Talk:Willamette Trading Post

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Established by Pacific Fur Company?[edit]

According to my info, a fur trading post called "Willamette", on the lower Willamette River, was established by the American Pacific Fur Company in 1812. It was sold along with the rest of the PFC to the North West Company in 1813. My question is, is this the same post? If so perhaps it should be noted that it was not founded by the NWC but by the PFC? Pfly (talk) 09:56, 3 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

One source says NWC about 1813, the other likely a NWC about 1814. So its possible they are the same place. However, there is also a Wallace House established by the PFC (according to the Dict. of Or. Hist.) during the winter of 1812-13 by a group led by William Wallace. That's closer to Salem (Wallace Road leaving Salem I believe is named for this along with Wallace Prarie) and definitely a separate place, and may be the one you are talking about. Aboutmovies (talk) 11:04, 3 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, thanks. I had assumed this was the same "Willamette" post, but perhaps it isn't quite. I'll check into it more. Pfly (talk) 14:14, 3 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

FYI, according to the Wallace House source, it was around the original location of the Oregon Institute, which is now Willamette Mission State Park, about 15 miles from the Willamette Post and on the river as well. Aboutmovies (talk) 10:36, 5 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, just found this info at Oregon Forts, listed as "Fort Champoeg": Originally Fort (William) Wallace or Willamette Post of the Pacific Fur Company. Sold in 1813 to the North West Co. Taken over by the Hudson's Bay Co. in 1830 and enlarged and renamed. I'm not familiar enough with the area to know precise locations, but this page says the site is now Champoeg State Park. The coordinates on this page show up about a mile west of Champoeg State Park on Google Maps. Still curious whether the Pacific Fur Company founding idea might be right. Pfly (talk) 07:21, 11 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Or the Fort people may be combining the two. The nearby place listed is the park where Wallace House was according to my sources. Other than that fort website, I've never seen a Fort Wallace. Both places are on the French Prairie and the Willamette, and not too far from each other. Part of the info for the Dictionary of Oregon History entry for Wallace House comes from page 353 of this book if you can find it somewhere. Another source is this book from page 321 of volume II. This also tells that Wallace House is closer to Salem and not the same location as Willamette Post. This picture of the historical marker says NWC founded it, but not exactly a WP:RS. Many sources tend to combine the two, but I'm pretty sure they were separate. It looks like Ronda may be a good source, and looking at what is available on line, it looks like it only mentions the "founding" of what was Wallace House, which going by deduction regarding the title of the book I think tends to support NWC starting the Willamette Post. Its hard to say either way. I'll also note that the Dict of Oregon History has one entry for each, and one source overlaps (p. 304 for WallHouse and p. 306-10 for Willamette Post in Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. XXV), which leads me to think that the source material makes a distinction between the two. Taken with that books saying Willamette Post was NWC, my bet would be on that. But if it made a mistake, it certainly would not be the first mistake I have found in it. Aboutmovies (talk) 10:33, 11 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]