|
Oregon
Below you are links to
informational sites related to the Oregon Gun laws and regulations. (
Legal lawyer stuff as follows:
Center-fire- Greenfield Industries are not responsible nor
endorses any information found on listed links. blah, blah,
blah. You get the picture. Take everything you read with a
grain of salt.) We have even included some
comical links such as the
Brady Campaign , because everybody enjoys a little
fictional reading from time to time.
|
|
About thirteen thousand years
ago the first native Americans had arrived in the Northwest
from Mongolia by way of Siberia and Alaska. The Indian
pictographs on canyon walls and legends of the Northwest's
earliest historic accounts provide the story of how Oregon was
shaped by the ocean, volcanoes and rain. Many Oregon names are
derived from Indian tribal names, such as Multnomah,
Willamette, Siuslaw and Clackamas.
The native Americans were followed many centuries later by
Spanish and British mariners seeking the fabled "great river
of the west." It was an American, however, Captain John Gray,
who in 1792 discovered the great river and named it for his
ship, The Columbia. Captain Gray was one of the first white
men to enter Oregon.
This discovery prompted Thomas Jefferson in 1804 to send the
exploring team of Lewis and Clark overland to gain more
knowledge of the region and to find out if there was a
northwest passage. They found that the passage did not exist,
but laid claim to the territory. Their expedition, along with
Captain Gray's trip, gave the United States a strong stake in
the land.
Early trappers and fur traders made exciting explorations,
finding the bounty that Oregon provided. The British Hudson's
Bay Company, led by Dr. John McLoughlin, became the dominant
force in the economy. This fur-trading company directed
activities throughout the region and built the original
capital of the Oregon Territory in Oregon City at the northern
end of the Willamette Valley.
It wasn't until the 1840s, however, that the main influx of
people began. Pioneers from the East Coast border states and
merchants traveling by ship from New England increased the
Oregon population, leading to the creation of the Oregon
Territory in 1848 and statehood in 1859.
The emigrants, traveling by wagon, crossed the Oregon Trail
from 1841 to 1860, covering 2,000 miles from Missouri to
Western Oregon. The majority of the pioneers settled in the
fertile Willamette Valley. Discoveries of gold on the coast
and in the high country led to settlement in these regions as
well. These latter settlements, however, provoked tragic
Indian wars which lasted many years. The Rogue River, Modoc,
Paiute, Bannock and Nez Perce Indian wars all concluded with
the Indians surrendering their land.
When the railroads came to Oregon in the 1870s the agriculture
industry no longer required direct access to waterways because
supplies could be transported overland. The arrival of the
automobile quickened the urban growth of the state, and the
depletion of eastern forests brought logging to Oregon on a
huge scale. Many of the millions of visitors to Oregon's Lewis
and Clark Exposition in 1905 were tempted to stay. Oregon's
pioneer spirit has continued on through the years in many ways
that have influenced the rest of the country. Citizens are
supportive of the environment, cultural affairs and a life
style that combines urban conveniences with the wonders of our
wilderness. Oregon has a beloved place in the lives of its
residents and they enjoy sharing their history, products and
beauty with others.
|