Oregon pioneer history
Encyclopedia
Oregon Pioneer History is the period in the history
of the U.S. state
of Oregon
when pioneers
and mountain men, primarily of Europe
an descent, traveled west across North America
to explore and settle the lands west of the Rocky Mountains
and north of California
. Some also arrived via the Pacific Ocean
, traveling by ship either around Cape Horn
or by changing ships at Panama
. The period begins after the explorations of the lower Columbia River
by Robert Gray and George Vancouver
in 1792, along with the 1804-1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition
to Oregon Country
, and runs until circa 1890 when railroads and urban centers created a more settled state.
. In the western world
, portions of the area were claimed by the United States
, Great Britain
, Spain
, and Russia
. From 1818 to the mid-19th century, several treaties were signed that would set the current political boundaries. In 1818, the United States and Great Britain signed the Treaty of 1818
that led to what has been termed a “joint occupation” of the Oregon Country. That year the U.S. also resolved its claims with Spain, limited Spanish claims to south of the 42nd degree of latitude. This was followed by the Russo-American Treaty
in 1825 that removed all remaining Russian claims south of 54’ 40” (previously they had agreed with the British in regards to claims with Britain only). The remaining territorial conflict
between British and U.S. claims continued until finally settled in 1846 when the Oregon Treaty
settled the boundary issue with the 49th degree of latitude set as the international boundary between the United States and Britain’s North American possessions. However, due to some ambiguity in the treaty, future conflict did arise and ended with the bloodless Pig War
over the San Juan Islands
.
The portion that became part of the United States in 1846 remained unorganized until Congress created the Oregon Territory
in August 1848. In 1853, the northern boundary of the current state of Oregon was defined, with roughly half of the original Oregon Territory becoming the Washington Territory
. The boundaries were finalized for Oregon upon entering the Union as the 33rd state on February 14, 1859. The eastern portion of the territory joined the Washington Territory. In 1863, Idaho Territory
was created from the eastern section of the Washington Territory, with other portions of the Oregon Territory becoming parts of several other United States territories. Washington became a state in 1889, followed by Idaho in 1890.
Beginning in 1841 with the death of Ewing Young
, settlers in the Willamette Valley
held a series of meetings at Champoeg, Oregon
. Eventually, in 1843 the majority of particiants voted to create a government to rule over the pioneers until the boundary question would be settled. This temporary government had a supreme judge, a legislature
, and at first an executive committee followed later by a governor. This government remained in control of portions of the region until 1849 when the United States’ territorial government arrived.
Beginning in 1849, the Oregon Territorial Legislature
began meeting and passing laws, with the Provisional Government’s laws remaining in effect unless a new law was passed (except a law allowing for minting of money that was set aside by the first territorial governor). In 1857, the people of the territory passed a resolution to hold a convention to draft a constitution in order to achieve statehood. The Oregon Constitutional Convention
was held in Salem during the summer of 1857, and created Oregon’s first constitution
. Oregon submitted the constitution to Congress, and on February 14, 1859, Oregon became a state.
along the coastline for many years, Lewis and Clark’s news and descriptions of the region spurred others in the United States
to seek fortunes in the fur trade business in Oregon Country
. The first Americans to return were members of John Jacob Astor
’s Pacific Fur Company
as part of an expedition
that established Fort Astoria
at the mouth of the Columbia River
in 1811. However, some of the first British traders overland include members of the North West Company
that crossed the Rocky Mountains in 1808 and traveled down what they named the Fraser River
in modern British Columbia
. The fur trade envisioned by the American Pacific Fur Company and put into practice by the North West Company, and later Hudson's Bay Company, was a triangular trade that sent furs to China, Chinese goods such as tea to England, and manufactured goods to the Pacific Northwest for trade with the Native Americans.
In 1813 during the War of 1812
the Pacific Fur Company sold Astoria and all its other assets to the British owned North West Company under the pressure of a British war vessel and without the confirmation of John Jacob Astor
. Fort Astoria was renamed Fort George. At first the post was not returned as the loss was claimed to be business deal and not war-hives. John Jacob Astor
never got his outpost back and lost his investment.. But some years after the war U.S. diplomats interpreted the Treaty of Ghent
ending the war to include the return of the fur trade post. Although returned to American ownership, the site of Fort Astoria was not reoccupied for many years. The North West Company built a new Fort George adjacent to the old one. In 1821 the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company were merged by an act of Parliament with the name of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) retained for the combined entity. The HBC then named Dr. John McLoughlin
as Chief Factor for the region the HBC called the Columbia District
which encompassed much of the drainage of the Columbia River. In 1822 McLoughlin had a new post built near where the confluence of the Willamette River
and the Columbia. On the north shore of the Columbia a new headquarters, Fort Vancouver
, became the centerpiece of a multi-post system where furs and supplies were funneled in and out of Fort Vancouver. Brigades of fur trappers would spend months in the wilderness trapping animals, then return with the pelts to fur posts such as Fort George
, Fort Umpqua
, Fort Walla Walla
, Fort Nisqually
, Fort Okanogan
, and Fort Boise
. Later the HBC would start the Puget Sound Agricultural Company to supply food staples to the venture. By the 1830s the Hudson's Bay Company was worried about American expansion into the region and, in an attempt to forestall it, made a policy that fur trapping brigades operating south of the Columbia River, especially in the drainages of the Snake River and Willamette River, would work to create so-called "fur deserts", where beaver stocks were rapidly and deliberately depleted. This policy, although successful in making beaver rare in the Willamette Valley, did not prevent American settlement.
The next player in the fur trade was American Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth
who had made a fortune in the ice business in New England. In 1832 he led a new expedition to establish a fur trading empire through his new Pacific Trading Company. After returning from Oregon Country, Wyeth set out again in 1834 to set up the trading posts. His expedition established Fort Hall
(on the Snake River
) and Fort William
(on Wapatoo Island
), but the venture was a failure do to the dominance of the HBC in the region and the American Fur Company
’s control of the trade in the Rocky Mountains. In 1836 Wyeth sold his two posts to the HBC.
Beginning in the early 1840s the fur trade began to decline as fashion tastes shifted away from beaver pelt hats and the numbers of beavers declined due to over harvesting. Then beginning in the mid 1830s missionaries and settlers began to arrive in the region Also the majority of the Native Americans in many areas were killed off by diseases introduced by Euro-Americans, including up to 70 percent in the Willamette Valley
and Lower Columbia valley by 1830. Mass migration began in 1842 when a wagon train of around 100 wagons came overland along the Oregon Trail
. In 1846 McLoughlin retired from leading the HBC in the region. Then in 1849 the United States Army
arrived after the creation of the Oregon Territory
and set up adjacent to Fort Vancouver. In June 1860 the Hudson’s Bay Company closed the fort and withdrew to Fort Victoria
, essentially ending the systematic fur trade in the region.
. Many of these people were involved with the fur trade and would use the well worn trails of the Native Americans. Travel overland was mainly by horse, mule, and foot until the later 1830s when wagons slowly worked their way into the region. The Oregon Trail
began seeing mass migration involving wagon trains in 1843. Boats were used extensively to haul cargo in the region, including steamboats, with the SS Beaver as the first steamboat in Oregon.
As more settlers arrived in the area, further transportation infrastructure was developed. Roads such as the Barlow Road
, Canyon Road
, and the Applegate Trail
were created and small bridges built. Ferries also began to appear in the 1840s at many river crossings in the region. As the population grew, steamboats began regular service on the rivers, and later railroads were developed. The Oregon Steam Navigation Company
and other smaller carriers developed transportation networks. The first railroad came in 1858 with the Cascade Railroad Company operating a line in the Columbia River Gorge
, followed by the Oregon and California Railroad
and eventually connections to the transcontinental rail lines in 1883.
In 1873, at Willamette Falls
a lock and canal were completed to allow vessels to pass the waterfall and continue upriver on the Willamette River
. Construction on a lock to bypass a set of cascades on the Columbia River
began in 1878, but were not completed until 1896. Other canals were also built, including the Tualatin Canal at Oswego Lake. In 1887, the Morrison Bridge
was completed as the first bridge over the Willamette River in Portland.
to travel to Mexican-owned California
and purchase cattle. The settlers were urged on by United States Navy
officer William A. Slacum
, who was on a mission from the United States President. Slacum provided some financing and the transportation to California aboard the vessel Loriot
. The settlers were led by American Ewing Young
, with others such as Jason Lee
of the Methodist Mission
and John McLoughlin
of the Hudson’s Bay Company providing additional investment.
Young led a small group to California, sailing from the Willamette River
to San Francisco Bay
. There the group procured about 630 head of cattle, and drove the cattle north to the Willamette Valley
. After returning to the settlements of Oregon, the cattle were divided between the investors, making Young one of the richest settlers in Oregon and helping to break the dependence of the settlers from the cattle of the HBC.
Although the Willamette Cattle Company brought some cattle to Oregon Country, the demand exceeded the supply. Beginning in 1840, another group of pioneers began building a ship to sail south to California where they would trade the ship for more livestock. This event
ended in 1843 after the group returned to the Willamette Valley settlements with a variety of livestock. They left California with 1,250 head of cattle, 600 horses and mules, and 3,000 sheep.
History of Oregon
The history of Oregon, a U.S. state, may be considered in five eras: geologic history, inhabitation by native peoples, early exploration by Europeans , settlement by pioneers, and modern development....
of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
when pioneers
Settler
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. Settlers are generally people who take up residence on land and cultivate it, as opposed to nomads...
and mountain men, primarily of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an descent, traveled west across North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
to explore and settle the lands west of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
and north of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Some also arrived via the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, traveling by ship either around Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
or by changing ships at Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. The period begins after the explorations of the lower Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
by Robert Gray and George Vancouver
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
in 1792, along with the 1804-1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
to Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership 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...
, and runs until circa 1890 when railroads and urban centers created a more settled state.
Territory
At the beginning of the pioneer period the Oregon Country was occupied almost exclusively by Native AmericansIndigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
. In the western world
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
, portions of the area were claimed by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. From 1818 to the mid-19th century, several treaties were signed that would set the current political boundaries. In 1818, the United States and Great Britain signed the Treaty of 1818
Treaty of 1818
The Convention respecting fisheries, boundary and the restoration of slaves between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, also known as the London Convention, Anglo-American Convention of 1818, Convention of 1818, or simply the Treaty of 1818, was a...
that led to what has been termed a “joint occupation” of the Oregon Country. That year the U.S. also resolved its claims with Spain, limited Spanish claims to south of the 42nd degree of latitude. This was followed by the Russo-American Treaty
Russo-American Treaty
The Russo-American Treaty of 1824 was signed in St...
in 1825 that removed all remaining Russian claims south of 54’ 40” (previously they had agreed with the British in regards to claims with Britain only). The remaining territorial conflict
Oregon boundary dispute
The Oregon boundary dispute, or the Oregon Question, arose as a result of competing British and American claims to the Pacific Northwest of North America in the first half of the 19th century. Both the United Kingdom and the United States had territorial and commercial aspirations in the region...
between British and U.S. claims continued until finally settled in 1846 when the Oregon Treaty
Oregon Treaty
The Oregon Treaty is a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to the Oregon Country, which had been jointly occupied by...
settled the boundary issue with the 49th degree of latitude set as the international boundary between the United States and Britain’s North American possessions. However, due to some ambiguity in the treaty, future conflict did arise and ended with the bloodless Pig War
Pig War
The Pig War was a confrontation in 1859 between the United States and the British Empire over the boundary between the US and British North America. The territory in dispute was the San Juan Islands, which lie between Vancouver Island and the North American mainland...
over the San Juan Islands
San Juan Islands
The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the northwest corner of the contiguous United States between the US mainland and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of the U.S...
.
The portion that became part of the United States in 1846 remained unorganized until Congress created the Oregon Territory
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...
in August 1848. In 1853, the northern boundary of the current state of Oregon was defined, with roughly half of the original Oregon Territory becoming the Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
. The boundaries were finalized for Oregon upon entering the Union as the 33rd state on February 14, 1859. The eastern portion of the territory joined the Washington Territory. In 1863, Idaho Territory
Idaho Territory
The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 4, 1863, until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Idaho.-1860s:...
was created from the eastern section of the Washington Territory, with other portions of the Oregon Territory becoming parts of several other United States territories. Washington became a state in 1889, followed by Idaho in 1890.
Government
Various Native American tribes inhabited the region at the beginning of the pioneer settlement period. Each tribe had their own forms of government, but no modern nation existed. The first formal government in the region came in the form of the Hudson’s Bay Company, who were granted the authority by their charter to in effect rule over the region’s British subjects. Thus the HBC was the de facto government for much of the region until U.S. settlers eventually outnumbered the British in the region.Beginning in 1841 with the death of Ewing Young
Ewing Young
Ewing Young was an American fur trapper and trader from Tennessee who traveled Mexican southwestern North America and California before settling in the Oregon Country. As a prominent and wealthy citizen there, his death was the impetus for the early formation of government in what became the state...
, settlers in the Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
held a series of meetings at Champoeg, Oregon
Champoeg, Oregon
Champoeg is a former town in the U.S. state of Oregon. Now a ghost town, it was an important settlement in the Willamette Valley in the early 1840s. It is positioned halfway between Oregon City and Salem and the site of the first provisional government of the Oregon Country...
. Eventually, in 1843 the majority of particiants voted to create a government to rule over the pioneers until the boundary question would be settled. This temporary government had a supreme judge, a legislature
Provisional Legislature of Oregon
The Provisional Legislature of Oregon was the single-chamber legislative body of the Provisional Government of Oregon. It served the Oregon Country of the Pacific Northwest of North America from 1843 until early 1849 at a time when no country had sovereignty over the region...
, and at first an executive committee followed later by a governor. This government remained in control of portions of the region until 1849 when the United States’ territorial government arrived.
Beginning in 1849, the Oregon Territorial Legislature
Oregon Territorial Legislature
Oregon’s Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory...
began meeting and passing laws, with the Provisional Government’s laws remaining in effect unless a new law was passed (except a law allowing for minting of money that was set aside by the first territorial governor). In 1857, the people of the territory passed a resolution to hold a convention to draft a constitution in order to achieve statehood. The Oregon Constitutional Convention
Oregon Constitutional Convention
The Oregon Constitutional Convention in 1857 drafted the Oregon Constitution in preparation for the Oregon Territory to become a U.S. state. Held from mid-August through September, 60 men met in Salem, Oregon, and created the foundation for Oregon's law. The proposal passed with a vote of 35 for...
was held in Salem during the summer of 1857, and created Oregon’s first constitution
Oregon Constitution
The Oregon Constitution is the governing document of the U.S. state of Oregon, originally enacted in 1857. As amended the current state constitution contains eighteen sections, beginning with a bill of rights. This contains most of the rights and privileges granted in the United States Bill of...
. Oregon submitted the constitution to Congress, and on February 14, 1859, Oregon became a state.
Fur trade
The Lewis & Clark Expedition help to expand interest in the Pacific Northwest. Although seaborne traders had been engaged in the fur tradeFur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
along the coastline for many years, Lewis and Clark’s news and descriptions of the region spurred others in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to seek fortunes in the fur trade business in Oregon Country
Oregon Country
The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership 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 first Americans to return were members of John Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor , born Johann Jakob Astor, was a German-American business magnate and investor who was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States...
’s Pacific Fur Company
Pacific Fur Company
The Pacific Fur Company was founded June 23, 1810, in New York City. Half of the stock of the company was held by the American Fur Company, owned exclusively by John Jacob Astor, and Astor provided all of the capital for the enterprise. The other half of the stock was ascribed to working partners...
as part of an expedition
Astor Expedition
The Astor Expedition of 1810-1812 was the next overland expedition from St. Louis, Missouri to the mouth of the Columbia River after the Corps of Discovery, led by Lewis and Clark.-History:...
that established Fort Astoria
Fort Astoria
Fort Astoria was the Pacific Fur Company's primary fur trading post in the Northwest, and was the first American-owned settlement on the Pacific coast. After a short two-year term of US ownership, the British owned and operated it for 33 years. It was the first British port on the Pacific coast...
at the mouth of the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
in 1811. However, some of the first British traders overland include members of the North West Company
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
that crossed the Rocky Mountains in 1808 and traveled down what they named the Fraser River
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
in modern British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. The fur trade envisioned by the American Pacific Fur Company and put into practice by the North West Company, and later Hudson's Bay Company, was a triangular trade that sent furs to China, Chinese goods such as tea to England, and manufactured goods to the Pacific Northwest for trade with the Native Americans.
In 1813 during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
the Pacific Fur Company sold Astoria and all its other assets to the British owned North West Company under the pressure of a British war vessel and without the confirmation of John Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor , born Johann Jakob Astor, was a German-American business magnate and investor who was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States...
. Fort Astoria was renamed Fort George. At first the post was not returned as the loss was claimed to be business deal and not war-hives. John Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor
John Jacob Astor , born Johann Jakob Astor, was a German-American business magnate and investor who was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States...
never got his outpost back and lost his investment.. But some years after the war U.S. diplomats interpreted the Treaty of Ghent
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent , signed on 24 December 1814, in Ghent , was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
ending the war to include the return of the fur trade post. Although returned to American ownership, the site of Fort Astoria was not reoccupied for many years. The North West Company built a new Fort George adjacent to the old one. In 1821 the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company were merged by an act of Parliament with the name of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) retained for the combined entity. The HBC then named Dr. John McLoughlin
John McLoughlin
Dr. John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, was the Chief Factor of the Columbia Fur District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver. He was later known as the "Father of Oregon" for his role in assisting the American cause in the Oregon Country in the Pacific Northwest...
as Chief Factor for the region the HBC called the Columbia District
Columbia District
The Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. It was explored by the North West Company between 1793 and 1811, and established as an operating fur district around 1810...
which encompassed much of the drainage of the Columbia River. In 1822 McLoughlin had a new post built near where the confluence of the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
and the Columbia. On the north shore of the Columbia a new headquarters, Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...
, became the centerpiece of a multi-post system where furs and supplies were funneled in and out of Fort Vancouver. Brigades of fur trappers would spend months in the wilderness trapping animals, then return with the pelts to fur posts such as Fort George
Fort Astoria
Fort Astoria was the Pacific Fur Company's primary fur trading post in the Northwest, and was the first American-owned settlement on the Pacific coast. After a short two-year term of US ownership, the British owned and operated it for 33 years. It was the first British port on the Pacific coast...
, Fort Umpqua
Fort Umpqua
Fort Umpqua was a trading post built by the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District , in what is now the U.S. state of Oregon. It was first established in 1832 and moved and rebuilt in 1836....
, Fort Walla Walla
Fort Walla Walla
Fort Walla Walla is a fort located in Walla Walla, Washington. It was established in 1858. Today, the complex contains a park, a museum, and a hospital.Fort Walla Walla should be distinguished from Fort Nez Percés or Old Fort Walla Walla ....
, Fort Nisqually
Fort Nisqually
Fort Nisqually was an important fur trading and farming post of the Hudson's Bay Company in the Puget Sound area of what is now DuPont, Washington and was part of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department. Today it is a living history museum located in Tacoma, Washington, USA, within the...
, Fort Okanogan
Fort Okanogan
Fort Okanogan was founded as a fur trade outpost by John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company in 1811. It was built at the confluence of the Okanogan and Columbia Rivers, in what is now Okanogan County, Washington...
, and Fort Boise
Fort Boise
Fort Boise refers to two different locations in southwestern Idaho. The first was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post near the Snake River on the Oregon border, dating from the era when Idaho was part of the fur company's Columbia District. After several rebuilds, it was ultimately abandoned in...
. Later the HBC would start the Puget Sound Agricultural Company to supply food staples to the venture. By the 1830s the Hudson's Bay Company was worried about American expansion into the region and, in an attempt to forestall it, made a policy that fur trapping brigades operating south of the Columbia River, especially in the drainages of the Snake River and Willamette River, would work to create so-called "fur deserts", where beaver stocks were rapidly and deliberately depleted. This policy, although successful in making beaver rare in the Willamette Valley, did not prevent American settlement.
The next player in the fur trade was American Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth
Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth
Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth was an American inventor, ice harvester, and explorer and trader in the far west.-Early life:Wyeth was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Jacob and Elizabeth Wyeth...
who had made a fortune in the ice business in New England. In 1832 he led a new expedition to establish a fur trading empire through his new Pacific Trading Company. After returning from Oregon Country, Wyeth set out again in 1834 to set up the trading posts. His expedition established Fort Hall
Fort Hall
Fort Hall, sitting athwart the end of the common stretch shared by the three far west emigrant trails was a 19th century outpost in the eastern Oregon Country, which eventually became part of the present-day United States, and is located in southeastern Idaho near Fort Hall, Idaho...
(on the Snake River
Snake River
The Snake is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean...
) and Fort William
Fort William (Oregon)
Fort William was a fur trading outpost built by American Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth in 1834. It was located on the Columbia River on Wappatoo Island in what is now part of Portland, Oregon. It was the site of a murder and the first Euro-American trial in what is now the state of Oregon...
(on Wapatoo Island
Sauvie Island
Sauvie Island, in the U.S. state of Oregon, originally Wapato Island or Wappatoo Island, is the largest island along the Columbia River, at 26,000 acres , and the largest river island in the United States...
), but the venture was a failure do to the dominance of the HBC in the region and the American Fur Company
American Fur Company
The American Fur Company was founded by John Jacob Astor in 1808. The company grew to monopolize the fur trade in the United States by 1830, and became one of the largest businesses in the country. The company was one the first great trusts in American business...
’s control of the trade in the Rocky Mountains. In 1836 Wyeth sold his two posts to the HBC.
Beginning in the early 1840s the fur trade began to decline as fashion tastes shifted away from beaver pelt hats and the numbers of beavers declined due to over harvesting. Then beginning in the mid 1830s missionaries and settlers began to arrive in the region Also the majority of the Native Americans in many areas were killed off by diseases introduced by Euro-Americans, including up to 70 percent in the Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
and Lower Columbia valley by 1830. Mass migration began in 1842 when a wagon train of around 100 wagons came overland along the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
. In 1846 McLoughlin retired from leading the HBC in the region. Then in 1849 the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
arrived after the creation of the Oregon Territory
Oregon Territory
The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Oregon. Originally claimed by several countries , the region was...
and set up adjacent to Fort Vancouver. In June 1860 the Hudson’s Bay Company closed the fort and withdrew to Fort Victoria
Fort Victoria
Fort Victoria may refer to:* Fort Victoria, Alberta, Canada* Fort Victoria , Canada* Fort Victoria * Fort Victoria , England* Masvingo, Zimbabwe, named Fort Victoria until 1982...
, essentially ending the systematic fur trade in the region.
Transportation
Early travel to the region was mainly by ship, with overland transportation developing later. By the 1830s a steady stream of travelers entered Oregon from the south through California and from the east over the Rocky MountainsRocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
. Many of these people were involved with the fur trade and would use the well worn trails of the Native Americans. Travel overland was mainly by horse, mule, and foot until the later 1830s when wagons slowly worked their way into the region. The Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
began seeing mass migration involving wagon trains in 1843. Boats were used extensively to haul cargo in the region, including steamboats, with the SS Beaver as the first steamboat in Oregon.
As more settlers arrived in the area, further transportation infrastructure was developed. Roads such as the Barlow Road
Barlow Road
The Barlow Road is a historic road in what is now the U.S. state of Oregon. It was built in 1846 by Sam Barlow and Philip Foster, with authorization of the Provisional Legislature of Oregon, and served as the last overland segment of the Oregon Trail...
, Canyon Road
Canyon Road
Canyon Road is a road connecting Beaverton and Portland, Oregon, United States. It was the first road between the Tualatin Valley and Portland and contributed significantly to Portland becoming the area's major deep water port, and subsequent early growth of the city.The total modern length is...
, and the Applegate Trail
Applegate Trail
The Applegate Trail was a wilderness trail through today's U.S. states of Idaho, Nevada, California, and Oregon, and was originally intended as a less dangerous route to the Oregon Territory.-Background:...
were created and small bridges built. Ferries also began to appear in the 1840s at many river crossings in the region. As the population grew, steamboats began regular service on the rivers, and later railroads were developed. The Oregon Steam Navigation Company
Oregon Steam Navigation Company
The Oregon Steam Navigation Company was an American company incorporated in 1860 in Washington with partners J. S. Ruckle, Henry Olmstead, and J. O. Van Bergen...
and other smaller carriers developed transportation networks. The first railroad came in 1858 with the Cascade Railroad Company operating a line in the Columbia River Gorge
Columbia River Gorge
The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range forming the boundary between the State of Washington to the north and Oregon to the south...
, followed by the Oregon and California Railroad
Oregon and California Railroad
The Oregon and California Railroad was formed from the Oregon Central Railroad when it was the first to operate a stretch south of Portland in 1869. This qualified the Railroad for land grants in California, whereupon the name of the railroad soon changed to Oregon & California Rail Road Company...
and eventually connections to the transcontinental rail lines in 1883.
In 1873, at Willamette Falls
Willamette Falls
The Willamette Falls is a natural waterfall on the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, Oregon, in the United States. It is the largest waterfall in the Pacific Northwest and the eighteenth largest in the world by water volume. Horseshoe in shape, it is wide and high with a flow...
a lock and canal were completed to allow vessels to pass the waterfall and continue upriver on the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
. Construction on a lock to bypass a set of cascades on the Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
began in 1878, but were not completed until 1896. Other canals were also built, including the Tualatin Canal at Oswego Lake. In 1887, the Morrison Bridge
Morrison Bridge
The Morrison Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.The original Morrison Bridge was a wooden truss swing span bridge completed on April 12, 1887 as the first Willamette River bridge in Portland and the longest bridge west of the Mississippi River...
was completed as the first bridge over the Willamette River in Portland.
Other activities
In January 1837, thirteen pioneer settlers formed the Willamette Cattle CompanyWillamette Cattle Company
The Willamette Cattle Company was formed in 1837 by pioneers in the Willamette Valley of present day Oregon, United States. The company was formed with the express purpose of purchasing cattle in California to bring to Oregon Country...
to travel to Mexican-owned California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and purchase cattle. The settlers were urged on by United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
officer William A. Slacum
William A. Slacum
William A. Slacum was an American sailor and diplomat. He served as a purser in the United States Navy and received a Presidential commission to gather information on the Oregon Country. At that time the region was under the jurisdiction of both the United States and Great Britain...
, who was on a mission from the United States President. Slacum provided some financing and the transportation to California aboard the vessel Loriot
Loriot (ship)
Loriot was an American sailing ship involved in exploration of the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. This brig took a member of a United States presidential expedition to survey land and the inhabitants of the area in the 1830s...
. The settlers were led by American Ewing Young
Ewing Young
Ewing Young was an American fur trapper and trader from Tennessee who traveled Mexican southwestern North America and California before settling in the Oregon Country. As a prominent and wealthy citizen there, his death was the impetus for the early formation of government in what became the state...
, with others such as Jason Lee
Jason Lee (missionary)
Jason Lee , an American missionary and pioneer, was born on a farm near Stanstead, Quebec. He was the first of the Oregon missionaries and helped establish the early foundation of a provisional government in the Oregon Country....
of the Methodist Mission
Methodist Mission
The Methodist Mission was founded in Oregon Country in 1834 by the Reverend Jason Lee. The mission was started to educate the Native Americans in the Willamette Valley and grew into an important center for politics and economics in the early settlement period of Oregon.-Foundation:In 1831, several...
and John McLoughlin
John McLoughlin
Dr. John McLoughlin, baptized Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin, was the Chief Factor of the Columbia Fur District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver. He was later known as the "Father of Oregon" for his role in assisting the American cause in the Oregon Country in the Pacific Northwest...
of the Hudson’s Bay Company providing additional investment.
Young led a small group to California, sailing from the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
to San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
. There the group procured about 630 head of cattle, and drove the cattle north to the Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
. After returning to the settlements of Oregon, the cattle were divided between the investors, making Young one of the richest settlers in Oregon and helping to break the dependence of the settlers from the cattle of the HBC.
Although the Willamette Cattle Company brought some cattle to Oregon Country, the demand exceeded the supply. Beginning in 1840, another group of pioneers began building a ship to sail south to California where they would trade the ship for more livestock. This event
Star of Oregon (event)
The Star of Oregon episode of American history began in 1840 and ended in 1843. This enterprise by pioneers in the Willamette Valley of present-day Oregon consisted of building a ship they named Star of Oregon and then sailing it to California in order to bring back cattle to Oregon Country...
ended in 1843 after the group returned to the Willamette Valley settlements with a variety of livestock. They left California with 1,250 head of cattle, 600 horses and mules, and 3,000 sheep.