Oregon Country or Oregon (to be distinguished from the U.S. state also called Oregon) was a predominantly American term referring to a 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 Columbia River frequented by ships from all nations engaged in the fur trade, most of these from the 1790s through 1810s being Boston-based. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 ended disputed joint occupancy pursuant to the Treaty of 1818 and established the British-American boundary at the 49th parallel.
Oregon was a distinctly American term for the region. The British used the term Columbia instead. The Oregon Country consisted of the land north of 42°N latitude, south of 54°40′N latitude, and west of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The area now forms part of the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, all of the US states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming. The British presence in the region was generally administered by the Hudson's Bay Company, whose Columbia Department comprised most of the Oregon Country and extended considerably north into New Caledonia (also known as "King Rupert's Land" or "Kingsland") and beyond 54°40′N, with operations reaching to tributaries of the Yukon River.
Early exploration
George Vancouver explored Puget Sound in 1792. Vancouver claimed it for Great Britain on 4 June 1792, naming it for one of his officers, Lieutenant Peter Puget. Alexander Mackenzie was the first European to cross North America by land north of Mexico since Cabeza de Vaca of the Narváez expedition., arriving at Bella Coola on the what is now the Central Coast of British Columbia in 1793. From 1805 to 1806 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark scouted the territory for the United States on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. David Thompson, working for the Montreal-based North West Company, explored much of the region beginning in 1807, with his friend and colleague Simon Fraser following the Fraser River to its mouth in 1808, attempting to ascertain whether or not it was the Columbia, as had been theorized about it in its northern reaches through New Caledonia, where it was known by its Dakleh name as the "Tacoutche Tesse". Thompson was the first European to voyage down the entire length of Columbia River. Along the way, his party camped at the junction with the Snake River on July 9, 1811. He erected a pole and a notice claiming the country for Great Britain and stating the intention of the North West Company to build a trading post at the site. Later in 1811, on the same expedition, he finished his survey of the entire Columbia, arriving at a partially constructed Fort Astoria just two months after the departure of John Jacob Astor's ill-fated Tonquin.
Name origin
Main article: Oregon (toponym)The origin of the word Oregon is not known for certain. One theory is that French Canadian fur company employees called the Columbia River "hurricane river" le fleuve d'ouragan, because of the strong winds of the Columbia Gorge. George R. Stewart argued in a 1944 article in American Speech that the name came from an engraver's error in a French map published in the early 1700s, on which the Ouisiconsink (Wisconsin River) was spelled "Ouaricon-sint", broken on two lines with the -sint below, so that there appeared to be a river flowing to the west named "Ouaricon". This theory was endorsed in Oregon Geographic Names as "the most plausible explanation".
Territorial evolution
The Oregon Country was originally claimed by Great Britain, France, Russia, and Spain; the Spanish claim was later taken up by the United States. The extent of the region being claimed was vague at first, evolving over decades into the specific borders specified in the US-British treaty of 1818. The U.S. based its claim in part on Robert Gray's entry of the Columbia River in 1792 and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Great Britain based its claim in part on British overland explorations of the Columbia River by David Thompson and on prior discovery and exploration along the Coast. Spain's claim was based on the Inter caetera and Treaty of Tordesillas of 1493-94, as well as explorations the Pacific coast in the late 1700s. Russia based its claim off its explorations and trading activities in the region and asserted its ownership of the region by the Ukase of 1821, which was quickly challenged by the other powers and withdrawn first to 51 degrees north, then to 54°40′N by separate treaties with the US and Britain in 1824 and 1825 respectively. Spain gave up its claims of exclusivity via the Nootka Conventions of the 1790s. In the Nootka Conventions , which followed the Nootka Crisis Spain granted Britain rights to the Pacific Northwest, although it did not establish a northern boundary for Spanish California, nor did it extinguish Spanish rights to the Pacific Northwest. Spain later relinquished any remaining claims to territory north of the 42nd parallel to the United States as part of the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819. In the 1820s Russia gave up its claims south of 54°40′ and east of the 141st meridian in separate treaties with the United States and Britain.
Meanwhile, the United States and Britain negotiated the Anglo-American Convention of 1818 that extended the boundary between their territories west along the 49th parallel to the Rocky Mountains. The two countries agreed to "joint occupancy" of the land west of the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean.
In 1821, as part of the forced merger between the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company the British Parliament imposed the laws of Upper Canada on British subjects in Rupert's Land and Columbia District , and gave the authority to enforce those laws to the Hudson's Bay Company. John McLoughlin, as chief factor of Fort Vancouver, applied the law to British subjects and sought to maintain law and order over American settlers as well.
In 1843 settlers established their own government, called the Provisional Government of Oregon. A legislative committee drafted a code of laws known as the Organic Law. It included the creation of an executive committee of three, a judiciary, militia, land laws, and four counties. There was vagueness and confusion over the nature of the 1843 Organic Law, in particular whether it was a constitutional or statutory. In 1844 a new legislative committee decided to consider it statutory. The 1845 Organic Law made additional changes, including allowing the participation of British subjects in the government. Although the Oregon Treaty of 1846 settled the boundaries of US jurisdiction, the Provisional Government continued to function until 1849, when the first governor of Oregon Territory arrived.
A faction of Oregon politicians hoped to continue Oregon's political evolution into an independent nation, but pressure to join the United States would prevail by 1848.
Early settlement
Explorer David Thompson of the British-owned North West Company and later Hudson's Bay Company penetrated the Oregon Country from the north, via Athabasca Pass, arriving in 1807. In 1810, John Jacob Astor founded the Pacific Fur Company, which established a fur-trading post at Astoria, Oregon in 1811. Thompson traveling down the Columbia River reached the partially constructed Fort Astoria just two months after the departure of the ill-fated Tonquin . Along the way he had camped and claimed the land at the future Fort Nez Perces site at the confluence with the Snake River. This initiated a very brief era of competition between American and British fur traders. The Pacific Fur operation broke down during the War of 1812 and was sold to the North West Company. Under British control, Astoria was renamed Fort George.
In 1821 when the North West Company was merged with the Hudson's Bay Company, the British Parliament imposed the laws of Upper Canada on British subjects in Columbia District and Rupert's Land, and gave the Hudson's Bay Company authority to enforce those laws. John McLoughlin was appointed head or Chief Factor of the Columbia Department in 1824. He moved its regional headquarters to Fort Vancouver, which became the de facto political center of the Pacific Northwest. McLoughlin applied the laws to British subjects, kept peace with the natives and sought to maintain law and order over American settlers as well.
Astor continued to compete for Oregon Country furs through his American Fur Company operations in the Rockies. In the 1820s, a few American explorers and traders visited this land beyond the Rocky Mountains. Long after the Lewis & Clark Expedition and also after the consolidation of the fur trade in the region by the Canadian fur companies, American "Mountain Men" such as Jedediah Smith and Jim Beckwourth came roaming into and across the Rocky Mountains, following Indian trails through the Rockies to California and Oregon. They were looking for beaver pelt
Historical Facts Mountain Men Canadian Fur Trade ...
In 1826, Jackson joined with Jedediah Smith and ... Hudson's Bay Company were from the North West Company. The Fur Trade ... and others from Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, and Star ...
Chronology of Jedediah Hubbell Dorwin ( 1792-1883)
Chronology of Jedediah Hubbell Dorwin (1792-1883) ... Royal Naval Military and East India Life Assurance Company. ... and Spring - Dorwin writes in THE MONTREAL DAILY STAR ...
The Almost Complete List of Muzzle Loading and ...
The Morning Star Trading Company: Jewelry Supplies, Swarovski Crystal Beads, Wholesale ... Jedediah STARR Trading Company: Muzzleloading Guns, Kits, Components and Accessories for the ...
Jedediah Smith Western Expansion Trails Mountain Man ...
Jedediah Smith and America’s Western Expansion ... time in the history of the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade that a company ... and others from Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, and Star ...
Sponsors
Jackson Trading Company Jedediah’s at the Airport Jedediah’s Original House of Sourdough ... Hungry Jack’s General Store Lee’s Tees Print Star Shirt Off My Back Smith’s
Jedediah Smith Expeditions Mountain Man Fur Trade ...
Jedediah Smith and America’s Western Exploration ... time in the history of the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade that a company ... and others from Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, and Star ...
Amazon.com: Jedediah Smith: No Ordinary Mountain Man ...
5.0 out of 5 stars An important pick for any who would discern ... Jedediah's life after he left the care of the Hudson's Bay Company. The last year or two of Jedediah's fur trading ...
Bibliophile Stalker: Book/Magazine Review: The Manual ...
Jedediah Berry's The Manual of Detection is one such novel and ... Adventures in the Dream Trade; Afraid: The Best Philippine ... Lone Star Stories #30; Lone Star Stories #31; Lone Star ...
Amazon.com: Jedediah Smith and the Opening of the West ...
... ambition to develop a preeminent position for his company in the fur trade ... 5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece on a Western giant Jedediah Strong Smith is a true American hero ...
TIBX: Message Board for TIBCO Software, Inc. - Yahoo ...
Proverbs 9:8 by jedediah_p... [ 9-Mar-10 12:11 pm] Not rated ... Reminder: This board is not connected with the company. ... own research, and should not be relied upon for trading or ...