facade. 1  Architecture. the front of a building, especially an imposing or decorative one. 2  a superficial appearance or illusion of something: They managed somehow to maintain a facade of wealth.
The Oregon Territory stretched from the Pacific coast to the Rocky Mountains, encompassing the area including present-day Oregon, Washington, and most of British Columbia. Originally Spain, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States claimed the territory. In 1819, under terms of the Transcontinental Treaty, Spain ceded its claims to the territory to the United States. Shortly thereafter the United States contested a unilateral Russian move to grant its citizens a fishing, whaling, and commercial monopoly from the Bering Straits to the 51st parallel.
The Oregon Trail, was the longest of the overland routes used in the westward expansion of the United States, was first traced by explorers and fur traders for traveling to the Oregon Country.merican settlers began following the trail in 1841, with the first recorded colonist wagon traingroup being the 1843 Great Migration of about 900 colonists, led by Marcus Whitman. The Provisional Government of Oregon was established by such colonists in 1843, generally limited to the Willamette Valley.