Editing Oregon Territory (section)

==Gaining statehood==
Oregon City served as the seat of government from 1848 to 1851, followed by [[Salem, Oregon|Salem]] from 1851 to 1855. [[Corvallis, Oregon|Corvallis]] served briefly as the capital in 1855, followed by a permanent return to Salem later that year.<ref>Horner, p. 162.</ref> In 1853, as a result of the [[Monticello Convention]] and its approval by [[US Congress|Congress]] and [[President of the United States|President]] [[Millard Fillmore]], the portion of the territory north of the lower [[Columbia River]] and north of the 46th parallel east of the river was organized into the [[Washington Territory]].<ref>{{cite book
| title = The History of the Pacific Northwest Oregon and Washington 1889: Volume I
| publisher= North Pacific History Company
| year = 1889
| location = Portland
| url = https://archive.org/details/historyofpacific01nort/page/n527
}}</ref>
<ref>Horner, p. 153.</ref> The [[Oregon Constitutional Convention]] was held in 1857 to draft a constitution in preparation for becoming a state, with the convention delegates approving the document in September, and then general populace approving the document in November.<ref name=constitution>Horner, p. 166.</ref>

In 1850, 10 years after the end of the [[Second Great Awakening]] (1790–1840), of the 9 churches with [[Church service|regular services]] in the Oregon Territory, 5 were [[Catholic Church in the United States|Catholic]], 1 was [[Baptists in the United States|Baptist]], 1 was [[Congregationalism in the United States|Congregational]], 1 was [[History of Methodism in the United States|Methodist]], and 1 was [[Presbyterianism in the United States|Presbyterian]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Selcer|first=Richard F.|editor-last=Balkin|editor-first=Richard|title=Civil War America: 1850 to 1875|year=2006|place=New York|publisher=[[Infobase Publishing|Facts on File]]|page=143|isbn=978-0816038671}}</ref> In the [[1850 United States census]], 10 counties in the Oregon Territory (7 counties in contemporary [[List of counties in Oregon|Oregon]] and 3 in contemporary [[List of counties in Washington|Washington]]) reported the following population counts:<ref>{{cite report|editor-last=Forstall|editor-first=Richard L.|title=Population of the States and Counties of the United States: 1790–1990|pages=134–135|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1990/population-of-states-and-counties-us-1790-1990/population-of-states-and-counties-of-the-united-states-1790-1990.pdf|access-date=May 18, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|editor-last=Forstall|editor-first=Richard L.|title=Population of the States and Counties of the United States: 1790–1990|pages=176–177|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/1990/population-of-states-and-counties-us-1790-1990/population-of-states-and-counties-of-the-united-states-1790-1990.pdf|access-date=May 18, 2020}}</ref>
{| class=wikitable
! Rank
! County
! Population
|-
|1
|[[Marion County, Oregon|Marion]]
|2,749
|-
|2
|[[Washington County, Oregon|Washington]]
|2,652
|-
|3
|[[Clackamas County, Oregon|Clackamas]]
|1,859
|-
|4
|[[Yamhill County, Oregon|Yamhill]]
|1,512
|-
|5
|[[Polk County, Oregon|Polk]]
|1,051
|-
|6
|[[Linn County, Oregon|Linn]]
|994
|-
|7
|[[Benton County, Oregon|Benton]]
|814
|-
|8
|[[Clark County, Washington|Clark]]
|643
|-
|9
|[[Lewis County, Washington|Lewis]]
|558
|-
|10
|[[Clatsop County, Oregon|Clatsop]]
|462
|-
|
|Oregon Territory
|13,294
|-
|}

On February 14, 1859, the territory entered the Union as the U.S. state of [[Oregon]] within its current boundaries.<ref name=constitution/> The remaining eastern portion of the territory (the portions in present-day southern Idaho and western Wyoming) was added to the [[Washington Territory]].