Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It joined the Union on February 14, 1859 as the 33rd state. Previously, the region was part of the Oregon Territory that was created in 1848 after Euro-American settlement began in earnest in the 1840s.
The state lies on the Pacific coast between Washington on the north and California and Nevada on the south; Idaho lies to the east.
The Columbia and Snake rivers form much of its northern and eastern boundaries, respectively. Salem, the state's third most populous city, is the state capital, while the most populous city is Portland.
The valley of the Willamette River in western Oregon is the most densely populated and agriculturally productive region of the state and is home to 8 of the 10 most populous cities.
Oregon's population in 2000 was about 3.5 million, a 20.3% increase over 1990; it is estimated to have reached 3.7 million by 2006.
Oregon's largest private employer is Intel, located in the Silicon Forest area in Portland's western suburbs. Nike is the only Fortune 500 company headquartered in the state. The state has 197 public school districts, with Portland Public Schools as the largest.
There are 17 community colleges, and seven publicly financed colleges in the Oregon University System. Oregon Health & Science University, the state's only medical school, is affiliated with the system. Oregon State University in Corvallis and the University of Oregon in Eugene are the two flagship universities of the state, while Portland State University has the largest enrollment.
Willamette University in Salem is the oldest college in Oregon.
Major highways include Interstate 5 which runs the entire north-south length of the state, Interstate 84 that runs east-west, U.S. Route 97 that crosses the middle of the state, U.S. Route 101 that travels the entire coastline, and U.S. Route 26 that runs east-west, among many other highways. Portland International Airport is the busiest commercial airport in the state, run by the Port of Portland, the busiest port in Oregon.
Rail service includes Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway freight service, Amtrak passenger service, as well as light rail and street car routes in the Portland metro area.
Oregon has a diverse landscape with tall, dense forests that stretch a third of the way across the state in the north and halfway across the state in the south; and its accessible and scenic Pacific coastline and its rugged, glaciated Cascade volcanoes.
Other areas include semi-arid scrublands, prairies, and deserts that cover approximately half the state in eastern and north-central Oregon, and sparser pine forests in the northeast. Mount Hood is the highest point in the state at 11,239 feet (3,425 m) above sea-level. Crater Lake National Park is the only National Park in Oregon.
The origin of the name "Oregon" is unknown. One account, advanced by George R. Stewart in a 1944 article in American Speech, was endorsed as the "most plausible explanation" in the book Oregon Geographic Names.
According to Stewart, the name came from an engraver's error in a French map published in the early 1700s, on which the Ouisiconsink (Wisconsin) River was spelled "Ouaricon-sint", broken on two lines with the -sint below, so that there appeared to be a river flowing to the west named "Ouaricon". Other theories place the word's roots in the Spanish language, from words like Orejón ("big ear") or Aragón.
The pronunciation of the name "Oregon" is a matter of local pride; Oregonians pronounce the name or [.gn], and dutifully correct those from elsewhere, who often change the word's first and final syllables.
Geography
The mountainous regions of western Oregon were formed by the volcanic activity of Juan de Fuca Plate, a tectonic plate that poses a continued threat of volcanic activity and earthquakes in the region.
The most recent major activity was the 1700 Cascadia earthquake; Washington's Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, an event which was visible from Portland.
The Columbia River, which constitutes much of the northern border of Oregon, also played a major role in the region's geological evolution, as well as its economic and cultural development.
The Columbia is one of North America's largest rivers, and the only river to cut through the Cascades. About 15,000 years ago, the Columbia repeatedly flooded much of Oregon during the Missoula Floods; the modern fertility of the Willamette Valley is largely a result of those floods. Plentiful salmon made parts of the river, such as Celilo Falls, hubs of economic activity for thousands of years.
In the 20th century, numerous hydroelectric dams were constructed along the Columbia, with major impacts on salmon, transportation and commerce, electric power, and flood control.
Today, Oregon's landscape 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 (636 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 (251,418 km²).
The highest point in Oregon is the summit of Mount Hood, at 11,239 feet (3,428 m), and its lowest point is sea level of the Pacific Ocean along the Oregon coast. Its mean elevation is 3,300 feet (1,006 m). 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 (592 m).
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. Oregon is also home to Mill Ends Park (in Portland), the smallest park in the world at 452 square inches (about 3 square feet, or 0.29 m²).
Oregon is home to what is considered the largest single organism in the world, an Armillaria ostoyae fungus beneath the Malheur National Forest of eastern Oregon.
Climate
Oregon's climate—especially in the western part of the state—is heavily influenced by the Pacific Ocean.
The climate is generally mild, but periods of extreme hot and cold can affect parts of the state.
Precipitation in the state varies widely: the deserts of eastern Oregon, such as the Alvord Desert (in the rain shadow of Steens Mountain), get as little as 200 mm (8 inches) annually, while some western coastal slopes approach 5000 mm (200 inches) annually.
Oregon's population centers, which lie mostly in the western part of the state, are generally wet and soggy, while the high deserts of Central and Eastern Oregon are much drier.
History
Although there is considerable evidence that humans lived in the Pacific Northwest 15,000 years ago, the first record of human activity in the Oregon area came from archaeologist Luther Cressman's 1938 discovery of sage bark sandals near Fort Rock Cave that places human habitation in Oregon as early as 13,200 years ago.
By 8000 B.C. there were settlements across the state, with the majority concentrated along the lower Columbia River, in the western valleys, and around coastal estuaries.
By the 16th century Oregon was home to many Native American groups, including the Bannock, Chasta, Chinook, Kalapuya, Klamath, Molalla, Nez Perce, Takelma, and Umpqua.
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-bearing animals in the area. Also in 1811, New Yorker John Jacob Astor financed the establishment of Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River as a western outpost to his Pacific Fur Company. ; this was the first permanent Caucasian 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 Hudson's Bay Company dominated the Pacific Northwest from its Columbia District headquarters at Fort Vancouver (built in 1825 by the District's Chief Factor John McLoughlin across the Columbia from present-day Portland).
In 1841, the master trapper and entrepreneur Ewing Young died leaving considerable wealth and 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 of contemporary concern. These meetings were precursors to an all-citizen meeting in 1843, which instituted a provisional government headed by an executive committee made up of David Hill, Alanson Beers, and Joseph Gale.
This government was the first acting public government of the Oregon Country before annexation by the government of the United States.
The Oregon Trail brought many new settlers to the region, starting in 1842–1843, after the United States agreed with the United Kingdom to jointly settle the Oregon Country.
For some time, it seemed that these two nations would go to war for a third time in 75 years (see Oregon boundary dispute), but the border was defined peacefully in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty. The border between the United States and British North America was set at the 49th parallel. The Oregon Territory was officially organized in 1848.
Settlement increased because of 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 U.S. troops were withdrawn and sent east.
Volunteer cavalry were recruited in California and sent north to Oregon to keep peace and protect the populace.
The First Oregon Cavalry served until June 1865.
In the 1880s, the proliferation of railroads assisted in 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. Hydroelectric power, food, and lumber provided by Oregon helped fuel the development of the West, although the periodic fluctuations in the U.S. building industry have hurt the state's economy on multiple occasions.
The state has a long history of polarizing conflicts: American Indians vs. British fur trappers, British vs. U.S. settlers, ranchers vs. farmers, wealthy growing cities vs. established but poor rural areas, loggers vs. environmentalists, white supremacists vs. anti-racists, social progressivism 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, with people in various regions and 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.
Economy
Land in the Willamette Valley owes its fertility to the Missoula Floods, which deposited lake sediment from Lake Missoula in western Montana onto the valley floor.
This soil is the source of a wealth of agricultural products, including potatoes, peppermint, hops, and apples and other fruits.
Oregon is also one of four major world hazelnut growing regions, and produces 95% of the domestic hazelnuts in the United States.
While the history of the wine production in Oregon can be traced to before Prohibition, it became a significant industry beginning in the 1970s. In 2005, Oregon ranked third among U.S. states with 303 wineries. Due to regional similarities in climate and soil, the grapes planted in Oregon are often the same varieties found in the French regions of Alsace and Burgundy.
In the northeastern region of the state, particularly around Pendleton, both irrigated and dryland wheat is grown.
Oregon farmers and ranchers also produce cattle, sheep, dairy products, eggs and poultry.
Vast forests have historically made Oregon one of the nation's major timber production and logging states, but forest fires (such as the Tillamook Burn), over-harvesting, and lawsuits over the proper management of the extensive federal forest holdings have reduced the amount of timber produced.
According to the Oregon Forest Resources Institute, between 1989 and 2001 the amount of timber harvested from federal lands dropped some 96%, from 4,333 million to 173 million board feet (10,000,000 to 408,000 m³), although harvest levels on private land have remained relatively constant.
Even the shift in recent years towards finished goods such as paper and building materials has not slowed the decline of the timber industry in the state. The effects of this decline have included Weyerhaeuser's acquisition of Portland-based Willamette Industries in January 2002, the relocation of Louisiana Pacific's corporate headquarters from Portland to Nashville, and the decline of former lumber company towns such as Gilchrist.
Despite these changes, Oregon still leads the United States in softwood lumber production; in 2001, 6,056 million board feet (14,000,000 m³) was produced in Oregon, compared to 4,257 million board feet (10,050,000 m³). in Washington, 2,731 million board feet (6,444,000 m³) in California, 2,413 million board feet (5,694,000 m³) in Georgia, and 2,327 million board feet (5,491,000 m³) in Mississippi.
The effect of the forest industry crunch is still extensive unemployment in rural Oregon and is a bone of contention between rural and urban Oregon.
Oregon occasionally hosts film shoots.
Movies wholly or partially filmed in Oregon include Rooster Cogburn, The Goonies, National Lampoon's Animal House, Stand By Me, Kindergarten Cop, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Paint Your Wagon, The Hunted, Sometimes a Great Notion, Elephant, Bandits, The Ring, The Ring 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3, Short Circuit, Come See The Paradise, The Shining, Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, The Postman, Homeward Bound, Free Willy, Free Willy 2, 1941, and Swordfish. Oregon native Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, has incorporated many references from his hometown of Portland into the TV series. Oregon's scenic coastal and mountain highways are frequently seen in automobile commercials.
High technology industries and services have been a major employer since the 1970s.
Tektronix was the largest private employer in Oregon until the late 1980s. Intel's creation and expansion of several facilities in eastern Washington County continued the growth that Tektronix had started. Intel, the state's largest private employer, operates four large facilities, with Ronler Acres, Jones Farm and Hawthorn Farm all located in Hillsboro.
The spinoffs and startups that were produced by these two companies led to the establishment in that area of the so-called Silicon Forest. The recession and dot-com bust of 2001 hit the region hard; many high technology employers reduced the number of their employees or went out of business.
OSDL made news in 2004 when they hired Linus Torvalds, developer of the Linux kernel. Recently, biotechnology giant Genentech purchased several acres of land in Hillsboro in an effort to expand its production capabilities.
Oregon is also the home of large corporations in other industries.
The world headquarters of Nike, Inc. are located near Beaverton. Medford is home to two of the largest mail order companies in the country: Harry and David Operations Corp. which sells gift items under several brands, and Musician's Friend, an international catalog and Internet retailer of musical instruments and related products.
Medford is also home to the national headquarters of the Fortune 1000 company, Lithia Motors. Portland is home to one of the West's largest trade book publishing houses, Graphic Arts Center Publishing.
Oregon has one of the largest salmon-fishing industries in the world, although ocean fisheries have reduced the river fisheries in recent years. Tourism is also strong in the state; Oregon's evergreen mountain forests, waterfalls, pristine lakes (including Crater Lake National Park), and scenic beaches draw visitors year round.
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, held in Ashland, is a tourist draw which complements the southern region of the state's scenic beauty and opportunity for outdoor activities.
Oregon is home to a number of smaller breweries and Portland has the largest number of breweries of any city in the world.
Portland reportedly has more strip clubs per capita than both Las Vegas and San Francisco.
Oregon's gross state product is $132.66 billion as of 2006, making it the 27th largest GSP in the nation.
Taxes and budgets
Oregon's biennial state budget, $42.4 billion as of 2007, comprises General Funds, Federal Funds, Lottery Funds, and Other Funds.
Personal income taxes account for 88% of the General Fund's projected funds. The Lottery Fund, which has grown steadily since the lottery was approved in 1984, exceeded expectations in the 2007 fiscal years, at $604 million.
Oregon is one of only five states that have no sales tax. Oregon voters have been resolute in their opposition to a sales tax, voting proposals down each of the nine times they have been presented.
The last vote, for 1993's Measure 1, was defeated by a 72–24% margin.
The state also has a minimum corporate tax of only $10 per year, amounting to 5.6% of the General Fund in the 2005–2007 biennium; data about what businesses pay the minimum is not available to the public.
As a result, the state relies almost entirely on property and income taxes for its revenue. Oregon has the fifth highest personal income tax per person in the nation.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Oregon ranked 41st out of the 50 states in taxes per person in 2005.
The average paid of $1,791.45 is higher than only nine other states.
Some local governments levy sales taxes on services: the city of Ashland, for example, collects a 5% sales tax on prepared food.
Oregon is one of six states with a revenue limit.
The "kicker law" stipulates that when income tax collections exceed state economists' estimates by 2 percent or more, all of the excess must be returned to taxpayers.
Since the inception of the law in 1979, refunds have been issued for seven of the eleven biennia. In 2000, Ballot Measure 86 converted the "kicker" law from statute to the Oregon Constitution, and changed some of its provisions.
Federal payments to county governments, which were granted to replace timber revenue when logging in National Forests was restricted in the 1990s, have been under threat of suspension for several years. This issue dominates the future revenue of rural counties, which have come to rely on the payments in providing essential services.
Most of state revenues are spent on public education.
