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

More than any other figure during the years of the Pacific Northwest's beaver trade, Peter Skene Ogden epitomized that endeavor's transcontinental reach, its rapacious competition …

Oregon Encyclopedia

On a clear day, residents of Rainer, Oregon, have a view of the town's eponym a hundred miles to the northeast in Washington State—Mount Rainier, …

Oregon Encyclopedia

The rattlesnake is the only dangerously venomous reptile in Oregon. Among the state's native wildlife, few other animals generate as many fears, false perceptions, and …

Oregon Encyclopedia

On May 11, 1792, Robert Gray, the first American to circumnavigate the world (1787-1790), sailed the Columbia Rediviva into the Columbia River, the first …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Robert Shortess, an early pioneer in Oregon, played a significant role in the acquisition of Oregon Territory, the formation of the Oregon state government, and …

Oregon Encyclopedia