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 United States. 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...)
Willamette University is a private institution of higher learning located in Salem, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest university in the western United States. Willamette has approximately 2,500 students in four schools, the undergraduate College of Liberal Arts, the graduate level College of Law, Atkinson Graduate School of Management, and the School of Education. The campus is located on 69 acres (250,000 m²) directly south of the Oregon State Capitol. Buildings on campus include Eaton Hall, Smullin/Walton Hall, Collins Hall, Olin Hall, G. Herbert Smith Auditorium, the Fine Arts building, the Hatfield Library, the Mary Stuart Rogers auditorium, Putnam University Center, Gatke Hall, Lausanne Hall, Goudy Commons, Kaneko Commons and Willamette's oldest building, Waller Hall. The university is a NCAA Division III school with the Bearcat as mascot. The university was founded as the Oregon Institute in the days of the Oregon Country by the missionary Jason Lee, who had arrived in the territory in 1834. On February 1, 1842, by-laws were adopted, a board of trustees was elected and thus the school was officially established. The original building of the institute was a three-story frame structure first occupied in 1844. At the time, it was one of the largest structures in the Pacific Northwest. It housed the first session of the state legislature to meet in Salem after the capital was moved there in 1851. The name of institution was changed to "Wallamet University" in 1852.
Dr. Douglas Engelbart (January 30, 1925 – July 2, 2013) was an American inventor of Swedish and Norwegian descent. He was born in Oregon. As a World War II naval radio technician based in the Philippines, Engelbart was inspired by Vannevar Bush's article "As We May Think". Engelbart received a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Oregon State University in 1948, a B.Eng. from UC Berkeley in 1952, and a Ph.D. in EECS from UC Berkeley in 1955. At Stanford Research Institute, Engelbart was the primary force behind the design and development of the On-Line System, or NLS. He and his team at the Augmentation Research Center developed computer-interface elements such as bit-mapped screens, groupware, hypertext and precursors to the graphical user interface. In 1967, Engelbart applied for and later received a patent for the wooden shell with two metal wheels (computer mouse). Engelbart later revealed that it was nicknamed the "mouse" because the tail came out the end. He would also work on the ARPANET, the precursor of the Internet. In later years he moved to the private firm Tymshare after SRI was transferred to the company. McDonnell Douglas took over the company in 1982, and in 1986 he left the company. In 1988, he founded his own company, the Bootstrap Institute, which was located in Menlo Park, California.
... that after filing to run for a seat on the Oregon Supreme Court, judge Jason Lee had two cases decided against his interests in the same court before withdrawing?
... that the citizens of Verboort, Oregon, produce 15 tons of sausage and 2,000 pounds of sauerkraut for the community's annual sausage and sauerkraut festival?
... that while George C. Brownell played no part in the Oregon land fraud scandal, a published cartoon showed him as the "Pretty Moth" that flew too close to the land fraud limelight?
... that the founding manager of an Oregon radio station named it after his wife's former name?
... that Obed Dickinson, an abolitionist pastor in Oregon in the mid-1800s, was pressured into resigning for advocating for racial equality?
... that future state senator William T. Vinton was sent to jail for contempt of court when he refused to sign a city paving contract, but was later vindicated by an Oregon Supreme Court decision?
That's swell. I like ya, Lloyd. I always liked ya. You were always the best of 'em. Best god-damn bartender from Timbuktu to Portland, Maine - or Portland, Oregon for that matter.
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