Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/147

 FINANCIAL HISTORY OF OREGON. 139 Oregon and 30,474 had migrated hither from other States; 13 1,346 meanwhile removed out of the Territory mainly to California and Washington Territory. California's main loss was also to Oregon. There was a smaller representation of the foreign element among the Oregon population than in any other Northern State. The influx to Oregon had been mainly from Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, New York and Iowa. The new-comers had availed themselves of the op- portunity to get land afforded by the "Donation Act" of September 27, 1850. This law, designed to reward the settlers of Oregon for Americanizing the Pacific Coast, gave 320 acres each to husband and wife if the man had arrived in Oregon by December, 1850, and made his application as a married citizen before December, 1851. From this date down to December, 1855, each family had a right to 320 acres. 14 Of the nine new counties organized during this period, those that represented expansions of the settled area covered mainly the upper Willamette Valley and the valleys of the Umpqua and Rogue rivers. But the larger portion of the new popula- tion had found homes by occupying vacant spaces around the earlier centers of settlement. The main towns were on the Willamette River. Portland was already well in the lead. The average size of the farms was, under the bounty of the national government, large. Only the haciendas of California and the plantations of a few of the Southern States averaged so large. 15 13 The nativities of the Oregon population in 1850 and in 1860 from leading States are as follows: 1850. 1860. Missouri 2,206 5,695 Illinois 1,023 3,805 Indiana 739 2,497 Kentucky 730 2,208 Ohio 653 3,285 New York 618 2,206 Iowa 432 2,116 14 The grant to a single man or single woman above eighteen years of age was in each case half of the amount given a family. Donation Act, Section 4 and 7 Wall., 219. 15 The average size of the farms was 372 acres.