ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We acknowledge with great reverence, all Native Americans and Indigenous Peoples — past, present and future.
Oregon was settled by diverse people from different countries and with varied visions for the “new country.”
As the fur traders, shipping companies, explorers, missionaries, and average individuals established their presence, their encounters along the trail with the native people provided an opportunity to trade for needed goods. Some colonists even married native women.
The growing population soon encroached on the lands the natives had used for centuries. Mostly, the various people groups of the Oregon Territory coexisted peacefully. Tension grew with the population.
As encounters made some settlers feel unsafe, the Pre-Provisional Government organized a militia in 1844 that was known as the Oregon Rangers.
THOMAS DOVE KEIZUR, an 1843 emigrant, was selected to lead the new group. As the British were maneuvering a ship in the northwest waters to make a show of their authority, the presence of an official combat organization gave more leverage in establishing the lands for the Americans.
On May 2, 1843, following the first major influx of settlers, American citizens in "Oregon Country" met to organize a provisional government for self-rule. The act challenges the Hudson's Bay Company and defacto British administration of the region under the 1818 Treaty of Joint Occupation.
The 1843 legislature established the executive committee and organic law with amendments made in 1844.
THOMAS DOVE (T. D.) KEIZUR served in the 3rd legislative committee of the Pre-Provisional Government; it was the first with citizens voted on by election. The 1844 meetings were held June 18 – 27 at the house of Felix Hathaway and December 16 – 21 at the house of Dr. John E. Long in Oregon City.
T. D. Keizur was one of three to represent the Champoeg district. The eight member legislative committee with Dr. Long serving as Territorial Recorder and Ex-Officio Clerk, along with the three member executive committee, met for three weeks total, in which time 43 bills were passed, many of them of general importance. A variety of issues were ruled upon including an anti-slavery stance, prohibition of alcohol, taxes, marriage, schools, water, and land governance.
1844
Pre-Provisional meetings in Oregon City
ABOVE: A painting of Oregon City in the 1840s. Oregon City was the location where legislative sessions of the Provisional Oregon Government were held.
Circa 1845, Henry James Warre
1843
(MAY-JULY) 2nd Pre-Provisional meetings at Champoeg
ABOVE: Map of the four administrative districts of the Provisional Government of Oregon, as of 1843. Eventual state borders included as reference.
Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature by Horner, John B. (1919)
1841
(JUNE) 1st Legislative Committee meets at the St. Paul Meeting Hall, near St. Paul Catholic Church
1841
(FEB) 1st Legislative Committee meets at First Methodist Mission
1843
(NOV) Settlement of Keizur family members
1846
2nd Militia of Oregon Rangers founded at house of Daniel Waldo
1846
(4 JUL) Oregon Rangers provide security for Independence Day celebration in newly named Salem
1844
Oregon Rangers founding meeting at Oregon Institute
To navigate the timeline, click on the desired year
Thomas Dove Keizur is born in North Carolina to George & Mary Kiser
Lewis & Clark Expedition arrives in Oregon Territory
Northwest Fur Company builds trading post fort on Willamette River known as the Wallace House in what is now Keizer, Ore
Keizur marries Mary Gurley on Nov. 13, 1813 in Montgomery County, N.C.
The Keizurs welcome their first of 10 children, 5 boys and 5 girls
Keizur family begins their western migration, moving from N.C. to Tenn.
The Keizurs move to Van Buren County, Ark.
Methodist Mission established on Willamette River (North of Salem)
With Great Britain and the U.S. occupying the Oregon Territory in a long-term boundary dispute, Royal Navy dispatch battleships to Pacific Coast waters.
The Keizur family arrives in the Willamette Valley, after spending a year in Independence, Mo. waiting for a wagon train to form.
Thomas Dove Keizur installed as founding Captain of Oregon Rangers,
and also a member of the state’s PRE-PROVISIONAL LEGISLATURE
Oregon Rangers manage first 4th of July celebration in Salem
United States and Great Britain boundary dispute over Oregon settled with Oregon Treaty
U.S. Congress approves formation of Oregon Territory
Oregon becomes the 33rd state in the Union
Oregon Army National Guard history starts in the 1840’s, but was not established until after 1903. It holds 41 armories in 33 communities
Formation of Oregon State Police
According to Census data, 174 law enforcement agencies in Oregon now employ close to 7,000 officers that PROTECT & SERVE ALL OREGONIANS
