Benjamin Franklin Harding helped lead Oregon through the state’s formative and tumultuous years during the mid-nineteenth century as secretary of the Oregon Territory and speaker …

Oregon Encyclopedia

High-quality water and ideal conditions for growing hops set the stage for Oregon’s vibrant beer industry. The earliest commercial breweries in the 1850s were small, …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Frank Herbert is considered a grandmaster of science fiction writing. His best known work was Dune World (1965), later renamed Dune. The idea for …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Hattie Bratzel Kremen was Oregon’s first elected female district attorney. She was one of two women to serve as a district attorney in Oregon until …

Oregon Encyclopedia

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, only one Indian boarding school remained in Oregon—Chemawa Indian School, located along Interstate 5 at the …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Jewish Pioneers: Becoming Oregonians In 1869, Bernard Goldsmith, an immigrant Jew from Bavaria, was sworn in as the mayor of Portland. Two years later, …

Oregon Encyclopedia

John Aloysius Fahey, the "Father of the American Fingerstyle Guitar," spent the last twenty years of his life in Salem, Oregon. During his career, he …

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

Of the 158 names inscribed in the legislative chambers of the Oregon State Capitol, only six are women. One of those is Tabitha Moffat …

Oregon Encyclopedia

The U.S.S. Sederstrom (DE-31) was named for Delmore “Verdi” Sederstrom of Salem, a U.S. Navy officer who died during the Japanese attack on Pearl …

Oregon Encyclopedia