Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/265

CHAPTER IX.

SURVEYS AND TOWN-MAKING.

1851–1853.

Proposed Territorial Division—Coast Survey—Light-houses Established—James S. Lawson—His Biography, Public Services, and Contribution to History—Progress North of the Columbia—South of the Columbia—Birth of Towns—Creation of Counties—Proposed New Territory—River Navigation—Improvements at the Clackamas Rapids—On the Tualatin River—La Creole River—Bridge-building—Work at the Falls of the Willamette—Fruit Culture—The First Apples Sent to California—Agricultural Progress—Imports and Exports—Society.

 

A movement was made north of the Columbia River in the spring of 1851, to divide Oregon, all that portion north and west of the Columbia to be erected into a new territory, with a separate government—a scheme which met with little opposition from the legislature of Oregon or from congress. Accordingly in March 1853 the separation was consummated. The reasons advanced were the alleged disadvantages to the Puget Sound region of unequal legislation, distance from the seat of government, and rivalry in commercial interests. North of the Columbia progress was slow from the beginning of American settlements in 1845 to 1850, when the Puget Sound region began to feel the effect of the California gold discoveries, with increased facilities for communication with the east. In answer to the oft-repeated prayers of the legislature of Oregon, that a survey might be made of the Pacific coast of the United States, a commission was appointed in

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