01Biography
James Knox Polk grew up in Tennessee, served as speaker of the U.S. House, and was president from 1845 to 1849. He never traveled the Oregon Trail. He is linked to it as the president who settled who owned Oregon and then made it a U.S. territory.
Britain and the United States had both claimed the Oregon Country for decades. In June 1846 Polk's government agreed with Britain to divide it along the 49th parallel, and the Senate approved the treaty on June 18. In May 1848 Joe Meek, a relative of Polk's wife, Sarah, brought him Oregon's plea for help after the Whitman killings. On August 14, 1848, Polk signed the act that made Oregon a U.S. territory, and he named Meek its marshal.
02Why they matter
Settled the Oregon boundary with Britain at the 49th parallel in 1846 and signed the act creating Oregon Territory in 1848.
03How they died
He kept his promise to serve only one term and left office in March 1849. He fell ill on a long trip home through the South and died of cholera at his home in Nashville on June 15, 1849, aged 53, less than three months after leaving the White House.
04Legacy
Polk County, Oregon, created by Oregon's provisional legislature in December 1845, is named for him. He is buried on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville, and his family's home in Columbia, Tennessee, is now a museum.