OREGON IN 1863
By Thomas W. Prosch
One of my books is Bancroft's (San Francisco) Hand Book Almanac for the Pacific States for 1863—a half century ago. It is not, perhaps, a rare or valuable volume, but to those interested in "old Oregon" it is entertaining and pleasant—a reminder of days when people and things on the North Pacific Coast were young and new. To the readers of the Oregon Historical Quarterly the mere mention of the names therein contained will be good, while comparison of the statistical facts and figures of those days with like statements of these days will be instructive and grateful. It is impossible to tell how many people were in Oregon fifty years ago, but, judging by the numbers found by the census taken in 1860 and 1870, it may be safely assumed that the number was about sixty-five thousand, or about one-fourth the number to be found this year in the city of Portland alone, a city that then contained about four thousand inhabitants. While all parts of the state have increased in population, trade and wealth, no one will pretend, of course, that other parts have kept up in the race with Portland. Gold had been discovered in Washington Territory in 1860-1-2, and so many men had gone to seek it that in 1863 Congress created the Territory of Idaho, including those parts of Washington in which the gold had been found. Following these discoveries, gold was found in Eastern Oregon. As one of many results of these gold finds several thousand people, mostly men, planted themselves in that part of the State east of the Cascade Mountains. They liked the country and were there to stay. They demanded political recognition from the Legislature, and in consequence the counties of Baker and Umatilla were created, these, with Wasco, being the three counties in the eastern half of the State in 1863. Baker and Umatilla were then so new, however, that they do not appear in the Almanac as possessed of settlements arid governments as complete as those of the older counties.
