Pleasant M. Armstrong was a pioneer in 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 an area that would become the state of 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...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. He helped build a ship that was sailed to California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 to exchange for cattle, and voted at the May 2, 1843, Champoeg Meeting

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...

.

Oregon Country

Armstrong immigrated to the Oregon Country in 1840. In 1842, he settled a farm in the Yamhill Valley, in what is now Yamhill County, Oregon

Yamhill County, Oregon

-National protected areas:*Siuslaw National Forest *Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 84,992 people, 28,732 households, and 21,376 families residing in the county. The population density was 119 people per square mile . There were 30,270...

. During this time he helped build the Star of Oregon

Star of Oregon (ship)

The Star of Oregon was a schooner sailing vessel of the mid-19th century used on the west coast of North America. It was the first American sailing ship built in what is now the U.S. state of Oregon. Pioneer settlers built the ship from 1840 to 1842 in order to sail it to California and exchange it...

along with Felix Hathaway

Felix Hathaway

Felix Hathaway was an American carpenter and pioneer in what became the state of Oregon. A native of New England, he settled in the Oregon Country where he helped construct the first American-built ship in what became the state of Oregon...

, John Canan, Ralph Kilbourne, Henry Woods, George Davis, Jacob Green, and later 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...

. The ship was then sailed to California

Star of Oregon (event)

The Star of Oregon episode of American history began in 1840 and ended in 1843. This enterprise by pioneers in the Willamette Valley of present-day Oregon consisted of building a ship they named Star of Oregon and then sailing it to California in order to bring back cattle to Oregon Country...

 where it was sold in a three-way deal where the Oregon pioneers received cattle. Armstrong and the others then drove 1,250 head of cattle, 600 horses and mules, and 3,000 sheep overland back to Oregon, arriving in early 1843.

On May 2, 1843, Pleasant Armstrong attended the meetings held at Champoeg, Oregon

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...

, where the pioneer settlers voted on whether to form a government. Armstrong voted for the creation of a government, and that faction won with a vote of 52-50, creating 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...

. Then in 1845 he married fellow Champoeg participant 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...

’s daughter, Jane Smith.

When troubles in Southern Oregon

Southern Oregon

Southern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon south of Lane County and generally west of the Cascade Range, excluding the southern Oregon Coast. Counties include Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, and Josephine. It includes the Southern Oregon American Viticultural Area, which consists of the...

 led to the Rogue River Wars

Rogue River Wars

The Rogue River Wars was an armed conflict between the US Army, local militias and volunteers, and the Native American tribes commonly grouped under the designation of Rogue River Indians, in the Rogue River Valley area of what today is southern Oregon in 1855–56...

, Armstrong volunteered. On August 24, 1853, he was killed in action at Evans Creek in Jackson County

Jackson County, Oregon

-National protected areas:* Cascade–Siskiyou National Monument* Crater Lake National Park * Klamath National Forest * Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest * Umpqua National Forest -Demographics:...

. His body was never recovered.