What is the Oregon Territory?
That period ended when Oregon became an American State on February 14, 1859. The Territory of Oregon encompassed the segments of present-day Ida ho, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming and Montana as well as parts of British Columbia which is now a Canadian province. The Territory’s first capitol was Oregon City. The next capital was Salem and Corvallis became the capital city after Salem. When Oregon became a US state, the seat of government was transferred back to Salem again.
What was the first state capital of Oregon?
The Territory’s first capitol was Oregon City. The next capital was Salem and Corvallis became the capital city after Salem. When Oregon became a US state, the seat of government was transferred back to Salem again. The population of the Oregon Territory consisted mainly of Native Americans.
What was Oregon known for?
The Europeans first explored the territory from the sea. The region became known for its fur-trade and the British Hudson’s Bay Company dominated the market.
When did trappers start to settle?
In the late 1830s , trappers began to settle down on the land and more and more settlers and missionaries started to arrive to the territory. There was no organized government in those parts at the time.
When was the Oregon Treaty signed?
In 1846 the Oregon Treaty was signed between the US and Britain to settle the boundary dispute.
What was the purpose of the Organic Law of 1845?
The 1845 Organic Law made additional changes , including allowing the participation of British subjects in the government. Although the Oregon Treaty of 1846 settled the boundaries of U.S. jurisdiction, the provisional government continued to function until 1849, when the first governor of Oregon Territory arrived.
What is the latitude of Oregon?
The Oregon Country consisted of the land north of 42°N latitude, south of 54°40′N latitude , and west of the Rocky Mountains —with the eastern border generally running on or close to the Continental Divide —westwards to the Pacific Ocean.
Why were Oregonians honest?
Burnett wrote: [Oregonians] were all honest, because there was nothing to steal; they were all sober, because there was no liquor to drink; there were no misers, because there was no money to hoard; and they were all industrious, because it was work or starve.
What was the Oregon region?
In the nineteenth century, the Oregon Country was a disputed region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from the Columbia River frequented by ships from all nations engaged in the maritime fur trade, most of these from the 1790s through 1810s being Boston-based. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 ended disputed joint occupancy pursuant to the Treaty of 1818 and established the British-American boundary at the 49th parallel (except Vancouver Island ).
Why were beaver pelts so difficult to obtain in Oregon?
These were difficult to obtain in the Oregon Country because of the Hudson's Bay Company policy of creating a "fur desert": deliberate over-hunting of the area's frontiers, so that American trades would find nothing there.
Where was the first Euro American settlement in Oregon?
In 1810, John Jacob Astor commissioned and began the construction of the American Pacific Fur Company fur-trading post at Fort Astoria just five miles from the site of Lewis and Clark's former Fort Clatsop, completing construction of the first permanent Euro-American settlement in the area in 1811. This settlement later served as the nucleus of present day Astoria, Oregon. During the period of the construction of Fort Astoria, Thompson traveled down the Columbia River, noting the partially constructed American Fort Astoria only two months after the departure of the supply ship Tonquin .
Where did the Oregon Trail start?
The Oregon trail started in St. Louis, Missouri.
Why were beavers eliminated?
Due to the high demand for beaver hats and coats and unregulated trapping during the early settlement years, beavers were nearly eliminated by the mid-19th century. Since then, proper management has allowed the semi-aquatic mammals to flourish once again. Known as the “Beaver State,” Oregon features a picture of a beaver on the back of its state flag.
What state has a beaver on its flag?
Known as the “Beaver State,” Oregon features a picture of a beaver on the back of its state flag. Beginning in 1836, roughly 12,000 emigrants made the 2,000-mile trek from Independence, Missouri, to the Oregon Territory.
What percentage of hazelnuts are grown in Oregon?
Oregon grows 99 percent of all hazelnuts produced in the United States. It is also the country’s leading producer of Christmas trees, with an output of more than 4.9 million trees in 2009. Oregon’s Crater Lake, formed in the remnant of an ancient volcano, is the deepest lake in the United States.
When was Oregon mapped?
Following exploration by the Spanish and French, in the 17th and 18th centuries, Oregon was mapped by the Lewis and Clark expedition in their search for the Northwest Passage. Starting in the 1830s, many groups of pioneers travelled to the state on the famous Oregon Trail, and the U.S. began joint settlement of the area with the United Kingdom. In 1846, the border between U.S. and British territory was formally established at the 49th parallel – the part of the territory that was given to Britain would ultimately become part of Canada. Oregon was officially admitted to the union as a state on February 14th, 1859. Today, Portland, Oregon’s largest city, is considered one of the top cities in the nation in terms of quality of life, and the state is also known as one of the nation’s top producers of wine, boasting over 300 wineries.
Which state produces the most hazelnuts?
Oregon grows 99 percent of all hazelnuts produced in the United States. It is also the country’s leading producer of Christmas trees, with an output of more than 4.9 million trees in 2009.
Overview
Territorial evolution
The Oregon Country was originally claimed by Great Britain, France, Russia, and Spain; the Spanish claim was later taken up by the United States. The extent of the region being claimed was vague at first, evolving over decades into the specific borders specified in the U.S.-British treaty of 1818. The United States based its claim in part on Robert Gray's entry of the Columbia River in 1792 an…
Toponym
The earliest evidence of the name "Oregon" has Spanish origins. The term orejón comes from the historical chronicle Relación de la Alta y Baja California (1598) which was written by the New Spaniard Rodrigo Motezuma and which made reference to the Columbia River when the Spanish explorers penetrated into the North American territory that became part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. This chronicle is the first topographical and linguistic source with respect to the place na…
Early exploration
George Vancouver explored Puget Sound in 1792. Vancouver claimed it for Great Britain on 4 June 1792, naming it for one of his officers, Lieutenant Peter Puget. Alexander Mackenzie was the first European to cross North America by land north of New Spain, arriving at Bella Coola on what is now the central coast of British Columbia in 1793. From 1805 to 1806 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explored the territory for the United States on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Early settlement
In 1805, the American Lewis and Clark Expedition marked the first official American exploration of the area, creating the first temporary settlement of Euro-Americans in the area near the mouth of the Columbia River at Fort Clatsop. Two years later in 1807, David Thompson of the Montreal-based North West Company penetrated the Oregon Country from the north, via Athabasca …
Oregon Treaty
In 1843, settlers in the Willamette Valley established a provisional government at Champoeg. Political pressure in the United States urged the occupation of all the Oregon Country. Expansionists in the American South wanted to annex Texas, while their counterparts in the northeast wanted to annex the Oregon Country. It was seen as significant that the expansions be parallel, as the relative proxi…
Descriptions of the land and settlers
Alexander Ross, an early Scottish Canadian fur trader, describes the lower Columbia River area of the Oregon Country (known to him as the Columbia District):
The banks of the river throughout are low and skirted in the distance by a chain of moderately high lands on each side, interspersed here and there with clumps of wide spreading oaks, groves of pine, and a variety of other kinds of woods. Between these high lands lie what is called the val…
See also
• American frontier
• Bibliography of Oregon history
• Canada–United States border
• American Imperialism