In the early months of 1847, a group of Willamette Valley farmers organized the Oregon Producers’ Exporting and Importing Company (OPEIC). The farmers wanted to …

Oregon Encyclopedia

“The Oregon boundary question,” historian Frederick Merk concluded, “was a diplomatic problem involving a kernel of reality and an enormous husk.” The eventual existence of …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Recognizing the opportunity to monopolize access to Oregon by the transcontinental railroads as well as maintaining a near-monopoly on regional waterways, financier Henry Villard incorporated …

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

Since 1974, no other choral organization has brought more recognition or varied programs to the state than the Oregon Repertory Singers. The ninety-mixed-voice group has …

Oregon Encyclopedia

The Oregon School for the Blind, also known as the Oregon Institute for the Blind and the Oregon State School for the Blind, was a …

Oregon Encyclopedia

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), under the leadership of Angus L. Bowmer (1904-1979), had its beginnings as a two-play festival in Ashland on July 2, …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Founded in 1926 by fifteen artists, including sculptors and architects, the Society of Oregon Artists included many art educators from the Portland Art Museum and …

Oregon Encyclopedia

In the course of the Spanish-American War, the United States attacked and occupied the Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. The Second …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Established in 1846, the Oregon Spectator was the first newspaper published in the Oregon Territory, preceding newspapers in California and other western outposts. It was …

Oregon Encyclopedia