1543

Bartolome Ferrelo possibly reaches southwest coast

Manila Galleon trade route opens across North Pacific

Sir Francis Drake allegedly visits Oregon

Sebastian Vizcaino possibly sights Cape Sebastian

San Francisco Xavier probably wrecks at Nehalem

Pierre Gaultier de la Verendrye leads first expedition into Oregon

First use of word "Ouragon" in Maj. Robert Rogers' petition to explore American West

Capt. Juan Perez sails to Northwest Coast for Spain

Capt. Bruno Hezeta sees mouth of Columbia and names it Rio San Roque

First smallpox outbreak among Oregon’s indigenous people

Capt. James Cook makes landfall at Cape Foulweather and discovers fur wealth of Northwest Coast

Capt. Robert Gray trades with tribes in Tillamook Bay

Marius Lopius, African traveling with Gray, probably killed at Tillamook

Capt. Robert Gray enters and names the Columbia River

Capt. George Vancouver expedition charts Columbia estuary

 Lt. William E. Broughton names Mount Hood after British naval officer Alexander Arthur Hood

Second smallpox outbreak among Oregon’s tribes

Louisiana Purchase extends United States to Rocky Mountains

President Thomas Jefferson dispatches Lewis & Clark Expedition

Lewis & Clark Expedition explores lower Snake and Columbia Rivers and establishes Fort Clatsop

Lewis & Clark Expedition returns to the United States

John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur Company establishes Fort Astoria

Overland Astorians discover South Pass in Wyoming, later route of Oregon Trail

North West Company purchases Fort Astoria and names it Fort George

First English woman, Jane Barnes, visits Fort George

First domestic livestock imported by sea from California

William Cullen Bryant refers to "Oregon" in poem Thanatopsis

North West Company establishes Fort Nez Perce

James Biddle and John Prevost assert United States interests in Oregon

U.S. and Great Britain agree to "joint occupancy" of Oregon

Adams-Onis Treaty cedes Spain's discovery rights north of 42 degrees to the U. S.

Hudson's Bay Company subsumes North West Company

U.S. and Russia agree to 50 degrees as southern boundary of Russian interests

Dr. John McLoughlin begins long tenure as Chief Factor for Hudson's Bay Company

Workmen build Fort Vancouver on Columbia River

U.S. and Great Britain agree to indefinite "joint occupancy"

First sawmill begins cutting lumber near Fort Vancouver

Jedediah Smith’s party travels overland from California but Indians kill 15 men on the Umpqua River

First grist mill starts making flour at Fort Vancouver

Dr. John McLoughlin establishes claim at Willamette Falls, later Oregon City

Fever pandemic begins calamitous death toll of tribes

Newspapers report four Indians from Pacific Northwest in St. Louis seeking missionaries

Nathaniel Wyeth enters Oregon fur trade

Capt. B. L. E. Bonneville arrives overland to trap and trade for furs on Columbia Plateau

Hudson's Bay Company establishes Fort Umpqua at Elkton

First school opens at Fort Vancouver

First lumber exports by Hudson's Bay Company to China

Jason Lee's party establishes Methodist Mission near Wheatland

John K. Townsend and Thomas Nuttall collect natural history specimens

First steamship Beaver begins service for Hudson's Bay Company on the Columbia River

Lt. William Slacum mounts reconnaissance of western Oregon

Whitman-Spalding mission party, including Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spalding, arrives overland via Oregon Trail

Washington Irving publishes Astoria

Willamette Cattle Company drives livestock overland from California

Priests Blanchet and Demers arrive overland from Canada

Catholics establish mission at St. Paul

Lt. Charles Wilkes mounts reconnaissance with U.S. Exploring Expedition

Ewing Young's death leads to public meetings

First Catholic boys' school founded at St. Paul

First ship, Star of Oregon, built by settlers

Methodist missionaries found the Oregon Institute in Salem, an antecedent to Willamette University

First brick building, a house, erected by George Gay in Polk County

First large migration of over 900 emigrants arrives via Oregon Trail

Lt. John C. Fremont mounts reconnaissance of Oregon Trail

"Wolf Meetings" lead to Provisional Government

Oregonians submit petition to Senate seeking U.S. jurisdiction

First plat surveyed for a town at Oregon City

First Catholic girls' school founded at St. Paul

 Acts to prohibit slavery and exclude blacks and mulattoes from Oregon Territory were passed and the “Lash Law” enacted requiring Blacks – “be they free or slave – be whipped twice a year until he or she shall quit the territory”

Meek Cut-off opens as alleged short-cut to Oregon Trail

Estimated 3,000 overland emigrants arrive

Oregonians petition Congress for federal services

First Provisional governor, George Abernethy, elected

Francis Pettygrove and A. L. Lovejoy name Portland and commence plat of city

Lt. Neil Howison mounts reconnaissance of western Oregon

Barlow Road opens as toll route

Applegate Trail opens as alternative to Oregon Trail

Oregon Treaty affirms U.S. sovereignty to Pacific Northwest

First newspaper, Oregon Spectator, founded in Oregon City

Cayuse Indians attack Whitman Mission

Oregon Volunteers engage in Cayuse Indian War

First postmaster, John Shively, named at Astoria

First English book, a Blue Back Speller, printed in Oregon City

Joseph Meek carries petition east seeking federal "patronage"

Organic Act creates Oregon Territory

James Marshall discovers gold in California

First U.S. Customs Service office opens in Astoria

First territorial governor, Joseph Lane, assumes duties

First Mounted Riflemen of U.S. Army arrive overland

First "Beaver" gold coins minted in Oregon City

Congress passes Oregon Donation Land Act

First capital punishment—five Cayuse are hanged in Oregon City

Investors start printing The Oregonian in Portland

Census enumerates 11,873 Oregonians