Oregon has been home to many indigenous nations for thousands of years. The first European traders, explorers, and settlers began exploring what is now Oregon's Pacific coast in the early to mid-16th century. As early as 1564, the Spanish began sending vessels northeast from the Philippines, riding the Kuroshio Current in a sweeping circular route across the northern part of the Pacific. In 1592, Juan de Fuca undertook detailed mapping and studies of ocean currents in the Pacific Northwest, including the Oregon coast as well as the strait now bearing his name. The Lewis and Clark Expedition traversed Oregon in the early 1800s, and the first permanent European settlements in Oregon were established by fur trappers and traders. In 1843, an autonomous government was formed in the Oregon Country, and the Oregon Territory was created in 1848. Oregon became the 33rd state of the U.S. on February 14, 1859.
Today, with 4.2 million people over 98,000 square miles (250,000 km2), Oregon is the ninth largest and 27th most populous U.S. state. The capital, Salem, is the third-most populous city in Oregon, with 175,535 residents. Portland, with 652,503, ranks as the 26th among U.S. cities. The Portland metropolitan area, which includes neighboring counties in Washington, is the 25th largest metro area in the nation, with a population of 2,512,859. Oregon is also one of the most geographically diverse states in the U.S., marked by volcanoes, abundant bodies of water, dense evergreen and mixed forests, as well as high deserts and semi-arid shrublands. At 11,249 feet (3,429 m), Mount Hood is the state's highest point. Oregon's only national park, Crater Lake National Park, comprises the caldera surrounding Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States. The state is also home to the single largest organism in the world, Armillaria ostoyae, a fungus that runs beneath 2,200 acres (8.9 km2) of the Malheur National Forest. (Full article...)
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River. Its main stem is 187 miles (301 km) long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward between the Oregon Coast Range and the Cascade Range, the river and its tributaries form the Willamette Valley, a basin that contains two-thirds of Oregon's population, including the state capital, Salem, and the state's largest city, Portland. Portland surrounds the Willamette near the river's mouth at the Columbia. Formed originally by plate tectonics about 35 million years ago and subsequently altered by volcanism and erosion, the river basin was significantly modified by the Missoula Floods at the end of the most recent ice age. Humans began living in the watershed at least 10,000 years ago. Many tribal villages once lay along the lower river and the area around its confluence with the Columbia, and some indigenous peoples were spread throughout the upper reaches of the basin as well. Rich with sediments deposited by flooding and fed by prolific rainfall on the western side of the Cascades, the Willamette Valley is one of the most fertile agricultural regions of North America, and was thus the destination of many 19th-century pioneers traveling west along the Oregon Trail. The river was an important transportation route during this time, although Willamette Falls, just above Portland, was a major barrier to boat traffic. In the 21st century, major highways follow the river or cross it on one of more than 50 bridges. Since 1900, more than 15 major dams and many smaller ones have been built in the Willamette's drainage basin, and 13 of them are managed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The dams are used primarily to produce hydropower, to store water for irrigation, and to divert water into deeper, narrower channels in order to prevent flooding. Despite the dams, other alterations, and pollution (especially on its lower reaches), the river and its tributaries support 60 fish species, including salmon and trout. Part of the river's floodplain (the Willamette Floodplain) was established as a National Natural Landmark in 1987; 10 years later the river was named as one of 10 national American Heritage Rivers.
Reuben Patrick Boise (June 9, 1819 – April 10, 1907) was an American attorney, judge and politician in the Oregon Territory and the early years of the state of Oregon. A native of Massachusetts, he immigrated to Oregon in 1850, where he would twice serve on the Oregon Supreme Court for a total of 16 years, with three stints as chief justice. He served during both the territorial period and after statehood. Early in his legal career, he worked as a district attorney. A Democrat, Boise was a member of the Oregon Constitutional Convention in 1857, served in the Territorial Legislature, and helped to codify the laws of the Oregon Territory. He also served as a circuit court judge, and was a trustee at several colleges. In addition to his legal career, he was proponent of education and served on the boards of several schools in the Willamette Valley. Educated at Williams College, he was twice married to women from Massachusetts, and had a total of five children.
... that the only remaining artifact in the ghost town of Fremont, Oregon, is a juniper stump notched with steps that women travelers used to mount horses in a modest fashion?
... that future state senator William T. Vinton was sent to jail for contempt of court when he refused to sign a city paving contract, but was later vindicated by an Oregon Supreme Court decision?
... that for 25 years after an attempt to explode a whale went awry, the Oregon TV station that filmed it regularly fielded requests for its footage?
... that Gus C. Moser served five 4-year terms in the Oregon State Senate, including two non-consecutive 2-year periods as senate president, to which post he was elected unanimously in 1917?
This is destined to be a very wealthy portion of the United States, and, if to this we can add the most temperate, nothing will prevent our rising, and becoming a valuable acquisition to the union. Much power now lies in your hands, and, I sincerely hope, we may commence our new career with a law in our statute books, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of ardent spirits in Oregon territory.