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Wyoming Territory

Wyoming Territory

Wyoming Territory was an organized territory of the United States that existed from 1868 until its admission to the Union as the State of Wyoming in 1890. Cheyenne was the territorial capital. The boundaries of Wyoming Territory were identical those of the modern state of Wyoming.

Pre-territory

Because of Wyoming's location at the intersection of the Louisiana Purchase, the Oregon Country, and the Mexican Cession, the land which became Wyoming has a complicated history of territorial relationships. Portions of the territory which eventually fell under Wyoming's jurisdiction were at various points associated with Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Dakota, Nebraska and Utah, and had previously belonged to the independent states of Great Britain, France, Spain, Mexico, and Texas. Texas The portion of the Wyoming Territory east of the continental divide was acquired by the U.S. in the 1803 Louisiana Purchase and organized into the Nebraska Territory in 1854. In 1861, the northern half of the Nebraska Territory, including the northeastern portion of future Wyoming Territory became part of the Dakota Territory (left), while the southeastern portion remained with Nebraska, forming an extended Nebraska "panhandle" which included the settlement of Cheyenne. In 1863, the Idaho Territory was formed; it included the entirety of the modern states of Idaho and Montana and almost all of modern Wyoming save the southeast corner. Montana The portion of the Wyoming Territory west of the continental divide and north of the 42nd parallel was originally part of the Oregon Country, which was organized into the Oregon Territory in 1848; when Oregon entered the union as a state under its present boundaries in 1859, this land became part of the Washington Territory (although its eastern part had been granted to the Nebraska Territory in 1854 (right). The Idaho Territory subsumed this land as well in 1863. 1863 The southwestern corner of what became the Wyoming Territory, south of the 42nd parallel, became part of the United States with the 1848 Mexican Cession. An eastern section of this was once claimed by the Republic of Texas. In 1851, the portion of this land west of the continental divide was made part of the Utah Territory, and, with the organization of the Colorado Territory in 1861, most of it was transferred to the Nebraska Territory (left) and subsumed into the Idaho Territory in 1863. A small corner of Wyoming remained part of Utah until the creation of the Wyoming Territory in 1868. 1861 In 1864, with the formation of the Montana Territory, the southeastern section of the Idaho Territory (most of modern Wyoming) became briefly part of Dakota Territory once again (right), although a strip of land along the western border of what would become Wyoming remained part of the Idaho Territory.

Wyoming Territory

The territory was formally organized by Act of Congress on July 25, 1868. At the time of its formation, it took land from the Dakota, Idaho, and Utah Territories. It was admitted to the Union as the 44th state on July 10, 1890.

See also


- Congressional Delegates from Wyoming Territory

External links


- [http://www.statehousegirls.net/wy/timeline/ Timeline of Wyoming History] Category:Wyoming history Category:Historical regions and territories of the United States

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

State and local governments

supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system. The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole. In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships. The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean. The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited. The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.

Foreign relations and military

sovereign] The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between. Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war. The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation. The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development. (For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)

Largest cities

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged. Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics. The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:

Economy

The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. gross domestic product The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others. Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry. Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars. The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries. In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000. Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years. The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 (2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually. Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws. America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s. America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.’s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."

Transportation

Alan Greenspan ]] Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states. Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world's largest and most heavily used subway systems. The regional rail and bus networks that extend into Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate New York, and Connecticut are among the most heavily used in the world. Air travel is often preferred for destinations over 300 miles (500 kilometers) away. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; in terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. There are several major seaports in the United States; the three busiest are the Port of Los Angeles, California; the Port of Long Beach, California; and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Others include Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington; plus, outside the contiguous forty-eight states, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Society

Demographics

Hawaii The mean center of the U.S. population continues to drift farther west and south. The fastest growing region is the western United States followed by the southern portion. According to Census 2000, the states that saw the greatest increases from 1990 were: Nevada (66.3%), Arizona (40%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%), Idaho (28.5%), Georgia (26.4%), Florida (23.5%), Texas (22.8%), North Carolina (21.4%), and Washington (21.1%). [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf]

Ethnicity and race

:Main article: Racial demographics of the United States The United States is a very racially diverse country. According to the 2000 census, it has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, and numerous others represented in smaller amounts. The majority of Americans descend from white European immigrants who arrived at the establishment of the first colonies (most after Reconstruction). This majority--69.1% in 2000--decreases each year, and is expected to become a plurality within a few decades. The most frequently stated European ancestries are German (15.2%), Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) and Scandinavian (3.7%). Many immigrants also hail from Slavic countries such as Poland and Russia. Other significant immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada. Russia Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are the largest minority group in the country, comprising 12.5% of the population (2000 census). People of Mexican descent made up 7.3% of the population in the 2000 census, and this proportion is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades. About 12.3% (2000 census) of the American people are African Americans (Blacks). African Americans are spread throughout the country, but their presence is largest in the South. Asian Americans--including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders--are a third significant minority (3.7% of the population in 2000). Most Asian Americans are concentrated on the West Coast and Hawaii. The largest groups are immigrants or descendants of emigrants from the Philippines, China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan. Indigenous peoples in the United States, such as American Indians and Inuit, make up 0.9% of the population (2000 census). About 35% live on Indian reservations.

Religion

Polls estimate that just under 80 percent of Americans are Christians of various denominations. The other 20 percent comprises other religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, other various faiths, and those without a specific religion. The United States is noteworthy among developed nations for its relatively high level of religiosity. According to a 2004 Gallup poll, about 44% of Americans attend a religious service at least once a week. However, this rate is not uniform across the country; attendance is more common in the Bible Belt—composed largely of Southern and Midwestern states—than in the Northeast and West Coast. In the Southern states, Baptists are the largest group, followed by Methodists; Roman Catholics are dominant in the Northeast and in large parts of the Midwest due to their being settled by descendants of Catholic immigrants from Europe (such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland) or other parts of North America (mainly Quebec and Puerto Rico). The rest of the country for the most part has a complex mixture of various Christian groups.

Education

West Coast's home at Monticello and the University of Virginia (library building shown above, and designed by Jefferson), the only collegiate campus on the list. Both sites are located in Charlottesville, Virginia.]] In the United States, education is a state, not federal, responsibility, and the laws and standards vary considerably. However, the federal government, through the Department of Education, is involved with funding of some programs and exerts some influence through its ability to control funding. In most states, all students must attend mandatory schooling starting with kindergarten, which children normally enter at age 5, and following through 12th grade, which is normally completed at age 18

1868

1868 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar).

Events


- January 3 - Meiji Emperor declares "Meiji Restoration", his own restoration to full power, against the supporters of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
- January 6 - Asa Mercer and number of new "Mercer Girls" sail from Massachusetts for West Coast - they arrive in Seattle in May 23
- January 10 - Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu declares emperor's declaration "illegal" and attacks Kyoto. Pro-Emperor forces drive his troops away. Shogun surrenders in May.
- February 13 - The War Office sanctions the formation of what will become the Army Post Office Corps
- February 16 - In New York City the Jolly Corks organization is renamed the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE).
- February 24 - The first parade to have floats occurs at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- February 24 - After Andrew Johnson tried to dismiss United States Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, he becomes the first President of the United States to be impeached by the United States House of Representatives. Johnson would later be acquitted by the United States Senate.
- March 5 - A court of impeachment is organized in the United States Senate to hear charges against President Andrew Johnson.
- March 23 - The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into California law.
- April 1 - Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute is established in Hampton, Virginia
- March 24 - Metropolitan Life Insurance Company is formed.
- May 16 - President Andrew Johnson is acquitted during his impeachment trial, by one vote in the United States Senate.
- May 30 - Memorial Day is observed in the United States for the first time (it was proclaimed on May 5 by General John Logan).
- May 31 - Thomas Spence declares himself president of the Republic of Manitoba. He soon alienates the locals
- July 5 - Preacher William Booth establishes the Christian Mission, predecessor of the Salvation Army, in the East End of London
- July 25 - Wyoming becomes a United States territory.
- July 28 - The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is adopted guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law.
- late September - Queen Isabella II of Spain effectively deposed and goes into exile; she will formally abdicate June 25, 1870.
- September 23 - Rebels in the town of Lares declare Puerto Rico independent. Local militia defeats them a week later.
- October 28 - Thomas Edison applied for his first patent, the electric vote recorder.
- November - Ulysses S. Grant defeats Horatio Seymour in the U.S. presidential election.
- November 2 - New Zealand officially adopts nationally observed standard time, and was perhaps the first country to do so.
- December 25 - US President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all Civil War rebels.
- November 27 - Indian Wars: Battle of Washita River - In the early morning, United States Army Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads an attack on a band of peaceful Cheyenne living on reservation land with Chief Black Kettle, killing 103 Cheyenne (later regarded as the first substantial US victory in the war).
- Thomas Henry Huxley discovers what he thinks is a primordial matter and names it bathybius haecklii (he admits his mistake in 1871)
- German ophthalmologist August Rothmund defines Rothmund-Thompson's syndrome.
- First edition of the World Almanac published.
- Académie Julian - a major art school in Paris, France that admitted women.

Births


- January 9 - S.P.L. Sørensen, Danish chemist (d. 1939)
- January 31 - Theodore William Richards, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
- February 10 - William Allen White, American journalist (d. 1944)
- February 23 - W.E.B. DuBois, American civil rights leader (d. 1963)
- March 22 - Robert Millikan, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1953)
- March 25 - William Lockwood, English cricketer (d. 1932)
- March 28 - Maxim Gorky, Russian author (d. 1936)
- April 10 - George Arliss, English actor (d. 1946)
- May 6 - Nicholas II of Russia (d. 1918)
- May 6 - Gaston Leroux, French writer (d. 1927)
- May 29 - Abdul Mejid II, last Caliph of the Ottoman Empire (d. 1944)
- June 7 - Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scottish architect (d. 1928)
- June 14 - Karl Landsteiner, Austrian biologist and physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1943)
- June 18 - Georges Lacombe, French artist (d. 1916)
- July 12 - Stefan George, German poet (d. 1933)
- July 14 - Gertrude Bell, English archaeologist, writer, spy, and administrator (d. 1926)
- August 26 - Charles Stewart, Premier of Alberta (d. 1946)
- September 1 - Henri Bourassa, Canadian politician and publisher (d. 1952).
- October 18 - Ernst Didring, Swedish writer (d. 1931)
- November 8 - Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician (d. 1942)
- November 9 - Marie Dressler, Canadian actress (d. 1934)
- November 24 - Scott Joplin, American musician and composer (d. 1917)
- December 9 - Fritz Haber, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1934)

Deaths


- February 11 - Léon Foucault, French astronomer (b. 1819)
- February 29 - King Ludwig I of Bavaria (b. 1786)
- March 4 - Jesse Chisholm, American pioneer (b. 1805)
- March 28 - James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, British military leader (b. 1797)
- April - Isami Kondo, Japanese fighter (b. 1834)
- April 3 - Franz Berwald, Swedish composer (b. 1796)
- April 7 - Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Irish-Canadian journalist, politician and Canadian father of confederation (assassinated) (b. 1825)
- May 7 - Henry Peter Brougham, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1778)
- May 23 - Kit Carson, American trapper, scout, and Indian agent (b. 1809)
- June 1 - James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States (b. 1791)
- June 22 - Heber C. Kimball, Mormon church leader (b. 1801)
- September 26 - August Ferdinand Möbius, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1790)
- October 17 - Laura Secord, Canadian patriot (b. 1775)
- November 13 - Gioacchino Rossini, Italian composer (b. 1792)
- November 15 - James Mayer Rothschild, German-born banker (b. 1792)
- December 6 - August Schleicher, German linguist (b. 1821)
- Charles Thomas Longley, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1794)
- August Ferdinand Möbius, German mathematician and theoretical astronomer (b. 1790) Category:1868 ko:1868년 ms:1868 simple:1868 th:พ.ศ. 2411

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state of the western United States. While the eastern third of the state is within the Great Plains, the majority is dominated by numerous distinct mountain ranges and rangelands. Wyoming is also the least populous U.S. state with 493,782 people, although Alaska has a lower population density. The capital and largest city of Wyoming is Cheyenne.

History

The region known today as the state of Wyoming was originally inhabited by several Native American groups. The Crow, Arapahoe, Sioux, and Shoshone were but a few of the original inhabitants encountered when white explorers first entered the region. Although French trappers may have ventured into the northern sections of the state in the late 1700s, John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was probably the first white American to enter the region in 1807. His reports of the Yellowstone area were considered at the time to be fictional. Explorer Jim Bridger discovered South Pass in 1827, which later became the route followed by the Oregon Trail. In 1850, Bridger also located what is now known as Bridger Pass, which was later used by both the Union Pacific Railroad in 1868, and in the 20th century by Interstate 80. Bridger also explored the Yellowstone region and like Colter, most of his reports on that region of the state were considered at the time to be tall tales. After the Union Pacific Railroad reached the town of Cheyenne, which later became the state capital, in 1867, the population began to grow steadily in the Wyoming Territory, established on July 25, 1868. Unlike the states of Montana to the north South Dakota to the east and Colorado to the south, Wyoming never experienced a rapid population boom due to any major mineral discoveries such as gold or silver. Copper could also be found in some areas of the state. Once government sponsored expeditions to the Yellowstone country were undertaken, the previous reports by men like Colter and Bridger were found to be true. This led to the creation of Yellowstone National Park which became the world's first National Park in 1872 and is located in the far northwestern portion of the state. Most of the territory that comprises Yellowstone National Park is located in Wyoming. Wyoming was admitted to the Union on July 10, 1890. It was named after the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania, made famous by the 1809 poem Gertrude of Wyoming by Thomas Campbell. The name was suggested by Representative J. M. Ashbey of Ohio. In 1869 Wyoming extended suffrage to women, at least partially in an attempt to garner enough votes to be admitted as a state. In addition to being the first U.S. state to extend suffrage to women, Wyoming was also the home of many other firsts for U.S. women in politics. It had the first female court bailiff and the first female justice of the peace in the country. Wyoming was also the first state in the Union to elect a woman governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross in 1925. Wyoming was the location of the Johnson County War of 1892 which was fought between large cattle operations and free ranging interests.

Politics

Wyoming is one of the most conservative and, in national politics, most staunchly Republican states in the nation. The state has not voted for a Democrat for president since 1964 and there are no reliably Democratic counties. In the 2004 presidential election, George W. Bush won his third-largest victory, with 69% of the vote. Current Vice President Dick Cheney is a nearly lifelong Wyoming resident (born in Nebraska) and represented the state in Congress from 1979 to 1990. However, Democrats have held the governorship for all but eight years since 1975. The current governor, Democrat Dave Freudenthal, was elected in 2002 and has one of the highest approval ratings of any Governor in the nation. Because of its low population, Wyoming only has 3 votes in the electoral college. This is the same number of votes as Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Washington DC.

Geography

See: List of Wyoming counties It is bordered on the north by Montana, on the east by South Dakota and Nebraska, on the south by Colorado, and on the west by Utah and Idaho. Devil's Tower, made famous in the film Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, is located near Moorcroft in Crook County. Wyoming is generally considered an arid state with much of the land receiving less than 10 inches of rainfall a year. Consequently, the land supports few opportunities for farming. Ranching, however, is widespread, especially in areas near the numerous mountain chains. There are several major mountain ranges in the state, all part of the Rocky Mountains. The Snowy Range in the south central part of the state is an extension of the Colorado Rockies in both geology and appearance. The Wind River Range in the west central part of the state is remote and also has Gannett Peak, the highest peak in the state. The Big Horn Mountains in the north central portion are somewhat isolated from the bulk of the rest of the Rocky Mountains. Finally, the Teton Range in the northwest extends for 50 miles (80 km) and represents the most impressive section of mountains in the state, home to the second highest peak Grand Teton and Grand Teton National Park which preserves the most scenic section of the Teton range. Several rivers begin or flow through the state, including the Yellowstone River, Powder River, and the Snake River. The Continental Divide, which runs through most of North America forks in the south central part of the state. The waters that flow or precipitate into this area, known as the Great Divide Basin, do not flow to any ocean. Instead, due to the overall aridity of Wyoming, they simply sink into the soil or evaporate. Wyoming sports the lowest population of any state and the lowest population density of the continental 48 states; however, non-contiguous Alaska's population density is lower, although its total population is higher.

Demographics

Population
- 2004 Population estimate – 506,529
  - Foreign-born population – 11,000 (2.2%)
- Population Rank: 51st of the 50 states and the District of Columbia Race The racial makeup of Wyoming:
- 88.9% White
- 6.4% Hispanic
- 2.3% Native American
- 0.8% Black
- 0.6% Asian
- 1.8% Mixed race The five largest ancestry groups in Wyoming are: German (25.9%), English (15.9%), Irish (13.3%), American (6.5%), Norwegian (4.3%). Religion The religious affiliations of the people of Wyoming are shown in the table below:
- Christian – 78%
  - Protestant – 53%
    - Lutheran – 9%
    - Baptist – 9%
    - Methodist – 6%
    - Presbyterian – 4%
    - Episcopal – 4%
    - Other Protestant or general Protestant – 21%
  - Roman Catholic – 18%
  - Mormon – 7%
- Other Religions – 1%
- Non-Religious – 21%

Important cities and towns

The Wyoming municipalities with populations over 10,000 are, in descending order:

- Cheyenne
- Casper
- Laramie
- Rock Springs
- Gillette
- Sheridan
- Green River
- Evanston

Education

Colleges and universities


- Casper College
- Central Wyoming College
- Eastern Wyoming College
- Laramie County Community College
- Northwest College
- Sheridan College
- University of Wyoming
- Western Wyoming Community College
- Wyoming Technical Institute (WyoTech) [http://www.WyomingCavalry.com link title]

Professional sports teams


- Casper Rockies, minor league baseball
- Wyoming Calvary, National Indoor Football League

Miscellaneous information


- List of notable people from Wyoming :Capital: Cheyenne :Nickname: Big Wonderful Wyoming, Equality State, Cowboy State :State motto: "Equal Rights" :Population: 493,782 (2000 census) :State flower: Indian Paintbrush :State mammal: Bison :State bird: Western Meadowlark :State tree: Plains Cottonwood :State gemstone: Jade :State fish: Cutthroat Trout :State reptile: Horned Toad :State Fossil: Knightia :State dinosaur: Triceratops :State coin: Golden Dollar :State sport: Rodeo USS Wyoming was named in honor of this state.

Major highways


- Interstate 25
- Interstate 80
- Interstate 90
- U.S. Highway 14
- U.S. Highway 20
- U.S. Highway 26
- U.S. Highway 89
- U.S. Highway 191
- U.S. Highway 287

External links


- [http://wyoming.gov/ Wyoming state government website] :
- [http://wyoming.gov/state/wyoming_news/general/general.asp State information and symbols]
- [http://gowyld.net/ Wyoming's portal to knowledge and learning]
- [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/56000.html U.S. Census Bureau]
- [http://www.Untraveledroad.com/USA/Wyoming.htm Photographic virtual tour of Wyoming.]
- [http://www.terragalleria.com/america/north-west/wyoming Photos of Wyoming - Terra Galleria]
- [http://www.usnewspapers.org/state/wyoming/ Wyoming Newspapers] Category:States of the American West
- Category:States of the United States ko:와이오밍 주 ja:ワイオミング州

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Cheyenne is the capital of Wyoming, a state of the United States of America. As of September 2005, it had an estimated population of 55,362. It is the county seat of Laramie County and the largest city in Wyoming.

History

Laramie County On July 4, 1867, General Grenville Dodge with his survey crew platted the site now known as Cheyenne (Dakota Territory, later Wyoming Territory). There were many from a hundred miles around who felt the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad through the area would bring them prosperity. So, by the time the first track was built into Cheyenne four months later (November 13), over four-thousand people had migrated into the new city. Because it sprang up like magic, it became known as "Magic City, Queen of the Plains". Those who stayed and did not leave with the westward construction of the railroad were joined by gamblers, saloon owners, thieves, opportunists, displaced cowboys, miners, transient railroad gangs, proper business men, soldiers from "Camp Cheyenne", later named Fort D.A. Russell (now F.E. Warren Air Force Base), and men from Camp Carlin, a supply camp for all the northern army posts on the frontier. The city was named by Grenville Dodge for the Native American Cheyenne nation ("Shay-an-nah"), one of the most famous and prominent Great Plains tribes, closely allied with the Arapaho. The Cheyenne were among the fiercest fighters on the plains. Not pleased with the changes brought about by the railroad, they had harassed both railroad surveyors and construction crews. As the capital of the Wyoming Territory, named after Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and the only city of any consequence, as well as being the seat of the stockyards where cattle were loaded on the Union Pacific Railroad, the city's Cheyenne Club was the natural meeting place for the organization of the large well-capitalized ranches, the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. (See Johnson County War of 1892, the largest of the "range wars" of early Wyoming history). The newspaper offices of Asa Shinn Mercer's Northwestern Livestock Journal were burned down when the paper, which was founded as a public relations vehicle for the moneyed cattle interests, began to write scathing accounts of the events that were unfolding on the open range. His account is told in his book The Banditti of the Plains, still unavailable in Wyoming. As a town created by the railroad, Cheyenne fittingly preserves one of the eight surviving Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives ("4004"), some of the largest steam locomotives ever built, designed for hauling freight over the Rocky Mountains at high speeds. These engines typically hauled 100 freight cars up ruling grades between Cheyenne and Ogden, Utah, at 50 miles per hour!

Geography

Cheyenne is located at 41°8'44" North, 104°48'7" West (41.145548, -104.802042). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 54.9 km² (21.2 mi²). 54.7 km² (21.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.38% water. At Cheyenne, the north-south Interstate 25 intersects with the east-west Interstate 80. Great Lakes Airlines is based at Cheyenne.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 53,011 people, 22,324 households, and 14,175 families residing in the city. The population density is 969.6/km² (2,511.4/mi²). There are 23,782 housing units at an average density of 435.0/km² (1,126.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 88.11% White, 2.78% Black or African American, 0.81% Native American, 1.06% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 4.44% from other races, and 2.69% from two or more races. 12.54% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 22,324 households out of which 30.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.2% are married couples living together, 10.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% are non-families. 31.3% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.33 and the average family size is 2.93. In the city the population is spread out with 24.9% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 37 years. For every 100 females there are 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.7 males. The median income for a household in the city is $38,856, and the median income for a family is $46,771. Males have a median income of $32,286 versus $24,529 for females. The per capita income for the city is $19,809. 8.8% of the population and 6.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 11.1% of those under the age of 18 and 5.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Other information

In Wyoming's ground-breaking woman's suffrage legislation, Esther Hobart Morris was a leader. Alferd Packer the only American ever convicted of cannibalism (though the official charge was murder, since cannibalism is not a crime in the United States) was apprehended at Cheyenne, March 11, 1883. Tom Horn, the notorious Pinkerton's agent who had been operating as a hit man for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association was hanged for a murder that he probably didn't commit, at Cheyenne, November 20, 1903. Tom Horn Cheyenne's "Frontier Days" are a major event on the professional rodeo circuit. At the 1953 Frontier Days the US Air Force's precision flying squadron, the Thunderbirds, made their public debut. Seven-year old Jessica Dubroff, attempting the stunt of becoming the youngest child ever to pilot a plane across the United States, crashed shortly after takeoff from Cheyenne, April 11, 1996. Cheyenne is the headquarters of the United States Kick-Boxing Association a sanctioning body for sport karate and kickboxing. Cheyenne is also home to the "Hobby Lobby Ninjas", a troupe of martial artists that apply their abilities toward the ancient fighting styles and comedy. Cheyenne is the home of F.E. Warren Air Force base. One of the base's primary missions is to maintain an extensive network of nuclear missile silos throughout southeastern Wyoming and western Nebraska. In Philip K. Dick's alternative history novel The Man in the High Castle, Cheyenne is where Hawthorne Abendsen lives in his "High Castle". The 8 acre (32,000 m²) Cheyenne Botanic Gardens are located in Lions Park. Several ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Cheyenne in honor of this landlocked high plains city.

External links


- [http://www.cheyennecity.org/ City of Cheyenne] Category:Cities in Wyoming Category:Laramie County, Wyoming Category:U.S. state capitals

Oregon Country

Oregon Country was a region of western North America that originally consisted of the land north of 42°N latitude, south of 54°40'N latitude, and west of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The area now forms part of the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, all of the US states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming. The region is roughly equivalent to a broad definition of the Pacific Northwest. The phrase describes the period from the early penetration of European trappers and traders until the Oregon Treaty of 1846.

Early exploration

Alexander Mackenzie was the first European to cross North America by land north of Mexico, arriving at Bella Coola on the Pacific coast in 1793. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark scouted the territory for the United States on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, from 1804 to 1806.

Territorial evolution

The Oregon Country was originally claimed by the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, and Spain. France and Spain had divided their western, 18th-century territorial claims along the 42nd parallel. France's loss at the end of the Seven Years' War effectively ended its claim to the area. Spain gave up its claims piecemeal, at the convention in 1790 that followed the seizure of Nootka Sound and relinquishing any remaining claims to territory north of the 42nd parallel to the United States as part of the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819. Russia gave up its weaker claims in separate treaties with the United states in 1824 and with Britain in 1825. Meanwhile, the United States and Britain negotiated the Anglo-American Convention of 1818 that extended the boundary between their territories west along the 49th parallel to the Rocky Mountains. The two countries agreed to "joint occupancy" of the land west of the Rockies to the Pacific Ocean—Oregon Country.

Early settlement

After the Lewis and Clark Expedition, fur traders, such as Jedediah Smith and Jim Beckwourth, now known as mountain men, were searching the Rocky Mountains for beaver pelts. These trappers adopted Native American ways and many of them married native women. They used Native American trails in the Rockies which went to California and Oregon. John Jacob Astor founded a fur-trading post at Astoria, Oregon in 1811, beginning the organized trade in furs that had already been initiated by a few hardy trappers and traders. After the War of 1812, the Hudson's Bay Company took ownership of the post. John McLoughlin, appointed head or Chief Factor of the region in 1824, moved its regional headquarters to Fort Vancouver, which became the de facto political center of the Pacific Northwest until the