Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, bordering the Pacific Ocean, California, Washington, Idaho, and Nevada. Its northern border lies along the Columbia River and the eastern border lies along the Snake River. Two north-south mountain ranges—the Pacific Coast Range and the Cascade Mountain Range—form the two boundaries of the Willamette Valley, one of the most fertile and agriculturally productive regions in the world.
Albany Ashland Astoria Baker City Bandon Beaverton Bend Biggs Junction Boardman Brookings Burns Cannon Beach Canyonville Cascade Locks Central Point Clackamas Coos Bay Corvallis Cottage Grove Creswell Dallas Depoe Bay Enterprise Eugene Florence Forest Grove Garibaldi Gearhart Gladstone Gleneden Beach Gold Beach Government Camp Grants Pass Gresham Halsey Harbor Hermiston Hillsboro Hines Hood River John Day Junction City Keizer Klamath Falls La Grande La Pine Lake Oswego Lakeview Lincoln City Madras Manzanita Medford Milwaukie Monmouth Newberg Newport North Bend Oakridge Ontario Oregon City Otter Rock Pendleton Phoenix Portland Prineville Redmond Reedsport Rice Hill Roseburg Salem Sandy Seaside Sisters Springfield Sublimity Sunriver Sutherlin The Dalles Tigard Tillamook Troutdale Tualatin Umatilla Waldport Warrenton Welches White City Wilsonville Woodburn Yachats
Oregon has one of the most diverse landscapes in the nation. It is well known for its tall, dense forests and its accessible, scenic Pacific coastline. Other areas include the semiarid scrublands, prairies, and deserts that cover approximately half the state in eastern and north-central Oregon. It is one of the few places in the Northern Hemisphere where lift-serviced alpine skiing is available year round.
Oregon's geography may be split roughly into six areas:The state varies from rainforest in the Coast Range to barren desert in the southeast, which still meets the technical definition of a frontier.
Oregon is 295 miles (475 km) north to south at longest distance, and 395 miles (475 km) east to west at longest distance. In terms of land and water area, Oregon is the ninth largest state, covering 97,073 square miles (254,418 km˛).
Its highest point is the summit of Mount Hood, at 11,239 feet (3,428 m). As a West Coast state, its lowest point is sea level. Its mean elevation is 3,300 feet (1 km).
Crater Lake National Park is the state's only national park, and the site of Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the U.S. at 1,943 feet. Similar federally-owned, protected recreation areas that are entirely in Oregon include: John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Newberry National Volcanic Monument, and Oregon Caves National Monument.
Areas that are partly in Oregon and partly in neighboring states include the California National Historic Trail, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, the Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Parks, the Nez Perce National Historical Park, and the Oregon National Historic Trail.
Oregon claims the D River is the shortest river in the world, though the American state of Montana makes the same claim of its Roe River. Guinness World Records officially declared that the two rivers are the same length and can both claim the honor. Oregon is also home to the smallest park in the world, Mill Ends Park in Portland.
Oregon's earliest residents were several Native American tribes, including the Bannock, Chinook, Klamath, and Nez Perce. James Cook explored the coast in 1778 in search of the Northwest Passage. The Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled through the region during their expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase. They built their winter fort at Fort Clatsop, near the mouth of the Columbia River.
Exploration by Lewis and Clark (1805–1806) and the United Kingdom's David Thompson (1811) publicized the abundance of fur in the area. In 1811, New York financier John Jacob Astor established Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River with the intention of starting a chain of Pacific Fur Company trading posts along the river. Fort Astoria was the first permanent white settlement in Oregon. In the War of 1812, the British gained control of all of the Pacific Fur Company posts.
By the 1820s and 1830s, the British Hudson's Bay Company dominated the Pacific Northwest. John McLoughlin, who was appointed the Company's Chief Factor of the Columbia District, built Fort Vancouver in 1825.
In 1841 the master trapper and entrepreneur Ewing Young died with considerable wealth, with no apparent heir, and no system to probate his estate. A meeting followed Young's funeral at which a probate government was proposed. Doctor Ira Babcock of Jason Lee's Methodist Mission was elected Supreme Judge. Babcock chaired two meetings in 1842 at Champoeg—half way between Lee's mission and Oregon City—to discuss wolves and other animals considered troublesome at the time. These meetings were precursors to an all-citizen meeting in 1843, which instituted a provisional government headed by an executive council made up of David Hill, Alanson Beers, and Joseph Gale.
The Oregon Trail infused the region with new settlers, starting in 1842–43, after the United States agreed to jointly settle the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom. The border was resolved in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty after a period during which it seemed that the United States and the United Kingdom would go to war for a third time in 75 years. Cooler heads prevailed, and the Oregon boundary dispute between the United States and British North America was set at the 49th parallel. The Oregon Territory was officially organized in 1848.
Settlement increased due to the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, in conjunction with the forced relocation of the native population to Indian Reservations in Oregon. The state was admitted to the Union on February 14, 1859.
At the outbreak of the American Civil War, regular troops were withdrawn and sent east. Volunteer cavalry were recruited in California and were sent north to Oregon to keep peace and protect the populace. The First Oregon Cavalry served until June 1865.
In the 1880s, railroads enabled marketing of the state's lumber and wheat, as well as the more rapid growth of its cities.
Industrial expansion began in earnest following the construction of the Bonneville Dam in 1943 on the Columbia River. The power, food, and lumber provided by Oregon helped fuel the development of the west, although the periodic fluctuations in the nation's building industry have hurt the state's economy on multiple occasions.
The state has a long history of polarizing conflicts: Native Americans vs. British fur trappers, British vs. settlers from the U.S., ranchers vs. farmers, wealthy growing cities vs. established but poor rural areas, loggers vs. environmentalists, white supremacists vs. anti-racists, social communism vs. small-government conservatism, supporters of social spending vs. anti-tax activists, and native Oregonians vs. Californians (or outsiders in general).
Oregonians also have a long history of secessionist ideas, ranging from varying parts of the population on all sides of the political spectrum attempting to form other states and even other countries. Oregon state ballots often include politically conservative proposals (e.g. anti-gay, pro-religious measures) side-by-side with politically liberal ones (e.g. drug decriminalization), illustrating the wide spectrum of political thought in the state.
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