I mentioned in an earlier post that my next novel will deal with the development of railroads in Oregon, probably in the early 1870s. I also think I will set much of the book in Portland, Oregon, which by this time had become the predominant city in Oregon, far outpacing the original development around Oregon City.
Oregon City started out as the largest community in Oregon. In fact, prior to the California Gold Rush, Oregon City was the center of government and commercial activity on the West Coast. But as the shipping industry developed on the West Coast, Portland—a far better port city than Oregon City—grew much faster.
The history of white settlers in the Portland area began with the British explorer George Vancouver, who sailed up the Columbia River to what is now Portland at the confluence of the Columbia and the Willamette rivers. American explorers Merriweather Lewis and John Clark followed in 1805, and they wintered at Fort Clatsop, southwest of present-day Astoria, Oregon. The British established Fort Vancouver on the north bank of the Columbia River, and fort commander John McLoughlin helped many impoverished Oregon Trail emigrants when they reached the area.
The first permanent settlement in the Portland area was established in 1843 by a group of pioneers led by Asa Lovejoy and William Overton. Overton sold his interest to Francis Pettygrove, and in 1845, Lovejoy and Pettygrove flipped a coin (or maybe three coins) to determine which of them would have naming rights to the settlement. Pettygrove won, and he named the settlement Portland after his hometown of Portland, Maine. (Lovejoy was from Boston, but his preferred name lost out.
Portland grew rapidly after the Gold Rush, as it became a major supply center for miners heading to California. Many prospectors took ships from Asia to California, and Portland was on the shipping route from Asia to America. In addition, wheat from the Willamette Valley was shipped to California to feed the miners. And so, by 1851, Portland was the largest settlement in Oregon.
In the years leading up to the Civil War, Portland grew rapidly, with a booming economy based on timber and shipping. The city became a major port for goods bound for California and Asia, as well as a center for the lumber industry. And in 1869, Oregon began exporting wheat from Portland directly to Europe.
One interesting tidbit I learned in researching Portland’s early history is that Aaron Meier opened a mercantile store in 1857. This store was the predecessor of Meier & Frank, the department store chain where I saw Santa Claus in 1961. At the ripe old age of five, I had no idea the store’s history dated back over 100 years.
Portland had a cliquish business community in the mid-19th century, and I may need to explore some of the histories of the civic leaders of the times. I think my plot will involve a young man trying to make his way in Portland.
I also want to deal with women’s suffrage in Oregon in the early 1870s. Abigail Scott Duniway started her newspaper in Portland in 1871, and that could factor into my novel.
That’s about all the thinking I have done, so I have a lot more research to do. I will have to read the Portland Oregonian and the New Northwest newspapers from the years I decide to write about. I’ll have to research biographical details on any real personages I want to use as characters. I’ll have to get a flavor of the national and regional issues of the times.
But first things first. Before I delve any more into my next novel, I have to finish the one I’m still editing.
I’m curious how other writers of historical fiction develop their plots. Any other writers care to give away their secrets?
