1579 Sir Francis Drake probably touched the Oregon coast.

1778 British explorer James Cook reached and named Cape Foulweather.
1788 Robert Gray and other Americans landed on the Oregon coast.
1792 Robert Gray sailed into the Columbia River.
1792 George Vancouver explored and mapped the Oregon coast.

1805 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark reached the mouth of the Columbia.
1811 John Jacob Astor founded Astoria.
1819 A treaty between the United States and Spain fixed the present southern border of Oregon.
1825 The Hudson's Bay Company established Fort Vancouver.
1834 Methodist missionaries established the first permanent American settlement in the Willamette Valley.
1843 About a thousand persons traveled the Oregon Trail and settled in the Willamette Valley.
1843 The Willamette settlers at Champoeg organized a provisional government.
1846 A treaty made the 49th parallel the chief boundary between British and U.S. territory in the Oregon region.
1847 Indians massacred 14 settlers near present-day Walla Walla, Washington, leading to the Cayuse War.
1848 Oregon became a territory.
1850 Congress passed the Oregon Donation Land Law.
1850 The capital was moved to Salem.
1853 The present boundaries of Oregon were established when Congress created the Washington Territory.

Feb. 14, 1859 Oregon became the 33rd state.
1877 Chief Joseph helped lead the Nez Percé Indians in a war against the white men, but finally surrendered.

1902 Oregon adopted the initiative and referendum.
1908 Oregon adopted the recall.
1912 The state adopted woman suffrage.
1937 Bonneville Dam was completed.

SEE ALSO
Sir Francis Drake
James Cook
Meriwether Lewis
William Clark
John Jacob Astor
Hudson's Bay Company
Chief Joseph

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This page was last updated on September 03, 2017.