French Prairie

Looking northeast toward Mount Hood (left)
Location of the French Prairie in Oregon

French Prairie is located in Marion County, Oregon, United States, in the Willamette Valley between the Willamette River and the Pudding River, north of Salem. It was named for some of the earliest settlers of that part of the Oregon Country, French Canadian/Métis[1] people who were mostly former employees of the Hudson's Bay Company.[2] "French Prairie" naming was first captured in writing in the early 1850s by a French Consul to California visiting Oregon. Pierre Charles Fournier de Saint-Amant referred to the area as "les prairies françaises".[3] French Prairie is also known as an early Métis settlement in the Pacific Northwest history.[4]

  1. ^ Edmonston, George P. Jr.; Patricia Filip. "Rewrites". A look at five OSU researchers who are revolutionizing their academic disciplines. Oregon Stater. Archived from the original on 2007-02-22. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  2. ^ McArthur, Lewis A.; Lewis L. McArthur (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. ISBN 0-87595-277-1.
  3. ^ "French Prairie".
  4. ^ Barman, Jean French Canadians, furs, and indigenous women in the making of the Pacific Northwest. UBC Press. Vancouver 2014. Chapter 7: "Initiating Permanent Settlement"