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.
Canada under British rule
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 enlarged the colony of Canada under the name of the Province of Quebec, which with the "Constitutional Act 1791" became known as the Canadas. With the "Act of Union 1840", Upper and Lower Canada were joined to become the United Province of Canada. Later, with Confederation in 1867, the British maritime colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were joined with the Province of Canada to form the Dominion of Canada, which was subsequently divided into four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. A number of other British colonies, such as Newfoundland and British Columbia, and large territories such as Rupert's Land, initially remained outside the newly formed federation. Over time, the remaining colonies and territories of British North America were joined to Canada until the current geographic extent of the country was reached when Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada in 1949.