Page:Oregon, her history, her great men, her literature.djvu/17



The History of Oregon is divided into five epochs:

First Epoch. Early Explorations. This epoch treats of the explorations that led to the discovery of Oregon, first from the sea, (1792), then by land, (1805). It begins in 1502, with the effort of Columbus to find a passage through Panama to India, and ends in 1805, when Lewis and Clark completed their overland expedition to Astoria. Also under Epoch I are selections from Indian folk-lore as told to the earliest white explorers and settlers.

Second Epoch. The Settlement of Oregon. This epoch extends from 1805 to 1843. It treats of the settlement of the Oregon Country by the British and Canadians, who came as trappers and traders; and by the American emigrants, who settled the country in true colonial fashion.

Third Epoch. Oregon Under the Provisional Government. This epoch begins in 1843, at which time the settlers provided for themselves a govenment independent of the Hudson's Bay Company; it ends March 3, 1849, when Governor Joseph Lane proclaimed the territorial government in Oregon. It is the story of Oregon under the Provisional Government.

Fourth Epoch. Oregon Under the Territorial Government. This epoch extends from 1849 to 1859. It is the history of Oregon from Governor Lane's proclamation of April 3, 1849, to February 14, 1839, when Oregon was admitted to statehood.

Fifth Epoch. The State of Oregon. This epoch extending from 1859 to the present, is the history of Oregon as a state, in the union of states under the federal constitution. Also under this epoch appears Section XIV which treats of the Literature of Oregon, the most of which was written during her statehood.