William Cannon (pioneer)

William Cannon (1755 – 1854) was among the first pioneers in the Oregon Country and the only recorded American Revolutionary War soldier buried in Oregon. Cannon voted with the majority in favor of a provisional government.

William Cannon
Born1755
Pennsylvania[1] or Virginia[2]
Died1854 (aged 98–99)
Oregon Territory near St. Paul
Resting placeSt. Paul's Cemetery
45.213045°N 122.976255°W / 45.213045; -122.976255
OccupationGrist mill operator
Years active1812 – 1854
OrganizationHudson's Bay Company
SpousePolly Clackamas

Early life

Cannon was born in 1755 near Pittsburgh in territory claimed both by Pennsylvania and Virginia. He served in the American Revolutionary War at the Battle of Kings Mountain and at the Battle of Cowpens.[3]

Oregon Country

While a soldier at Michigan's Fort Mackinac in 1810, Cannon was recruited by William Price Hunt to accompany an overland expedition to the Oregon Country. In his 1836 book, Astoria, Washington Irving related Cannon's unpleasant experience with a grizzly bear during the trip.[4] The party reached Astoria in 1812. Later they traveled to French Prairie, and Etienne Lucier remained with Cannon to help start an American settlement.[2] When John McLoughlin arrived in 1824, Cannon built a gristmill at Ft. Vancouver.[2] In 1843 Cannon was among the immigrants who voted in favor of forming a provisional government in the Oregon Country.[5]

Cannon died in 1854 and was buried at St. Paul, Oregon.

References
  1. Laidlaw, Tom (2005). "Fort Vancouver's First Blacksmith" (PDF). Forge and Plane Newsletter. Fort Vancouver Trades Guild. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 5, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  2. Dobbs, Caroline C. (1932). "Men of Champoeg" (pdf). Daughters of the American Revolution. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  3. Laidlaw, Tom. "William Canon". Archived from the original on January 27, 2015.
  4. Irving, Washington (1836). Astoria. Paris: Baudry. pp. 153.
  5. Transactions of the Thirty-Fourth Annual Reunion of the Oregon Pioneer Association. Portland: Peaslee Brothers. 1906. p. 338.
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