Chapter 12 Section 1
The Oregon Country
Rivalry in the Northwest
• Four Claims
– In the early 1800s, four countries laid claim to
the area known as the Oregon Country
– The countries were the U.S., Great Britain,
Spain and Russia
Adams-Onis Treaty
• Americans wanted control of the Oregon
Country in order to gain access to the
Pacific Ocean
• Part of the Adams-Onis Treaty with Spain
in 1819 limited Spain’s claim to the
northern border of present-day California
• In 1824 Russia surrendered its claim
• In 1818 the U.S. and Britain agreed on
joint occupation.
Mountain Men
• The first Americans to reach the Oregon Country
were fur trappers who spent most of their time in
the Rocky Mountains
• The men trapped throughout spring and early
summer. In the late summer they gathered for a
rendezvous (meeting) in order to exchange
goods, compete in contests, and share stories
• During their explorations, the South Pass ( a
wide break throughout the Rockies) was
discovered. It became part of the Oregon Trail
Settling Oregon
• The Whitman Mission
– Among the earlier settlers to the Oregon
Country were missionaries such as Dr.
Marcus Whitman and his wife who built a
mission in present day WA.
– New settlers in the area unknowingly brought
measles. An epidemic killed many Native
American children. As a result, the Native
Americans attacked the mission and killed the
settlers.
The Oregon Trail
• In the early 1840s, “Oregon Fever” swept
through the Mississippi Valley
• Pioneers traveled westward to the Oregon
Country using the trail.
The Division of Oregon
• Manifest Destiny
– Between 1840 and a845, the number of Americans in
the Oregon Country grew much faster than the British
population
– Many Americans believed that it was the mission of
the U.S. to expand to the pacific Ocean
– In the 1840s, NY newspaper editor John O’Sullivan
put the idea of a national mission into specific words.
He declared that it was America's “Manifest Destiny”
to extend its boundaries all the way to the Pacific
Ocean
“Fifty-four Forty or Fight”
• American settlers in Oregon wanted sole
claim to the area. They wanted the U.S.
claim to go all the way north to 54 40’N
• The 54 40’N line became a major issue in
the 1844 presidential election. James K.
Polk, who supported the border line,
defeated Henry Clay
Reaching a Settlement
• Britain would not accept the line of 54 40’N
because it would have lost its entire claim
to the Oregon Country
• In 1846, the U.S. and Britain finally agreed
on the line of 49’N