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52-454: The Cockstock Incident was climax of a dispute between a Molala named Cockstock and two black settlers, Winslow Anderson and James D. Saules over a horse. On 4 March 1844, Cockstock arrived at Oregon City , where anxious settlers soon attempted to capture him. In the ensuing skirmish, Anderson killed Cockstock by smashing his rifle into the native's skull. Two white settlers, LeBreton and Sterling Rogers, were killed from injuries sustained in

104-510: A West Indian who had migrated to Oregon City. A white resident of the city brought a case against Vanderpool, who was arrested and ordered to leave Oregon within 30 days. The family of Abner Hunt Francis were ordered out of the state within 40 days, but were allowed to stay after a petition was signed by 225 citizens. The petition formed the basis of a failed coalition to amend the exclusion law to allow for good behavior bonds by black settlers. The Francis family moved to Canada in 1861. A petition

156-537: A constitutional convention. The emergent constitution contained 185 sections, 172 of which were taken from various other state constitutions, with the additions primarily being racial exclusion or finance related. The document enshrined an exclusion law into Section 35 of the Bill of Rights within the Oregon State Constitution. The article read as follows: No free negro or mulatto not residing in this state at

208-559: A mixed race would ensue inimical to the whites; and the Indians being led on by the negro who is better acquainted with the customs, language, and manners of the whites, than the Indian, these savages would become much more formidable than they otherwise would, and long and bloody wars would be the fruits of the commingling of the races. The law was repealed in 1854. In 1857, after Oregon voters had voted for statehood , they subsequently called for

260-552: A mixed-race man from Pennsylvania, George Bush , who was forced to move North of the Columbia River after the first exclusion Law was passed. George Washington , another unrelated free man, was the founder of Centralia , Washington. On April 16, 1852, Robin Holmes , a black slave of Nathaniel Ford , brought a case to the territorial Supreme Court , charging that he and his family were being held by Ford illegally. Holmes v. Ford

312-726: A negative assessment of the initial militia, stating there was a lack "any deeds of prowess performed by the rangers..." The organization was revived in May 1846 at Daniel Waldo's farm in the Waldo Hills . Many of the 45 members who agreed to create a mounted rifle company were a part of the previous militia. The agreement read in part: Among those selected as officers of the company included: Captain Charles Bennett , First Lieutenant A. A. Robinson, Second Lieutenant Isaac Hutchins, Third Lieutenant Hiram English, and orderly sergeant Thomas Holt. Many in

364-466: A penalty of at least one thousand dollars, binding himself to remove said negro or mulatto out of the country within six months after such service shall expire,; which bond shall be filed in the clerk's office in the proper county, and upon failure to perform the conditions of said bond, the attourney prosecuting for Oregon shall commence a suit upon a certified copy of such bond in the circuit court against such delinquent and his sureties. In September 1849,

416-593: A small party of settlers attempted to find Cockstock in the vicinity of the Willamette Falls , but he evaded capture. In consequence, White issued a $ 100 warrant for his arrest. Archbishop François N. Blanchet recorded an alternative account told by natives, which stated there was one murder. The victim was a baptized Klickitat man who resided on the Clackamas River . He had mistreated and abused two native slaves, who eventually killed their tormentor. Afterwards

468-633: A statute for the " prevention of slavery in Oregon " in the Legislature of the Provisional Government of Oregon . It forbade both black slavery and the residence of any " free negros and mulattos " in Oregon. Any blacks refusing to leave Oregon were to receive a number of lashes and forcible deportation. The bill was adopted by the legislature, although an amendment was passed in December that removed

520-498: A vote of 71%–29%, removed references to the 1857 referendum from the constitution. From 1850 to 1860, Oregon saw its Black population increase by just 75, compared to an increase of 4,000 in neighboring California. Oregon's Black exclusion laws have been linked to a below-average Black population – two percent – into the present day. Historian Cheryl Brooks has argued that Oregon's small Black population has made it difficult for Oregonians to recognize racial discrimination problems in

572-560: The Cayuse War . In the aftermath of the violence, white settlers feared that black settlers could insult local indigenous peoples enough to provoke an uprising. The Cockstock incident influenced the adoption an 1844 black exclusion law that banned black settlers from living in the Oregon Country. Historian Thomas McClintock has written that the connection between the Cockstock incident and

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624-552: The Methodist Mission . An estimated forty Rangers rode about 14 miles to location occupied by the band, under the command of Robinson, near what became known as Battle Creek in Marion County, Oregon . A short skirmish ensued with one Ranger collapsing from heat exhaustion and one Wasco injured by David Daily. The Rangers soon retreated a short distance and then opened fire with their longer range rifles. A parley ensued, with

676-473: The Oregon Territory established its second exclusion law, declaring a ban on "any negro or mulatto to enter into, or reside" in Oregon unless already established there. At least four black people were punished under this law, including Jacob Vanderpool , a sailor, and three others who were eventually permitted to stay. An 1850 census showed fewer than 50 black residents in the state of Oregon, including

728-434: The Cockstock incident and mentioned Saules: [Saules] remains in that vicinity with his Indian wife and family, conducting [behaving], as yet, in a quiet manner, but doubtless ought to be transported, together with every other negro, being in our condition dangerous subjects. Until we have some further means of protection their immigration ought to be prohibited. Can this be done? In late July 1844 Peter Burnett introduced

780-545: The Cockstock incident, the Oregon Provisional Legislature suspended its rules to allow Peter Burnett to propose a bill "for the prevention of slavery" without reference to a committee. The bill was read twice and voted into law the following day. The bill contained methods of enforcement for the prevention of slavery, which had already been banned in the territory. These laws included a three-year limit on all free black people, and required freed slaves to leave

832-562: The Columbia River into disputed, British-controlled territory, where they founded the first U.S. settlement on the Puget Sound in present-day Washington State. Concern over the potential applicability of the exclusion law (which was understood to forbid black land ownership) to Washington lands prior to the creation of a separate Washington Territory later led Congress to pass a private law confirming Bush's title over his lands. Though

884-671: The Exclusion Law is "unquestionable". Cockstock was a Molala man who lived in the Oregon Country during the first half of the 19th century. A relative of his had been flogged by Indian agent Elijah White after breaking into the Wascopam Mission home of missionary Henry K. W. Perkins. This incident frustrated Cockstock. He began to advocate against Elijah White's laws on matters of criminal justice and land ownership being imposed on indigenous societies. In 1843 Cockstock

936-519: The Wascos upset and angered by the unprovoked attack, and they denied the accusations of their supposed thefts. As there was no evidence to support the settlers' claims, the Rangers offered a horse and some blankets as reparations to the injured native. The poor judgment and action by the Rangers led to ridicule by fellow settlers and the company was disbanded. Cockstock Incident The Cockstock incident

988-449: The best elements to come to us, and discourage others." The question of slavery itself was put to a popular vote, with the public voting against slavery (by a vote of 7,727 to 2,645) but in favor of racial exclusion policies (by a vote of 8,640 to 1,081). The final constitution barred "negroes, mulattos and Chinamen " from voting or owning land in the state. Oregon's racially discriminatory state constitutional amendment, Section 35,

1040-518: The borders of the settlement and eventual U.S. state of Oregon . The first such law took effect in 1844, when the Provisional Government of Oregon voted to exclude black settlers from Oregon's borders. The law authorized a punishment for any black settler remaining in the territory to be whipped with "not less than twenty nor more than thirty-nine stripes" for every six months they remained. Additional laws aimed at African Americans entering Oregon were ratified in 1849 and 1857. The last of these laws

1092-415: The case may be), if of the age of eighteen or upward, shall remove from and leave the country within the term of two years for males, and three for females, from the passage of this act, and that if any free negro or mulatto shall hereafter come to Oregon, if of the age aforesaid, he or she shall quite and leave the country within the term of two years for males and three for females, from his or her arrival in

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1144-424: The constable of the proper county. Section 7 : That if any free negro or mulatto shall fail to quit the country within the term of six months after receiving such stripes, he or she shall again receive the same punishment once in every six months, until he or she shall quit the country. Section 8 : That when any slave shall obtain his or her freedom, the time specified in the fourth section shall begin to run from

1196-543: The county. Section 5 : That if such free negro or mulatto be under the age aforesaid, the terms of time specified in the preceding section shall begin to run when he or she arrive at such age. Section 6 : That if such free negro or mulatto shall fail to quit the country, as required by this act, he or she may be arrested upon a warrant issued by some justice of the peace, and, if guilty upon trial before such justice, shall receive upon his or her bare back not less than twenty nor more than thirty-nine stripes, to be inflicted by

1248-418: The exclusion law as intended to prevent disenfranchised black people from being exposed to politically empowered white people, which he wrote "reminds them of their inferiority", and suggested that their presence was "injurious to the dominant class itself, as such a degraded and practically defenseless condition offers so many temptations to tyrannical abuse". In his History of Oregon , William Gray described

1300-634: The fight. The event has been called "the most significant occurrence of violence" in the Oregon Country between indigenous peoples and settlers prior to the Cayuse War . The Oregon Rangers was organised on 23 March 1844 in response to the Cockstock incident. The militia members were given orders to meet at the Oregon Institute . A total of 25 men enlisted in the group. The militia was initially led by Captain Thomas D. Keizur , who resigned shortly after its creation, with Charles H. Bennett taking command. Among

1352-652: The group had some military experience, including Bennett and Holt, who had been in the Seminole War as dragoons . In June 1846 a band of Wascos arrived in the Willamette Valley and camped on the Santiam River . The band was probably on a seasonal berry gathering excursion, a traditional movement that "almost certainly dates back hundreds of years." Rumors began to spread among the pioneer settlements accusing these Wascos of thefts, including livestock formerly owned by

1404-559: The land in Oregon being taken over by large plantations as in the Southern states and force them to compete with bonded labor. One early migrant wrote that Oregon pioneers "hated slavery, but a much larger number of them hated free negroes worse even than slaves". In 1843, the Provisional Government of Oregon established a set of organic laws , including a ban on slavery : "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in

1456-513: The law as "inhuman"; Burnett argued that Gray misrepresented the law. The law had an unknown impact on black people in the state, and no records suggest it was ever directly enforced. However, its threatened enforcement against African American settler George Bush led the Bush- Simmons party, which arrived shortly after the law's adoption, to cut a new spur of the Oregon Trail northward across

1508-457: The legislature passed another exclusion law, with a preamble arguing that "it would be highly dangerous to allow free negroes and mulattos to reside in the Territory or to intermix with the Indians, instilling in their minds feelings of hostility against the white race". The 1849 law ordered any black people entering the territory to leave within 40 days. It was applied in 1851 to Jacob Vanderpool,

1560-537: The members included Webley John Hauxhurst , Lindsay Applegate , William H. Gray , and Daniel Waldo . Members of the Oregon Rangers were expected to provide their own weapons and supplies. The Provisional Government promised $ 2 daily for active service. Despite being "aimed as much at the Hudson's Bay Company as at the Indians", the company never entered combat and was quickly disestablished. Frances Fuller Victor gave

1612-616: The official text of the original law has been lost, it was reprinted in several sources at the time. The law as described contained eight sections, and two amendments were added in December 1844. The Oregon exclusion law prohibited free black men and women in the territory, though jurisdiction for the law was limited to the region south of the Columbia river. Section 1 : That slavery and involuntary servitude shall be forever prohibited in Oregon. Section 2 : That in all cases where slaves shall have been, or shall hereafter be, brought into Oregon,

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1664-424: The owners of such slaves respectively shall have the term of three years from the introduction of such slaves to remove them out of the country. Section 3 : That if such owners of slaves shall neglect or refuse to remove such slaves from the country within the time specified in the preceding section, such slaves shall be free. Section 4 : That when any free negro or mulatto shall have come to Oregon, he or she (as

1716-432: The peace, and if guilty upon trial before such justice ... the said justice shall issue his order to any officer competent to execute process, directing said officer to give ten days' public notice, by at least four written or printed advertisements, that he will publicly hire out such free negro or mulatto from the country for the shortest term of service, shall enter into a bond with good and sufficient security to Oregon, in

1768-589: The physical punishment. Instead, blacks were to be forced back into bondage to work for white settlers, before eventually being deported east to the United States. As the Provisional Government was centered in the Willamette Valley, its authority didn't extend north of the Columbia River. Black and mixed-race people like Saules and George Bush consequently settled in modern Washington state . Oregon black exclusion laws The Oregon black exclusion laws were attempts to prevent black people from settling within

1820-430: The said territory otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." Enforcement of the law was left unclear. After a vote on June 26, 1844, the first black exclusion law reiterated a ban on all slavery in Oregon territory, and it forced black and mulatto settlers to leave Oregon territory within three years (two years for men) or be whipped "no more than 39 times". That section

1872-461: The sentiment of the Willamette Valley settlers to then Vicar general Blanchet: The settlers seem to acknowledge they have been too quick, in this unfortunate affair; but the unlucky deed is over; it is a true murder; based upon the extremely rash and unjustifiable action of poor Le Breton who will pay dear for his apostasy and crime. Many white settlers feared retaliation and the Oregon Rangers

1924-417: The slaves escaped back to their homeland. On 4 March 1844, Cockstock returned to Oregon City with several men. He inquired why the settlers had been attempting to capture him. A crowd of settlers started to form. Watching the development, an employee of John McLoughlin reportedly exclaimed "That Indian is a good man, you should not molest him; if you do, you will repent!" The attempt to capture Cockstock

1976-404: The state within two years, if male, and three years, if female. The initial law proposed "no more than 20" lashings by whip for slaves found in violation of the law, which was amended in December 1844. A week after the law's passage, Burnett wrote in a personal letter that the bill was intended to "keep clear of that most troublesome class of population." Decades later, Burnett publicly described

2028-451: The state, including a ban on signing contracts or owning land. The slavery amendment failed, but the exclusion law passed. Oregon was the only state admitted to the Union with such an exclusion law. There are no records that this law was enforced, and the legislature voted down a proposed 1865 law that would authorize sheriffs to deport black residents in their counties. The Cockstock incident

2080-438: The state, or employ or harbor them. John McBride , later a state senator, described the amendment: "It was largely an expression against any mingling of the white with any of the other races, and upon a theory that as we had yet no considerable representation of other races in our midst, we should do nothing to encourage their introduction. We were building a new state on virgin ground; its people believed it should encourage only

2132-404: The time of the adoption of this constitution, shall come, reside or be within this state or hold any real estate, or make any contracts, or maintain any suit therein; and the legislative assembly shall provide by penal laws for the removal by public officers of all such negroes and mulattoes, and for their effectual exclusion from the state, and for the punishment of persons who shall bring them into

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2184-474: The time when such freedom shall be obtained. Be it enacted by the Legislative Committee of Oregon as follows: Section 1: That the sixth and seventh sections of said act are hereby repealed. Section 2: That if any such free negro or mulatto shall fail to quit and leave the country, as required by the act to which this is amendatory, he or she may be arrested upon a warrant issued by some justice of

2236-436: Was a major factor in the passage of the first black exclusion law. It centered on a fight between a Molala man, Cockstock, and a free black man, James D. Saules , over ownership of a horse. The argument escalated into a melee that killed three men, and led to rhetoric among white settlers that African Americans could create an uprising among local Native American tribes against settlers. On June 24, 1844, within days of

2288-417: Was also used in 1854 to prevent the deportation of Morris Thomas and Jane Snowden. Oregon's congressional delegate, Samuel Thurston, while seeking to limit federal land grants to white people, described the law to congress: The negroes associate with the Indians and intermarry, and, if their free ingress is encouraged or allowed, there would a relationship spring up between them and the different tribes, and

2340-406: Was amended in December 1844 to permit a free slave to be resold on the condition that the slave owner agree to remove them from the territory at the end of the contract, which was held with the provisional government. In effect, that re-established slavery on a temporary basis for three years. The law was repealed in 1845 without any such punishment ever being carried out. On September 21, 1849,

2392-512: Was an altercation between indigenous peoples and settlers in the Willamette Valley . It originated as a dispute between Cockstock, a native, and James D. Saules , a free black settler. On 4 March 1844, conflict erupted between Cockstock's party and settlers; with Cockstock and two white settlers dying. The event has been called "the most significant occurrence of violence" in the Oregon Country between indigenous peoples and settlers prior to

2444-519: Was employed on Winslow Anderson's farm, a free black settler. A horse was promised as payment for Cockstock's labor. By the end of his contract, however, Anderson had sold the horse to another black settler, James D. Saules . This angered Cockstock, who took the horse and issued threats to both men. On 17 February 1844, White received a letter from Saules. He wrote that he feared for his life and claimed that Cockstock harassed settlers and had "murdered several Indians lately". The following day, White and

2496-476: Was heard by four judges, culminating in Judge George Henry Williams ' June 1853 ruling that slavery was illegal in Oregon. Descendants of Holmes have since stated that Ford had encouraged the lawsuit as a means to bring an end to slavery in the state. On November 7, 1857, Oregon's delegates to the state Constitutional Convention submitted proposals to legalize slavery and to ban black people from

2548-407: Was led by Oregon legislature official George LeBreton . Some of the assembled settlers wanted to "shoot him [Cockstock] at any risk". In the ensuing skirmish, Anderson killed Cockstock by smashing his rifle into the native's skull. Two white settlers, LeBreton and Sterling Rogers, were killed from injuries sustained in the fight. Three days after the conflict, Rev. Modeste Demers described

2600-518: Was legally invalidated after the Civil War by the ratification of the 14th Amendment to the federal Constitution in 1868. However, Section 35 remained formally on the books for another 58 years. In 1925, the Oregon legislature proposed the formal repeal of Section 35, adopted as House Joint Resolution 8 (1925). The measure was referred to Oregon voters as a 1926 ballot initiative which was approved with 62.5% in favor. Measure 14 in 2002 , approved by

2652-489: Was organized on 23 March 1844 in response. The widow of Cockstock was Wasco and her relatives were angry at his death. They argued that he had not gone to Oregon City with violent intent. Over 70 Wascos arrived and demanded compensation. Peace between the settlers and natives was maintained by White, who offering payment of "two blankets, a dress, and [a] handkerchief" to the widow. On 1 May 1844, White wrote to United States Secretary of War James Madison Porter , citing

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2704-601: Was repealed in 1926. The laws, born of anti-slavery and anti-black beliefs, were often justified as a reaction to fears of black people instigating Native American uprisings. Early white settlers in the Oregon Country often held both anti-slavery and anti-black beliefs, and many came from states, such as Missouri , which had some version of exclusion laws. White settlers believed banning slavery would eliminate political controversy, but feared that settlements of freed slaves would compete for power with white people. In addition, they believed that allowing slavery could lead to

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