Portal:Oregon

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The Oregon Portal

Raised-relief map of Oregon

Relief map of Oregon


Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It borders the Pacific Ocean on the west, Washington on the north, Idaho on the east, and California and Nevada on the south. The Columbia and Snake Rivers form, respectively, much of its northern and eastern borders. Between two north-south mountain ranges in western Oregon—the Oregon Coast Range and the Cascade Mountain Range—lies the Willamette Valley, the most densely populated and agriculturally productive region of the state.

Oregon has one of the most diverse landscapes of any state in the U.S. It is well known for its tall, dense forests; its accessible and scenic Pacific coastline; and its rugged, glaciated Cascade volcanoes. Other areas include semiarid scrublands, prairies, and deserts that cover approximately half the state in eastern and north-central Oregon.

Oregon's population in 2000 was about 3.5 million, a 20.3% increase over 1990. It is estimated to have reached 3.7 million by 2006. Oregon's population is largely concentrated in the Willamette Valley, which stretches from Eugene through Salem and Corvallis to Portland, Oregon's largest city.

The origin of the name Oregon is unknown. One account, advanced by George R. Stewart in a 1944 article in American Speech, was endorsed as the "most plausible explanation" in the book Oregon Geographic Names. According to Stewart, the name came from an engraver's error in a French map published in the early 1700s, on which the Ouisiconsink (Wisconsin) River was spelled "Ouaricon-sint", broken on two lines with the -sint below, so that there appeared to be a river flowing to the west named "Ouaricon".

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Portland Streetcar
Credit: Cacophony

The Portland Streetcar at the Portland State University stop. The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon that serves areas surrounding downtown. It is one of the first new streetcar lines in the United States since World War II and the first to use modern vehicles.

Selected biography

Doctor John McLoughlin
Dr. John McLoughlin (October 19, 1784 – September 3, 1857) was the Chief Factor of the Columbia Fur District of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver. In 1798, he began 4½ years of medical training and was granted a license to practice medicine in 1803. He was hired as a physician at Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay, Ontario), a fur-gathering post of the North West Company on Lake Superior. In 1814, he became a partner in the company, and in 1816 he was arrested for the murder of Robert Semple, the governor of the Red River Colony, after the Battle of Seven Oaks (1816). McLoughlin was tried on October 30, 1818, and the charges were dismissed. McLoughlin was instrumental in the negotiations leading to the North West Company's 1821 merger with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), and became Chief Factor of the Columbia District in 1824. McLoughlin was involved with the debate over the future of the Oregon Country. After retiring from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1846, McLoughlin moved his family back south to Oregon City in the Willamette Valley. In 1847, McLoughlin was given the Knighthood of St. Gregory, bestowed on him by Pope Gregory XVI. He became a U.S. citizen in 1849. He served as mayor of Oregon City in 1851, and died of natural causes in 1857. His grave is on a bluff above Willamette Falls. In 1953, the state of Oregon donated a statue of McLoughlin to the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall Collection. The title "Father of Oregon" was officially bestowed on him by the Oregon Legislative Assembly in 1957.

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River House at Rood Bridge Park

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Mount Hood
Mount Hood (called Wy'east by the Multnomah tribe), is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc in northern Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located about 50 miles (80 km) east-southeast of the city of Portland, on the border between Clackamas and Hood River counties. Mount Hood's snow-covered peak rises 11,249 ft (3,429 m) and is home to twelve glaciers. It is the highest mountain in Oregon and the fourth-highest in the Cascade Range. Mount Hood is considered the Oregon volcano most likely to erupt, though based on its history, an explosive eruption is unlikely. Still, the odds of an eruption in the next 30 years are estimated at between 3 and 7 percent, so the USGS characterizes it as "potentially active". The mountain is sometimes informally described as "dormant" ("asleep"). Timberline Lodge is a National Historic Landmark located on the southern flank of Mount Hood just below Palmer Glacier. The mountain has six ski areas: Timberline, Mount Hood Meadows, Ski Bowl, Cooper Spur, Snow Bunny and Summit. They total over 4,600 acres (7.2 mi², 18.6 km²) of skiable terrain; Timberline offers the only year-round lift-served skiing in North America. Mount Hood is part of the Mount Hood National Forest, which has 1.067 million acres (1667 mi², 4318 km²), four designated wilderness areas which total 189,200 acres (295 mi², 766 km²), and more than 1200 mi (1900 km) of hiking trails.

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American Beaver
Western Meadowlark
Chinook salmon
Oregon-grape
Oregon Swallowtail butterfly
Douglas-fir
Metasequoia
Sunstone

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Willamette River
Credit: Cacophony
The Willamette River as it passes through downtown Portland, Oregon. The bridges, from right to left, are the Sellwood, Ross Island, Marquam, Hawthorne, Morrision, Burnside, Steel (the black bridge that is partially obscured), Fremont (the arch bridge at far left). The mountains, from right to left, are Mount Hood, Mount Adams (only the tip is visible) and Mount Saint Helens.

Selected quote

Joseph Lane
Having now finished the observations on this, probably, the last occasion I shall have of communicating with you, all me to express the hope, that whatever errors I may have committed, will be attributed to no want of zeal in the discharge of my official duties, and that they may find a correction in the intelligence and patriotism, of the gentleman who will succeed me. And in my retirement, whatever may be my lot, I shall not cease to invoke that Beneficent Being, to whose providence we are so signally indebted for the general prosperity of the Territory; for the continuance of his blessings upon Oregon—upon you—and upon your constituents, from whom I have received uniform kindness and support in the discharge of my duties.
Joseph Lane, 1850, Legislative Message

Featured content

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See also: Good articles relating to Oregon

Featured articles: 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens  • 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack  • Balch Creek  • Big Butte Creek  • Frank Black  • Bull Run River  • Chetco River  • Columbia River  • Columbia Slough  • D. B. Cooper  • Elliott Smith  • Exploding whale  • Fanno Creek  • Forest Park  • Hanford Site  • Hillsboro, Oregon  • Johnson Creek  • Little Butte Creek  • New Carissa  • Oregon State Capitol  • Rogue River  • Tryon Creek  • Upper and Lower Table Rock

Featured lists:List of areas in the National Park System of the United StatesList of Portland Trail Blazers head coachesList of tallest buildings in Portland, OregonList of U.S. states by date of statehoodList of U.S. states by elevation

Featured pictures

Main topics

Attractions: Crater Lake National Park • John Day Fossil Beds National Monument • Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Parks • Oregon Caves National Monument • Portland Rose Festival

Metro Areas: Bend-Redmond • Eugene-Springfield • Medford-Ashland • Portland • Salem-Keizer

Culture: Music • Oregon Shakespeare Festival • Religion

Education: Higher Education

Geography: Regions • The Cascades • Central Oregon • Columbia Gorge • Columbia Plateau • Columbia River • Eastern Oregon • Harney Basin • Inland Empire • Mount Hood Corridor • Oregon Coast • Palouse • Portland Metro • Rogue Valley • Southern Oregon • Treasure Valley • Tualatin Valley • Western Oregon • Willamette Valley

Government: Oregon Constitution • Oregon Legislative Assembly • Oregon Supreme Court • Oregon System

Oregon State Capital rotunda

History: Oregon Country • Oregon Treaty • Oregon missionaries • Executive Committee • Oregon Trail • Oregon boundary dispute • Pacific Fur Company • Provisional Government • Hudson's Bay Company • Treaty of 1818 • Russo-American Treaty • Champoeg Meetings • Whitman massacre • Donation Land Claim Act • Capital punishment in Oregon

People: Neil Goldschmidt • Tom McCall • John McLoughlin

Sports: Portland Trail Blazers • University of Oregon • Oregon State University • Portland State University • University of Portland • Portland Beavers

Transportation: Barlow Road • Historic Columbia River Highway • River Ferries • Interstate 5 • Interstate 84 • Light rail • Oregon Route 99 • Pacific Crest Trail • Steamboats of the Columbia River • Steamboats of the Willamette River • Steamboats of the Oregon Coast • U.S. Route 26 • U.S. Route 30 • U.S. Route 97 • U.S. Route 101 • U.S. Route 395

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Lighthouse of Cape Meares, Oregon

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This week's Collaboration of the Week projects: Melville Jacobs & Jupiter Hotel

Also, see this list of common redlinks, list of articles with cleanup tags, and list of articles needing immediate attention

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Coordinates: 44°00′N 120°30′W / 44°N 120.5°W / 44; -120.5

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