Reverend Gustavus Hines (September 6, 1809 – December 9, 1873) was an American missionary in

Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long Oregon boundary dispute, dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been demarcat ...

. Working for the

Methodist Mission The Methodist Mission was the Methodist Episcopal Church's 19th-century conversion efforts in the Pacific Northwest. Local Indigenous cultures were introduced to western culture and Christianity. Superintendent Jason Lee (missionary), Jason Lee was ...

in what became the state of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, the New York native became involved in early attempts to form a government at the

Champoeg Meetings The Champoeg Meetings were the first attempts at formal governance by European-American and French Canadian pioneers in the Oregon Country on the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. Between 1841 and 1843, a series of public councils was he ...

in 1841. Later he served on the board of trustees for the Oregon Institute, which became

Willamette University Willamette University is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college with locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United ...

, and wrote several books on Oregon.

Early life

Gustavus Hines was born on September 6, 1809, in

Herkimer County, New York Herkimer County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 60,139. Its county seat is Herkimer (village), New York, Herkimer. The co ...

, to Betsy Round and James Hines.Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 114. He then entered the ministry in 1832 as part of the Genesee Conference.A Voyage Round the World.
Bryant's Rare Books and Documents. Retrieved on May 31, 2007. The Reverend then joined missionary

Jason Lee Jason Michael Lee (born April 25, 1970) is an American actor, filmmaker, photographer and former professional skateboarder. He is known for playing Earl Hickey in the television comedy series ''My Name Is Earl'', for which he was nominated for ...

in 1839 as part of the Great Reinforcements for the

in the Oregon Country.

Oregon

Reverend Hines arrived in

in 1840 aboard the ship ''

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

''.Flora, Stephenie
Emigrants to Oregon in 1840.
Oregon Pioneers. Retrieved on May 31, 2007. He, his wife Lydia, and his sister-in-law all journeyed to the Pacific Northwest via

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

at the tip of South America. After arrival, he went with Lee to the

Umpqua River The Umpqua River ( ) on the Pacific coast of Oregon in the United States is approximately long. One of the principal rivers of the Oregon Coast and known for bass and shad, the river drains an expansive network of valleys in the mountains west ...

valley to scout a site for a new mission location. The following year Gustavus Hines was involved with the

as a person selected to a committee designed to draft laws that were an attempt at creating a government in the region that was under no formal government at the time. At the February 1841 meetings at David Leslie’s home, Hines served as secretary for the legislative body gathered on

French Prairie French Prairie is located in Marion County, Oregon, United States, in the Willamette Valley between the Willamette River and the Pudding River, north of Salem. The prairie area roughly corresponds to the traditional land of the Kalapuya peopl ...

. These meetings did not create a government in 1841, but did elect Doctor Ira L. Babcock as a judge to deal with the estate of Ewing Young. Two years later continued meetings led the formation of the

Provisional Government of Oregon The Provisional Government of Oregon was a popularly elected settler government created in the Oregon Country (1818-1846), in the Pacific Northwest region of the western portion of the continent of North America. Its formation had been advanced ...

. Hines' younger brother Harvey would journey to Oregon in 1853. In 1842, Lucy Anna Lee was born to Jason Lee's second wife who died shortly after child birth. The Reverend Hines and his wife took in the child and raised her after losing their own daughter, their only child. After the closing of the Methodist Mission, Hines returned to New York in 1845. Hines believed that God killed off the native people of Oregon with disease so that whites could take their land. "The hand of Providence is removing them to give place to a people more worthy of so beautiful and fertile a country," he wrote.''The Good Rain''. Timothy Egan. Vintage. New York: 1990.

Later life

However, he would return to what became

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Oreg ...

in 1853. There he was involved as a trustee for

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...

, including work on the committee that designed

Waller Hall Waller Hall is a building on the campus of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, in the United States. Opened in 1867 as University Hall, it is the oldest higher-education building west of the Mississippi River still in use, currently housing ...

.Hines, Gustavus. ''Oregon and Its Institutions; Comprising a Full History of the Willamette University''. Carlton & Porter, 1868. Gustavus Hines also wrote several books before dying in

Oregon City Oregon City is the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, located on the Willamette River near the southern limits of the Portland metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 37,572. Established in 1829 ...

, but buried at Lee Mission Cemetery in Salem. He died on December 9, 1873.

Works authored

*''Oregon and Its Institutions; Comprising a Full History of the Willamette University''. Carlton & Porter, 1868. *''A Voyage Round the World: With a History of the Oregon Mission and Notes of Several Years Residence on the Plains Bordering the''... George H. Derby & Co., Buffalo: 1850. *''Wild life in Oregon'':... Hurst & Co., New York: 1881.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hines, Gustavus Champoeg Meetings Methodist Mission in Oregon People from Herkimer County, New York 1809 births 1873 deaths Willamette University people Writers from Salem, Oregon Oregon pioneers