1850-1859
Chronological History Home
Oregon Trail marker, Gilliam County, Oregon, ca. 1926.
Between 1843 and 1869, hundreds of thousands of people crossed the Oregon Trail to settle in Oregon, Washington and California. Many of the Oregon settlers came to be associated with Corvallis College, which later became Oregon State University. One of those emigrants was James Knox Weatherford, brother of W. W. Weatherford (for whom the marker in the photo honored). The Weatherfords migrated to Oregon from Missouri in the early 1860s.
James K. Weatherford graduated from Corvallis College in 1872; in 1885 he was appointed to the college's board of regents. Weatherford served on the board until 1929, when it was replaced by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education. [OSU Archives #411.]
First large number of settlers arrived in Oregon and Willamette Valley, having traveled over the Oregon Trail.
Future site of "Corvallis" and "Oregon State University," near the confluence of the Willamette and Marys Rivers, first settled by Joseph C. Avery in October.
Benton County was established on December 23. It originally encompassed 18,660 square miles, from the southern border of Polk County to the California line.
Oregon became a territory of the United States on August 14. (Abraham Lincoln was asked to be governor of the Territory of Oregon.)
Territorial Census in Oregon: 9,083.