Robert Moore

Robert Moore (October 2, 1781 – September 2, 1857) was an American politician and pioneer in the Oregon Country. A Pennsylvania native and veteran of the War of 1812, he also participated in the early movements to form a government in Oregon Country and founded Linn City, Oregon. Before traveling to Oregon in 1840 he had served in the Missouri General Assembly.

Early life Robert Moore was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, on October 2, 1781. In 1805, Moore married Margaret Clark, and they would have ten children. before moving to the Midwest where he helped to found several towns and built several businesses. He purchased the from a local Native American chief named Wanaxha. In Oregon on February 18, 1841, Moore was selected to a constitutional committee by fellow pioneers in an early and failed attempt at forming a provisional government. Though a constitution was never adopted, Dr. Ira L. Babcock was selected to serve as a supreme judge with probate powers to deal with the estate of prominent pioneer Ewing Young, while Moore was chosen as a justice of the peace. The proposal passed 52 to 50, leading to the creation of the Provisional Government. Robert Moore was selected for the legislative committee that same year to draft the Organic Laws of Oregon.

Later years In 1848, the region south of the 49th degree of latitude became the United States' Oregon Territory. In 1850, Robert Moore was appointed as territorial printer. He also advocated for the property rights of Dr. John McLoughlin, whose land holdings in Oregon City were denied in the Donation Land Act of 1850. Moore remarried in 1851 to Jane Gilbert Tubbs Apperson. In 1854, a fire destroyed much of Linn City, so the business district was relocated to the west and the city became West Linn. The rest of the city was destroyed by a fire in 1861 before flooding that December wiped out what remained. Robert Moore died on September 2, 1857, at the age of 75.