CLACKAMAS COUNTY HISTORY
By Patricia Kohnen for the American Local History Network EMAIL
THE FIRST PEOPLE OF CLACKAMAS---about the history and traditional cultures of the Clackamas, Kalapuya, and Molalla.
AT THE END OF THE TRAIL---introduces Clackamas history with a quick look at the County's changing borders and population.
CLACKAMAS COUNTY YEAR-BY-YEAR, 1800 - 1900: An informal history with lots of
pictures, links, and name-dropping.
1800 to 1843: The Birth of Clackamas County---Clackamas Native Americans first encounter explorers and fur trappers of the Astor, Northwest, and Hudson's Bay companies; disease devastates the Pacific Northwest; missionaries come to Oregon; the Oregon Trail begins; new towns established in Clackamas County at Oregon City, Linn, and Multnomah; settlers create the Oregon Provisional Government.
1844 to 1848: Oregon Becomes US Territory---the Barlow Road and a tide of emigration on the Oregon Trail; new towns at Portland, Eagle Creek, Canemah, and Willamette; the British quit Oregon; the Cayuse War; Oregon joins the United States as a Territory.
1849
to 1859: Oregon Becomes a State---the Donation Land Claim Act; more settlers
create new towns at Barlow, Damascus, Milwaukie, and Oswego; steamships,
mills, and ferries; Indian treaties and reservations; Oregon is admitted as
the 33rd State in the US.
1860
to 1900: End of the Pioneer Era---foundation of Carver, Canby, and Molalla;
railroads come to the county and the state; locks and a fish-ladder on the Willamette
River; floods and freezes; electricity from Willamette Falls.
Native
Americans of Clackamas County
The First People of Clackamas County --about the history and traditional cultures of the Clackamas, Kalapuya, and Molalla.
Map--Traditional
Oregon Tribes and Bands includes homelands and language
groups.
Bibliography: Native Americans of the Willamette
Valley
Featured Stories
The Clackamas Fish Hatchery; the first in Oregon, opened in 1877
The
Willamette Meteorite:
Amazing
Heavenly and Earthly Journey of the Willamette Meteorite
Strange
Journey: Further Travels of the Willamette Meteorite
Who
Owns a Meteorite?
The
Latest Campaign to Bring the Meteorite Home from New York
Visit History in the County:
Eight museums! A hundred National Register historic sites! Cabins, mills, gardens, and houses! Trains, wagons, and horsecarts! Farm tools, dolls, guns, dishes, skis and a meteorite! Plus...historical markers too numerous to count!
Reference (bibliographies and links to maps, libraries, and favorite web sites)
