Meek, Joseph L.

Meek, Joseph L.

(1810–75) trapper, pioneer; born in Washington County, Va. He trapped throughout the Great West (1829–40) and settled in Oregon in 1840. After the Marcus Whitman massacre (1847), he went to Washington, D.C., and asked for protection for the people of Oregon. He served as a U.S. marshal and then turned to farming.