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...)
Moda Center, previously known as the Rose Garden arena, is the primary indoor sports arena in Portland, Oregon. It is suitable for large indoor events of all sorts, including basketball, ice hockey, rodeos, circuses, conventions, ice shows, concerts, and dramatic productions. The arena has a capacity of 19,980 spectators when configured for basketball; it holds smaller crowds when configured for other events. The arena is equipped with state-of-the-art acoustics and other amenities. It is owned by Vulcan Inc., a holding company owned by Paul Allen, and is currently managed by Global Spectrum, a company which manages sports facilities (and which also owns several sports franchises). The primary tenant is the Portland Trail BlazersNBA franchise, also owned by Allen. Several other professional sports franchises, and the Portland State University men's basketball team, either currently play home games in the Moda Center, or have done so in the past. In addition, the facility is a popular venue for concerts and other artistic productions. Construction of the arena began in 1993, and the facility opened on October 12, 1995, named the Rose Garden. The arena cost US $262 million to build; construction was financed with funds obtained from a variety of sources, including the City of Portland, Allen's personal fortune, and $155 million in bonds issued by a consortium of mutual funds and insurance companies. The Rose Garden arena was renamed Moda Center in 2013, under a 10-year naming rights deal with Moda Health.
Robert Cyril Stebbins (March 31, 1915 – September 23, 2013) was an American herpetologist and illustrator known for his field guides and popular books as well as his studies of reptiles and amphibians. His Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, first published in 1966, is still considered the definitive reference of its kind, owing to both the quality of the illustrations and the comprehensiveness of the text. A professor of zoology at the University of California, Berkeley, for over 30 years, he was the first curator of herpetology at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, a 1949 Guggenheim fellow, and author of over 70 scientific articles. Much of his work focused on reptiles and amphibians along the West Coast, including Western Oregon. His discovery of the ring species phenomenon in Ensatina salamanders is now a textbook example of speciation, and he performed extensive research on the parietal eye of reptiles. He produced nature films, supported science education in primary grades, and organized conservation efforts that aided in the passing of the 1994 California Desert Protection Act. After retirement he continued to paint, collect field notes, and write books. Stebbins is commemorated in the scientific names of three species: Batrachoseps stebbinsi, the Tehachapi slender salamander; Anniella stebbinsi, a legless lizard; and Ambystoma tigrinum stebbinsi, the endangered Sonora tiger salamander. After retiring from teaching he moved to Eugene, Oregon.
... that the brick walls in the historic Balch Hotel(pictured) in Dufur, Oregon, are 18 inches (460 mm) thick and keep the hotel's interior rooms cool during the hot summer months?
... that the completion of Interstate 205 in Oregon was delayed to mitigate air and noise pollution for a jail that closed a few months later?
... that it has been a goal of Oregon state senator Bill Hansell to get the potato officially designated as the state vegetable?
... that the founding manager of an Oregon radio station named it after his wife's former name?
... 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 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 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?
... that James A. Merriman was the only Black graduate from Rush Medical College in 1902 and the first African-American physician to practice medicine in Portland?
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.
Mount Jefferson is an inactive stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, the Cascade Range and is the second-highest mountain in Oregon. Situated in the far northeastern corner of Linn County about 60 miles (96 km) east of Corvallis, Jefferson is in a rugged wilderness and is thus one of the hardest volcanoes to reach in the Cascades (logging road 1044 does come within 4 miles (6 km) of the summit, however).
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