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...)
Morchella populiphila is a species of morel fungus (family Morchellaceae) native to northwestern North America. Described as new to science in 2012, its specific epithet refers to its association with black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa). The morel used to be referred to as Morchella semilibera in western North American field guides until molecular analysis established that to be a strictly European species. M. populiphila occurs in California, Nevada and Oregon. Its fruit bodies grow up to 15 cm (6 in) tall with a ridged and pitted conical cap that attaches about halfway down the stipe. The cap ridges are dark brown to black in maturity, while the pits are yellowish to brownish. The fungus is edible, although not as highly valued as other morels. Morchella populiphila is one of three species of fungi commonly referred to as "half-free" morels, the others being Morchella punctipes in eastern North America and Morchella semilibera in Europe.
He moved to Portland in 1942, where he worked for The Oregonian. He moved to the paper's radio station until 1949, when he became an assistant to Oregon Governor Douglas McKay. He was elected Oregon Secretary of State in 1964, then governor in 1966 and 1970. McCall later returned to journalism, and was a commentator for a Portland TV station. He made an unsuccessful bid to return to the governorship in 1978, losing in the primary to State SenatorVictor G. Atiyeh, who went on to defeat incumbent Robert W. Straub. McCall died of prostate cancer in 1983, and after his death Portland dedicated a park along the Willamette River as Tom McCall Waterfront Park.
... that when Oregon journalist Larry Smyth was asked who he thought would win presidential elections, he invariably replied "the man who gets the most votes"?
... that Hayden Bridge is the oldest intact bridge in the US state of Oregon?
Too many Oregonians know the heartbreak of a jobless economic recovery. To create new, high-paying jobs, we need investment in Main Street as well as Wall Street.
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