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...)
Norma Paulus (1933–2019) was an American attorney and politician in the
state of
Oregon. A native of
Nebraska, she was raised in
Eastern Oregon before becoming a lawyer. A
Republican, she first held political office as a representative in the
Oregon House of Representatives, and then became the first woman to hold a statewide elected office in Oregon when she became
Oregon Secretary of State in 1977. Paulus later served as
Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction for nine years, starting in 1990. She had failed bids to become
Governor of Oregon and United States Senator. She lived in
Portland, where in later years she was involved with several non-profit groups and sponsored a ballot measure to create open primaries in Oregon's statewide elections.
April 18, 1877, former state senate president and the first doctor and teacher in Portland,
Ralph Wilcox, commits suicide while at work at the
federal court in Portland.
... that Robert McLean served as a
missionary in Chile for six years before moving to
Oregon, where he founded two churches and was elected to the state legislature?
... that it has been a goal of
Oregon state senator Bill Hansell to get the potato officially designated as the state vegetable?
Madam Speaker, although much work is left to be done as our communities start to recover from the severe storms that ravaged Oregon and Washington on December 2 and 3, 2007, we can reflect and be grateful for the hard work of the thousands of our fellow Pacific Northwesterners who helped neighbors, families, and complete strangers during the storms and their aftermath. ... We were all shocked by the devastating impact that these storms wreaked on Oregon. More than 10 inches of rain fell in a 24-hour period with wind gusts ranging from 60 to 129 miles an hour. ... Thankfully, first responders and ordinary citizens moved quickly to help their fellow Oregonians cope with the storm. ... Selfless Oregonians from across the State came to help in what turned out to be a spectacular response effort. It has been incredible to see the extraordinary efforts of so many.
The Wallowa Mountains in summer as seen from the
Hells Canyon National Recreation Area Headquarters/Wallowa Mountains Visitor Center in
Enterprise. From left to right the peaks are: East Peak, Aneroid Mountain, Bonneville Mountain, Chief Joseph Mountain, Sacajawea Peak, Twin Peaks and Ruby Peak.
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