Why was Oregon Territory split off into Washington and Oregon states?

Answer 1

I'm not completely sure of the exact answer to this, but I recall in the book Chloe Dusts her Mantle (written by Chloe's daughter, Francis Gill in 1935), the territory to the north of the Columbia river was primarily under the control of the Hudson Bay company and/or the English. The settlers in Oregon wanted statehood so that they could settle and own land here. Prior to that, it was just the missionaries that were here and they didn't own land.

Chloe (Clark) Wilson was all of 21 when she came to Oregon as an Oregon missionary. She was first assigned in what is now Washington near Nisqually and met and married there. The couple moved back to the Oregon City area and then decided to take a homestead in the Salem area to help with gaining statehood for Oregon in 1859. Her homestead is now the park in front of the state capital building. She was also the first teacher at Willamette University and donated part of their land for that purpose. Her husband platted the town of Salem and gave it its name. http://www.salemhistory.net/people/chloe_willson.htm

Answer 2

there is a clause that says a territories population must be a certain amount before it could become a state. perhaps the upper half of the oregon territory (washington) was not highly populated... or at least only native americans lived there.

personally, i know a lot about history, and i have no clue as to what else the reason might be.

Answer 3

So they wouldn't take all the trees