Oregon

One of the Pacific States of the American Confederacy. Oregon was the name formerly given to the whole territory north of the Rocky Mountains, and was first claimed by the Spanish government, and next by the government of the United States, as far as lat. 54° 40′ N. This latter claim was resisted by the British government, which a erted a right to the entire territory, and in 1818 a treaty was made, and renewed in 1827, giving joint occupation to the disputed territory. In 1846 a treaty was concluded, by which the boundary was settled on the 49th parallel. Previous to this latter treaty (1839) emigration from the United States, for the purpose of settlement, commenced, and it continued steadily until the opening of the gold mines in California, which attracted a great many emigrants. In 1849 it formed a Territorial government, and in 1859 it was admitted into the Union as a State. This State has been troubled greatly by Indians, and has been the scene of several wars in earlier days, notably, in 1853, on Rogue River; in 1855, when a general outbreak took place, of which the following is a brief summary: In 1855 a war broke out between the whites and the Indians of Washington Territory. The head and front of the outbreak on the part of the Indians was Kam-ai-a-kin. He took this stand from a fixed principle: that of resisting all encroachments on the part of the whites. He had seen the fate of the Indian race in the Willamette Valley, and he determined to anticipate such a result with regard to his own people, and, if po ible, to prevent it. When Gov. Stevens made his arbitrary treaties with him, and left him no discretion but to sell his land; and when the miners began to traverse his country, he concluded that the hour had arrived to fight, and he called to his aid as many of the adjoining tribes as he could persuade into it. The manner in which the treaties on Puget Sound were conducted created great di atisfaction among the Indians, and they were quite ready to join Kam-ai-a-kin. The war commenced by the killing of miners, who were picked off in the Yakama country as they were going to Fort Colville, scarcely a month after the council which was held at Walla Walla. The killing of the agent Bolen set the war in a blaze. The small detachment of troops sent to chastise them was driven back. This succe on the part of the Klick a tats encouraged the Sound Indians, who also took up arms, and in the absence of troops, fell upon and killed the inhabitants of White River; but the wholesale slaughter of women and children by a party under the command of Major Lupton on October 8, 1855, drove the Indians to desperation and caused them to commence the war in earnest; hostilities continued until the summer of 1856. Also, in later years, the Modoc war (1872), the Nez Pérces (1877), and the Bannock war (1878).