The Modoc War, waged mostly over the winter and spring of 1872-1873, thrust the border between Oregon and California into the national spotlight. During peace …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Mount Hood is a stratovolcano in northwest Oregon located about fifty miles east of Portland and thirty-five miles south of the Columbia River. At …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Missionary Narcissa Prentiss Whitman is probably Old Oregon’s most famous and tragic woman. Her reputation ranges from heroic to intolerant. In 1836, she moved west …

Oregon Encyclopedia

The world's first and most extensive system of protected rivers began with congressional passage of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in 1968. The rivers …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Newberry Crater, as it is commonly known, is a large shield volcano east of the Cascade Range in central Oregon. The area was named for …

Oregon Encyclopedia

First organized in 1779 by a small group of Canadian fur traders based in Montreal, the North West Company dominated the North American fur trade …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Early Filmmaking in Oregon Motion pictures debuted in Oregon in 1894 when a kinetoscope arrived in Portland. The innovative technology allowed boxing matches, vaudeville …

Oregon Encyclopedia

When Congress passed the Oregon Donation Land Law in 1850, the legislation set in motion procedures for the disposal of public lands that left a …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Oregon’s state song, “Oregon, My Oregon,” was composed by Henry B. Murtagh with lyrics by John Andrew Buchanan. Published in December 1920, it is a …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Owen Murphy Panner was a lawyer and federal judge in Oregon from the mid-twentieth century into the first decades of the twenty-first. He was the …

Oregon Encyclopedia