Oregon’s High Desert is a place apart, an inescapable reality of physical geography. The region forms an extensive area that is substantially different in climate, …

Oregon Encyclopedia

The High Desert Museum was an outgrowth of the Western Natural History Institute, established by Donald M. Kerr in 1974. A native of Portland, …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Jedediah Strong Smith was one of the first and, arguably, the most important of the American trappers and explorers who penetrated the interior Oregon Country …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Jewish Pioneers: Becoming Oregonians In 1869, Bernard Goldsmith, an immigrant Jew from Bavaria, was sworn in as the mayor of Portland. Two years later, …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Tenor saxophonist Jim Pepper was an internationally recognized and influential jazz musician. He is best remembered for "Witchi-Tai-To," his elaboration of a Comanche peyote chant …

Oregon Encyclopedia

John Box Hoskins served as a clerk on the Columbia Rediviva, captained by Robert Gray, during a voyage to the Pacific Northwest from 1790 …

Oregon Encyclopedia

The town of Jordan Valley stretches along Highway 95 in Oregon’s High Desert. At an elevation of 4,385 feet, the town is on the …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Lake Oswego is a suburban city located eight miles southwest of Portland whose main attraction and history revolves around Oswego Lake. The city's location is …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Known as the father of Oregon archaeology and anthropology, Luther Cressman conducted pioneering archaeological work in the 1930s through the 1960s and established the broad …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Meadow knapweed (Centaurea moncktonii) is a hybrid between two European knapweed species: black knapweed (Centaurea nigra), which is native to the …

Oregon Encyclopedia