I heart Oregon. I love its mountains and deserts and coastal shores. I love gas jockeys and keeping Portland weird. I love its seedy past, its technology scene, its green future. The long list of things I love about Oregon far out number the things I don’t like.
I’m a native Oregonian who comes from generations of natives. William Martin Doughty, my grandfather (of many past greats) qualifies me for membership into the Sons and Daughters of Oregon Pioneers, a group that honors the descendants of the first settlers. Doughty and his Shoshone bride Pigeon (later called “Mary”) first homesteaded in an ex-trapper community near Willamette Falls in 1840. Soon after, the Doughty family (which eventually included 12 children) bought farmland in Yamhill County. They hired James John to cultivate one or two of those farms. John, who came to the area after modest success in the California Gold Rush, later went on to create the City of St. Johns (which is now the neighborhood I live in). Doughty was a founding member of the Provisional Government for the Oregon Territory, along with men with surnames you may have seen on street signs and buildings around town (such as Meek and McLaughlin and Abernathy). The government was formed (after a very close vote of 52 for and 50 against) to deal with such things as probate and divorce issues, wolf attacks on livestock, and defending settlers against harm. The group elected a governor, drafted the Organic Laws of Oregon, and minted the Beaver coin. The government disbanded when Oregon became a State of the Union in 1859. In a Champoeg Park monument honoring these founders you will find my kin’s name, misspelled forever in stone, but there nonetheless.
Yes, I am truly embroiled in an steamy love affair with the Beaver State and have been for as long as I can remember. My late father, our family historian, made sure I was raised to love and respect where I came from. I read with breathless interest anything Oregon related. From my amateur local history education, I know that Native American women who married white mountain men with political clout had rights to land ownership and were treated fairly – to a point. I know that for a while Portland, Oregon was a black hole of political and moral corruption, with its crooked elections, shanghai tunnels and open racism. I know that we Oregonians have blue counties and red counties but collectively (with the exception of Ashland, Oregon) abhor sales tax. We embrace nature, dying with dignity, and getting around by bike. We recycle and are beer snobs. We love dogs and live music and eating good food made from local ingredients. We love community.
I understand what it means to say “Our PDX” and am so pleased to be asked to write on this blog. My goal is to contribute articles that both natives and honorary (non-)natives will enjoy. I’ll write some historical pieces, review events I’ve gone to and events I want to attend, and do some gushing about what works in Portland and complain about what doesn’t. I’m native and proud of it. You should be too!
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Hooray – mediaChick’s in the house..! So glad to have you here.
A wonderful addition of one of my favorite Portland people to a blog I already love to read!
Yay! Good writing on Mediachick’s part and good for Betsy and Brett’s for recognizing talent!
Welcome aboard. After reading that, I now want to pick your historical brain about all things Oregon. Loved the story.
Well, aren’t we all high and mighty.
Always a pleasure to read you, MC! XOXO
I’m Native, and proud too!! Will you be my friend when your famous, and rich!! Swack! Meow!
Wonderful post.
So, how many Native Americans are considered “Sons and Daughters of Oregon Pioneers”
oh right… they don’t count.
Fellow natives unite!! Who among us DOESN’T still have an old prescription-bottle filled with Mt. St. Helen’s ash lying around in some old memorabilia box? Raise your hand if you DIDN’T have to stand on a chair at Farrell’s for your 3rd-11th birthdays, cringing at the siren blast and marveling at the piano playing by itself! And which of us NEVER dreamt of someday owning a black stretch limo with diamond-studded windshield wipers like that Rajneeshy dude?
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