Modeste Demers answered the missionary call to Oregon in 1838, just two years after his ordination as a Roman Catholic priest in his native Quebec. …

Oregon Encyclopedia

The Multnomah County Poor Farm in Troutdale was built in 1911 to replace Multnomah County's first home for the destitute, the Hillside Farm in Portland …

Oregon Encyclopedia

"Multnomah" is a word familiar to Oregonians as the name of a county and a waterfall, among other places. Less well known is its origin …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Myra Albert Wiggins was a painter and photographer who gained recognition when she was named to Alfred Stieglitz's famed Photo-Secession, an elite group of American …

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

Nard Jones—novelist, historian, and journalist—wrote prolifically about Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, publishing more than a dozen novels and numerous articles and nonfiction works. He …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Tobacco is native to the Americas, including in the Pacific Northwest, where it was harvested and often cultivated for thousands of years. Introduced to Europe …

Oregon Encyclopedia

A 639-foot freighter, the New Carissa, ran aground in inclement weather off the southern Oregon port of Coos Bay on February 4, 1999. It …

Oregon Encyclopedia

In March 1920, the Atlantic Monthly ran the first of six excerpts from the diary of Opal Whiteley, apparently written when she was six or …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Only a few places in the Beaver State are named in reference to California, and Oregon Caves is one of them. Its earlier moniker, the …

Oregon Encyclopedia