in imitation of the French Canadian trappers employed by the Hudson's Bay Company. As the French trappers enjoyed good relations with most of the Indian tribes in the area, Meek seems to have hoped that the Indians would take him for a French Canadian or "Canadien" and leave him alone. In 1841, Meek settled in the Tualatin Valley, northwest of Oregon City, and entered into the political life of the area. In the spring of 1841, Meek served as guide in Oregon for the United States Exploring Expedition. In 1843, at meetings in Champoeg, Oregon called to form a provisional government, his was one of the foremost voices on the side of the American settlers. In 1843, when the provisional government was formed, Meek was appointed sheriff, and he was elected to the legislature in 1846 and 1847. In the late fall of 1847, some Cayuse and Umatilla Indians killed Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa, and 12 others at the Whitman Mission. Among the dead was Meek’s daughter by his first wife, Helen Mar Meek, age 10, who died in captivity. Meek traveled to Washington, D.C. with the news of the killings (known as the Whitman massacre) and the ensuing Cayuse War. Leaving in early January, Meek, George W. Ebbert, and John Owens made the difficult winter trip, arriving in Saint Joseph, Missouri on May 4 and proceeding to Washington by steamboat and rail. While in Washington, where he met with President James K. Polk (whose wife Sarah Childress Polk, was Meek's cousin), he argued forcefully for making the Oregon Country a federal territory. The following spring, Joseph Lane was appointed Territorial Governor and Meek was made Territorial Federal Marshal. Meek served as Territorial Marshal for five years. His account with the Hudson's Bay Company was often in debt, the mountain man owing the company over $300 in 1849, . In 1850 as Marshal, he supervised the execution of five Cayuse Indians found guilty of the Whitman massacre, despite Archbishop François Norbert Blanchet defending the men as innocent. Meek organized the Oregon Volunteers and led them in the Yakima Indian War and was promoted to the rank of major for his service. Later years and family On June 20, 1875 Meek died at his home on the land he settled on the Tualatin Plains just north of Hillsboro, Oregon, at the age of 65. His wife survived him by almost