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Lewis & Clark - Environment
After traveling more than eight thousand miles on a twenty-eight-month journey, Lewis and Clark return home to St. Louis Missouri. Their journals from the expidition included valuable details about the Pacific Northwest such as maps, drawings, artifacts, and information about fur bearing animals that would attract future trappers. -
American Fur Company - Economics
Businessman John Jacob Astor organizes the American Fur Company and sets out to make a large scale porfit from aminals with fur. To defy British claims and gain a hefty profit in Oregon country, Astor created another company, the Pacific Fur Company. -
Snake Brigades - Environment
Peter Skene Ogden repaces Alexander Ross as leader of the Snake brigades. He would remain leader for 5 years during which he would follow orders to trap animals of Snake country to the point of extinction, creating a "fur desert". The British hoped to keep Americans out of the Columbia River region and establish claims to the international boundary line that would one day be drawn in Oregon country. -
George Simpson - Government
After a quick field inpection the govenor of the Northern Department of Rupert's Land decided to move the Hudson's Bay Company headquarters from Fort George to a location that yielded better agricultural possibilities, Fort Vancouver. He believed the area to be rich with other potential in addition to fur trade. Simpson delegated Dr. John McLoughlin as the chief factor for the Columbia area. -
Fort Hall - Economics
A homemade American flag is raised to celebrate the completion of Fort Hall built by Nathaniel Wyeth after his failed attempts at a fur trading business. The post was stocked with flour, bacon, whisky, and other goods to meet the needs of fur traders and indians. Wyeth sold Fort Hall to the Hudson's Bay company two years later furthering the company's monopoly in the region's fur trade. -
Wagon - Architecture
Along the journey to Fort Vancouver, the Whitmans and Spaldings pulled a flimsy wagon. Somewhere after Fort Hall, an axel broke and transformed the wagon into a two wheeled cart. The cart never made the full journey and had to be left behind somewhere near Fort Boise. The primitive cart would soon be followed by the wagons of pioneers along the Oregon Trail. -
The Whitman Mission - Religion
Marcus and Narcissa Whitman arrived at Fort Vancouver in hope of converting Indians to Christians. They settled a site near the Walla Wall River to build their mission. Marcus sought to not only christianize the Indians, but also to civilize them. Few Indians converted to christianity, and because there was a major lack of cultural understanding, along with disease, the mission ended with the death of Marcus Whitman at the hands of the Cayuse leaders. His wife, and 11 others were also murdered. -
Oregon Trail Expedition - Science/Technology
Eighteen wagons including over 100 people emigrated west to Oregon. This year signaled a migration, which eventually led to a yearly event of pioneers setting out on the trail. Over the next twenty years, fifty-three thousand people would arrive in Oregon via the same trail, making it the major route to the Pacific Northwest. -
Grass-roots in Oregon - Government
Tired of being at the mercy of the Husdon's Bay Company due to a lack of leadership and established laws for shared land of Oregon, Americans created their own version of government. One issue settled was voluntary taxation, this soon moved into a compulsory tax with the increasing flow of settlers. Although not perfect, Oregon upheld it's grass-roots government until a territorial government was approved by congress five years later, in 1848. -
Barlow Toll Bridge - Architecture
As an alternative route to the river, Sam Barlow decided to build a toll "bridge". The bridge still presented travelers with trouble having to lower their wagons and oxen down a 60 percent grade using ropes. Barlow was able to make a profit from the bridge, charging one dollar for each livestock, and five dollars per wagon. Some travelers preferred this route as an alternative to the rafts on the Columbia River. -
Manifest Destiny - Science/Technology
While many citizens were uncertain about the value of land and resources in the Pacific Northwest, Manifest Destiny took hold. A three decade long exploratory mission went into effect yeilding documents, landmarks, and maps. Boundary lines were determined under Polk's presidency and the term "Fifty-four Forty or Fight" was used to in reference to the disputed boundary lines. Finally an agreement was reached drawing the boundary line along the 49th parallel. -
Cataldo Mission - Religion
Anthony Rivalli and Pierre Jean De Smet organized various missions in the Rocky Mountains. De Smet was known to be a peaceful mediator between whites and Indians. The construction of the Cataldo Mission began after relocating from the St. Joe River location due to flooding. The mission became useable in 1853 and over a timespan of 30 years Joseph Cataldo had baptized two-thirds of the Coeur d'Alene Indian tribe into the Catholic Church. -
Mullan Road - Science/Technology
Congress approves $30,000 for a survey of winter weather in the Rocky Mountains. John Mullan and thirteen other men set out to map the "military highway" as a northern option to the Oregon Trail. The route, known as Mullan Road, was a primitive 624 miles long. Some referred to it as a pack trail because it never ended up being utilized as a military route. -
Lemhi Mission - Religion
The only Mormon mission was established as a result of Bringham Young sending 27 missionaries to settle among the Bannocks and Shoshonis on the Salmon River. The Lemhi mission grew to 126 people but was abandoned three years later with increasing violence between Mormons, Indians, and the U.S Army. The mission was never reestablished. -
The Stagecoach - Architecture
Until the completion of the rialway line, the stagecoach was a wide used form of transportation. The California Stage Company provided travelers with regular service between Portland and Sacramento, a seven-hundred-mile trek. Other stagecoach businesses also transported passengers and mail between Oregon and California. -
Gold! - Environment
The discovery of gold created a major population shift away from the coast toward the interiror. With the amount of miners arriving, it was nearly impossible to stop the mining towns from forming on Nez Perce land. Oro Fino City contained about seventy-five buildings itself. Although these were obvious intrusions on Indian land, the Natives did not repirocate with violence. -
William Wallace - Government
William Wallace is elected as Idaho's first territorial govenor. Using Idaho as a stepping stone, Wallace only served four months as Idaho's govenor before he was elected to congress. This strategic move doubled his salary. -
Northern Pacific Railroad - Economics
Due to lack of cash funds accessible as a result of the Civil War, Congress provided an extremely large sixty-million-acre patch of land to the Northern Pacific Railroad. Many difficulties arose without cash funds, and hampered construction. Eventually the Northern Pacific Railroad fell into bankruptcy before being reorganized in 1870.
