Oregon has been home to many indigenous nations for thousands of years. The first European traders, explorers, and settlers began exploring what is now Oregon's Pacific coast in the early to mid-16th century. As early as 1564, the Spanish began sending vessels northeast from the Philippines, riding the Kuroshio Current in a sweeping circular route across the northern part of the Pacific. In 1592, Juan de Fuca undertook detailed mapping and studies of ocean currents in the Pacific Northwest, including the Oregon coast as well as the strait now bearing his name. The Lewis and Clark Expedition traversed Oregon in the early 1800s, and the first permanent European settlements in Oregon were established by fur trappers and traders. In 1843, an autonomous government was formed in the Oregon Country, and the Oregon Territory was created in 1848. Oregon became the 33rd state of the U.S. on February 14, 1859.
Today, with 4.2 million people over 98,000 square miles (250,000 km2), Oregon is the ninth largest and 27th most populous U.S. state. The capital, Salem, is the third-most populous city in Oregon, with 175,535 residents. Portland, with 652,503, ranks as the 26th among U.S. cities. The Portland metropolitan area, which includes neighboring counties in Washington, is the 25th largest metro area in the nation, with a population of 2,512,859. Oregon is also one of the most geographically diverse states in the U.S., marked by volcanoes, abundant bodies of water, dense evergreen and mixed forests, as well as high deserts and semi-arid shrublands. At 11,249 feet (3,429 m), Mount Hood is the state's highest point. Oregon's only national park, Crater Lake National Park, comprises the caldera surrounding Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the U.S. The state is also home to the single largest organism in the world, Armillaria ostoyae, a fungus that runs beneath 2,200 acres (8.9 km2) of the Malheur National Forest. (Full article...)
Wildwood: The Wildwood Chronicles, Book 1 is a 2011 children'sfantasy novel by American singer-songwriter Colin Meloy, illustrated by his wife Carson Ellis. Meloy is better known for his role with the group The Decemberists, while Ellis has produced artwork for the band amongst other projects. The novel tells the story of seventh-grader Prue McKeel whose baby brother is kidnapped by crows. With the help of her friend and schoolmate Curtis, they journey together into a magical forest to find Prue's brother. Inspired by classic fantasy novels and folk tales, Meloy's story features supernatural elements set against the scenic backdrop and culture of Portland, Oregon, specifically the St. Johns neighborhood. Ellis collaborated closely with Meloy throughout the writing phase to produce 85 illustrations. The novel received mostly positive reviews and was praised for its illustrations and vintage book design. Wildwood was on the New York Times Best Seller list of Children's Chapter Books for two weeks and tied for the 2012 E.B. White Read Aloud Award. Hillsboro, Oregon-based animation studio Laika has optioned the novel for a future film adaptation, and the author-illustrator team plan to produce at least two more books in the series.
John Albert Kitzhaber (born March 5, 1947) is a physician, member of the Democratic Party and a former Governor of Oregon, who resigned early in his fourth term. He graduated from South Eugene High School in 1965, Dartmouth College in 1969, and then Oregon Health & Science University with a medical degree in 1973. Kitzhaber practiced medicine from 1973 to 1986 in Roseburg, Oregon as an Emergency RoomPhysician. Kitzhaber began his political career serving in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1979 to 1981. In 1980, he was elected to the Oregon State Senate, where he served three terms from 1981 to 1993, and as President of the Senate from 1985 until 1993. Kitzhaber was elected governor in November 1994, defeating Denny Smith, and becoming the 35th Governor of Oregon, and was re-elected in 1998. Much of Kitzhaber's eight-year first tenure as governor was spent on the defensive with a Republican-controlled legislature. While Oregon's constitution prohibited Kitzhaber from seeking a third consecutive term in 2002, he was elected to a non-consecutive third term in 2010 and was reelected in 2014, becoming the first person in Oregon history to be elected to four terms as governor. Kitzhaber married Sharon LaCroix in 1995 and the couple had one son, Logan, born in October 1997. They divorced in 2003. From 2003 to 2010, Kitzhaber served as President of the Estes Park Institute, a Colorado-based education organization for community hospital and healthcare leaders. During the same period, he served as the Director for the Center for Evidence-Based Policy at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon. Cylvia Hayes, with whom Kitzhaber became romantically involved soon after his 2002 campaign, became his live-in girlfriend. In 2011, when he again became Governor, Hayes became Oregon's first lady, although they remain unmarried.
... that in 1909 the owner of the Wolverine claimed the Coquille intentionally rammed his boat, but the Steamboat Inspection Service subsequently suspended the captains of both vessels?
... that in the event of a severe flood, the gray-tailed vole will abandon its complex network of tunnels and head for high ground?
... that it has been a goal of Oregon state senator Bill Hansell to get the potato officially designated as the state vegetable?
... that when Oregon journalist Larry Smyth was asked who he thought would win presidential elections, he invariably replied "the man who gets the most votes"?
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