Dr. William Cameron McKay [mə kī´] lived his entire life on the lower and middle Columbia River, save for five years spent pursuing an …

Oregon Encyclopedia

A brash, opportunistic cavalry officer with an explosive temper and a vindictive predilection for conflict with Indians, fellow officers, and foreign powers, Gen. William Selby …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Born in the Scottish Highlands, schoolteacher Alexander Ross immigrated to Canada’s St. Lawrence River Valley in 1804. Befriended by fellow Scot Alexander McKay, a veteran …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Alonzo A. Skinner was the first judge in the Pacific Northwest, although he had no courtroom and no courthouse and the laws he enforced were …

Oregon Encyclopedia

The Applegate Trail, first laid out and used in 1846, was a southern alternative to the western-most segment of the Oregon Trail, with its …

Oregon Encyclopedia

The Astor Expedition was a grand, two-pronged mission, involving scores of men, that attempted to establish a worldwide trading network centered at present-day Astoria. Although …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Although Washington Irving (1783-1859) never traveled to Oregon Country, he wrote one of the most widely read and influential narratives of the region. His …

Oregon Encyclopedia

The Barlow Road is a historic wagon road that created a new route on the Oregon Trail in 1846. Until the road was opened, the …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Oregon has over ninety separate streams named Bear Creek (far more, in fact, than the Beaver State has Beaver Creeks). Among the most historically notable …

Oregon Encyclopedia

During the 1850s, Benjamin Franklin Shaw served as an interpreter for Washington Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens at treaty councils with Native tribes in the Pacific …

Oregon Encyclopedia