Joseph Lane served in the House of Representatives of Indiana from 1822 to 1846. During the Mexican War he became a brigadier general and participated in several
actions.1
President Polk appointed him governor of
Oregon Territory in
1848 for his services.
2 When he arrived in the territory in
March of 1849, he took an amicable stance towards the Hudson’s Bay Company and the winding up of
its affairs.
3He remained friendly to the company during his subsequent tenure as congressman and
senator of
Oregon.
4 His support for slavery, however, undercut his campaigns to become president in
1852 and later, vice-president.
5
- 1. Chicago: Chapman Publishing Co., Portrait and Biographical Record of Western Oregon, (Chicago: Chapman Publishing Co., 1904), 620-1.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. John S. Galbraith, The Hudson's Bay Company as an Imperial Factor, 1821-1869 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1957), 321.
- 4. Ibid.
- 5. V. Germano, comp., Guide to the Joseph Lane papers, 1848-1887, Northwest Digital Archives.