3. Heading West

By signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the United States was not officially independent of the British. Soon after this, the expansion of U.S. territory headed west. The phrase Manifest Destiny (an idea that the U.S. was destined to expand across the continental North America, from coast to coast) was coined in the mid 1800's as thousands of Americans were making their way west along the Oregon Trail.

Portland didn't see its start until 1851, when, at the toss of a coin, it was named Portland, by Portland, Maine native Francis W. Pettygrove. Before this, the area where Portland now exists was known as The Clearing (along the banks of the Willamette river between Fort Vancouver and Oregon City). Two month following its incorporation, in Feb of 1851, Portland had a whopping 800 residence (653 white males, 154 white females and 4 of color)(2). It grew very quickly, due to it's ocean access for shipping and trade, and by 1879 had 17,500 residences (1).

(Map of Portland in 1880)(2)

Portland is now over 500,000 strong, with a diverse mix of people from all over the U.S. and the globe. Below is a table of the current demographics (2).

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland,_Oregon
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Portland,_Oregon