The Bureau of the Census in 1850 recorded 11,873 Oregonians: 4,671 females and 7,202 males--a gender disparity of 40 to 60 percent. In towns nearly 70 percent of the residents were men. "At Astoria, Milton City, and Portland," wrote demographer William Bowen, "they outnumbered women more than three to one." Urban development and farm improvements were driven by the California Gold Rush. A number of Oregonians headed south for the diggings in 1848 and many more did so in 1849. Oregon remained a rural, small-town region in the 19th century. The Donation Land Act, by allowing claims from 160 to 320 acres per person, effectively dispersed the population. From: The Oregon Bluebook
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