Astor Expedition and Oregon
Accompanying Dorion and her husband Pierre on the Astor Expedition were their two young boys, who were probably two and four years old. She gave birth to another child near North Powder, Oregon who died several days later. After reaching Fort Astoria, Dorion and her family returned with a trapping party to the Snake River area. The party was attacked by Native Americans and all but Dorion and her children were killed. Though she tried to save a French member of the party by putting him on a horse and moving him away from the scene, he died the next day. After the attack, Dorion and her children survived 50 days of winter living in the Blue Mountains.
Dorion would marry two more times and have three more children. Her second husband was Louis Venier. With her third husband, Jean Toupin, she settled near Saint Louis, Oregon on the French Prairie. It was in Saint Louis that she began to be known as "Madame".
Read more about this topic: Marie Aioe Dorion
Famous quotes containing the words expedition and/or oregon:
“It is a sort of ranger service. Arnold’s expedition is a daily experience with these settlers. They can prove that they were out at almost any time; and I think that all the first generation of them deserve a pension more than any that went to the Mexican war.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The Oregon [matter] and the annexation of Texas are now all- important to the security and future peace and prosperity of our union, and I hope there are a sufficient number of pure American democrats to carry into effect the annexation of Texas and [extension of] our laws over Oregon. No temporizing policy or all is lost.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)