Welcome to the Oregon Encyclopedia.
Explore Oregon's history and culture — from Athapaskan Indians to Zigzag Ranger Station
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August: Birthdays
Read the biographies of significant Oregon people born during the dog days of summer.
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![Ben Hur Lampman (1886-1954)]()
Ben Hur Lampman (1886-1954)
Ben Hur Lampman, one of Oregon’s most popular writers in the first half of the twentieth century, w…
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![Daiichi Takeoka (1882–1954)]()
Daiichi Takeoka (1882–1954)
Seventeen-year-old Daiichi Takeoka arrived in Portland in 1900 with a limited education from his ho…
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![Florence Merriam Bailey (1863-1948)]()
Florence Merriam Bailey (1863-1948)
Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey was an ornithologist and nature writer whose fieldwork contributed …
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![Frederick William Cleator (1883–1957)]()
Frederick William Cleator (1883–1957)
Although by training a forester, Frederick William Cleator served as one of the first recreational …
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![Fredrik Wilhelm Lönegren (1860-1937)]()
Fredrik Wilhelm Lönegren (1860-1937)
Fredrik Wilhelm Lönegren moved to Portland on October 3, 1908, to start a Swedish newspaper, which …
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![Gus J. Solomon (1906–1987)]()
Gus J. Solomon (1906–1987)
Gus J. Solomon, the second-longest-serving federal judge in Oregon history, was the Portland-born c…
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![Henry Larcom Abbot (1831-1927)]()
Henry Larcom Abbot (1831-1927)
Henry Larcom Abbot was a career military engineer who is memorialized on Oregon’s landscape in thre…
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![Joni Huntley (1956–)]()
Joni Huntley (1956–)
As a seventeen-year-old senior at Sheridan High School, Joni Huntley became the first American woma…
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![Louis Bunce (1907-1983)]()
Louis Bunce (1907-1983)
Louis Bunce, a major painter and printmaker beginning in the 1930s, is considered a legend in Orego…
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![Margery Hoffman Smith (1888-1981)]()
Margery Hoffman Smith (1888-1981)
Margery Hoffman Smith, a painter and interior designer, was called the “grande dame of arts and cra…
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![Marianne Mayfield (Hill) (1936-2004)]()
Marianne Mayfield (Hill) (1936-2004)
During more than thirty years on the Portland jazz scene, singer and bassist Marianne Mayfield was …
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![Pietro Belluschi (1899-1994)]()
Pietro Belluschi (1899-1994)
Pietro Belluschi of Portland was an internationally known architect and a key innovator in the deve…
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![William Kittredge (1932-2020)]()
William Kittredge (1932-2020)
William Kittredge is an award-winning author, influential teacher, and preeminent voice of the Amer…
Feeling adventurous? How Oregonian of you.
Or may we suggest…
Explore OHS Digital History Projects
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Wayfinder
An interactive map of notable places, people, and events in Oregon history.
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Oregon History Project
The Research Library at the Oregon Historical Society provides direct access to digitized and digital materials as well as narratives from Pacific Northwest historians.
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Oregon TimeWeb
An interactive timeline of archival materials and historical scholarship on the history of Oregon.
This Just In
New Entries
"We could see the top of one hill and think that was the last. But when we gained that, others kept rising before us. To look back, in retreat, seemed utterly out of the question. To look forward was to look directly upwards, as the ascent seemed almost perpendicular." Harriet Hitchcock, 13, 1865, Oregon Trail
No. 7
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![Buncom]()
Buncom
Buncom (also Bunkum, Buncombe or Buncomville) is situated at the conflu…
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![Charles Cutter, aka Chief Eagle Horse (1878–1938)]()
Charles Cutter, aka Chief Eagle Horse (1878–1938)
Charles Cutter, whose Tlingit name was Dockh-hoh-kharckh, was an actor …
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![Christmas Valley (community)]()
Christmas Valley (community)
The unincorporated town of Christmas Valley (population approximately 1…
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![Cleveland Rockwell (1837-1907)]()
Cleveland Rockwell (1837-1907)
Cleveland Rockwell was a topographical engineer, cartographer, and arti…
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![LaFayette Grover (1823-1911)]()
LaFayette Grover (1823-1911)
LaFayette Grover was politically one of the most successful Democrats i…
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![Meier & Frank Co.]()
Meier & Frank Co.
Meier & Frank, which advertised itself as “One of America’s Great Store…
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![Oregon State Fair]()
Oregon State Fair
The call for an Oregon State Fair intensified in 1859 after California …
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![Richard C. Thompson (1945-2021)]()
Richard C. Thompson (1945-2021)
Richard Thompson was an artist and teacher (and amateur fisherman) who …
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![Skidmore Fountain]()
Skidmore Fountain
The Skidmore Fountain, dedicated on September 22, 1888, is the oldest p…
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![Sterlingville]()
Sterlingville
Sterlingville was a mining boomtown at the headwaters of Sterling Creek…
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![Tejanos in Oregon]()
Tejanos in Oregon
Tejanos (Tay-HAH-nohs)—Mexican Americans from south Texas—began moving …
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![William "Bill" Bradbury (1949-2023)]()
William "Bill" Bradbury (1949-2023)
William “Bill” Chapman Bradbury III served in Oregon politics and publi…
The OE is Green!
Our editorial process is completely paperless — authors and editors use a one-of-a-kind online workshop developed by Portland State University. We've published hundreds of authoritative entries on Oregon history and culture without hurting a single Douglas Fir. Donate your green to The OE and keep us — and the trees — growing.
Additional Funding
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This project has been funded in part by the Oregon Heritage Commission and the Oregon Cultural Trust
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This project has been funded in part by an American Rescue Plan Act Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the State Library of Oregon.
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Project Partners
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![https://oregoncouncilofteachersofenglish.wildapricot.org/]()
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