Talk:Oregon

My edits to the Name section

I couldn't quite fit everything I want to say in the edit summary box, so I'm writing it here instead. There was, I thought, some awkwardness in wording and possibly misleading statements. Plus the summary here did not quite agree with the more detailed info at Oregon (toponym). So... first I thought the section needed to start with a little context. As it was it began, The origin of the name "Oregon" is unknown. One theory is that... I thought it would help to mention the earliest known usages (1765 as "Ouragan" and 1778 as "Oregon"), and that the names referred to the "then–mythical" River of the West. So I added a bit of context and moved the info about Rogers's 1765 petition to the section's "lead", before the first theory is described. I also left out the phrase "according to the Oregon Blue book"--there are many sources besides the blue book that describe the 1765 petition, including the T.C. Elliott one I added.

Second, the first theory given, on "Oregon" coming from French ouragan ("windstorm"), I felt the text as it read implied that French explorers had been to the Columbia River and the Gorge itself, and having experienced the gorge winds named the river Ouragan. But we're talking pre-1765 here (thus the use of starting out with that context), and while I admit the French explorations of the interior were impressive to the extreme, the notion that they had firsthand experience with the Columbia Gorge before 1765 is very very hard to believe. There was no source for the claim, French explorers called the Columbia River "Hurricane River" (le fleuve aux ouragans), because of the strong winds of the Columbia Gorge. I was tempted to slap on a "citation needed"--incredulous at the idea of French explorers in the Columbia Gorge at that time. If nothing else I'd want a source about le fleuve aux ouragans. Instead I took the time to read the T.C. Elliott source provided on the Oregon (toponym) page. Elliott is rather strong in his claim that the name comes from French ouragan, but he never claims the French had reached the Columbia River. Nor does he say they called it le fleuve aux ouragans. So I left that bit out and instead tried to tersely summarize what Elliott does say. Hopefully my edits are not too poorly worded and make sense--that the French of the Great Lakes and upper Mississippi River region had heard from the Indians of the powerful winds of the lower Columbia River (although why such info would be known 2,000-some miles away makes me skeptical); or that the French had firsthand, or firsthand experience with Indians aware of the powerful windstorms (including tornadoes) of the Great Plains, through which the Columbia River was then thought to flow. I can more easily see how a (mythical) large westward flowing river, whose headwaters were said to lie within a reasonable portage distance from the Mississippi's upper headwaters, and which supposedly flowed west clear to the Pacific, crossing the windswept Great Plains, might be named for the powerful winds of the plains--winds which interestingly enough are also called Chinook winds.

Anyway, I tried to fit all this in the edit summary box but ran out of space. Posting here instead, I've rambled on a bit more than I should--my apologies. I still think George Stewart makes a better case with his theory about the Wisconsin River, but after researching this evening, the French "hurricane" theory is not quite as far-fetched as I had thought--still hard to swallow, but within the realm of possibility. Pfly (talk) 05:29, 12 October 2010 (UTC)

Governor-elect

Kitzhaber is generally being declared the winnor of the gubernatorial election... I think that we should add him as Governor-Elect! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alexbbard (talk • contribs) 00:13, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

Waiting a couple days until it is more clear is more prudent. I'd love to wait until results are official, but I recall that takes a few weeks. Aboutmovies (talk) 02:13, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

Well, Chris Dudley conceded, so I think it's safe now... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Alexbbard (talk • contribs) 23:51, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

Introduction Section

I moved some of the sentences around a bit. There was a lot talking about population in two different paragraphs. Im not sure if there is too much information about the population density in that second paragraph.Filiwickers (talk) 04:52, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

Russian ownership

Why in the article there is no word on that staff Orego and Washington when they were Russian possessions? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.108.194.254 (talk) 03:24, 20 February 2011 (UTC)

Aloha, Oregon

Aloha, Oregon (49,425 pop) is actually bigger then Tigered (48,035 pop) making it the 12th largest city. It is unincorporated I know and I figure this might be the reason for it being left of the list but I was wondering if due to it's size if it should be listed on there or not as the 12 biggest and tigard either moved of or kepts as the 13th. maybe extending it to the top 15? this list all the other somewhat sizeable places in it? that would inclued #14 Lake Oswego (36,619 pop) and #15 Keizer (36,478 pop)

Just a though mainly just wanted to know about Aloha as it is getting pretty sizable now but I wasn't sure due to it status as unincorporated. hoping to hear some others thoughts on this.MathewDill (talk) 16:33, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

You've got it--as an unincorporated area, not a city, Aloha can't be included on the list of most populated cities. --Esprqii (talk) 19:20, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

Pronunciation

The pronunciation issue is coming up again. We have a section on it under "Name" and the separate Oregon (toponym) article, but neither really delves into the pronunciation issue at any length. Perhaps the problem is coming up with reliable sources that describe "valid" pronunciations.

It would be worthwhile for anyone who wants to chime in to read the previous discussions on this topic:

• Talk:Oregon/Archive_1#Pronunciation
• Talk:Oregon/Archive_1#More_on_pronunciation
• Talk:Oregon/Archive_2#Removing_.27incorrect.27_.28disputed.29_pronunciation.
• Talk:Oregon/Archive_3#Pronunciation

--Esprqii (talk) 17:28, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

Sign at I-5 border crossing, 1970s

I've heard a few times over the years that on I-5 at the Oregon-California border in the 1970s the signage showing you were entering Oregon said something like "Welcome to Oregon, Have a Nice Visit". Anyone else heard this? If it can be proven it deserves mention somewhere on wikipedia, if not in this article. --76.115.67.114 (talk) 00:49, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

Technical definition of frontier

"...which still meets the technical definition of a frontier."

That just doesn't pass the smell test to me. I'm deleting it. If you got a source, you can put it back. D O N D E groovily Talk to me 21:41, 2 December 2011 (UTC)