The Oregon Encyclopedia

An Authoritative and Free Resource on All Things Oregon

Fort Klamath to Crater Lake Ski Race, 1927-1938

January: Winter in Oregon

Fort Klamath to Crater Lake Ski Race, 1927-1938

In February 1927, the forty-two-mile, round-trip, cross-country ski race from Fort Klamath to Crater Lake ushered in an age of Nordic ski competition in Oregon. While cross-country ski races had been held earlier …

Glaciers in Oregon (essay)

January: Winter in Oregon

Glaciers in Oregon (essay)

Glaciers and permanent snowfields—found in many western states, including Washington, California, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Nevada—are common in the high alpine environments of Oregon. There are about 463 glaciers or perennial snowfields …

Hjalmar Hvam (1902-1996)

January: Winter in Oregon

Hjalmar Hvam (1902-1996)

Skiing enthusiasts in Portland just before World War II knew the name Hjalmar Hvam as readily as most people recognize the names of professional athletes. Inducted into the National Ski Hall of …

Mount Hood (essay)

January: Winter in Oregon

Mount Hood (essay)

Mount Hood is a stratovolcano in northwest Oregon located about fifty miles east of Portland and thirty-five miles south of the Columbia River. At 11,244 feet, it is the highest point in …

Richard L. Kohnstamm (1926-2006)

January: Winter in Oregon

Richard L. Kohnstamm (1926-2006)

Richard L. Kohnstamm was the president and area operator of Timberline Lodge and Ski Area from 1955 until 1992, when he turned the operation over to his son Jeff. Upon Kohnstamm's death …

Starvation Creek

January: Winter in Oregon

Starvation Creek

Starvation Creek, with its spectacular 186-foot waterfall, flows north a few miles from Viento Ridge into the Columbia River, about eight miles west of Hood River in the Columbia River Gorge. The …

Timberline Lodge

January: Winter in Oregon

Timberline Lodge

Timberline Lodge is the showplace for Works Progress Administration projects in Oregon. Its construction was financed with nearly a million dollars from the WPA, with additional funding from the Federal Art Project …

Tucker Sno-Cat®

January: Winter in Oregon

Tucker Sno-Cat®

When Emmitt Tucker was a young boy in northwest Jackson County, he walked to school in the deep snow, just like his schoolmates. What was different about Tucker is that he did …

Research Categories

The downtown Research Library is closing for renovation in 2020, but Oregon history is ALWAYS OPEN on The OE

Researchers WILL HAVE ACCESS to reference services during the renovation; please contact libreference@ohs.org with your reference inquiries. Scheduled to Begin Spring 2020: Preparations are underway to transform the OHS Research Library into a welcoming and fully accessible twenty-first-century space for research, learning, and collaboration. Our library is the heart of everything we do at the Oregon Historical Society. Our exhibits, the scholarship in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, our online Digital History Projects, and the free public programs we offer would not be possible without the invaluable librarians and archivists who safeguard and make accessible the largest collection of Oregon history available anywhere in the world.

Click here to learn more about the renovation

Copperfield from the southeast, about 1908.

January Events in Oregon History.

January started off with some drama in the year 1914. On January 2, 1914, Oregon Governor Oswald West declared martial law on Copperfield, a community of about eighty people on the Snake River in eastern Baker County. It was a bold move praised by opponents of liquor and gambling but considered an abuse of executive power by others.

Click here to learn about significant January events in Oregon's history.

Looking for history in All The Places?

The Oregon History Wayfinder is an interactive map that identifies significant places, people, and events in Oregon history. Each point on the map connects to the historical records and scholarship on the Oregon History Project and The Oregon Encyclopedia, two of the digital history sites created by the Oregon Historical Society. The Oregon History Wayfinder is supported in part by the Oregon Heritage Commission.

Click here to get out the map

Upcoming Events

History Pub: McMenamins Old St. Francis School in Bend

"From Frontier Newspapering to the Digital Age: One Oregon Family's Odyssey." Presented by William Willingham

Jan. 28, 2020 at 7 p.m.

More details...

Location

McMenamins Old St. Francis School
700 NW Bond Street
Bend, OR 97730

Google Map...

Welcome to the award-winning Oregon Encyclopedia

Western History Association, Gene Autry Public History Award, 2012.

AASLH American Association of State and Local History, Leadership in History Award, 2011.

NCTE logo National Council of Teachers of English, Multicultural Program Award, 2009.

OHS Digital History Projects

In addition to The Oregon Encyclopedia, the OHS Digital History Projects include the Oregon History Project and Oregon History Wayfinder.

Oregon History Project

Oregon History Wayfinder

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This project has been funded in part by the Oregon Heritage Commission and the Oregon Cultural Trust.

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