Oregon Territory
The Oregon Territory (English Oregon Territory ) was a historic area in the northwestern United States . It was created by the division of the Oregon Country between the United States and Great Britain (or British North America, today's Canada ). This division took place in 1846 in the Oregon Treaty , which set the border at the 49th parallel north and ended the Oregon Boundary Dispute between the two nations.
The territory that fell to the United States was organized as Territory by a law of Congress on August 14, 1848 ; In other words, it did not initially have the status of a federal state because it was too sparsely populated and undeveloped, and was directly under the administration of the federal government. The first capital of the area was Oregon City and from 1851 Salem . In terms of area, the area roughly comprised the present-day US states of Washington , Oregon , Idaho , as well as western Montana and Wyoming .
In 1853, the area north of the Columbia River (further east the border followed the 46th parallel) was separated and reorganized as Washington Territory .
On February 14, 1859, the newly formed state of Oregon was detached from the territory and incorporated into the union within its current borders. The remaining areas of the Oregon Territory were annexed to the Washington Territory
In 1861 and 1863, the eastern portions of the Washington Territory were annexed to the Nebraska Territory and Idaho Territory, respectively .
1848: Oregon Territory at its inception
1853: Oregon Territory Washington Territory
1859: Newly formed state of Oregon Washington Territory
