U.S. Congressman, 3rd Governor of the Oregon Territory. John P. Gaines received a placed in American history after serving in the United States 30th Congress from March 4, 1847 to March 3, 1849 in the House of Representatives, serving the state of Kentucky as a member of the Whig Party. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection. He served a turbulent term as the third Governor of the Oregon Territory from August 18, 1850 to May 16, 1853. He was not popular as the governor as he was considered an "outsider," who was lacking the knowledge of the Pacific Coast needs and attitudes. The subject of relocating the capitol of the Oregon Territory to Salem from Oregon City was on the governor's agenda. He favored Oregon City, yet lost that battle. In June of 1850, he and two other men formed the new Indian Commission, which ratified 19 treaties with the Native Americans over land rights and disbanding the commission in February of 1851. The commission helped with the attempted relocation of the Native Americans to land east of Oregon and with the gained land, settlers could migrate west to Oregon. Besides his political life, he gained notoriety as one of the subjects in Pulitzer Prize recipient author Toni Morrison's 1987 book, "Beloved". The book was the life saga of Margaret Garner, the mulatto woman born as a slave in 1833 at Gaines' Maplewood Plantation in Pre-Civil War America. Upon accepting the gubernatorial appointment, he sold Maplewood and his slaves along with Garner to his younger brother, Archibald Gaines. The book "Beloved" was eventually adapted to the 1998 award-winning film and a couple of 21st century operas. Born in Virginia in what is now West Virginia, Gaines, as a child with his family, relocated west to Kentucky. Both of his grandfathers and great-grandfathers served in the Revolutionary War. He received a thorough well-rounded education before studying law and being admitted to the bar. He started practicing law in his hometown of Walton. On June 22, 1819, he married Elizabeth Kincaid and purchased in 1825 about a dozen slaves and his plantation, the Maplewood. While little is known about his War of 1812 service, he represented Boone County in the Kentucky legislature for several terms in the 1820s and 1830s. During the Mexican War, he was a major in the 1st Regiment in the Kentucky Cavalry. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Molino de Rey. He fought at Churubusco, Chapultepec, and around Mexico City and was captured at Encarnacion in January of 1847, serving for eight months as a prisoner of war before escaping. He then served as aide-de-camp on the staff of General Winfield Scott. Being recognized in Kentucky as a war hero, he was elected to Congress before his returned from the war. When Abraham Lincoln refused the governorship of the Oregon Territory, he was appointed by President Zackary Taylor. At that point, he moved his family to Oregon by ship going around Cape Horn off the coast of Chile to California, changing ships, and arriving in Oregon on August 15, 1850. While on this seven-month-long journey, two of his daughters, Harriet and Florella, died of yellow fever in Brazil. In August of 1851 his wife was crushed to death by a wagon wheel after a fall from a horse. With his son, Richard, dying, his remaining children were sent back East. Many of his children settled in Arkansas. About 15 months after his wife's death, he married Margaret B. Wards, one of the five women teachers sent to Oregon. They had at least one daughter. In 1854 he and two of his sons, Archibald and Abner drove over 200 head of cattle from Kentucky and Arkansas across the plains to Oregon. After his term as governor, he was a candidate for the House of Representatives in 1855 but lost the election. His daughter Matilda died in Tennessee in the spring of 1857. He engaged in agricultural pursuits on a farm near Salem for the last years of his life. He died from thyroid fever. The Kentucky Historical Marker #1194 in Boone County recognizes the home site of John Pollard Gaines. Gaines Street in Salem, Oregon was named in the honor of Governor Gaines.