author
W. H. (William Henry) Gray
1810–1889
A missionary-turned-politician on the early Oregon frontier, he helped shape the region’s provisional government and later wrote a firsthand, deeply opinionated history of its formative years.
1 Audiobook
A History of Oregon, 1792-1849 Drawn From Personal Observation and Authentic Information
by W. H. (William Henry) Gray
About the author
Born in 1810, William Henry Gray was an American missionary, pioneer, politician, and historian associated with the Oregon Country. He traveled west in the 1830s with the early Protestant missionary movement and became closely tied to some of the most important and tragic events of the era, including the years surrounding the Whitman mission.
Gray later played an active role in public life in Oregon. He took part in the movement that led to the Provisional Government of Oregon and became known as one of the settlers involved in shaping civic institutions in the region. In later life, he wrote A History of Oregon, 1792–1849, a substantial account that remains notable as a firsthand perspective on early Oregon, even though it is often described as strongly partisan.
He died in 1889. Remembered today for both his political involvement and his historical writing, Gray stands out as a vivid, sometimes controversial witness to the making of the Pacific Northwest.