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Dr. Elijah White (1806–1879) was a missionary and agent for the United States government in Oregon Country during the mid-19th century. A trained physician from New York State, he first traveled to Oregon as part of the Methodist Mission in the Willamette Valley. He returned to the region after a falling-out with mission leader Jason Lee as the leader of one of the first large wagon trains across the Oregon Trail and as a sub-Indian agent of the federal government. In Oregon he used his authority to regulate affairs between the Natives and settlers, and even between settlers. White left the region in 1845 as a messenger for the Provisional Government of Oregon to the United States Congress, returning in 1850 before leaving again for California in the early 1860s.
In 1842, White led the first wagon train over the Oregon Trail that had more than 100 people. Trapper and later politician Osborne Russell served as guide to this migration. The First Men In Charge. End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, accessed November 5, 2007. The party set out on May 16, 1842, from Elm Grove, Missouri, with 112 people, 18 wagons, and a variety of livestock.Clarke, S. A. 1905. Pioneer Days of Oregon History. Portland: J.K. Gill Company. Along the journey, some in the migration grew wary of White’s leadership and L. B. Hastings was selected as leader for a time until the party split into two groups. François X. Matthieu along with several other Canadians joined the party along the way to Oregon. White arrived at Fort Vancouver ahead of the main party, arriving on September 20, 1842.
White also returned as an official agent of the United States Government, after appointment as sub-Indian agent. Also in 1842 in his official capacity he brokered a code of conduct for the Nez Perce tribe as well as placating tensions with the Walla Walla and Cayuse people near the Whitman Mission in the eastern section of the region. In Oregon he served as teacher to William J. Bailey, training Bailey as a doctor.
On September 22, 1842, White organized a meeting at Champoeg where he informed the settlers that he had been commissioned by the United States War Department as a sub-Indian Agent and implied that the pioneers could select him as their leader. He appointed judges to deal with disputes between Native Americans and United States citizens, and even between citizens.Gray, William Henry. 1870. A History of Oregon, 1792-1849, drawn from personal observation and authentic information. Portland, Or: Harris & Holman.
In 1843, White was selected as one of twelve members of the second Wolf Meeting to determine if the settlers wanted to form a government while waiting for the Oregon Question to be resolved. He was not involved in the final meetings, but in May 1843 the settlers voted 52 to 50 in favor of creating the Provisional Government of Oregon.
The following year White was involved with the Cockstock Incident when the provisional government’s recorder George LeBreton was killed by a Molala by the name of Cockstock. He had tried to capture Cockstock prior to the bloodshed, and then worked to resolve tensions between the settlers and Native Americans after Cockstock and two settlers were killed.Jette, Melinda. The Comstock Incident. The Oregon History Project, accessed November 5, 2007.
White then discovered a pass through the Oregon Coast Range to what is now Newport, Oregon in 1845 before leaving the region with a petition from the Provisional Government to the United States Congress that same year. According to historian Frances Fuller Victor, White, through his exploration and advocacy for a southern cutoff to the Willamette Valley, may have been primarily responsible for the disastrous Meek Cutoff party of 1845.
James Duval Holman in Wikipedia
Later life
Elijah White returned to what had become the Oregon Territory in 1850 to promote the community of Pacific City, Washington along the Columbia River. Located near what is now Ilwaco, he partnered with James Duval Holman to sell property to settlers. White received a second commission as an Indian agent in 1861 for the region west of the Rocky Mountains and moved to California. Doctor Elijah White died on April 3, 1879, at the age of 73.
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