Chandler Bruer Watson—attorney, journalist, public servant, prospector, and historian—was southern Oregon's first conservationist. Raised in Pike County, Illinois, Watson arrived in Ashland in 1871. He …

Oregon Encyclopedia

In 1947, the city of Portland crawled with gambling halls, strip joints, bars, and brothels. Violence and venereal disease rates were so high that sea …

Oregon Encyclopedia

In early 1851, Henry W. Corbett, an ambitious, twenty-four-year-old adventurer, departed from New York City’s busy East River, sailing to the Isthmus of Panama, crossing …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Lizzie Koontz Weeks was an African American activist in Portland in the years after women in Oregon had achieved the right to vote in 1912. …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Oswald D. West served as Oregon's fourteenth governor, between 1911 and 1915. Best known as the catalyst for numerous reforms during his one term in …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, one of the most significant American Jewish leaders of the twentieth century, served Portland’s Congregation Beth Israel from 1900 to …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Thomas Lamb Eliot was one of the most influential clergymen in the history of Oregon. He is an excellent example of the Social Gospel movement …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Physician, businesswoman, and suffragist Mary Agnes Cachot Therkelsen contributed to Oregon's Progressive Era activism and created a bridge between local and national advocates for women's …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Sacagawea was a member of the Agaideka (Lemhi) Shoshone, who lived in the upper Salmon River Basin in present-day Idaho. In about 1800, she was …

Oregon Encyclopedia

In January 1914, thirty-year-old Fern Hobbs achieved international celebrity when Oregon Governor Oswald West sent her, along with several National Guardsmen, to tame the reputed …

Oregon Encyclopedia