Nutria, a large, semi-aquatic rodent native to South America, were brought to the United States for their fur in the 1880s. They were introduced to …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Oaks Bottom, Portland’s first urban wildlife refuge, is located on the east bank of the Willamette River opposite the upstream tip of Ross Island. …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Oregon chub (Oregonichthys crameri) are small minnows that exist only in the Willamette Valley of western Oregon. This species was formerly distributed throughout …

Oregon Encyclopedia

The Oregon Rangers, an organized militia based in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, was the first nonindigenous armed force in the Pacific Northwest. The Provisional Government …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Situated in the far southeastern corner of Oregon, the Owyhee Canyonlands is one of the wildest regions in the contiguous United States. This scenically stunning …

Oregon Encyclopedia

On May 2, 1792, Archibald Menzies, a surgeon and naturalist on the George Vancouver Expedition, landed on the shores of an island where the Straits …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Port-Orford-cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)—also known as white or Oregon-cedar, ginger-pine, or Lawson cypress—is widely known and recognized for its horticultural uses and the quality …

Oregon Encyclopedia

The Portland Art Museum, which opened in 1895 in the city library with casts of classical sculptures and prints of European paintings, is a nationally …

Oregon Encyclopedia

During the early nineteenth century, upwards of thirty Native American villages were documented in the Portland Basin (present-day Multnomah, Clark, Clackamas, and east Columbia Counties). …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Ralph James Salisbury was an Oregon poet, author, editor, and teacher. He is the author of eleven books of poetry, including Rainbows of Stone (2000), …

Oregon Encyclopedia