R. Kincaid, in the Biennial Report of the Secretary of State - Oregon 1897-98 (Salem, Oregon, W. H. Leeds, State Printer, 1899), pp. 166-167, states that President Taylor appointed Gaines to the governorship in 1849, and that Gaines "started for Oregon in a sailing ship, leaving New York January 3, 1850." This account seems to coincide with Lang. Both books are Oregon publications, and were written approximately the same time. Most likely Kincaid drew his biographical information from Lang. Lewis Coll ins's History of Kentucky (Covington: Collins & Co., 1882) states that on "September 9, 1850, President Fillmore appointed [Gaines) Governor of Oregon Territory, which office he held until March 16, 1853." He did hold office until 1853, but the date given here may be when he began his duties as governor in Oregon, not the actual appointment date. The official paper signed by Taylor appointing Gaines to the office of Territorial Governor of Oregon, demonstrates that Zachary Taylor did, in fact,