Editing Fort Hall (section)

===Oregon migration===
[[Image:Fort Hall Replica, Southeast Corner, Pocatello ID.jpeg|thumb|230px|Replica of the first Fort Hall in [[Pocatello, Idaho|Pocatello]]]]

In 1843, [[Marcus Whitman]], a [[Oregon missionaries|missionary]] who had established a mission near present-day [[Walla Walla, Washington|Walla Walla]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], led a wagon train westward from Fort Hall, despite discouragement from the British. His reports, when received back east amidst the country-wide expansionist mindset of true believers in [[manifest destiny]], started a growing flood of settlers increasing in numbers year by year.

The settlers were reinforced by the Presidential politics with Democrats demanding a settlement of the "[[Oregon Question]]" and proposing a border far to the north of today's boundary between the United States and Canada. The election year's [[Fifty-four forty or fight|slogans]] and bad press, Democratic hawks' control of the [[United States Congress|U.S. legislatures]], the steep decrease in fur market demand, and finally the declaration of war by [[Mexico]] over the annexation of their rebel [[Texas|state of Texas]] all had an accelerating effect greasing the diplomatic wrangling and finally putting an Administration-sponsored treaty before the [[United States Senate|Senate]] which set the current boundary, where it was quickly adopted under the wartime congressional session. No one saw any reason to embarrass their own parties or [[President of the United States|President]], and fighting two wars in widely different geographic theaters was nonsensical. The treaty triggered an explosion of settlers heading west in 1846, and the [[Mormon Exodus]] had already begun in [[Illinois]] and Missouri. [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] forces were assigned to send patrols and safeguard the road.

In the following years, the number of emigrant wagon trains increased dramatically as the migration of people increased to the West. Fort Hall became a welcome stop along the trail for hundreds of thousands of emigrants. It continued as an important trading post for mountain men and the Native Americans of the region, in particular the [[Shoshone]].

In 1846, the [[Oregon Treaty]] settled boundaries in the Northwest between Great Britain (Canada) and the United States; Fort Hall was included within the US and its territories. From 1849 to 1850, Cantonment Loring, a US military camp, was located {{convert|3|mi|0|spell=in}} downriver from Fort Hall. Its garrison was assigned to protect the Oregon Trail, but the camp was abandoned due to long-distance supply difficulties. Instead the Army dispatched expeditions from Oregon to guard the trail to Fort Hall during each summer after 1855, as the migrations continued.