One of my goals for 2020 is to research Oregon history for my next historical novel. The characters of the book I’m planning will be the same families as in my earlier Oregon Chronicles novels, though I’m sure new characters will demand to be included as well! Part of the fun of writing is seeing what happens when new people enter my established story world.
I have a general idea of how the main characters in my next book will develop. For the primary plot line to make sense, I have decided this next novel should take place in 1864. Therefore, I am centering my research on happened in Oregon during the Civil War years.
Unfortunately, I haven’t found any Oregon newspapers from 1864 available online. But I have found some articles, and, of course, I have Bancroft’s History of Oregon.
My Hope Secured ended in late 1852. I’ve discovered that skipping ahead to 1864 will miss some interesting periods in Oregon history, including Oregon’s statehood and Constitutional Convention. I wrote about the California Constitutional Convention in Now I’m Found, and I enjoyed learning about how California became a state. But the years of Oregon’s developing statehood probably won’t be significant in my next novel.
My research has also revealed that the 1850s were a period of conflict between white settlers and Native Americans in Oregon. I have mostly skipped any discussion of the Western Indian Wars in my writing so far, because these conflicts were less significant between 1847 and 1852, the years I’ve written about in my novels thus far. So if I skip to 1864, this period will continue to go unexplored.
But, given the story I have in mind for my characters, 1864 is when the novel needs to be set. So I have focused on the Civil War as an initial topic to research.
What I have discovered generally is that the U.S. Army mostly abandoned Oregon during the Civil War. The regular troops were called back to the fronts in the East. In fact, the regular Army left less than a full regiment to guard the entire West Coast during the Civil War. There was some sentiment among residents in the Pacific Coast region to secede from the United States, but the Army did not make efforts to prevent such a movement.
According to Hubert Howe Bancroft, in his History of Oregon, Vol. 2., 1848-1888 (1888), p. 488, the Army Commander for Oregon and Washington, Colonel Wright,
“apologized for the abandonment of the country by troops at a time with Indian wars and disunion intrigue made them seem indispensable, but declared that every minor consideration must give way to the preservation of the union.”
As a result of the Army’s preoccupation with war in the East, local militia units in Oregon had to step up. The 1st Oregon Volunteer Infantry Regiment was formed in November 1864, with responsibility for guarding trade routes, escorting immigrant wagon trains, and suppressing Indian raids. November 1864 might be too late for the regiment to feature prominently in my next novel, but perhaps the reasons for its formation will give rise to some conflicts among the characters.
A better bet for a military unit that will appear in my next novel is the 1st Oregon Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. This regiment was initially formed in December 1861, and continued to serve until 1866. The 1st Oregon Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was based in Fort Walla Walla after June 1862, and from there sent expeditions to fight the Snake Indians and other tribes.
Other companies of the 1st Oregon Volunteer Cavalry were based in Fort Vancouver and Fort Dalles to help construct roads. Thus, it sounds like this regiment had plenty of action for me to draw on, if I want a character to see military service in my next novel. (I think I do.) Plus, my characters are comfortable on horseback, so why not make them cavalrymen?
Also, although Oregon stayed with the Union during the Civil War, there were many Southern sympathizers. That could provide some fodder for conflict among my characters, who came to Oregon from such diverse places as Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Tennessee. In fact, differences over slavery permeated much of Oregon’s early political history. As Stacey L. Smith wrote in “Oregon’s Civil War, The Troubled Legacy of Emancipation in the Pacific Northwest,” Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 115, No. 2 (2014),
“Oregon’s showdown over slavery did not get resolved until eight months after the end of the Civil War, when the state’s antislavery Unionists ratified the Thirteenth Amendment.”
Another possible topic to include in my next novel is the building of roads in Oregon. The Oregon Central Military Wagon Road Company began its development in Eugene, Oregon, in 1864. The road ran from Eugene to the Oregon/Idaho border near the Owyhee river. One of my main characters has been interested in the development of transportation in Oregon. Although railroad lines were proposed in Oregon in the 1850s and early 1860s, and a small line in the Portland area was operational in 1861, no major rail lines were completed until well after 1864.
What do you want to know about the Civil War years in the Pacific Northwest? You can help me shape my research.
Were there many blacks there during the time you’re researching?
No, Oregon was not hospitable to African Americans, or any other race but whites, during this period, so not many African Americans settled in Oregon (though there were some).
I dealt some with these issues in NOW I’M FOUND. But there were some odious provisions in the Oregon Constitution passed after the period of NOW I’M FOUND. Those provisions were only overturned by passage of the post-Civil War amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Good topic. Theresa