150 Years 1872-1886 The Dalles THE DECADES OF HISTORY PART TWO OF THE DALLES CHRONICLE'S TEN-PART SERIES. March 30, 2007 page 6 COL. JOSEPH L. MEEKS DIES COL. JOSEPH L. MEEK - In the death of Col. Joseph L. Meek, who departed this life Sunday morning last, at his residence near Hillsboro, Washington county, one of the landmarks of Oregon pioneer days disappears. He came to western Oregon in 1840, from the Rocky Mountains, where he had spent the previous fifteen years as a trapper and hunter. In 1847 he was chosen to represent to the government at Washington the condition and wants of the infant settlements in this country, and made the trip across the continent in the winter of 1847-8. If his performances at the national capitol are narrated correctly in Mrs.. Victor's "River of the West," of which he was the hero, he was such a representative as no other community ever had. Upon the organization of the Territorial government by act of congress, Meek was appointed U.S. Marshall. He had been an influential man in the provisional government, and he was prominent in the early Territorial days. But in later years he has been known only as a private citizen. OREGONIAN July 3, 1875