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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2009)
The INDEPENDENT, February 19, 2009 Page 21 History and cake both played a part in Oregon’s 150th birthday By Robb Wilson Do you feel older today? Did you know that Oregon is celebrating its “sesquicentenni- al”? This means that we are turning 150 years old. Now that is old! “Whereas the people of Ore- gon have framed, ratified and adopted a constitution of state government which is republican in form, and in conformity with the Constitution of the United States and have applied for ad- mission into the Union on an equal footing with the other states...” The above, along with five other paragraphs describing land and boundaries, stipula- tions, representative to con- gress and propositions, was Oregon’s constitution when it became the 33rd state on the 14th day of February, 1859. Now that we were official, how did it come about? Where did the name Oregon come from? On the earliest map (1700s) there was no Pacific Ocean boundary to the west. Nobody knew much about anything that was west of the Mississip- pi River. The origin of the name of our state is not certain. One of the thoughts is that, on these early maps, the “Ouisicon-Sink Riv- er” was shown. It wasn’t known, but it was thought that its head waters started some- where in the far west. French-Canadian trappers referred to the unknown west- ern area as the “Ouisicon-Sink” (Wisconsin). On maps pro- duced a few years later, the let- ter ‘s’ was replaced with the let- ter ‘r’, changing the name to “Ouiricon.” As the French- Canadian trappers came fur- ther west and passed the now- discovered headwaters, they called this unexplored area “Oricon”. Another theory is that other trappers dropping south from modern day Canada on the “mighty river” (Columbia) came through the area of what we call today The Dalles and Cas- cade Locks, and finding the riv- er so turbulent called it “Oura- gan” a French word, meaning “like a hurricane.” Another idea is that the Spaniards who settled the Cal- ifornias might have called the area north of them “Obregon”, a Spanish surname, perhaps for an explorer. So take your pick. For what- ever reason, we call it “Ore- gon” today, and have since 1817, when literature referred to the area as the Oregon Country. The pioneers who came west in 1843 on the Ore- gon Trail started referring to the area as “the Garden of Eden” because of what they were told about the lush and lovely Willamette Valley of Oregon. It wasn’t until 1848 that, with the help of Hillsboro’s own pio- neer Joe Meek, who traveled to Washington, D.C., that the area became legally and offi- cially known as the Oregon Ter- ritory. It took another 10 years of soliciting the United States Congress until we got our Statehood! The first place in the territory to learn of our acceptance as a state was Rainier, where a ship coming up the Columbia River made its first stop while deliver- ing mail from the east coast, and announced the good news. “The town folk went wild, hoot- ing, hollering, shooting off guns and fireworks, committing hoopla at the excitement of becoming the Union’s 33rd State!!” according to one re- port. Oregon is the 10th largest state by size, with its 97,000 square miles and 62 million acres divided into 36 counties. It measures 350 miles from east to west and 280 miles from north to south. The population in 1850 was 12,000 people. By 1870 it was 91,000 folks and grew to a half- million by 1910. Today’s popu- lation is close to 3,750,000. What was Vernonia like at the time of statehood? Well, no one was here to record any- thing. The first settlers came in 1873. It is thought that the Clatskanie Indians and the Tu- alatin Indians had been living here in the upper valley, where they caught salmon to dry for their winter provisions.There are a number of sites that have evidence of them. Trappers who had come through the area talked about Senate President Peter Courtney (second from the right) cuts the first piece of Oregon's birthday cake during the state's official sesquicentennial celebration at the Oregon State Capitol Saturday afternoon, February 14. Governor Ted Kulongoski is at right in foreground. Among the speakers at Saturday's event were Governor Ted Kulongoski, House Speaker Dave Hunt, former Governor Barbara Roberts, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, Congressman Peter Defazio, Congressman Kurt Schrader, State Treasurer Ben Westlund, Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli, Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court Paul J. De Muniz, and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley. Picture courtesy of Robin Maxey, Communications Director, Office of Senate President Peter Courtney. the natural riches of the val- ley, enticing those who became the first settlers to this last bastion of Oregon. Many books on early Ore- gon are available at libraries and book stores, and in the Sunday Oregonian, John Terry writes about Oregon history and, especially these few weeks surrounding the birth- day, he has been focusing on the event. Another source for current information and what is hap- pening at this historic time in Oregon’s history can be found at http://www.oregon150.org. How are we doing now? Well, we may be 150 years young, but we don’t look a day over 145!! Happy 150 th Birthday Oregon!!! Available at… Gardner’s Farm & Home Supply 19340 Biggs Road Vernonia, OR 97064 (503) 429-6481
