Portal:Oregon/Selected article/31

The Provisional Government of Oregon was a popularly-elected government created in the Oregon Country, in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It existed from May 2, 1843 until March 3, 1849. Created at a time when no country had sovereignty over the region, this independent government provided a legal system and a common defense for pioneers settling the region. As laid out in Section 1 of the preamble to the Organic Laws of Oregon, which were adopted in 1843 to serve as a constitution, settlers only agreed to the laws “until such time as the United States of America extend their jurisdiction over us.” The government had three branches that included a legislature, judiciary, and executive branch. The executive branch was first the Executive Committee, consisting of three members, in effect from 1843 to 1845; in 1845, a single governor position was created. The judicial branch had a single supreme judge along with several lower courts, and a legislative committee of nine served as a legislature until 1845 when the Oregon House of Representatives was established. The government was superseded when the United States created the Oregon Territory in 1848. Once the territorial government arrived in 1849, the Provisional Government was dissolved, though all but one law continued in effect in the territory.