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

Reuben “Reub” C. Sanders was one of Oregon’s greatest all-around athletes. He lived for most of his life in Salem, where he played and coached …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Pioneering neuroscientist Robert Stone Dow was Oregon’s first board-certified neurologist. A specialist in the treatment of epilepsy and an expert on the cerebellum, Dow witnessed …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Author and former zookeeper Roland Smith said it was the gift of a typewriter from his parents when he was five years old that sparked …

Oregon Encyclopedia

In 1805, William Clark called the 55-mile-long Sandy River the “quick Sand river” after attempting to cross the shallows at its mouth—and getting stuck. “I …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Santiam Pass, at an elevation of 4,817 feet, is a major highway crossing of the middle Cascade Range. Located on U.S. 20 at milepost 80.8, …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Sarah Winnemucca, a Paiute, had a clear purpose in life: “I mean to fight for my down-trodden race while life lasts.” Winnemucca lived part of …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Sea serpent (or monster) lore has been a staple of Oregon’s coastal culture since at least the 1930s, when newspapers reported the sighting of an …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Rising to an elevation of 9,733 feet, Steens Mountain is the highest point in southeastern Oregon. It looms like a massive basalt island, with its …

Oregon Encyclopedia

As a newspaper editor and then as a United States senator for Missouri for three decades, Thomas Hart Benton was a champion for the American …

Oregon Encyclopedia