Quick Facts
Biography
Pierre Belleque (1793–1849) was a French Canadian fur trader in the British-claimed Columbia District, which was also known as the Oregon Country and also claimed by the United States. He settled on the French Prairie in what is now the state of Oregon where in 1843 he participated in the Champoeg Meetings. Though he voted against the measure to form a provisional at those meetings, the measure passed and led to the creation of the Provisional Government of Oregon.
Fur trade
In 1818, Belleque signed up with the British North West Company, and became an employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) in 1821 when the two companies were forced to merge. Around 1830 he claimed some land on the French Prairie in the Willamette Valley.
Oregon
Around 1833 Belleque settled his farm, which lay next to Étienne Lucier, a fellow former French Canadian fur trapper for the HBC. There Belleque and his wife, Genevieve St. Martin, lived at the Willamette Fur Post near Champoeg. That post had been owned by the HBC, and the Belleque family was able to live there after receiving permission due to Genevieve's relation to one of the HBC officers. (Genevieve was of Métis origin. The couple would have seven children).
On March 22, 1836, he and 15 other French Canadians on the prairie representing nearly 80 settlers and their children signed a petition to Norbert Provencher, the Bishop of Juliopolis, requesting a priest for the settlement. At that time of this petition, Belleque had three children. In 1843, at Champoeg, Belleque participated in the debates over whether the settlers in the region should establish their own government, or wait until the Oregon boundary dispute was settled. At the final vote on May 2, 1843, Belleque and most of the French Canadian pioneers voted against forming a government. However, the measure passed by a vote of 52 to 50 at the Champoeg Meetings, and a provisional government was created.
Pierre Belleque would remain at his farm for 15 years, and then left for the California Gold Rush in 1848. He died at sea on his return in 1849.