View source for Champoeg, Oregon

{{Short description|Town in Oregon, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
 | name                     = Champoeg, Oregon
 | official_name            = 
 | settlement_type          = [[Ghost town]]
 | nickname                 = 
 | motto                    =

<!-- Images -->
 | image_skyline            = Champoeg State Park museum.JPG
 | imagesize                = 
 | image_caption            = Museum at the state heritage area
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 | image_seal               =

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 | pushpin_map              = Oregon#USA
 | pushpin_label            = Champoeg
 | pushpin_label_position   = <!-- the position of the pushpin label: left, right, top, bottom, none -->
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 | image_map                = Wpdms shdrlfi020l champoeg oregon.jpg
 | map_caption              = Location near neighboring cities

<!-- Location -->
 | subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
 | subdivision_name         = United States
 | subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
 | subdivision_name1        = [[Oregon]]
 | subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Oregon|County]]
 | subdivision_name2        = [[Marion County, Oregon|Marion]]
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 | unit_pref                = Imperial
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 | timezone                 = [[Pacific Time Zone|Pacific (PST)]]
 | utc_offset               = -8
 | timezone_DST             = PDT
 | utc_offset_DST           = -7
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 | coordinates              = {{coord|45|14|56|N|122|53|49|W|type:city(0)_region:US-OR|display=inline,title}}

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 | postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
 | postal_code              = 97137
 | area_codes               = [[Area codes 503 and 971|503 and 971]]
 | blank_name               = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
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}}

'''Champoeg''' ({{IPAc-en|ʃ|æ|m|ˈ|p|uː|iː}} {{respell|sham|POO|ee}}, historically {{IPAc-en|ʃ|æ|m|ˈ|p|uː|ɛ|ɡ}} {{respell|sham|POO|eg}}<ref name=Horner>Horner, John B. (1919). ''Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature''. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. p. 398.</ref>) is a former town in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Oregon]]. Now a [[ghost town]], it was an important settlement in the [[Willamette Valley]] in the early 1840s. Located halfway between [[Oregon City, Oregon|Oregon City]] and [[Salem, Oregon|Salem]], it was the site of the first provisional government of the [[Oregon Country]].

The town site is on the south bank of the [[Willamette River]] in northern [[Marion County, Oregon|Marion County]], on [[French Prairie]], approximately {{convert|5|mi|km|abbr=on}} southeast of [[Newberg, Oregon|Newberg]]. The town is now part of '''Champoeg State Heritage Area''', an [[List of Oregon state parks|Oregon state park]]. The '''Champoeg State Park Historic Archeological District''' is within the heritage area.

The name "Champoeg" comes from the [[Kalapuyan languages|Kalapuyan]] word ''[čʰámpuik]'', which might be an abbreviation of ''[čʰa-čʰíma-púičuk]'', referring to the edible root ''[púičuk]'', or [[Perideridia|yampa]].<ref name="Bright2004">{{cite book|last=Bright|first=William|author-link=William Bright|title=Native American placenames of the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5XfxzCm1qa4C&pg=PA87|access-date=11 April 2011|year=2004|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=978-0-8061-3598-4|page=87}}</ref>

==History==
Champoeg is best known as the site of a [[Champoeg Meetings|series of meetings]] held in the town during the 1840s. On February 7, 1841, Willamette Valley settlers convened there for the first time. They selected [[Oregon missionaries|Oregon missionary]] [[Jason Lee (missionary)|Jason Lee]] as their chairman and considered measures to deal with problem of [[gray wolf|wolves]] menacing their settlements. It was to be the first in a series of "Wolf Meetings" at the town site that would establish the basis of civil codes.

By the middle 1840s, the question of the possession of the disputed Oregon Country between the United States and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] began to loom large. On May 2, 1843, a meeting was held at the town to determine whether a provisional government should be established. The measure passed by 52 to 50. A group of nine representatives was named to create a provisional government with Champoeg as its capital. A petition to the [[United States Congress]] was drafted and sent to [[Washington, D.C.]], with [[William Gilpin (governor)|William Gilpin]], who had helped draft the petition and came to the Willamette Valley with the expedition of [[John C. Frémont]]. On his journey eastward to deliver the petition, Gilpin evangelized for the settlement of the [[Pacific Northwest]], helping to spread "Oregon fever". He presented the petition to Congress in 1845. The question of possession of the Oregon Country was settled the following year in the 1846 [[Oregon Treaty]]. When the [[Oregon Territory]] was [[Organic Laws of Oregon|organized]] in 1848, however, Champoeg was not chosen as the capital.

Around 1852 the town had grown to include a [[Boones Ferry|ferry across the Willamette]], a warehouse owned by [[Francis Pettygrove]] and [[Alanson Beers]], a steamboat landing, a granary owned by the [[Hudson's Bay Company]], and a stagecoach office.<ref name=French>Chapman, J. S. (1993). ''French prairie ceramics: the Harriet D. Munnick archaeological collection, circa 1820–1860: a catalog and Northwest comparative guide''. Anthropology northwest, no. 8. Corvallis, Or: Dept. of Anthropology, Oregon State University.</ref> There were 10 north–south streets and six east–west streets laid out in the community. Champoeg was also the crossroads of the Champoeg-St. Paul Road, Champoeg-Salem Road, Champoeg-Oregon City Road, and the Champoeg-DeGuire's Ferry Road.<ref name=French/> Most of the town was located on the [[Donation Land Claim Act|Donation Land Claims]] of [[Robert Newell (Oregon politician)|Robert Newell]] and [[Andre Longtain|André Longtain]].<ref name=French/>

[[File:Champoeg Monument.jpg|thumb|left|150px|The 1901 monument in Champoeg marking the spot where the first American government on the Pacific Coast was organized.]]
[[File:Champoegstreetcorner.jpg|thumb|A stake marks the former location of a street corner in Champoeg.]]
The town continued to exist after Oregon statehood. However, on December 2, 1861, the adjacent [[Willamette River]] rose {{convert|55|ft|m}} above its normal summer stage, [[flood]]ing the town with {{convert|7|ft|m|spell=in}} of water. [[Great Flood of 1862|The great flood]] destroyed most of the structures in the town, barring two saloons. Panicked residents found shelter at the Newell House, which was built upon a hill. Robert Newell went nearly bankrupt in caring for the flood victims. Champoeg was never rebuilt after the disaster. The town site is now preserved as Champoeg State Heritage Area. A 1901 monument records the names of the 52 settlers who voted to establish the provisional government at the 1843 meeting. Dams installed since the 1930s make another catastrophic flood unlikely.

==Champoeg State Heritage Area==
{{Expand section|date=March 2008}}
Amenities of the heritage area include a visitor center, an 1860s-style garden, the [[Newell House Museum]] – [[Robert Newell (Oregon politician)|Robert Newell's]] restored 1852 house – and the [[Pioneer Mothers Memorial Cabin Museum]].<ref name="State Park">{{cite web |url=http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_113.php |title= Champoeg State Heritage Area |publisher=[[Oregon Parks and Recreation Department]] |access-date=2008-03-08}}</ref>

Also located in the park is the Historic Butteville Store, which was founded in 1863. Considered the oldest operating store in Oregon, it is the last remaining commercial building of the nearby community of [[Butteville, Oregon|Butteville]].<ref name="State Park"/> A series of weekend interpretive programs is available late June through Labor Day weekend, and the Champoeg Promise program provides an interactive [[living history]] program for schoolchildren.<ref name="State Park"/>

The site is open year-round and is available for camping (tent, yurt, cabin and RV), hiking, disc golf, bicycling, bird watching, picnicking, fishing and boating.<ref name="State Park"/>

===Archeological sites===
{{Expand section|date=March 2008}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name         = Champoeg State Park Historic Archeological District
| nrhp_type    = hd
| nocat        = yes
| image        =
| caption      =
| nearest_city = [[St. Paul, Oregon]]
| locmapin     = Oregon#USA
| area         =
| built        = 1830
| architect    =
| architecture =
| added        = August 01, 1984
| refnum       = 84003038<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2008a}}</ref>
}}
The Champoeg State Heritage Area is the site of the Champoeg State Park Historic Archeological District, which was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1984.<ref name=nris/><ref name=ORNRHP>{{cite web |title=Oregon National Register List |url=http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/oregon_nr_list.pdf |date=July 16, 2007 |publisher=[[Oregon Parks and Recreation Department]] |access-date=2008-03-08 |archive-date=June 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609105953/http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/oregon_nr_list.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> One of the important archeological finds at the site is the only mostly intact early homesite found so far on [[French Prairie]].<ref name=Progress>{{cite journal |title=Champoeg's buried treasure |url=http://www.governor.state.or.us/OPRD/documents/progress7.pdf |journal=Progress Report |date=Spring 2004 |publisher=[[Oregon Parks and Recreation Department]] |access-date=2008-03-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029102903/http://www.governor.state.or.us/OPRD/documents/progress7.pdf |archive-date=2008-10-29 }}</ref> The evidence suggests that this was Robert Newell's first homesite.<ref name=Progress/>

==See also==
*[[François X. Matthieu]]
*[[List of ghost towns in Oregon]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline}}
*[http://www.champoeg.org Friends of Historic Champoeg]
*[http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/or/champoeg.html Champoeg, Oregon] from ghosttowns.com
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080211124202/http://www.archaeologychannel.org/content/video/Champoeg.html Uncovering the Past: Champoeg Park] video about an archaeological study by [[Oregon State University]] (17½ minutes)
* {{cite web |url=http://heritagedata.prd.state.or.us/historic/ |title= Search: Oregon Historic Sites Database |publisher= Oregon Parks and Recreation Department |access-date= March 22, 2018}}
{{Marion County, Oregon}}
{{Oregon Pioneer History}}
{{Protected areas of Oregon}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Populated places established in 1841]]
[[Category:Ghost towns in Oregon]]
[[Category:Parks in Marion County, Oregon]]
[[Category:State parks of Oregon]]
[[Category:Champoeg Meetings]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Marion County, Oregon]]
[[Category:Museums in Marion County, Oregon]]
[[Category:Open-air museums in Oregon]]
[[Category:1841 establishments in Oregon Country]]
[[Category:Populated places on the Willamette River]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Marion County, Oregon]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon]]