April 15, 1841

Hey guys! This is my first post on my blog called the "Oregon Insider." I've created this blog so I am able to tell everyone who is out there, in whatever state or country, how great the Oregon Country really is. But first, I want to tell you a little about myself.

My name shall remain secret, so if you ever need to write to me, just call me the "Oregon Insider." I'm thirteen years old and I live in the Willamette Valley. My family and I moved to the Oregon Country on March 1, 1841 because of the Panic of 1837, the depression that swept through the Mississippi Valley. So, I moved here just over a month ago. Moving here was quite hard for me; I had to say goodbye to all the friends I had, and leave everything I'd ever known to somewhere so foreign. The journey to get here was the hardest period of time in my life. My family traveled the Oregon Trail, which was a 2,000-mile journey. I stuffed our prairie schooner with the little of my possessions, and my family headed off. It was a time of hunger, disease, and  endless work. But it all paid off once my family and I came to Oregon.

Our Praire Schooner
Via www.encyclopedia.com

We came to Oregon to search for the fortunes that we had only heard about in fantasies, but once we came, we knew all those fantasies were true. We are always warm here in the Oregon Country because of the abundance of fur. The fur business is one of the most successful in the nation. We came here for all the free farmland, and for better health, and we have found it all. Here, we have found our safe haven.

Come to the Oregon Country! Come for better economic success, and a happier, and healthier life!