Étienne Lucier

Étienne Lucier
Born	June 9, 1786 Chambly, Quebec
Died	March 8, 1853 (aged 66) French Prairie
Occupation	fur trapper, farmer

Étienne Lucier (June 9, 1786 – March 8, 1853) was a fur trader in the Pacific Northwest. He was sent to the region as an employee of the Pacific Fur Company to help establish Fort Astoria. Later he became a settler in the Willamette Valley. Lucier attended the Champoeg Meetings and was one of two French-Canadians to vote for the Provisional Government of Oregon, an American and Canadian civil authority for the valley. He is credited with becoming the first European descendant farmer within the modern state of Oregon.

Fur trade

Étienne Lucier was born on June 9, 1786 in Chambly, Quebec. Lucier became employed by the Pacific Fur Company in 1810 and joined an expedition led Wilson Price Hunt to journey overland to the Pacific Northwest.^[1] The group reached the mouth of the Columbia River, where work on Fort Astoria was already begun. Despite the initial work of the company, the PFC folded due to the War of 1812 and its assets were sold to the North West Company.^[2] By 1814 Lucier had joined that company and became a trader for them. He then married an Indigenous woman and moved to the Willamette Valley by 1814.^[1] After the merger of the North West Company into the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), he became an employee of the new company and made a land claim on what is now Portland, Oregon.^[1] Later he established a permanent land claim next to the Willamette Fur Post near Champoeg on the French Prairie by 1829.^[1] Chief Factor John McLoughlin of the HBC at Fort Vancouver helped Lucier with farming supplies, including livestock that helped establish Lucier as Oregon’s first farmer.^[1]

French Prairie

On the French Prairie, Étienne Lucier married for a second time and would have eight children combined between both wives.^[1] On his farm he raised pigs and hogs, cattle, peaches, and wheat over 80 acres (320,000 m²). These 80 acres (320,000 m²) were enclosed by a split rail fence.^[1] Lucier’s farm had a 1 ¹⁄₂-story double-hewn log home, a grist mill, a framed barn, and a warehouse used for wheat.^[1] His farm was adjacent to Pierre Belleque’s farm.^[1] On March 22, 1836, he and 15 other French Canadian settlers on the prairie representing 77 settlers and their children signed a petition sent to Norbert Provencher, the titular Bishop of Juliopolis, requesting a priest for the settlement.^[3] At that time he had six children.

In 1843, Lucier was a participant at the Champoeg Meetings that lead to the creation of the Provisional Government of Oregon.^[4] He was one of two French Canadian pioneers that joined with the American bloc to vote for the creation of the government on May 2, 1843.^[4] Then in 1851 Lucier became an American citizen in order to secure his land claim via the Donation Land Act.^[1]

In 1853, Étienne Lucier died, with his sons continuing to operate the family farm. At his death he was a man of some wealth in the region and left behind boats, the farm, farm tools, a threshing machine, and a buggy among other items.^[1]

References

1. 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.
2. Horner, John B. (1919). Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. pp. 56–57.
3. "Willamette Settlers to the Bishop of Juliopolis". Oregon Historical Society. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
4. "Beginnings of Self-Government". Settling the Oregon Country. End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Archived from the original on 2007-06-30. Retrieved 2007-07-27.

External links

• Étienne Lucier at Find a Grave