Vancouver, Whistler & Vancouver Island - Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest - page 854

1825
Hudson's Bay Company establishes Fort Vancouver, which becomes the most prominent
European presence in the Northwest. Today, Washington state's Vancouver is located here.
1829
Oregon City becomes the first established city west of the Mississippi and the pot-of-gold des-
tination for early pioneers traversing the Oregon Trail.
1836
The Whitman Party (which includes the first two women to travel the Oregon Trail) establishes a
mission near Walla Walla, WA. Their adventures would end in tragedy 11 years later.
1843
A slim-margin vote at Champoeg (30 miles south of current-day Portland) establishes Oregon's
first independent government, weakening the British hold on the region.
1846
The Oregon Treaty brings an end to land disputes between the US and Britain. Both countries
had jointly occupied the region since the Treaty of 1818.
1847
The Whitman Massacre starts the Cayuse War, resulting in the decimation of the Cayuse people
and their forced relocation onto a reservation.
1848
The Oregon territory officially becomes US land, with its capital at Oregon City. The territory's
borders encompass today's Oregon, Washington and Idaho, plus parts of Wyoming and
Montana.
1850
Congress passes the Donation Land Act, which grants every white European settler and 'Amer-
ican half-breed Indian' 320 acres. Married couples can claim 640 acres.
1851
The first significant gold deposits are discovered near Jacksonville, starting a gold rush in Ore-
gon. Thousands of fortune seekers pour into the state, creating new settlements and small
towns.