Ontario, Oregon
Ontario was founded on June 11, 1883, by developers William Morfitt, Mary Richardson, Daniel Smith, and James Virtue. In March 1884, Richard Welch started a post office for the quarter of Ontario, so named by James Virtue after Ontario, Canada. Two months later Joseph Morton applied for a Morton post office at an island about one mile south of town, with Oscar Scott as postmaster. Unfortunately for Morton and Scott, merchants Morfitt and Richardson of Malheur City, gold miner Virtue, and lumberman Smith of Baker City acquired more land and were better financed. More importantly, Morfitt had negotiated a train depot for Ontario. All the settlers and speculators knew the railroad was coming and how important that would be to Ontario's future so Scott closed his Morton post office and built a hotel at present-day Ontario. By December, Scott was Ontario's postmaster.
History of Ontario
The region was annexed to Quebec in 1774. The first European settlements were in 1782–1784, when 5,000 American loyalists entered what is now Ontario following the American Revolution. From 1783 to 1796, Britain granted individuals 200 acres (0.8 km) of land per household and other items as compensation for their losses in the Thirteen Colonies and a start for rebuilding their lives. This resettlement substantially increased the European population of Canada west of the St. Lawrence-Ottawa River confluence during this period. The Constitutional Act of 1791 recognized this development, as it split Quebec into The Canadas: Lower Canada east of the St. Lawrence-Ottawa River confluence, the area of earliest settlement; and Upper Canada southwest of the confluence. John Graves Simcoe was appointed Upper Canada's first Lieutenant-Governor in 1793.