[1] In 1845, the entire family began traveling the Oregon Trail, leaving behind their home in Van Buren County, Iowa.
[1] The Parker family took the Meek Cutoff that meandered through the eastern and central parts of what is now the state of Oregon.
During the Cayuse War, a band of the Klamath tribe entered the Willamette Valley while the Oregon militia was on the east side of the Cascade Range.
[5] In 1848, Parker was elected to the Provisional Legislature of Oregon to represent the Champoeg District in the last session of that body before the territorial government was formed in early 1849.
Parker was elected as a Democrat to the Council to represent Marion County, the new name for the Champoeg District.