This area, once named tchampuick, the place of yampah, was the traditional homeland of the Tualatin Kalapuya tribe. Fur trappers first arrived here by canoe in 1811 and found lush open prairies bordering the Willamette River. In 1830, French-Canadians retiring from the Hudson's Bay Company and their Indian wives began farms and raised families near here, and Champoeg soon became a shipping and commercial center. In 1851, local tribes and the U.S. government negotiated six treaties at this location, but Congress never ratified them. A thriving town stood here until the flood of 1861 swept away all the buildings. It was also the site of the May 2, 1843, meeting of the inhabitants of the Willamette settlements who formed a provisional government, the first American government on the Pacific coast.
