DigitalCommons@Linfield

Origins of Economic Development in Oregon’s Willamette Valley: How Transportation Transformed an Untamed Wilderness into a Productive Powerhouse

Jereld R. Nicholson Library

This research paper analyzes the impact of transportation on the early development of economic systems within the Willamette Valley, with a special emphasis on Yamhill County’s evolution from 1840 to 1910. Research begins with an overview of the core stimuli that attracted settlement to Oregon Territory, with particular insight into how the early capitalization of abundant territorial resources was severely restricted by lack of reliable transportation, absence of a functional form of monetary exchange, and an unstable supply of labor. Stemming from this contextual basis comes the vital role that transportation played in transcending barriers in Oregon’s development. Research provides both anecdotal and quantitative evidence of the direct impact of steamboats and railroads on Yamhill County’s agricultural and industrial metamorphosis. The study concludes with an analysis of McMinnville’s economic reaction in the face of transportation revolutions, with focus on the structural redevelopments that arose in light of increasingly interconnected national and international trade systems.