Members of the legislature and the districts they represented : In 1847 the legislature met from December 7 to 28 at the Methodist Church in Oregon City . On the second day of this meeting at Main and Seventh streets , news of the Whitman massacre , which occurred on November 29 , 1847 , was delivered to the legislature by Governor Abernethy . This event would dominate the remainder of the session as the Provisional Government worked with the Hudson 's Bay Company to send an army east to Walla Walla . Forty-two men under the command of Henry A. G. Lee were sent immediately to The Dalles in what was the beginning of the Cayuse War . A large force under the command of Cornelius Gilliam was then organized and sent to punish those responsible for the massacre . On December 23 , the group created Benton District out of the southern section of Polk District , naming the new district for Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton . In the legislature , Robert Newell was chosen as the speaker of the group with Calvin W. Cook as clerk
Whitman massacre
Whitman massacre
Provisional Legislature of Oregon