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...)
Manifest Destiny was a phrase that expressed the idea that the United States was destined to expand from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean. Advocates of Manifest Destiny believed that expansion was not good, but that it was obvious ("manifest") and certain ("destiny"). It was originally a political catch phrase or slogan used by Democrats in the 1845-1855 period, and rejected by Whigs and Republicans of that era. Manifest Destiny was an explanation or justification for American expansion, or, in some interpretations, an ideology or doctrine which helped to promote the process. The phrase "Manifest Destiny" was first used primarily by Jackson Democrats after 1845 to promote the annexation of much of what is now the Western United States including the Texas Annexation and the Mexican Cession from Mexico, and the Oregon Territory to which both Great Britain and the U.S. laid claim. Not all Americans who believed that the United States was a divinely favored nation thought that it ought to expand. Whigs especially argued that the "mission" of the United States was only to serve as virtuous example to the rest of the world. If the United States was successful as a shining "city on a hill," people in other countries would seek to establish their own democratic republics. Also, the concept had serious consequences for American Indians. The United States purchased land rights by treaty from the Indian tribes. National policy was that Indians had to become "civilized" and abandon hunting and become farmers. Advocates of "civilization" programs believed that the process would greatly reduce the amount of land needed by the Indians, thereby making more land available for purchase by white Americans.
Clarence Chesterfield Howerton (February 9, 1913 – November 18, 1975), also known as Major Mite, was an American circus performer who starred in the sideshow for over 25 years, 20 of which were with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was born in Salem, Oregon, to Frank and Helen Howerton and had five brothers, all of whom grew to 6 ft (1.83 m) tall. Howerton was 2 ft 4 in (0.71 m) tall and performed with several groups from the early 1920s through the late 1940s, billed as the smallest man in the world. His small physique was often contrasted alongside larger circus sideshow acts, such as the juvenile obese and the excessively tall. Regarded as a "highly successful sideshow [novelty]" and celebrity, Howerton visited the White House and represented recruitment efforts of the United States Marine Corps. He was featured in multiple films, including a role as a Munchkin in 1939's The Wizard of Oz. Growing up, he lived in Washington and Manhattan. He retired from show business in 1949. By 1970 he had moved back to Oregon and was living with a niece in Dayton, and in 1975 he died of pneumonia in a hospital in neighboring McMinnville. He was buried in Mountainview Cemetery in nearby Oregon City.
... that when children's book illustrator Clare Turlay Newberry purchased a $500 ocelot for a live drawing model, The New York Times headline read "Still A Lot For Ocelot"?
The Galleria shopping center at night in downtown Portland with the Fox Tower in the background. The building is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places under its historic name of Olds, Wortman and King Department Store.
Representing the people of Oregon's Second District is an honor and a privilege. Covering more than 70,000 square miles in twenty counties throughout eastern, southern and central Oregon, our district is breathtaking and diverse.
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