Editing Polk County, Oregon (section)

==History==
[[File:Lone tree near Perrydale Oregon.JPG|thumb|Agricultural field and tree near Perrydale]]

The [[Provisional Legislature of Oregon|Oregon Provisional Legislature]] created Polk County from [[Yamhill District]] on December&nbsp;22, 1845, granting to it the entire southwestern portion of present-day Oregon to the [[California]] border. County boundaries were periodically changed to reflect the creation of [[Benton County, Oregon|Benton]] and [[Lincoln County, Oregon|Lincoln]] counties. Many other counties were subsequently carved out of these as settlement spread towards the south, leaving Polk County many counties away from its former border with California.

The first county seat was a settlement on the north side of [[Rickreall Creek]] named Cynthian (also known as Cynthia Ann). In 1852 city officials renamed Cynthian to [[Dallas, Oregon|Dallas]] after Vice President [[George M. Dallas]], vice president (1845–1849) to James Polk. During the 1880s and 1890s, there were a series of unsuccessful efforts to move the county seat to nearby [[Independence, Oregon|Independence]].