Editing Oregon Territory

{{Short description|Territory of the U.S. between 1848–1859}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2013}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox Former subdivision
| conventional_long_name = Territory of Oregon
| common_name            = Oregon Territory
| nation                 = the United States
| subdivision            = [[Organized incorporated territories of the United States|Organized incorporated territory]]
| event_pre              = [[Oregon Treaty]]
| date_pre               = June 15, 1846
| event_start            = Organized
| date_start             = August 14
| year_start             = 1846
| event1                 = [[Washington Territory]] split off
| date_event1            = March 2, 1853
| event_end              = [[Oregon|Statehood]]
| date_end               = February 14, 1859
| year_end               = 1859
| p1                     = Provisional Government of Oregon
| flag_p1                = US flag 29 stars.svg
| s1                     = Washington Territory
| flag_s1                = Flag of the United States (1851-1858).svg
| s2                     = Oregon
| flag_s2                = Flag of Oregon.svg
| s3                     = 
| flag_s3                = 
| image_flag             = 
| image_coat             = Oregon-Territory-seal.tif
| symbol_type            = [[Seal (emblem)|Seal]] of the Oregon Territory
| motto                  = ''[[Alis volat propriis]]''
| image_map              = Map of Washington and Oregon territory.jpg
| image_map_caption      = Map of Oregon territory
| capital                = {{plainlist|
*[[Oregon City, Oregon|Oregon City]] (1848–1851)
*[[Salem, Oregon|Salem]] (1851–1855)
*[[Corvallis, Oregon|Corvallis]] (1855)
*[[Salem, Oregon|Salem]] (1855–1859)}}
| government_type        = [[Organized incorporated territories of the United States|Organized incorporated territory]]
| title_leader           = [[List of Governors of Oregon|Governor]]
| leader1                = [[Joseph Lane]]
| year_leader1           = 1848–1850; 1853
| leader2                = [[Kintzing Prichette]]
| year_leader2           = 1850
| leader3                = [[John P. Gaines]]
| year_leader3           = 1850–1853
| leader4                = [[John Wesley Davis|John W. Davis]]
| year_leader4           = 1853–1854
| leader5                = [[George Law Curry|George L. Curry]]
| year_leader5           = 1854–1859
| legislature            = 
}}

The '''Territory of Oregon''' was an [[organized incorporated territory of the United States]] that existed from August 14, 1848,<ref>{{USStat|9|323}}</ref> until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the [[United States|Union]] as the [[Oregon|State of Oregon]]. Originally claimed by several countries (see [[Oregon Country]]), Spanish "El Orejón"{{Citation needed|reason="Orejón" is folk etymology and is not used in actual 18th century Spanish documents|date=September 2024}} was part of the Territorio de Nutca (1789–1795), later in the 19th century, the region was divided between the [[British North America|British Empire]] and the US in 1846. When established, the territory encompassed an area that included the current states of Oregon, [[Washington (state)|Washington]], and [[Idaho]], as well as parts of [[Wyoming]] and [[Montana]]. The capital of the territory was first [[Oregon City, Oregon|Oregon City]], then [[Salem, Oregon|Salem]], followed briefly by [[Corvallis, Oregon|Corvallis]], then back to Salem, which became the state capital upon Oregon's admission to the Union.

==Background==
{{Main|Oregon Country}}

Originally inhabited by Native Americans, the region that became the Oregon Territory was explored by Europeans first by sea. The first documented voyage of exploration was made in 1777 by the Spanish, and both British and American vessels visited the region not long thereafter.<ref name=doh>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of Oregon History|date=1989|publisher=[[Binfords & Mort Publishing]]|pages=110|editor=Howard M. Corning}}</ref><ref name=Horner>Horner, John B. (1919). ''Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature''. The J.K. Gill Co.: Portland. pp. 28–29.</ref> Subsequent land-based exploration by [[Alexander Mackenzie (explorer)|Alexander Mackenzie]] and the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] and development of the fur trade in the region strengthened the competing claims of Great Britain and the United States.<ref name=fur>Horner, pp. 53–59.</ref>

The competing interests of the two foremost claimants were addressed in the [[Treaty of 1818]], which sanctioned a "joint occupation", by British and Americans, of a vast "[[Oregon Country]]" (as the American side called it) that comprised the present-day U.S. states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, parts of Montana and Wyoming, and the portion of what is now the Canadian province of [[British Columbia]] south of the parallel 54°40′ north.<ref name=joint>Corning, p. 129.</ref>

==Formation==
[[File:Wpdms oregon territory 1848.png|thumb|The Oregon Territory, as originally organized, in 1848]]
[[File:Wpdms oregon washington territories 1853.png|thumb|The Oregon Territory (blue) with the Washington Territory (green) in 1853]]
[[File:Wpdms oregon washington territory 1859.png|thumb|The State of Oregon (blue) with the Washington Territory (green) in 1859]]
During the period of joint occupation, most activity in the region outside of the activities of the indigenous people came from the [[fur trade]], which was dominated by the British [[Hudson's Bay Company]].<ref name=settle>Horner, pp. 60–64.</ref> Over time, some trappers began to settle down in the area and began farming, and missionaries started to arrive in the 1830s.<ref name=settle/> Some settlers also began arriving in the late 1830s, and covered wagons crossed the [[Oregon Trail]] beginning in 1841.<ref>Corning, p. 186.</ref> At that time, the only governments that existed in the Oregon Country were the individual local Native Americans communities, as no one nation held dominion over the territory.

A group of settlers in the [[Willamette Valley]] began meeting in 1841 to discuss organizing a government for the area.<ref name=prov>Corning, p. 206.</ref> These earliest documented discussions, mostly concerning forming a government, were held in an early pioneer and Native American encampment and later town known as [[Champoeg, Oregon]].<ref name=prov/> These first [[Champoeg Meetings]] eventually led to further discussions, and in 1843 the creation of the [[Provisional Government of Oregon]].<ref name=prov/> In 1846, the [[Oregon boundary dispute]] between the U.S. and Britain was settled with the signing of the [[Oregon Treaty]].<ref name=joint/>

The United States federal government left their part of the region unorganized for two years until news of the [[Whitman massacre]] reached the [[United States Congress]] and helped to facilitate the organization of the region into a U.S. territory.<ref name="Territory of Oregon">Corning, p. 240.</ref> On August 14, 1848, Congress passed the [[Oregon Bill of 1848|Act to Establish the Territorial Government of Oregon]], which created what was officially the Territory of Oregon.<ref name="Territory of Oregon"/> The Territory of Oregon originally encompassed all of the present-day states of [[Idaho]], [[Oregon]] and [[Washington (state)|Washington]], as well as those parts of present-day [[Montana]] and [[Wyoming]] west of the [[Continental Divide]].<ref name="Territory of Oregon"/> Its southern border was the [[42nd parallel north]] (the boundary of the [[Adams-Onis Treaty]] of 1819), and it extended north to the 49th parallel. [[Oregon City, Oregon]], was designated as the first capital.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/oregonendoftrail00writrich |title= Oregon: End of the Trail |author= [[Federal Writers' Project|Writers' Program]] of the [[Work Projects Administration]] in the [[Government of Oregon|State of Oregon]] |series= [[American Guide Series]] |year= 1940 |publisher= [[Binfords & Mort]] |location= [[Portland, Oregon]] |page= [https://archive.org/details/oregonendoftrail00writrich/page/191 191]|oclc= 4874569}}</ref>

==Government==
The territorial government consisted of a [[Governor of Oregon|governor]], a marshal, a [[Oregon Secretary of State|secretary]], an attorney, and a three-judge [[Oregon Supreme Court|supreme court]].<ref name="Territory of Oregon"/> Judges on the court also sat as trial level judges as they rode circuit across the territory.<ref name="Territory of Oregon"/> All of these offices were filled by appointment by the President of the United States.<ref name="Territory of Oregon"/> The two-chamber [[Oregon Territorial Legislature]] was responsible for passing laws, with seats in both the upper-chamber council and lower-chamber house of representatives filled by local elections held each year.<ref name="Territory of Oregon"/>

Taxation took the form of an annual property tax of 0.25% for territorial purposes with an additional county tax not to exceed this amount.<ref name=Bancroft540>{{cite book|first=Hubert Howe |last=Bancroft |title=The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft: Volume 29: History of Oregon: Volume 1, 1834-1848 |location=San Francisco |publisher=The History Company |year=1886 |chapter=[[wikisource:en:History of Oregon (Bancroft)/Volume 1/Chapter 19#540|Ch. 19]] |page=540 }}</ref> This tax was to be paid on all town lots and improvements, mills, carriages, clocks and watches, and livestock; farmland and farm products were not taxed.<ref name=Bancroft540 /> In addition, a [[Poll tax (United States)|poll tax]] of 50 cents for every qualified voter under age 60 was assessed and a graduated schedule of merchants' licenses established, ranging from the [[peddlar|peddlar's]] rate of $10 per year to a $60 annual fee on firms with more than $20,000 of capital.<ref name=Bancroft540 />

==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]].

==See also==
{{Portal|United States|Oregon|History}}
* [[Historic regions of the United States]]
* [[Territorial evolution of the United States]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Territories of the United States}}
{{Oregon Pioneer History}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|45.5|-117|type:adm1st_region:US-OR_dim:1300000|display=title}}

[[Category:Oregon Territory| ]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1859]]
[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Oregon|*]]
[[Category:History of the Northwestern United States]]
[[Category:Former organized territories of the United States]]
[[Category:History of the American West]]
[[Category:History of Oregon]]
[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Idaho]]
[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Montana]]
[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Washington (state)]]
[[Category:Pre-statehood history of Wyoming]]
[[Category:Oregon Trail|Territory]]
[[Category:1848 establishments in Oregon Territory|*]]
[[Category:1848 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:1859 disestablishments in the United States]]