History:
As the last ice age reached it's icy fingers south to the Columbia River, advancing ice blocked the flow of water which formed temporary lakes.
15,000 years ago the climate began to warm and the ice sheet melted. As ice dams broke one by one, giant floods innundated the Portland area with rushing water hundreds of feet deep.
13,000 years ago man could walk from Siberia to populate the north-west.
The Columbia River was named after the ship of discovery captained by Captain Gray in 1792.
In 1805 Lewis and Clark expedition noting that many Indian Tribes lived here.
In 1832 the Hudson Bay Company established Fort Vancouver. An employee built a sawmill on the Willamet River, which became Oregon City.
At that time the future city of Portland was a clearing surrounded by hills, but even that early there were scattered settlers living here. The oldest grave found in Washington County was in Forest Grove and dated 1832.
In 1843 Washington County was formed as one of four counties in the Oregon Territory. In 1854 Columbia and Multnoma Counties were split off from Washington County.
People along the Columbia had trouble getting to the county seat of Hillsboro to conduct business, so the ligislature gave them their own counties.
Multnoma County is a long county extending from Souvie Island in the north-west up to the Dalles. At 465 square miles it is the smallest county in Oregin, yet the most populous.
The county was named for Multnomah Indians who lived on the eastern tip of Sauvie Island in the Columbia River.
The City of Portland was chartered in 1851 and made the county seat in 1854.
Multnoma County is bounded by Columbia County and the Columbia River on the north, Washington County to the west, Clackamas County to the south, and Hood River County to the east.
The Port of Portland was established in 1891. The current population of Multnoma County is about 675,000 people.
