How long has oregon been a state

The British Hudson's Bay Company dominated the region. From his headquarters at the fort, McLouglin controlled an area of , square miles. Simultaneously American interest in Oregon was increasing as the region came to be perceived as a place of cheap, fertile land, an alternative to the rapidly filling lands of the Midwest. The wagon train migration of Oregon State Capitol mural.

Nathaniel Wyeth tried unsuccessfully to found the first American colony on the Columbia in He tried again in Two Methodist missionaries, Jason and Daniel Lee, accompanied him. Although Wyeth left Oregon for good in , the Lees remained. McLoughlin persuaded them to establish their mission on the Willamette River, 10 miles north of what is now Salem. Despite the fact that local Indians were unreceptive to the Lees, the mission prospered and soon produced its own lumber and flour.

During the s, the Lees' mission was a magnet for Americans settling in the Willamette Valley. Navy, to report on the situation in Oregon. Slacum arrived in Oregon in When he discovered the Hudson's Bay Company held a monopoly on cattle in Oregon, he persuaded the American settlers to join together to buy cattle in California and bring them to Oregon.

In January the Willamette Cattle Company was formed for this purpose. That same year some head of cattle were brought to Oregon. The success of this venture gave American settlers a sense of independence from the Hudson's Bay Company. Americans continued to move to the Willamette Valley. Together with French-Canadians employed by the Company, there were some whites in the area by An initial attempt to form a government, caused by the need to probate Ewing Young's estate, failed in A second attempt succeeded in Oregonians voted in an open air meeting at Champoeg on July 5 to establish Oregon's provisional government.

This government was supposed to function until the United States extended its jurisdiction over Oregon. At this time, slavery was prohibited.

He was appointed its first Professor of Geology and was chair of Natural Sciences until his death in Past citizens of Oregon can be found in rocks throughout the state ranging in age from 10 thousand to hundreds of millions of years old. Marine fossils can be found along today's coast or far inland, marking ancient coastlines. One of the world's greatest records of life after the dinosaurs and before the Ice Age is found in the John Day Basin.

Arid eastern Oregon is home to Ice Age fossils, records of a colder, wetter time. Keep your eyes open as you explore Oregon, you may just meet one of its past citizens! In this window, you can learn what is a fossil and how marine fossils are found not only along the coast, but also hundreds of miles inland! You can also see representations of the eight main communities of fossils from the John Day Fossil Beds-one of the best preserved and most complete records of life ranging from more than 44 to 7 million years ago.

Learn about a "mammoth" discovery in one Oregon child's backyard and get to know Metasequoia, Oregon's state fossil, living examples of which were discovered in China in the s! All fossils are irreplaceable past citizens of Oregon.

Fossils cannot be collected within any National Park Service land or state parks. It is your responsibility to check with the local land owner or land management agency for information and regulations.

There are opportunities to legally collect fossils, visit the websites below for more information! Geologists and other scientists study the Earth to help us understand the history of our planet. They can also help us understand climate change and how, by working together, we can continue to move toward a stable energy supply, improved energy efficiency, the creation of more clean, renewable energy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions for Oregon's next years.

In this window you can learn about sources of renewable energy in Oregon including wave and geothermal as well as other innovative Oregonian energy sources. You can also learn ways you can help meet Oregon's goals of greatly reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Earthquakes and landslides can shake up Oregon - and Oregonians - at any time. The largest earthquakes in the world occur where one tectonic plate dives - or "subducts" - under another, and we're sitting right on top of the Cascadia Subduction Zone See Window 2.

Such devastating earthquakes occur about every to years in the Pacific Northwest. Our last major earthquake occurred in the year AD and generated a tsunami that struck Japan.

Oregonians are at the forefront of studying and preparing for not only these mega-disasters, but also more moderate earthquakes and landslides that threaten our lives and livelihoods.

In this window, learn about the different types of earthquakes that occur in Oregon, including the Scotts Mills "Spring Break Quake" that closed the Capitol building, forcing extensive repairs. You can also see the effects of landslides, annually Oregon's most expensive and dangerous natural hazard.

The Pacific Ocean constantly presents challenges for marine geologists, including the monitoring of coastal processes and the study of giant sea waves known as tsunamis. The massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Indian Ocean region in has heightened awareness that the Oregon Coast is prone to tsunamis from local and distant sources. Geologists act as detectives, gathering information that help them figure out what has happened in the past, and perhaps what the future might hold.

In this window you can learn how geologists pieced together clues about the last major Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tsunami in and about a tsunami that struck Oregon's coast in following an earthquake in Alaska. How are tsunami's formed? And why are they called the "brass knuckles" of the ocean? Find out in here! Earth's climate changes over both long and short time scales. Increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, commonly due to large volcanic eruptions, tend to increase global air temperatures.

Major plant and animal extinctions observed in the geological record have been linked to rapid climate shifts. The record of the past 55 million years is well-documented with many intriguing clues found in Oregon. Oregon is also a leader in modern climate change research.

In this window learn how long-term climate cooling visible in the fossils and ancient soil layers of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument over more than 50 million years led to the Earth being cold enough to go in and out of ice ages over the past 2 million years.

While these changes were natural, and part of the Earth's climatic "pulse," humans are now unnaturally affecting climate. In the past years, greenhouse gasses have risen sharply to their highest levels in millions of years and the planet has warmed significantly 1. The colorful layers of the Painted Hills near Mitchell are ancient soils that reveal a warm temperate environment 33 million years ago in what is now a much cooler north-central Oregon.

The Oregon Territory stretched from the Pacific coast to the Rocky Mountains, encompassing the area including present-day Oregon, Washington, and most of British Columbia. In , under terms of the Transcontinental Treaty, Spain ceded its claims to the territory to the United States.

Shortly thereafter the United States contested a unilateral Russian move to grant its citizens a fishing, whaling, and commercial monopoly from the Bering Straits to the 51st parallel. In President Monroe promulgated his doctrine , which put Russia on notice that the United States did not accept Russian attempts at monopoly. The U. The United States had proposed to extend the border along the same parallel to the Pacific Ocean, but Great Britain insisted that the northern border be drawn west to the Columbia River and then follow that river to the ocean.