Page:Oregon, her history, her great men, her literature.djvu/23

20 first territory on the Pacific Coast to which the United States of America laid claim; it was the first to which she established a title. It is the only American territory which she acquired by priority of discovery, exploration and settlement; her only possession obtained on this continent without bloodshed or cash purchase. This remarkable country bordering the Pacific Ocean from California on the south to British America on the north extended as far east as the summit of the Rocky Mountains. It included the territory drained by the Columbia River and its tributaries, also the region extending south between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains to the 42nd parallel—in all more than a quarter million square miles. Because of its vast size it was subsequently divided into what are now Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and a part of Wyoming and Montana. The story of the Oregon Country, therefore, covers the early history of a region that has developed into prosperous states with their busy population, rich mines, great fields, thriving commerce, growing manufactories, beautiful cities and lawmaking capitols.

The discovery of the Oregon Country, like the discovery of America, was accidental. When it came to be known that islands and other land barriers of various sizes and unknown shapes lay across the direct sea route to India, navigators made many voyages in search for an open passage or strait through which ships might sail from Europe to India. Knowledge of the new country was vague, hence every inlet along the western coast was explored in the hope of finding a passage-way through the continent. These explorations, together with the explorations of fur traders,