Joseph Lane Joseph " Joe " Lane ( 1801 – 1881 ) was an American politician and soldier . He was a state legislator in Indiana , and then served in the Mexican - American War , becoming a general . President James K . Polk appointed Lane as the first Governor of Oregon Territory . When Oregon was admitted as a state in 1859 , Lane was elected one of Oregon ' s first two U . S . Senators . In 1860 , Lane was nominated for of the pro - slavery Southern wing of the Democratic Party , as John C . Breckinridge ' s running mate . Lane ' s pro - slavery views and sympathy for the Confederate States of America in the Civil War effectively ended his political career in Oregon . A son was later elected U . S . Representative and a grandson U . S . Senator , making Lane the patriarch of one of the state ' s most prominent political families . Biography . Early life . Joseph Lane was born in Buncombe County , North Carolina on December 14 , 1801 to a family of English extraction with roots in colonial Virginia . His father , John Lane , was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War . The Lane family moved to the state of Kentucky from North Carolina when Joseph was a young child . Lane left home at the age of 15 , and was married four years later . He moved to the state of Indiana in 1820 . Lane and his wife , Polly Hart Lane , had ten children . Lane was largely self - educated , learning about the world from books which he read at night . During the daytime he worked and saved his money , investing it shortly in the purchase of a flatboat , with which he transported freight up and down the Ohio River . Financial success followed . Lane was an eloquent public speaker , a talent which helped him to win election to the Indiana House of Representatives in 1822 at the age of just 21 . He served in that body from 1822 to 1823 , from 1830 to 1833 , and from 1838 to 1839 . He then moved to the Indiana State Senate , where he served from 1839 to 1840 and from 1844 to 1846 . Widely esteemed by his peers , Lane was likewise elected as a captain of his local militia while still a young man . Mexican - American War . In 1846 the Mexican - American War broke . Lane resigned his State Senate seat , and enlisted in a company of Indiana volunteers . His company was assigned to the 2nd Indiana Volunteer Regiment , and Lane was elected colonel . He was soon appointed a brigadier general . Lane and the Indiana troops were then deployed to Mexico , where Lane fought with distinction , suffering two minor gunshot wounds , and was promoted to major general . Lane commanded the Indiana Brigade at the Battle of Buena Vista , where he served under General and future President Zachary Taylor . Lane also led the relief force which lifted the Siege of Puebla , defeating Antonio López de Santa Anna at the Battle of Huamantla . Oregon territory and statehood . As soon as Lane returned from Mexico , President Polk appointed him governor of Oregon Territory . Lane received his commission on August 18 , 1848 . Lane arrived in Oregon on March 3 , 1849 , following a hazardous winter trip on the Oregon Trail . Upon reaching Oregon City , Lane ' s first official act was to initiate the first census of the territory ' s residents , which showed a total of 8 , 785 American citizens and 298 citizens of other countries . Also among Lane ' s early duties was the apprehension of five Cayuse Indians accused in the Whitman Massacre . The accused were brought back to Oregon City for trial , where they were convicted and hanged . Lane resigned as territorial governor on June 18 , 1850 in favor of a new appointee . On June 2 , 1851 , Lane was elected Oregon Territory ' s Delegate in Congress as a Democrat . In May 1853 , Lane was acting Territorial Governor for three days to assist in the removal of the unpopular John P . Gaines from office . Lane then ran for re - election as Delegate , winning election on June 6 , 1853 . Lane won two more terms of office as Delegate in the June elections of 1855 and 1857 . He was subsequently elected as one of Oregon ' s first two United States Senators when Oregon became a state in 1859 . Military operations against Native Americans . In 1853 , after he was re - elected as Delegate in 1853 , but before he left for Washington , D . C . , Lane was appointed as brigadier general commanding a force of volunteers raised to suppress recent Native American violence . Lane led the force to southern Oregon to stop Native American attacks against settlers and miners there . Lane was again wounded in a skirmish at Table Rock , in Sams Valley , not far from today ' s cities of Medford and Central Point . Lane was also an active participant in the so - called Rogue River Wars of 1855 - 1856 . Vice - presidential nomination and political decline . In 1860 , the Democratic Party split on the issue of slavery . Pro - slavery Democrats from the South left the national convention and nominated their own candidates : John C . Breckinridge for President , and Lane for Vice President . This " Southern Democrat " ticket was defeated . With his defeat as Vice President and the beginning of the Civil War , Lane ' s political career ended . His pro - slavery views had been controversial in Oregon ; his pro - secessionist views were wholly unacceptable . Lane became notorious for an exchange with Andrew Johnson of Tennessee on his last day in the Senate . Johnson had spoken in favor of the Union and denounced secession . A referendum on secession in Tennessee failed shortly thereafter , generally credited to Johnson ' s speech . On March 2 , Lane accused Johnson of having " sold his birthright " as a Southerner . Johnson responded by suggesting that Lane was a hypocrite for so accusing Johnson when Lane so staunchly supported a movement of active treason against the United States . Later years . Lane had taken a land claim of 640 acres located just north of Roseburg , Oregon in 1851 . He later purchased a 2 , 000 - acre ranch located about 11 miles east of that town , which he owned for a number of years before selling to a son . Lane also constructed a home overlooking the South Umpqua River ; after his Senate term , he retired there in 1861 . Although openly sympathetic to the Southern rebellion in the Civil War , Lane remained home on his ranch and did not participate in the fighting , nor did he make a return to politics after that date . He did , however , keep a personal slave until as late as 1878 , in open defiance to the laws of Oregon which had prohibited slavery before the Civil War . Lane was baptized as a Roman Catholic in 1867 . He remained a devoted adherent of that faith . Death and legacy . Lane died at his home on April 19 , 1881 . His body was interred in the Roseburg Memorial Gardens . General Lane ' s daughter ' s home in Roseburg , where he spent much of his time , is now a museum maintained by the Douglas County Historical Society . Known as the Creed Floed House , the Floed - Lane House , or simply the Joseph Lane House , it is on the National Register of Historic Places . The Floed - Lane House was never his dwelling place . Lane County , Oregon is named for Lane . Joseph Lane Middle School in Roseburg is named for him , as is Joseph Lane Middle School in Portland . Lane ' s son Lafayette Lane served as U . S . Representative from 1875 to 1877 . His son John Lane fought in the Civil War for the Confederacy . Lane ' s grandson Harry Lane was a mayor of Portland , Oregon and then U . S . Senator from 1913 until his death in 1917 .