George W. Ebbert
Encyclopedia
George Wood “Squire” Ebbert (1810–1890) was a mountain man
and early settler in the Oregon Country
. Born in Kentucky
, he settled on the Tualatin Plains in what would become Oregon
and participated in the Champoeg Meetings
that created a government prior to the formation of the Oregon Territory
. During the Cayuse War
he traveled with Joseph Meek
across the Rocky Mountains to ask Congress for assistance with the war.
. His father died while Ebbert was still a boy, but left his mother well off financially. At age eight, he shot and killed a cow that had rampaged through the family home, earning him the nickname Squire. At age thirteen Ebbert became an apprentice machinist, but left with only three months to go of the seven-year apprenticeship to elope to St. Louis, Missouri
with a woman against his mother’s wishes. Ebbert’s mother refused to attend their wedding, so he abandoned the plans and joined William Sublette
as a fur trapper.
In August 1830, he was bought out as a partner of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company
by a group including Jedediah Smith
. Later as a contract fur trapper, he worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company between 1833 and 1836, arriving in the Oregon Country
in 1833. Following work for that fur trading company, he worked as a blacksmith at the Whitman Mission and the mission of Henry H. Spalding
at Lapwai from 1837 to 1838.
In 1839, Ebbert moved to the Willamette Valley
and became the first white settler at Champoeg
. After a short time farming there, he sold his land on the French Prairie
in 1841 to Andre Longtain for 100 bushels of wheat. In 1841, Ebbert arrived on the Tualatin Plains
in the Tualatin Valley
north of Champoeg to settle. There he met with other early settlers of the Plains such as Joseph Gale
, Robert Newell
, and Joseph L. Meek among others.
pioneer settlers voted to create a government, with Ebbert voting for the creation in a vote that passed 52 to 50. After the vote to create the Provisional Government of Oregon
, Ebbert was elected as one of the constable
s for the government. His neighbor Joe Meek was elected as sheriff.
Following the Whitman Massacre
in late 1847, the Provisional Legislature of Oregon
authorized Joe Meek to travel east to Washington, DC, to ask for the creation of a federal territory with the start of the Cayuse War
. On March 4, 1848, Meek set off with Ebbert accompanying him on the journey. The two arrived in St. Louis, Missouri
, on May 4 with Meek representing himself as an envoy from the Republic of Oregon. Ebbert would never be reimbursed for the expenses incurred on the trip.
, along with Ralph Wilcox
, David T. Lenox
, Alvin T. Smith
, and others in the early 1850s. His land claim in Washington County
was adjacent to what became the town of Orenco, Oregon
, and is the site of much of the Orenco Station
development in Hillsboro. George Ebbert died on October 1, 1890, and was buried at the West Union Baptist Church Cemetery in West Union, Oregon
. The Washington County Museum
has a George Ebbert Society.
Mountain man
Mountain men were trappers and explorers who roamed the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through the 1880s where they were instrumental in opening up the various Emigrant Trails allowing Americans in the east to settle the new territories of the far west by organized wagon trains...
and early settler in the Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
. Born in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, he settled on the Tualatin Plains in what would become Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and participated in the Champoeg Meetings
Champoeg Meetings
The Champoeg Meetings in Oregon Country were the first attempts at governing in the Pacific Northwest by United States European-American pioneers. Prior to this, the closest entity to a government was the Hudson's Bay Company, mainly through Dr...
that created a government prior to the formation of the Oregon Territory
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...
. During the Cayuse War
Cayuse War
The Cayuse War was an armed conflict that took place in the Northwestern United States from 1847 to 1855 between the Cayuse people of the region and the United States Government and local Euro-American settlers...
he traveled with Joseph Meek
Joseph Meek
Joseph Lafayette "Joe" Meek was a trapper, law enforcement official, and politician in the Oregon Country and later Oregon Territory of the United States. A pioneer involved in the fur trade before settling in the Tualatin Valley, Meek would play a prominent role at the Champoeg Meetings of 1843...
across the Rocky Mountains to ask Congress for assistance with the war.
Early life
Ebbert was born on June 10, 1810, in Augusta, KentuckyAugusta, Kentucky
Augusta is a city in Bracken County, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River. As of the 2005 census, the city population was 2,004. When Bracken County was organized in 1796, Augusta was the county seat...
. His father died while Ebbert was still a boy, but left his mother well off financially. At age eight, he shot and killed a cow that had rampaged through the family home, earning him the nickname Squire. At age thirteen Ebbert became an apprentice machinist, but left with only three months to go of the seven-year apprenticeship to elope to St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
with a woman against his mother’s wishes. Ebbert’s mother refused to attend their wedding, so he abandoned the plans and joined William Sublette
William Sublette
William Lewis Sublette Born near Stamford, Lincoln County, Kentucky on September 21, 1798. Died on July 23, 1845 in Pittsburg. W.L. Sublette was a fur trapper, pioneer and mountain man, who with his brothers after 1823 became an agent of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company exploiting the riches of the...
as a fur trapper.
In August 1830, he was bought out as a partner of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company
Rocky Mountain Fur Company
The Rocky Mountain Fur Company, sometimes called Ashley's Hundred, was organized in St. Louis, Missouri in 1823 by General William H. Ashley and Major Andrew Henry . They posted advertisements in St. Louis newspapers seeking "One Hundred enterprising young men . ....
by a group including Jedediah Smith
Jedediah Smith
Jedediah Strong Smith was a hunter, trapper, fur trader, trailblazer, author, cartographer, cattleman, and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the American West Coast and the Southwest during the 19th century...
. Later as a contract fur trapper, he worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company between 1833 and 1836, arriving in the Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...
in 1833. Following work for that fur trading company, he worked as a blacksmith at the Whitman Mission and the mission of Henry H. Spalding
Henry H. Spalding
Henry Harmon Spalding , and his wife Eliza Hart Spalding were prominent Presbyterian missionaries and educators working primarily with the Nez Perce in the U.S. Pacific Northwest...
at Lapwai from 1837 to 1838.
In 1839, Ebbert moved to the Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
and became the first white settler at Champoeg
Champoeg, Oregon
Champoeg is a former town in the U.S. state of Oregon. Now a ghost town, it was an important settlement in the Willamette Valley in the early 1840s. It is positioned halfway between Oregon City and Salem and the site of the first provisional government of the Oregon Country...
. After a short time farming there, he sold his land on the French Prairie
French Prairie
French Prairie is a prairie located in Marion County, Oregon, United States, in the Willamette Valley between the Willamette River and the Pudding River, north of Salem...
in 1841 to Andre Longtain for 100 bushels of wheat. In 1841, Ebbert arrived on the Tualatin Plains
Tualatin Plains
The Tualatin Plains are a prairie area in central Washington County, Oregon, United States. Located around the Hillsboro and Forest Grove areas, the plains were first inhabited by the Atfalati band of the Kalapuya group of Native Americans. Euro-American settlement began in the...
in the Tualatin Valley
Tualatin Valley
The Tualatin Valley is a farming and suburban region southwest of Portland, Oregon in the United States. The valley is formed by the meandering Tualatin River, a tributary of the Willamette River at the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley, east of the Northern Oregon Coast Range...
north of Champoeg to settle. There he met with other early settlers of the Plains such as Joseph Gale
Joseph Gale
Joseph Goff Gale was an American pioneer, trapper, entrepreneur, and politician who contributed to the early settlement of the Oregon Country...
, Robert Newell
Robert Newell (Oregon politician)
Robert "Doc" Newell , was an American politician and fur trapper in the Oregon Country. He was a frontier doctor in what would become the U.S. state of Oregon. A native of Ohio, he served in the Provisional Government of Oregon and later was a member of the Oregon State Legislature...
, and Joseph L. Meek among others.
Political career
On May 2, 1843, at the Champoeg MeetingsChampoeg Meetings
The Champoeg Meetings in Oregon Country were the first attempts at governing in the Pacific Northwest by United States European-American pioneers. Prior to this, the closest entity to a government was the Hudson's Bay Company, mainly through Dr...
pioneer settlers voted to create a government, with Ebbert voting for the creation in a vote that passed 52 to 50. After the vote to create the Provisional Government of Oregon
Provisional Government of Oregon
The Provisional Government of Oregon was a popularly elected government created in the Oregon Country, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It existed from May 2, 1843 until March 3, 1849. Created at a time when no country had sovereignty over the region, this independent government...
, Ebbert was elected as one of the constable
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
s for the government. His neighbor Joe Meek was elected as sheriff.
Following the Whitman Massacre
Whitman massacre
The Whitman massacre was the murder in the Oregon Country on November 29, 1847 of U.S. missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa Whitman, along with eleven others. They were killed by Cayuse and Umatilla Indians. The incident began the Cayuse War...
in late 1847, the Provisional Legislature of Oregon
Provisional Legislature of Oregon
The Provisional Legislature of Oregon was the single-chamber legislative body of the Provisional Government of Oregon. It served the Oregon Country of the Pacific Northwest of North America from 1843 until early 1849 at a time when no country had sovereignty over the region...
authorized Joe Meek to travel east to Washington, DC, to ask for the creation of a federal territory with the start of the Cayuse War
Cayuse War
The Cayuse War was an armed conflict that took place in the Northwestern United States from 1847 to 1855 between the Cayuse people of the region and the United States Government and local Euro-American settlers...
. On March 4, 1848, Meek set off with Ebbert accompanying him on the journey. The two arrived in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, on May 4 with Meek representing himself as an envoy from the Republic of Oregon. Ebbert would never be reimbursed for the expenses incurred on the trip.
Later life
After returning from the nation’s capitol, he settled on his farm with his wife Fanny. She was the sister of Meek’s Native American wife Virginia, and George and Fanny would have three children. Ebbert was one of the first purchasers of town lots in Hillsboro, OregonHillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many high-technology companies, such as Intel, that compose what has become known as the...
, along with Ralph Wilcox
Ralph Wilcox
Doctor Ralph Wilcox , was the first teacher and practicing doctor in Portland, Oregon, United States. He also served in the Provisional Government of Oregon, was a legislator during both the territorial period and when Oregon became a state, and a judge of Twality County during the provisional...
, David T. Lenox
David Thomas Lenox
David Thomas Lenox was an American pioneer who settled in the Oregon Country where he organized the first Baptist Church west of the Rocky Mountains. A native of New York, he lived in Illinois and Missouri before he was captain of the first wagon train over the Oregon Trail to what became the...
, Alvin T. Smith
Alvin T. Smith
Alvin Thompson Smith was an American missionary and politician in what became the state of Oregon. A native of Connecticut, he lived in Illinois before moving to the Oregon Country to preach to the Native Americans in the Tualatin Valley...
, and others in the early 1850s. His land claim in Washington County
Washington County, Oregon
- Major highways :* Interstate 5* Interstate 205* U.S. Route 26* Oregon Route 6* Oregon Route 8* Oregon Route 10* Oregon Route 47* Oregon Route 99W* Oregon Route 210* Oregon Route 217* Oregon Route 219-Demographics:...
was adjacent to what became the town of Orenco, Oregon
Orenco, Oregon
Orenco is a former company town in Washington County, Oregon, United States, located between Hillsboro and Aloha. The former community of Orenco now forms the Orenco neighborhood in Hillsboro, which is the site of the Orenco Station housing development.The community was established in 1905 as a...
, and is the site of much of the Orenco Station
Orenco Station
Orenco Station is a neighborhood of the city of Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. The planned urban town center was designed as a pedestrian friendly, high density community built in conjunction with TriMet’s Westside light rail...
development in Hillsboro. George Ebbert died on October 1, 1890, and was buried at the West Union Baptist Church Cemetery in West Union, Oregon
West Union, Oregon
West Union is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1851, the community had the first school district in the county, and also contains the oldest cemetery in the state and the oldest Baptist church west of the Rocky Mountains...
. The Washington County Museum
Washington County Museum
Washington County Museum is a history museum located in unincorporated Washington County, Oregon, United States at Portland Community College's Rock Creek Campus. Opened in 1975, the museum is operated by the Washington County Historical Society with a mission of preserving the history of the area...
has a George Ebbert Society.