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

Tom McCall, more than any leader of his era, shaped the identity of modern Oregon. As governor from 1967 to 1975, McCall, a Republican, pioneered …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Tigard (pronounced TY-gerd) is located in Washington County’s Tualatin Valley, a region that for thousands of years was the territory of the Atfalati, a …

Oregon Encyclopedia