President Polk, who was elected on the issues connected with the Oregon Question, was desirous of having the new territory established during his administration. It was already the middle of August when the bill passed, and it was a long journey to Oregon by whatever route the territorial officers might choose. No time was lost in making the appointments; the appointees being urged to set out at once for the Pacific coast. The president's first choice for governor was General James Shields[1] of Illinois; but the appointment being declined, the position was offered to another general of the Mexican war, Joseph Lane of Indiana, who was requested to organize the government before the 4th of March following. Lane accepted.[2] The other appointees
- ↑ Shields was born in Altmore, County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1810, and emigrated to America at the age of 16. In 1832 he settled at Kaskaskia, Illinois, in the practice of the law. He was elected to the legislature in 1836, and was auditor of the state in 1839; was appointed judge of the supreme court in 1843, and commissioner of the general land-office in 1845. At the breaking-out of the Mexican war he received the appointment of brigadier-general in the United States army, and was brevetted major-general for distinguished services. He served six years in the U. S. senate, being elected in 1849 from Illinois, and afterward two years from Minnesota Territory. He was for a short time in California and Mexico, and afterwards served as a general in the union army. In 1878 he was again elected to the U. S. senate from Missouri, but died a few weeks after taking his seat, in June 1879. Grover's Pub. Life, MS., 56; Niles' Reg., lxxiv. 113, 337; S. F. Call, June 3, 1879; Salt Lake S. W. Herald, June 4,' 1879.
- ↑ Joseph Lane was born in Buncombe Co., N. C., in 1801. From healthy parentage and pure mountain air he derived a strong constitution, and though not a large man, he was well knit, tough, and wiry, with a lively and ambitious disposition. His father removed to Kentucky when he was a child. At 15 he left the paternal roof to seek his fortune, as sons of southern and western men were wont to do. He married at the age of 19. In 1820 he settled in Indiana. Struggling with poverty and inexperience, the gift of
Oct. 4, 1853. He is described by a writer in the Boston Transcript, in Id., Sept. 16, 1862, as the head and director of all knavish expedients to secure the election of Buchanan in 1856. 'Nobody knew how he obtained his money or acquired his right to command; but money he had in abundance, and his right to command was not disputed. There, with his shining shock of brown hair, curling over the lowest of human foreheads and the most impudent of human faces, he freely dispensed the "influence" which carried Pennsylvania for Buchanan in spite of the Quaker vote. His reward was the office of navy agent in the city of New York.' He became a defaulter to the government to the extent of $21,000 in 1861. He settled in Louisville and preached secession, and afterward went to Canada, where he led the rebel fugitive element, and where he told George Augustus Sala that they were plotting atrocities in connection with the war which would 'make the world shudder.' Boisé City Statesman, July 13, 1865; Portland Oregonian, Nov. 9, 1865; Id., June 17, 1867.
