Pierre Belleque or Pierre Billique was a French Canadian fur trader in the British-claimed Columbia District, which was known as the Oregon Country and claimed by the United States.
12 Facts About Pierre Belleque
1.
2.
Pierre Belleque settled on the French Prairie in what is the state of Oregon where in 1843 he participated in the Champoeg Meetings.
3.
Pierre Belleque voted affirmative for the measure to form a provisional government at the May 2,1843 meeting.
4.
Pierre Belleque was born in the parish of L'Assomption-de-la-Sainte-Vierge in Charlevoix county in the province of Quebec.
5.
Pierre Belleque was the tenth of eleven children, and the youngest of the four siblings known to have survived beyond two years of age.
6.
In 1818, Belleque signed up with the British North West Company, and became an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821 when the two companies were forced to merge.
7.
Around 1833, Pierre Belleque settled his farm, which lay next to Etienne Lucier, a fellow former French Canadian fur trapper for the HBC.
8.
That post had been owned by the HBC, and the Pierre Belleque family was able to live there after receiving permission due to Genevieve's relation to one of the HBC officers.
9.
At that time of this petition, Pierre Belleque had three children.
10.
In 1843, at Champoeg, Pierre Belleque participated in the debates over whether the settlers in the region should establish their own government, or wait until the Oregon boundary dispute was settled.
11.
Pierre Belleque would remain at his farm for 15 years, and then left for the California Gold Rush in 1848.
12.
Pierre Belleque died before reaching home and was buried at sea near the mouth of the Columbia River in October 1849.