Lesson 5: Settling Oregon Country Flashcards
Mountain Men Definition
a trapper who explored and hunted in the American West in the early 1800s
Oregon Country Definition
a term used in early 1800s for the region that includes present-day Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, as well as parts of Wyoming, Montana, and western Canada
Oregon Trail Definition
the route to the Oregon Country used by wagon trains in the 1800s
Rendezvous Definition
a yearly meeting where mountain men traded furs
Rugged Individualists Definition
a person who follows his or her own independent course in life
How did Americans now about Oregon Country in the early 1800s? What modern areas compose the Oregon Country?
Americans first heard about the area known as Oregon Country in the early 1800s. Lewis and Clark had explored this area west of the Louisiana Purchase in 1805. Oregon Country was a huge region west of the Rocky Mountains. Today, it includes Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and parts of Wyoming, Montana, and western Canada.
What was the geography of Oregon Country? What place attracted neither farmers nor fur-trappers?
The geography of Oregon Country was varied. Along the Pacific coast, the soil was fertile. Temperatures there were mild all year round, and rainfall was plentiful. Early white settlers found fine farmland in the valley of the Willamette River and the lowlands around Puget Sound. Dense forest covered the Coastal Ranges and Cascade Mountains, which surrounded these lowlands. Beavers and other fur-bearing animals roamed these forests and the Rocky Mountains to the east. For this reason, fur trappers were the first settlers to head into Oregon Country. Not all of Oregon Country attracted Americans. Between the Cascade Mountains and the Rockies is a dry plateau. This region attracted neither fur trappers nor farmers.
What was the agreement America and Britain reached over the Oregon Country in 1818?
In the early 1800s, four countries claimed Oregon. They were the United States, Great Britain, Spain, and Russia. Of course, Native American groups had lived there for centuries. However, the United States and European nations gave little thought to Indian rights. In 1818, the United States and Britain agreed to occupy Oregon Country jointly. Citizens of each nation would have equal rights there. Spain and Russia had few settlers there, so they withdrew their claims to Oregon Country.
At first, how many Europeans and Americans traveled to Oregon Country? What was the main occupation of these people? Where did they come from? What did the Native Americans call them?
At first, only a handful of Europeans or Americans traveled to Oregon Country. Most were fur traders. Since furs could be sold for huge profits in China, merchants from New England stopped along the Oregon coast before crossing the Pacific. In fact, so many New England traders visited Oregon to buy furs that, in some areas, the Indian name for a white man was “Boston.”
What were fur-trappers that stayed in Oregon called? Why were they celebrated as rugged individualists?
Only a few hardy fur trappers actually settled in Oregon. These adventurous men hiked throughout the region’s vast forests, trapping animals and living off the land. They were known as mountain men. Mountain men were admired as rugged individualists. Even their colorful appearance set them apart from ordinary society. Their shirts and trousers were made of animal hides and decorated with porcupine quills. Their hair reached to their shoulders. Pistols and tomahawks hung from their belts.
What were challenges Mountain Men had to face?
Mountain men could make fine profits selling their furs. They led dangerous lives, however. The long, cold winters demanded special survival skills. In the forests, mountain men had to watch out for bears, wildcats, or other animals that might attack. In winter, food was scarce. Faced with starvation, a hungry trapper would eat almost anything. “I have held my hands in an anthill until they were covered with ants, then greedily licked them off,” one mountain man recalled. Trappers often spent winters in Native American villages. They learned trapping and hunting skills from Indians. Some mountain men married Indian women who helped the newcomers survive in the rugged mountains.
What did Mountain men do during the fall and spring? How about in July? What happened during the Rendezvous? What happened when the fur trade declined?
During the fall and spring, mountain men tended their traps. Then in July, they tramped out of the wilderness to meet with fur traders. They headed to a place chosen the year before, called the rendezvous (RAHN day voo). Rendezvous is a French word meaning “get-together.”
The first day of the rendezvous was a time for entertainment. A visitor to one rendezvous captured the excitement:
“[The mountain men] engaged in contests of skill at running, jumping, wrestling, shooting with the rifle, and running horses…. They sang, they laughed, they whooped; they tried to out-brag and out-lie each other in stories of their adventures.”
—Washington Irving, The Adventures of Captain Bonneville, U.S.A., in the Rocky Mountains and the Far West, 1837
Soon enough, trappers and traders settled down to bargain. As long as beaver hats were in demand in the East and in Europe, mountain men got a good price for their furs. By the late 1830s, however, the fur trade was dying. Trappers had killed too many beavers, and the animals had become scarce. Also, beaver hats went out of style. Even so, mountain men found new uses for their skills. Some used their knowledge of the region to lead settlers along rugged mountain trails into Oregon Country.
What was the influence of the Guides to the West?
n their search for furs, mountain men explored many parts of the West. They followed Indian trails through passes in the Rocky Mountains. Later, they used these trails to help guide settlers heading west. Jedediah Smith led settlers across the Rockies through South Pass, in present-day Wyoming. Manuel Lisa, a Latino fur trader, led a trip up the Missouri River. In 1807, he founded Fort Manuel, the first outpost on the upper Missouri, in what is now North Dakota. James Beckwourth, an African American freed from slavery, traveled west from Missouri to seek a new life. He worked as a fur trader and lived among the Crow Indians, who later accepted him as a chief. In his work as a guide, Beckwourth discovered a mountain pass through the Sierra Nevada mountain range that later became a major route to California.
Who were the first white Americans to settle in the Oregon Country permanently? What was their goal?
The first white Americans to settle permanently in Oregon Country were missionaries. In the 1830s, they began to travel west to bring their religious beliefs to Native Americans.
What was the influence of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman? Why were they and 12 others killed by Native Americans?
Among these early settlers were Marcus and Narcissa Whitman. In 1836, the couple married and set out for Oregon Country, where they planned to convert local Native Americans to Christianity. The Whitmans built their mission near the Columbia River and began to work with Cayuse (kay-YOOS) people, setting up a mission school and a clinic. Soon, other missionaries and settlers joined them. Missionaries like the Whitmans helped stir up interest in Oregon Country. The Whitman Mission was a major stopping point along the Oregon Trail during the 1840s. Eager to have others join them, the missionaries sent back glowing reports about the land. People throughout the nation read these reports. By 1840, more and more Americans were making the long and difficult journey to Oregon Country. As settlers spread onto Cayuse lands, conflicts arose. Worse, the newcomers carried diseases that often killed the Cayuses. In 1847, tragedy struck. A measles outbreak among the settlers spread to the Cayuses. Many Cayuse children died. Blaming the settlers, a band of angry Indians attacked the mission, killing the Whitmans and 12 others.
