Oregon State Archives

Washington Territory was created by Act of Congress on March 2, 1853. By this time, the number of counties in Oregon Territory had grown to twelve and the white population to over 29,000. Eighty percent of the population lived in the northwest corner of the territory and less than 1500 people lived east of the Cascade Mountains. Oregon Territory now comprised the area south of the Columbia River and latitude 46', north of latitude 42', and between the Pacific Ocean and the crest of the Rockies.