tory of Washington. From this latter, in turn, the eastern portion was detached in 1863, to form the largest part of the Territory of Idaho.
With the discovery of gold in California in 1848, Oregon farmers, soldiers, tradesmen, and officials joined in the mad rush to the gold fields. Within a few months two-thirds of Oregon's adult male population had left for California. Many of the stampeders acquired quick and easy fortunes, returning with as much as thirty or forty thousand dollars in gold dust and nuggets. This new-found wealth was badly needed; debts were paid, farms improved, houses built. And in addition to the gold-rushers who became well-to-do, those who remained at home also prospered. The miners in California required food, lumber, and other supplies, and they turned to neighboring Oregon for them. The price of wheat soared to $4 a bushel, flour to $15 a barrel, and lumber to $100 a thousand feet. Oregon began to take on an atmosphere of well-being. Log cabins gave way to comfortable dwellings of the New England and southern type; many of these are still standing today.
The Indian population of the Oregon country, estimated at about 27,000 in 1845, was comparatively peaceful throughout the domination of McLoughlin. But the rising tide of immigration in the 1840*8 filled the red men with apprehension and resentment, increased by wanton invasions of Indian rights by unprincipled whites. In November 1847 a band of Cayuses attacked the Presbyterian mission near the site of Walla Walla, killed Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife, and 12 others, and burnt all the buildings. The settlers immediately declared war upon the Cayuse tribe, and after several battles the Indians were routed and their villages destroyed. Another campaign, marked by a sharp engagement at Battle Rock and desultory skirmishes in other places, began against the Rogue Indians in 1851. Although Governor Joseph Lane effected a treaty with them at Table Rock, attacks and reprisals continued until 1855, when Jackson County volunteers massacred 23 Indians, including old men, women, and children. This act drove the Indians into a frenzy of resentment; they appeared everywhere, killing the settlers and driving off their cattle. Culminating a year of bitter struggle, the final battle of the campaign was fought at Oak Flat, on the Illinois River, June 26, 1856. Three days later, Chief John surrendered, and was subsequently imprisoned at Alcatraz. Meanwhile a similar war had raged in eastern Oregon, but the defeat of the Spokane nation on September i, 1858, and the execution of 16 Indians by Colonel Wright, brought the hostilities to an end.
During the Territorial period, social and economic conditions in
