Dave Knows Portland

December 23, 1847: Provisional Government of Oregon Creates Benton County

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Benton CountyOregon’s Benton County was created by the Provisional Government of Oregon on December 23, 1847. At the time the county reached from the Willamette River south to the 42nd parallel (which now marks the border between Oregon and California), and west to the ocean. Polk County, from which Benton County was created, formed the northern border. Today Benton County is a much more manageable 679 square miles in the central Willamette Valley.

In 1851 Marysville, renamed Corvallis in 1853, was made the county seat.

Oregon’s Benton County is one of seven counties in the country named for Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, who promoted development in the Oregon Country.

December 22, 1854: Multnomah County Created

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Multnomah CountyMultnomah County, Oregon’s thirteenth, was created from parts of Washington and Clackamas Counties on December 22, 1854.

Multnomah County was created when the people living in Portland found it difficult to travel to Hillsboro to conduct business at the county seat of Washington County. They also thought that they were paying too much in taxes to support the farmers in the rural areas surrounding Portland. In 1854, Portland businessmen petitioned the Territorial Legislature for a new county and Multnomah County was created at the subsequent session. The county was named after the Multnomah Indians who were part of the Chinookan tribe that lived on the eastern tip of what is now Sauvie Island in the Columbia River. The City of Portland was chartered in 1851 and made the county seat in 1854. The Multnomah County Commissioners met for the first time on January 17, 1855.

Multnomah County is Oregon’s smallest and most populous county.

December 20, 1843: Fremont Maps Abert Rim

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Lake Abert viewed from Abert Rim
Explorer John Charles Frémont mapped a massive fault scarp in what is now Lake County, Oregon on December 20, 1843. He named the 30 mile long fault Abert Rim, after Colonel John James Abert, his commanding officer. Topped with an 800 foot lava cap and rising 2500 feet above the valley floor and 2000 feet above adjacent Lake Abert (also named after the colonel), it is one of the largest exposed fault scarps in North America, and one of the highest in the world.

December 18, 1953: The Dalles Bridge Opens

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The Oregonian photo and caption, 19 December 1953On Friday, December 18, 1953 automobile traffic began streaming onto The Dalles bridge (The Oregonian, 19 December 1953).

THE DALLES (Special) – Traffic in a steady stream was flowing across the newest Columbia river interstate bridge at The Dalles, opened for public use at noon Friday by the governors of Oregon and Washington, as thousands of motorists tried out Wasco county’s $4,000,000 structure located a stone’s through downstream from the are where a huge Columbia river dam is now rising.

The steel truss cantilever bridge carries U.S. 197, connecting Murdock and Dallesport on the Washington side with The Dalles. Less than four years later the completion of The Dalles Dam nearby inundated Celilo Falls.

December 17, 1898: Oregon Historical Society Incorporated

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Oregon Historical SocietyWork begun by Professor F.G. Young of the University of Oregon was the inspiration for the establishment of the Oregon Historical Society, which was incorporated on Saturday, December 17, 1898 in the lecture room of the Portland library (The Sunday Oregonian, 18 December 1898).

Professor Young was asked to give an outline of his plan. This he did briefly, referring to similar societies in other states, but especially to that of Wisconsin, as affording the best model. He then called upon L. B. Cox to give the legal aspect of the matter. He responded by suggesting the mode of organization under existing state laws. A board of 10 directors was then elected . . .

Harvey W. Scott, former editor and part owner of The Oregonian, was elected president of the nascent society, and Portland was selected as the permanent place of business.

The Oregon Historical Quarterly has been published continuously since 1900, and since 1929 the society has published over 150 books on Oregon history, politics and culture, as well as biographies, field guides and exhibit catalogs.