OREGON LAWS 2015 Chap. 578

CHAPTER 578 Whereas the Oregon Provisional Government was established in 1843, followed shortly by the ar- AN ACT SB 458 rival of the United States Army in Oregon Territory in 1849; and Relating to a day to commemorate Oregon statehood. Whereas without enabling legislation from Con- Whereas from the temperate, forested northwest gress and in a desire to control their own govern- coast to the harsh landscape of the high desert, the ment, Oregonians voted in June 1857 to hold a abundant natural resources of this state have sus- constitutional convention, assembling in Salem to draft a governing document for this state; and tained its inhabitants for thousands of years; and Whereas in June 1858 residents of Oregon Terri- Whereas the arrival in November 1805 of the tory elected officials as provided in their new Con- Lewis and Clark Expedition at the mouth of the Co- stitution; and lumbia River paved the way for American settlement Whereas granting Oregon statehood was a com- of the region; and plex question in Congress due to the fragile balance Whereas by 1811 John Jacob Astor’s Pacific Fur of power in the buildup to the Civil War; and Trade Company had established Fort Astoria, the Whereas in 1857 Oregonians voted to disallow first permanent American settlement in the area slavery in Oregon Territory even as they voted that came to be known as Oregon Territory; and against permitting residency of freed African Ameri- Whereas the first white settlers in the region cans; and faced extreme hardships and even death in making Whereas on February 12, 1859, Congress passed the journey on the Oregon Trail, the survivors the bill granting statehood to Oregon; and overcoming unforgiving terrain and rampant sick- Whereas on February 14, 1859, the bill was ness and disease, the latter of which forever changed signed by President James Buchanan; and the population of the native peoples; and Whereas the news that Oregon had been granted Whereas even amidst the hardships, early statehood was relayed by telegraph to St. Louis, by settlers banded together to cultivate the fertile stagecoach to San Francisco, by steamer to Portland farmland of this state, build missions and harvest and by messenger on horseback to Salem, where it the abundant and valuable natural resources; and reached Governor Joseph Lane nearly a month later; Whereas by the middle part of the 19th century, now, therefore, the population of United States citizens who had Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Or- settled in Oregon was growing quickly; and egon: Whereas in 1846, the United States and Great Britain signed the Oregon Treaty, which designated SECTION 1. February 14 of each year is the 49th parallel as the international border, making designated as Oregon Statehood Day to com- it possible for the Congress of the United States to memorate the date on which Oregon became the create Oregon Territory; and 33rd state in the United States of America. Approved by the Governor June 25, 2015 Whereas growing industries in other parts of the Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 29, 2015 United States created demand for Oregon agricul- Effective date January 1, 2016 ture and timber products; and

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