Brief
History:
Multnomah County was
created Dec. 22, 1854. It was the 13th
county created in Oregon Territory. The
land was taken from
the eastern portion of Washington
County and the northern part of Clackamas
County. The borders have remained
relatively
unchanged to the present.
Multnomah County was created when
the people living in Portland found it
difficult to travel to Hillsboro to
conduct
business at the county seat of
Washington County. They also thought they
were paying too much in taxes to support
the
farmers in the rural areas
surrounding Portland. In 1854, Portland
businessmen petitioned the Territorial
Legislature for a
new county and Multnomah County was
created at the subsequent session. The
county was named after the Multnomah
Indians who were part of the
Chinookan tribe that lived on the eastern
tip of what is now Sauvie Island in the
Columbia
River. The City of Portland was
chartered in 1851 and made the county seat
in 1854. The Multnomah County
Commissioners
met for the first time on Jan. 17,
1855.
Multnomah County is the smallest
county in Oregon, with only 465 square
miles. It is bounded by Columbia County
and the
Columbia River on the north,
Washington County on the west, Clackamas
County on the south, and Hood River County
on
the east. Multnomah County is very
diverse with Portland in the west and the
Columbia Gorge and Mt. Hood in the east.
Most of the eastern portion of the
county is covered with timber and is
sparsely populated.
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