Joseph Gale facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Joseph Gale
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| Executive Committee of the Provisional Government of Oregon | |
| In office 1843–1844 |
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| Preceded by | position created |
| Succeeded by | Second Executive Committee |
| Constituency | Oregon Country |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 29, 1807 Washington, D.C. |
| Died | December 13, 1881 (aged 74) Eagle Valley, Oregon, U.S. |
| Resting place | Eagle Valley cemetery, Richland, Baker County, Oregon |
| Spouse | Eliza Gale |
| Relations | Old Chief Joseph |
| Occupation | trapper, sailor, miner |
Joseph Goff Gale (born April 29, 1807 – died December 13, 1881) was an American pioneer, trapper, and politician. He helped settle the early Oregon Country. Joseph Gale helped build the first sailing ship in what is now Oregon. He sailed this ship to California to trade for cattle. Later, he was one of three leaders, like "governors," in the first Provisional Government of Oregon. He started as a sailor, then worked in the fur trade, as a farmer, and even as a gold miner during the California Gold Rush.
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Early Life and Adventures
Joseph Gale was born in Washington, D.C., on April 29, 1807. His parents, Mary and Joseph Gale, both died when he was young. But he still got an education and learned how to be a sailor. Gale first arrived on the Pacific Coast around 1828.
From 1830 to 1839, when fur trapping was very popular in the Rocky Mountains, he was a respected trapper. He worked with famous western figures like Ewing Young, Nathaniel Wyeth, Joe Meek, Jim Bridger, and Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce.
Trapping and Trading Journeys
By 1830, Joseph Gale was trapping and trading furs in the southern Rocky Mountains. In October 1831, he left Santa Fe with Ewing Young on a trip to California. Their goal was to bring horses and mules from California to sell in Missouri. They also planned to trap beavers.
A year later, in July 1833, Gale was at a fur trapper's meeting called a Rendezvous in Wyoming. There, he joined Joseph Walker's trip to California. This group traveled from the Great Salt Lake to California, crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains near Yosemite Valley. This mountain crossing in October took a whole month.
In February 1834, the Walker party started back to the Rocky Mountains, but Gale stayed in California. He joined his friend Ewing Young on an important cattle drive from California to Oregon. This group, along with the first cattle brought to Oregon, reached the Willamette Valley in October 1834.
Less than a month later, Gale was hired by Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth. He traveled to Fort Hall in present-day Idaho. Gale soon led a hunting trip in the Rockies. In the fall of 1835, Gale and his group had a dangerous encounter with Blackfeet Indians. Gale, Kit Carson, and Joe Meek were lucky to survive. Joseph Gale continued to work at Fort Hall for several years. After Fort Hall was sold in 1837, he started trapping and trading for the Hudson's Bay Company.
Family Life
While working at Fort Hall, Joseph Gale married Eliza. Her native name was Bear Claws. She was a Walla Walla Indian woman and the daughter of Old Chief Joseph (Tu-eka-kas) of the Nez Perce tribe. This made her the half-sister of the younger Chief Joseph (Heinmot Tooyalakekt). Eliza's English name might have come from Eliza Hart Spalding, who helped start a mission in Idaho.
Joseph and Eliza had two children, Francis Ellen and Edward, at Fort Hall in 1837 and 1838. Three more children, Susan, Margaret, and Mary, were born in the Oregon Territory. Three more girls, Maria Antonia, Clara, and Sabrina, were born in California in the 1850s.
Life in the Oregon Country
In 1839, Joseph Gale and his family left Fort Hall and moved west of the Cascade mountains. Gale soon found work at the Methodist Mission sawmill. Within a year, his family settled on the Tualatin Plains. Other mountain men and their families, like Robert Newell and Joe Meek, soon joined them. Since the market for beaver furs had crashed, the fur trappers were settling down in the Oregon Country.
As more people came to Oregon, there was a problem: a shortage of livestock like cows. In 1840, a group of settlers decided to build a ship. Their plan was to sail it to San Francisco and trade it for cattle to bring back to Oregon.
Building the Star of Oregon
Ship building for the Star of Oregon began on Swan Island near Portland, Oregon. Felix Hathaway was hired as the ship builder. A year later, Joseph Gale was offered command of the ship and a share of its ownership. To help with the ship's construction, Gale sold his farm and moved his family to Champoeg. He worked all summer and fall on the schooner in Oregon City.
In August 1842, the Star of Oregon was ready. It was the first ocean-going ship built in Oregon. It left Oregon City for practice runs on the Columbia River. In September, the ship sailed for California with Gale as captain and a crew of five new sailors and an Indian boy. In San Francisco, the ship was sold for 350 cows. The next spring, Gale and 42 other people drove 1,250 cattle, 600 horses and mules, and 3,000 sheep back to the Oregon Country.
Serving in Government
Because of his success, Joseph Gale was chosen for the first executive committee of the Provisional Government of Oregon. Oregon's first government, created by citizens at a meeting in Champoeg on July 5, 1843, chose an Executive Committee instead of one governor. The Executive Committee of 1843 included David Hill, Alanson Beers, and Joseph Gale.
By 1844, Joseph Gale and his family had settled on Gales Creek in Washington County, Oregon. There, he built a grist mill and a sawmill. He likely used some of the money from the California cattle drive to start these businesses.
California Gold Rush and Later Life
When news of the California Gold Rush spread, Joseph Gale moved from the Oregon Territory to California. He lived first near Mission San Jose and later near Fort Tejon. He ran a sawmill there. On January 9, 1857, Joseph Gale and his family felt the effects of a large earthquake, the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake. Gale was hurt trying to save his children from his falling house.
In August 1859, Gale received a permit to run a ferry over the Kern River. This business could have been very profitable. However, his business was badly hurt when the Butterfield Overland Mail service stopped in 1861 and Fort Tejon closed. In January 1862, a huge flood washed away his ferry and much of the road. Gale then left the ferry business and moved to Walla Walla.
Return to Eastern Oregon
By late 1862, Gale and his family had moved to Walla Walla, Washington Territory. His daughter Frances and her husband had settled there. By 1868, Gale had moved to Eagle Valley in Eastern Oregon. He farmed and worked in other businesses related to the gold discoveries in the Wallowa Mountains. Before the Nez Perce War in 1877, Young Chief Joseph and the Wallowa Nez Perce often visited Joseph and Eliza in Eagle Valley. This was a traditional Nez Perce hunting and fishing area.
Joseph Gale died on his farm on December 13, 1881. He is buried in the Eagle Valley cemetery in Richland, Oregon. After Gale's death, Eliza moved to the Umatilla Indian Reservation. She died in 1905 and is buried in the Weston Cemetery in Weston, Oregon. Her tombstone says she was "d/o Old Chief Joseph, Nez Perce Chief. w/o Joseph Gale, Provisional Governor of Oregon 1843-1844."
Legacy
Many places are named in honor of Joseph Gale. These include Gales Creek, Gales Peak, the small town of Gales Creek, Joseph Gale Elementary School, and Joseph Gale Park in Forest Grove.
