The group was led by Joseph Gale and received assistance from Captain Wilkes of the United States Navy prior to setting sail on the open ocean.
[1] While the events of 1837 had broken the HBC's monopoly, most of the cattle were still owned by a few individuals such as Ewing Young, John McLoughlin, and the Methodist Mission.
[2] In the early stages of planning, Joseph Gale, an experienced sailor, was asked to assist on the project and serve as captain once they got further along in the building.
This was made more difficult when Hudson's Bay Company doctor John McLoughlin denied the shipbuilders requests to purchase supplies from Fort Vancouver.
[3] The ship was completed the next year, in August 1842, and Gale began training his crew as they sailed down the Willamette River.
[2] Once in Yerba Buena (present-day San Francisco), a passenger named Mr. Pfeffenhauser disembarked to continue his journey to find his relative John Sutter.
[4] The Star of Oregon crew did not immediately head back north, as Gale thought it best to wait out the winter and attempt to recruit more people for the overland journey.
[3] Once spring came and the crew gathered at Cash Creek there were now a total of 42 people ready to head north to Oregon Country.
[2] The enterprise brought the first Spanish Merino sheep to Oregon, and allowed for greater economic independence of the pioneers.
[3] Joseph Gale was elected to the provisional government of Oregon a few months later as one of three members of the executive committee at the Champoeg Meetings.
[3] Those participating in the construction of the vessel included George Davis, Henry Wood, Joseph Gale, Felix Hathaway, John Canan, Pleasant Armstrong, Ralph Kilbourne, and Jacob Green.