Oregon was originally home to many Native American tribes before explorers and settlers arrived in the 1800s. It became the 33rd U.S. state in 1859 after being part of the Oregon Territory.
The Chinook people were skilled traders and canoe builders who lived along the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. They developed complex trade networks and were known for their plank houses, social hierarchy, and the Chinook Jargon used for intertribal communication.
The Shoshone Nation, originally spread across the western United States, lived in areas of present-day Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada. They were skilled hunters, gatherers, and horsemen, with distinct groups such as the Eastern, Northern, and Western Shoshone.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark from 1804 to 1806, was a journey to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Territory and find a water route to the Pacific Ocean. Their expedition provided valuable maps, scientific data, and strengthened American claims to the western lands.
Manifest Destiny was the 19th-century belief that the United States was destined by God to expand its territory across North America. It was used to justify westward expansion, the displacement of Native Americans, and wars such as the Mexican-American War.
The Oregon Trail was a 2,000-mile route that pioneers traveled from Missouri to Oregon in the mid-1800s. Families faced many hardships along the way, including rough terrain, disease, and harsh weather.
The Oregon Territory was a region in the Pacific Northwest that included present-day Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming. It was jointly claimed by the United States and Great Britain until the 1846 Treaty of Oregon established the U.S. border at the 49th parallel.
