Joel Palmer

General Joel Palmer, co-founder of Dayton, Oregon, was an American pioneer in the Oregon territory who spent three decades in Oregon politics. Born to Quaker parents in 1810, he spent his childhood in upstate New York and began his political career as a democrat. 

As captain of a large wagon train, he brought his family out from Indiana to settle in Oregon after spending the previous year scouting the area. He climbed up Mt. Hood to 9,500 feet to find a wagon route around the mountain. With Sam Barlow, he developed the Barlow Trail that mostly finished out the Oregon trail.

In 1853 Joel was appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Oregon territory. He supported the Native American Indians during a debate of full integration to total extermination. He was considered an Indian sympathizer even though the reservations were located outside the Willamette Valley. He sought to avoid friction between natives and settlers by physical distance. Territorial Legislation removed him from office in 1857 after violent resistance from settlers over land that Joel allotted the Rogue River tribes on the Grande Ronde Reservation

In 1862, he was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives to represent Yamhill county. Now a member of the Republican Party, he was named Speaker of the House during that session.

In 1864 he was elected to the State Senate, which he served during the 1865 special session of the legislature when Oregon adopted the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution that abolished slavery throughout the United States.

Today, his house, the Joel Palmer House and restaurant in Dayton, stands as a testament of a man who worked hard to preserve uplifting morals and values in society. He wasn’t afraid to blaze a new trail, support and promote fairness, and engage actively in politics to make Oregon a thriving state.