County Spotlight: Multnomah County

Sauvie Island Bridge, Oregon

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:6

Mid-term elections are upon us as I write this. Much prayer is going up for the governor’s race, and other important positions, including new representatives from the new district created out of the 2020 census. This is a very important election, both for Oregon and for the country.

Multnomah County was created in 1854 out of the eastern portion of Washington County and the northern edge of Clackamas County. Currently, it has the largest population of any county in the state at 815,428 and is the smallest in area with 465 square miles. It lies along the southern edge of the Columbia River. The county seat is Portland, the largest urban area in the state.While each of our 36 counties is unique and important to Oregon, one tends to want to double-down on the prayers for Multnomah due to the high population and the power and influence it has over the rest of the state. Problems that exist in the rest of the state are magnified here, including homelessness, drug use, criminal activity, and other issues. The Sheriff’s Office, headed by County Sheriff Michael Reese, is short staffed to the point the courts are having problems holding hearings and trials due to lack of jail personnel. One report said there are 35 openings for staff and deputies in county law enforcement.  

The County is governed by a five-member Board. Currently the chair is Deborah Kafoury, but she is term-limited, and a new chair will be elected on November 8^th. The candidates for that position are Dr. Sharon Meieran, now a commissioner, and Vega Pederson.

Multnomah County, OR

There are nearly 100 neighborhoods in Portland, and the entire city is made up of six “quadrants.” Multnomah encompasses much of the northern portions of the city as well as unincorporated areas such as the rural section east of the Sandy River, and, to the northwest, Sauvie Island.  This 26,000-acre island is the largest river island in the United States.

Lewis and Clark found the island to be fertile and well-watered, populated with the Multnomah tribe, a Chinook “flat-head” people who lived in multi-family houses built of cedar planks and fished, collected berries and roots, and generally lived comfortably on the island which Lewis and Clark named “Wapato Island” after the “Indian Potato” that grew abundantly there. There were 15 villages and about 2000 people on the island at that time.

Unfortunately, the arrival of Europeans and explorers introduced disease to the natives.

In 1829 an epidemic swept the island and exterminated most of the population. Some early (1830’s) settler accounts record an island filled with skeletons along the rivers. The natives, when ill, would take sweat baths then jump into the cold water. With this illness, that resulted in a quick death. There weren't enough survivors to bury the dead. In 1832 Dr. John McLoughlin, the Hudson’s Bay Company factor, removed the few survivors from the island and burned the settlements.

In 1836 the Hudson’s Bay Company established a dairy on the island under the management of French-Canadian Laurent Sauvé, for whom the island is now named. In the 1920’s, during Prohibition, the island was used by smugglers and bootleggers transporting liquor from Canada, making use of its proximity to International waters off the Columbia.    

How do we pray for Multnomah County?

For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

Pray for the voters in this county. Pray for Godly wisdom and insight as their votes carry an enormous weight for the entire state.

Pray for the police and the staffing issues, that they will have the manpower and funds to protect the public. There is discontent in neighboring counties with Portland’s crime and homeless problems bleeding into neighboring areas.

There is much history in Multnomah County. Pray over this strip of land along the Columbia River, that it will be cleansed of grief and injustice, that the blessings of God can flow.