140 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



Ohio. The French made the first explora- 

 tions in what is now Ohio, La Salle's discoveries 



from about 1680. The English, whoso 

 patents covered a portion of the region which 

 the French traders aimed to monopolize, came 

 in hostile contact with the latter. It was in 

 this connection that Washington's name first 

 became notable through the Braddock Expedi- 

 tion. In 1763 Canada, and the whole region 

 Wost to the Mississippi previously claimed by 

 France, were surrendered to Great Britain. 

 After the Revolutionary War, the United States 

 assumed control over the region afterward 

 known as the Northwest Territory, acknowledg- 

 ing the claim made by Virginia to 3,709,848 

 acres near the rapids of the Ohio, and a similar 

 claim by Connecticut to 3,666,621 acres near 

 Lake Erie, which became known as the "Western 

 Reserve." These claims were admitted in the 

 sense of ownership, but in no way as question of 

 State jurisdiction. The first permanent settle- 

 ment was made at Marietta, in 1788. The 

 early years of the Northwest Territory were 

 harrassed by Indian warfare, which did not 

 cease till the crushing defeat inflicted on them by 

 General Anthony Wayne in 1794. In 1799, the 

 Northwest Territory was organized, and shortly 

 afterward Ohio (the name being derived from the 

 Indian signifying "beautiful river") was formed 

 into a separate territorial government. In 1803, 

 the Territory was admitted as a State, the fourth 

 under the Federal Constitution. The seat of 

 government was in Chillicothe till 1810, in 

 Zanesville till 1812, and in Chillicothe again till 

 1816, after which the State capital was fixed at 

 Columbus. In 1818, the first steamboat, the 

 '' Walk on the Water," was launched on Lake Erie. 

 In 1836, the first western railroad was opened, 

 from Toledo, Ohio, to Adrian, Michigan, with 

 horse power at first and, in 1837, with steam 

 power. The State began to be noted for wheat 

 growing about 1840, and in 1863 her coal and 

 iron mines began to be developed. Manufactur- 

 ing became an important industry about 1865, 

 and for a decade grew rapidly. The Standard 

 Oil Company was formed in 1870, and during 

 the next two decades the State's oil fields were 

 rapidly developed. During the Civil War Ohio 

 furnished one-eighth of the federal troops. 



Oklahoma. The history of Oklahoma 

 before it was constructed into a separate Terri- 

 tory is identical with that of the region of 

 which Texas and New Mexico formed a part. 

 When Indian Territory was created as a home 

 for all the Indian tribes most of what is now 

 Oklahoma was within its bounds. Some time 

 in the early seventies the name first appeared in 

 political history, the occasion being a bill intro- 

 duced into Congress to create a Territory out 

 of part of Indian Territory, to be known as 

 Oklahoma. The measure failed of passage and 

 for more than a decade nothing was heard of the 

 country. It was not forgotten, however, as in 

 March, 1889, an amendment was tacked on to 

 the Indian Appropriation Bill providing for the 

 opening to homestead settlers of the little area 

 of land embracing less than 3,000,000 acres and 

 lying in the center of what is now the great 

 State. The land was opened in April, 1889, and 

 the first rush of Oklahoma "boomers" took 



place. In June, 1890, the territorial govern- 

 ment first came into existence, and by the act 

 which brought this about a strip of land known 

 as "No Man's Land," consisting of 3,681,000 

 acres, was added as Beaver County. Other sec- 

 tions were added from time to time until the 

 Territory contained 24,933,120 acres. In 1906, 

 Congress provided an enabling act whereby 

 Oklahoma and Indian Territory might be created 

 into a State and admitted into the Union. On 

 November 16, 1907, the conditions of this act 

 having been complied with, the President of the 

 United States signed the Constitution of Okla- 

 homa, and issued a proclamation announcing its 

 admission. The first State legislature con- 

 vened December 2, 1907. 



Oregon. The original region named Ore- 

 gon was the whole province claimed by the 

 United States on the Pacific Coast, extending 

 from latitude 42 to 54 40' north. Until 1846 

 joint possession was held by Great Britain and 

 the United States, and then the latter, by the 

 northwest boundary treaty, abandoned all 

 claim to the country north of the 49th parallel, 

 and the name Oregon was restricted to the region 

 south of that line, which was given up by Great 

 Britain. The first accurate knowledge of the 

 territory was brought back by Captain Robert 

 Gray, an American navigator, who entered the 

 mouth of the Columbia River in 1792, and gave 

 the name of his ship to it. The sale of Louisiana 

 to the United States, in 1803, endowed this 

 country with a title of ownership, and the expe- 

 dition of Lewis and Clarke, in 1804-1806, 

 strengthened the claim. Though a trading-post 

 was established in 1811, by the Pacific Fur 

 Company, under the Astor regime, at the mouth 

 of the Columbia River, the region was largely 

 inhabited by Indians and the employe's of the 

 Hudson Bay Fur Company until the active 

 emigration of Americans, between 1833 and 1850, 

 introduced a new element. The territorial 

 organization took place in 1848. In 1853, 

 Washington Territory was instituted out of the 

 region north of the Columbia River on the west 

 and of the 46th parallel on the east. In 1858, 

 Oregon was admitted as a State, the twentieth 

 under the Constitution. A Lewis and Clarke 

 Centennial Celebration was held at Portland 

 in 1905. 



Pennsylvania. Delaware River and Bay 

 were first explored under the auspices of the 

 Dutch East India Company, from 1604 to 1624, 

 and military jurisdiction was established. Till 

 1664 they continued in possession of both sides 

 of the bay without much colonization, though 

 a Swedish colony settled at Chester, on the west 

 bank of the river, in 1638, where their industry 

 and peacefulness prefigured the characteristics 

 of the Quakers, who were to come later. Under 

 a charter given by Charles II., in 1681, the region 

 west of the Delaware was granted to William 

 Penn, the Quaker, who colonized it and founded 

 Philadelphia in 1682. Under this grant was 

 included Delaware, and the whole region was 

 ruled under the same proprietary until 1699, 

 when a separate legislature, though not a sepa- 

 rate governor, was allowed to this section of the 

 province. This union lasted till 1876. The 

 letter of the Penn charter included territory 



