About two and a half years ago, I posted about some of the Oregon-related anniversaries that the Oregon Trail Memorial Association linked to issues of its commemorative half dollar in an effort to promote sales. You can read it here:
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1926-39 Oregon Trail Memorial - 1934 Oregon Trail CentennialsOne of the centennial anniversaries that bears a closer look is the Jason Lee Centennial.
Jason Lee was a Methodist missionary who traveled to Oregon in 1834 with the aim of converting the local Indians/Native Americans to Christianity and leading them to the adoption of a way of life rooted in European culture. As part of his settlement, Lee, and his followers/fellow settlers, built the Indian Manual Training School to help educate the local indigenous population (first in the Willamette Valley near Fort Vancouver, then again in Salem after the settlement moved). The School failed, however, and its building was repurposed as the Oregon Institute (for children of settlers). The Oregon Institute eventually developed into Willamette University (1850s) - the University exists today as a private liberal arts college with campuses in Salem and Portland.
Lee also advocated for the United States to annex the area - Oregon officially became a US Territory in 1849 and achieved Statehood in 1859. Lee's efforts earned him the nickname "Father of American Oregon."
Jason Lee Portrait
(Image Credit: Jason Lee, Prophet of the New Oregon. Cornelius J. Brosnan. Public Domain.The Oregon Legislative Assembly passed a Resolution to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Jason Lee's 1834 settlement in 1934. Surrounding States (Idaho, Washington) were invited to participate in the celebrations.
Building on this State Resolution, James Wheaton Mott (R-OR) introduced a House Joint Resolution in the US House of Representatives in March 1934 that called for official Federal recognition of Jason Lee's accomplishments and contributions regarding the settlement of Oregon.
The Resolution originally included an extended preamble that provided much history, but Wesley Lloyd (D-WA) proposed an amendment to "Strike out all of the preamble." The amendment passed and the Resolution was reduced to:
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Resolved, etc., That the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America do hereby officially recognize the great contribution made by Jason Lee in the settling and building of American Oregon and do hereby request the President of the United States to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe the year 1934 as a Jason Lee Centennial with such exercises as shall commend themselves to the approval of groups in the various communities concerned."
The preferences of Representative Lloyd notwithstanding, I think the first two paragraphs of the Preamble set a good stage for the Resolution:
"Whereas the year 1934 marks the one hundredth anniversary of the overland journey of Jason Lee to Oregon, where he established the first permanent American settlement in the year 1834 and became the first missionary to the American Indians in the territory now comprising the Northwestern States of the United States;
"Whereas this settlement by Lee, and subsequent immigration sponsored by him, made possible the historic meeting at Champoeg 9 years later at which the inhabitants of the Oregon country established the first provincial government west of the Rocky Mountains and invited the United States to assume jurisdiction over it;"The Joint Resolution was passed by the House, but stalled in the Senate Committee on the Library.
Though it did not mention or in any way involve a commemorative coin, had the Jason Lee Centennial Joint Resolution been approved by Congress - and US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt - I believe it would have sparked additional sales of the Oregon Trail Half Dollar beyond the 7,000 minted.
1934-D Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar
(Image Credit: Heritage Auctions, Inc.)For more of my stories about commemorative coins and medals, including other stories about the Oregon Trail Memorial coins, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 09/24/2024 10:56 am
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