A Historic Vote
This is a painting of the historic vote at Champoeg, Oregon, on display in the Visitor Center at the Champoeg State Historical Area.
This picture was taken in the auditorium of the Visitor Center at the Champoeg State Heritage Area, my entry in the “Numbers” project for the World Wide Panorama.
The picture on display depicts the historic vote that occurred here in on May 2, 1843. This was the first democratic vote in the west, and its outcome established a provisional government over much of what would become the western United States. The topic was very controversial because many people wanted to maintain the existing system in which the Hudson’s Bay Company controlled the territory. Although there is some debate about the final tally, the most common numbers are 52-50 in favor of forming a provisional government.
That government eventually led to Oregon statehood, so this vote was really the start of moving the American west coast to become part of the United States.
In a vote, the bottom line is determine by counting, which seemed very appropriate for the Numbers theme.
Photography Notes
Because of the lighting used on the painting itself, this is a combination of two different renderings of the scene, with different white points. I used a Whibal to set the white point in each case, then masked and combined in Photoshop. My first time trying this trick.