| A | B |
| Astoria | This trading post became an important Am ... |
| fur | Demand for this item led traders further ... |
| John Jacob Astor | This American merchant helped build trad ... |
| Mormons | This group of settlers traveled to the W ... |
| A | B |
|---|---|
| Astoria | This trading post became an important American settlement in Oregon. |
| fur | Demand for this item led traders further west. |
| John Jacob Astor | This American merchant helped build trade in the Pacific Northwest |
| Mormons | This group of settlers traveled to the West in search of religious freedom. |
What was the significance of the Oregon Country Trade?
It significantly shaped North American history, especially from 1790 until 1840, when the trade played a dramatic and critical role in the Oregon Country, which included present-day Oregon and Washington and portions of Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia.
Who were the first settlers in Oregon?
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark reached the mouth of the Columbia in 1805, strengthening the U.S. claim to the region. John Jacob Astor, as the head of the Pacific Fur Company, began European American settlement of the Oregon country with the establishment of a trading post at Astoria in 1811.
Who was involved in the Oregon fur trade?
One of the final historical episodes in which the fur trade played a leading role took place in the Oregon Country from 1790 to 1848. British interest in the Oregon fur trade originated with the late eighteenth-century maritime expeditions of British naval officers James Cook and George Vancouver.
How did the United States gain the Oregon Country?
The United States’ geopolitical interest in the region dates to May 1792, when Captain Robert Gray’s Boston vessel, Columbia Rediviva, breasted the deadly sandbars at the mouth of a river he named Columbia. Gray’s arrival at the harbor near present-day Astoria established the first American claim to the Oregon Country.
What are the industries that are important to Oregon?
Industries important to Oregon’s present-day economy can trace their start to Fort Vancouver, as the HBC focused on natural resource extraction as a means to economic profit. Commodities such as salmon and lumber were systematically harvested and exported through the fort’s mills and processing plants, wheat and other grains were processed through the region’s first mills, and large dairy and livestock operations expanded the company’s footprint to places such as present-day Sauvie Island. McLoughlin initiated the region’s shipbuilding industry at Fort Vancouver in 1827, and the fort eventually became the headquarters for the HBC’s seven-vessel Marine Department, including the first steam-powered vessel in the Pacific Northwest, the Beaver. He also supported education for the children of his employees, hiring educators and establishing a school.
Where did the fur trade take place?
From Russian Alaska to Mexican California and from the crest of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, HBC employees worked at more than a dozen trading posts, sailed in trading vessels, and traveled in brigades of trappers, collecting furs to send to Fort Vancouver where they were counted, cleaned, and shipped to England as part of the global fur trade. In return, ships from Britain supplied the fort with necessary goods and other items to be distributed to the company’s posts, traded to Natives for furs and other resources, and sold throughout the region and at mercantile posts in the Hawaiian Islands and Yerba Buena (present-day San Francisco). Described as “the grand emporium of the company’s trade, west of the Rocky Mountains” by former HBC clerk John Dunn, Fort Vancouver was the center of Euroamerican politics, economics, and culture in the Pacific Northwest. It was also the early terminus of the Oregon Trail.
What was the importance of Fort Vancouver?
On several hundred acres of rich meadows and bottomlands, McLoughlin set in motion George Simpson’s vision of self-sufficiency through agriculture. Employing more physical space and more personnel than any other activity and using mostly Native and Hawaiian laborers, McLoughlin initiated the region’s first large-scale farming, which grew from 120 acres cultivated in 1829 to 1,420 acres in 1846. HBC had enough surplus production to fulfill an 1839 treaty commitment to the Russian America Company by supplying foodstuffs in exchange for fur-gathering rights in northern Russian-controlled areas and to sell to arriving American emigrants in the early 1840s.
Why was Fort Victoria named the new depot?
Concerns over growing American emigration, the dangers of the Columbia River bar, and the impending boundary settlement between the U.S. and Great Britain led the HBC to designate Fort Victoria as the company’s new depot in 1845. With the Oregon Treaty of 1846, the site of Fort Vancouver fell within the boundary of the United States.
What was the first steam powered ship in the Pacific Northwest?
McLoughlin initiated the region’s shipbuilding industry at Fort Vancouver in 1827, and the fort eventually became the headquarters for the HBC’s seven-vessel Marine Department, including the first steam-powered vessel in the Pacific Northwest, the Beaver.
Why was Fort Vancouver built?
Fort Vancouver, a British fur trading post built in 1824 to optimize the Hudson’s Bay Company’s operations in the Oregon Country, was the headquarters and central supply depot for the HBC’s operations west of the Rocky Mountains. It was, according to the company’s governor Sir George Simpson, “the great centre of the business of the west side of the Continent.”
What is the tax ID number for Oregon?
Federal Tax ID 93-0391599. After the North West Company and HBC merged in 1821, the company’s governor and committee (board) considered what to do with the Oregon Country, which Great Britain jointly occupied with the United States.
Why did people migrate to Oregon?
Newcomers frequently cited the state’s clean air and water, small cities, and scenic natural environment as reasons for migrating to Oregon. By the early 21st century, however, Oregon’s urban areas faced severe traffic congestion, pollution, and an infrastructure in need of expansion.
What was the territorial Oregon?
Territorial Oregon did not keep its boundaries for long. An influx of Free Staters in the years before the American Civil War (1861–65) led to political tensions, and in 1853 the portion of the territory north of the Columbia River was given independent status as Washington Territory—which, unlike Oregon, allowed African Americans to migrate freely. The question of where the territorial seat would be was another point of division; contenders included Corvallis, Oregon City (where the legislature was located for a brief period), and Salem. The question was finally settled by the U.S. Congress, which declared that Salem would be the territory’s seat of government.
What was the first permanent settlement in the Willamette Valley?
Beginning in 1830, thousands of people from New England and the Midwest migrated to the Pacific Northwest. Missionaries played a role in settlement. In 1834 the Methodists, headed by Jason Lee, established the first permanent settlement in the Willamette River valley. The migrations that carved the deep wagon wheel ruts still visible in the Oregon Trail began in the early 1840s. After 1838, U.S. claims and rights to the region were constantly before Congress. Settlers in the Willamette valley made known their desire to become part of the United States. In 1843 representatives met at Champoeg (near present-day Newberg) to organize a provisional government; a set of laws patterned after those of Iowa was accepted.
What was the purpose of the meeting at Champoeg in 1843?
In 1843 representatives met at Champoeg (near present-day Newberg) to organize a provisional government; a set of laws patterned after those of Iowa was accepted. “Ridiculous Exhibition; or, Yankee-Noodle Putting His Head into the British Lion's Mouth,” cartoon by John Leech, 1846, on the Oregon boundary dispute.
What was the boundary of Oregon?
By 1844 the British government had concluded that the Columbia River boundary line would have to be abandoned, and the Hudson’s Bay Company moved its chief Northwest depot to Fort Victoria (now Victoria, B.C.). In spite of the “Fifty-four forty or fight” slogan of James K. Polk ’s 1844 presidential campaign, the 49th parallel was accepted by both the United States and Canada as the boundary, and the Oregon country became a U.S. territory in 1846. Its territorial boundaries, which extended initially between the 49th and 42nd parallels and from the Pacific Ocean to west of the crest of the Rocky Mountains, were revised to include what is now Idaho.
What were the two major fur companies in the Pacific Northwest?
The Northwest was also approached by land. Two British fur companies, the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company, raced across the continent to open routes to the Pacific; the Americans were not far behind. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark reached the mouth of the Columbia in 1805, strengthening the U.S. claim to the region. John Jacob Astor, as the head of the Pacific Fur Company, began European American settlement of the Oregon country with the establishment of a trading post at Astoria in 1811. In 1824 the Hudson’s Bay Company established Fort Vancouver (now Vancouver, Wash.), and John McLoughlin was appointed to head the company’s far-flung operations in its Pacific Northwest territory. For the next 22 years he was the dominating figure in the region.
When did the Oregon Trail start?
The migrations that carved the deep wagon wheel ruts still visible in the Oregon Trail began in the early 1840s. After 1838, U.S. claims and rights to the region were constantly before Congress. Settlers in the Willamette valley made known their desire to become part of the United States.
What states did the Oregon Trail lead to?
The trail was arduous and snaked through Missouri and present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho and finally into Oregon. Without the Oregon Trail and the passing of the Oregon Donation Land Act in 1850, which encouraged settlement in the Oregon Territory, American pioneers would have been slower to settle the American West in the 19th century.
Why did the Oregon Trail become a well-beaten path?
Travelers often left warning messages to those journeying behind them if there was an outbreak of disease, bad water or hostile American Indian tribes nearby. As more and more settlers headed west, the Oregon Trail became a well-beaten path and an abandoned junkyard of surrendered possessions.
How many wagons did Whitman carry?
Great Emigration of 1843. When Whitman headed west yet again, he met up with a huge wagon train destined for Oregon. The group included 120 wagons, about 1,000 people and thousands of livestock. Their trek began on May 22 and lasted five months.
Why did the Oregon Trail leave in late spring?
Leaving in late spring also ensured there’d be ample grass along the way to feed livestock. As the Oregon Trail gained popularity, it wasn’t unusual for thousands of pioneers to be on the path at the same time, especially during the California Gold Rush.
What was the name of the emigration that occurred in 1843?
It effectively opened the floodgates of pioneer migration along the Oregon Trail and became known as the Great Emigration of 1843.
What was the most important item on the trail?
rifles and ammunition. By far, the most important item for successful life on the trail was the covered wagon. It had to be sturdy enough to withstand the elements yet small and light enough for a team of oxen or mules to pull day after day. Most wagons were about six feet wide and twelve feet long.
Why was Independence Rock called the Great Register of the Desert?
The settlers gave a sigh of relief if they reached Independence Rock—a huge granite rock that marked the halfway point of their journey—by July 4 because it meant they were on schedule. So many people added their name to the rock it became known as the “Great Register of the Desert.”.
The North American Fur Trade
Indians and The Fur Trade
- The trade deeply affected Native peoples' lives, for better and worse. Proximity to and alliances with traders reshaped the contours of Native politics and power across North America. Diversity characterized fur traders’ society everywhere: nowhere in North America was a society more multilingual and multicultural. Fur traders married and had children with Native women, creating …
The Early Pacific Northwest Maritime Fur Trade
- British interest in the Oregon fur trade originated with the late eighteenth-century maritime expeditions of British naval officers James Cook and George Vancouver. Great Britain set out to create a vast global empire, using the tools of conquest, colonization, and commerce. The royal navy's expeditions of "discovery" and trade advanced British interests everywhere, including the …
Over Land to The Pacific
- The London-based Hudson’s Bay Company and the Montreal-based North West Company were the most important British and Canadian fur-trading outfits in nineteenth-century North America. They developed nearly identical structural and social hierarchical systems, reflecting the fur trade’s special character in North American history. Chartered in 1670 by King Charles II to his c…
The End of The Fur Trade Era
- By the time Oregon achieved statehood in 1859, military sutlers and civilian entrepreneurs had supplanted the fur men and their trading posts, and the U.S. government had asserted an exclusive legal right to control Natives’ lives through the Office of Indian Affairs (later renamed the Bureau of Indian Affairs). The brief era of the Mountain Men was long over, and Indians faced im…