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...)
Mount Mazama is a destroyed
stratovolcano in the
Oregon part of the
Cascade Volcanic Arc and the
Cascade Range. The
volcano's collapsed
caldera holds
Crater Lake, and the entire
mountain is located within
Crater Lake National Park. Mazama is most famous for a catastrophic
volcanic eruption that occurred around 5,677 (± 150) BC. The eruption, estimated to have been 42 times more powerful than
Mount St. Helens' 1980 blast, reduced Mazama's approximate 11,000-foot (3,400 m) height by around half a mile (800 m) when much of the volcano fell into the volcano's partially emptied neck and
magma chamber. At 8,159 feet (2,487 m), Hillman Peak is now the highest point on the rim. The
Klamath tribe of the area believed that the mountain was inhabited by their
god of the
underworld. After the mountain destroyed itself the Klamaths recounted the events as a great battle between this god and his rival the sky god. Mount Mazama was given its name in 1896 when a climbing club from Portland, The Mazamas, organized a visit to
Crater Lake, and named the lost peak Mount Mazama after their own club.
... that James A. Merriman was the only Black graduate from Rush Medical College in 1902 and the first African-American physician to practice medicine in
Portland?
... that the only remaining artifact in the
ghost town of Fremont, Oregon, is a
juniper stump notched with steps that women travelers used to mount horses in a modest fashion?
The University of Oregon has long been known as a renowned research institution. The Brain, Biology and Machine Initiative continues in that distinguished tradition.
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