[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 17 (Thursday, February 24, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                  TRIBUTE TO BUTTEVILLE GENERAL STORE

                                 ______


                        HON. MICHAEL J. KOPETSKI

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 24, 1994

  Mr. KOPETSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the longest 
operating general store in my home State of Oregon. This general store, 
in Oregon's Fifth Congressional District, is located in the community 
of Butteville. The Butteville General Store is often overlooked, but 
played a major role in the development of the area.
  Butteville is named for a well-known hill, about a mile to the 
southwest, called La Butte by the early settlers on French Prairie. The 
village, laid out by Messrs. Abernathy and Beer, started with a few 
scattered cabins, but soon became known as La Butte, and by 1850, was 
recognized as Butteville. Because of its location, Butteville was 
expected to grow rapidly into a metropolis. It lay at the extreme 
northern edge of French Prairie, along the Willamette River, 16 miles 
above Oregon City. Much of its trade was drawn from the prairie 
ranchers, many of whom were retired French-Canadian trappers for the 
Hudson's Bay Co. Wheat and other produce was handled at the Butteville 
warehouse and shipped north for export to the Sandwich Islands and 
China.
  The Butteville General Store came into existence through the efforts 
of Francis Xavier Matthieu. Matthieu was born in Terrebonne, near 
Montreal, Canada. He migrated to St. Louis where he joined the American 
Fur Co. and spent the next 3 years as a fur trapper. Tired of a 
trapper's life, Matthieu met the Emigrant Company of 1842 at Fort 
Laramie and decided to travel to Oregon.
  Reaching Oregon City late in September, Matthieu learned of the 
French-Canadians settled on the prairie approximately 16 miles up the 
Willamette River. He pushed on to Champoeg, where he received a warm 
welcome from his fellow countrymen.
  Through the long winter, Matthieu stayed with his countrymen and was 
able to allay many of their fears concerning the possibility of future 
rule by the United States. He undoubtedly convinced many it would be 
safe to join the American settlers in forming a temporary government. 
He played an important role in establishing the Provisional Government 
of Oregon, casting a favorable vote in the historic Champoeg meeting of 
May 2, 1843. That same day Matthieu was chosen a constable for the 
district.
  In 1846, Matthieu took a donation claim, about a mile southwest of 
Butteville. Butteville attained its majority when Matthieu opened a 
general mercantile business in 1850 or 1851. He had many friends among 
his Canadian-French countrymen, and when he opened his store, in a 
building constructed half of logs and half of crude boards, many of his 
countrymen came from considerable distance to trade with him.
  At least a portion of Matthieu's store sales were paid for in trade. 
This meant trappers, settlers, and Indians exchanged such products as 
beaver skins, buckskin, salt, salmon, wheat, shingles, and saw logs, 
for staple commodities; or, as frequently occurred, they gave these as 
payment for indebtedness contracted with one another.
  So significant was the advent of this store that it has sometimes 
been erroneously stated that Francois Xavier Matthieu was Butteville's 
founder.
  Mr. Speaker, the Butteville General Store continues to exist as a 
center of commerce and a place where residents and visitors alike may 
reflect on the area's history and settlement.

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