The Swamp Land Act of 1849, originally intended to give the state of Louisiana the unproductive swamplands within its borders and use the proceeds to construct the drains and levees necessary to reclaim these lands, was extended to Oregon in 1860. Oregon did not act on the matter until 1870, but once begun, it became a prolific source of political corruption, fiscal irresponsibility, fraud, and land speculation and monopolization. Even though the physiography of Oregon was much different than the states in the Mississippi Valley, millions of acres of "swampland" were filed upon and the state sold hundreds of thousands of acres long before it received legal title to these lands. In most cases final patents were never issued by the federal government. Rather than the proceeds of the sales of these lands going toward reclamation, the funds often went to the friends of state officials for dubious services. Appropriations, based on the anticipated sale of swampland, were made for the owners of wagon roads for projects never completed. This created a state indebtedness which the sale of swampland alone could not erase. A major result of the Swamp Land Act in Oregon was the withholding of arable land and water rights from actual settlers in the predominantly semiarid regions of Oregon by land speculators and by cattle barons who used it to monopolize vast tracts of grazing land. Litigation over disputed swampland claims occurred well into the twentieth century. Because little has been written on this topic, primary sources have been extensively relied upon for the research. The most important of these sources were the Portland Oregonian, government documents of the state of Oregon, and the documents of the United States Department of Interior.

The social and economic structure of Oregon was influenced by the Donation Land Law. The Congressional law conferred upon early settlers to Oregon 320 acres, 640 if married (and settled before December 1, 1850). Oregon attracted settlers who desired land and were uninterested in commercial agriculture. The Oregon settlers who took advantage of the law were in a position to create their own society and economy. The purpose of this thesis is to identify the social and economic structure created by the Donation Land pioneers and to identify their land disposition strategy. This thesis examined the fifty households that comprised the neighborhood of Fabritus R. Smith. The neighborhood is defined as the fifty households with whom Smith dealt in 1854 and 1855. The neighborhood of the 1850s was a communally based society in which production was geared for household consumption, not commercial purposes. Settlers exchanged goods locally on a market that functioned on the basis of barter and a personal monetary system. The progression of time brought changes to the social and economic structure. Lineal families working for themselves replaced nuclear families working in community as a productive force. Salem's growth, and the rise of a cash economy replaced exchange among households. Donation Land pioneers who deeded land to their children created the lineal family structure of society. The production of the lineal family remained geared for household consumption, not commercial purposes. The farmers of the second generation did not change their objective, only their strategy to meet the new economy. Two additional strategies were identified. Some Donation Land pioneers disposed of their land and used the money to pursue other ventures outside Oregon. Other Donation Land pioneers sold their land and moved to Salem.