TECH NEWSS

The Land

The Beaver State, Webfoot State, Oregon's name is a mystery. Several possible theories enclude: (1) The French Canadian word ouragan, meaning "storm" or "hurricane". (2) The Spanish word orejon or "big-ear," a term applied to local Indian tribes. (3) It's a modification of the Spanish word orégano, for the wild sage that grows in eastern region (4) Possiblily taken from writings of an English army officer, Maj. Robert Rogers.



Oregon is located on the Pacific Northwest and is bordered by Washington on the north, Idaho (east), Nevada & California (south), and the Pacific Ocean (west).

At 97,052 square miles, Oregon is the 10th largest state.

The highest elevation is Mt. Hood in Clackamas-Hood River counties at 11,239 feet while the lowest elevation is the Pacific Ocean at sea level.

The highest temperature recorded was 119° while the lowest was -54°

National Parks & Monuments include Crater Lake, John Day Fossil Beds, Oregon Caves, Newberry.

The History

Spanish and English sailors are believed to have sighted the Oregon coast in the 1500s and 1600s. Capt. James Cook, seeking the Northwest Passage, charted some of the coastline in 1778. In 1792, Capt. Robert Gray, in the Columbia, discovered the river named after his ship and claimed the area for the U.S.

In 1805 the Lewis and Clark expedition explored the area. John Jacob Astor's fur depot, Astoria, was founded in 1811. Disputes for control of Oregon between American settlers and the Hudson Bay Company were finally resolved in the 1846 Oregon Treaty, in which Great Britain gave up claims to the region.

Oregon's nickname, the Beaver State, harks back to the early years of the 19th century.
Fur hats were fashionable at that time, in northeastern cities, and Oregon's streams were an important source of beaver. With competition fierce among the fur companies for control of the western lands, adventurous trappers, called mountain men, became the first white people to know the region well. Later, when the rage for beaver hats had passed and Oregon's beaver supply was all but exhausted, the mountain men showed the early pioneers a route they had picked out in their trapping years. Known as the Oregon Trail, it took thousands during the 1840s to the fertile Willamette Valley, where wheat, fruits, and vegetables thrived. Settlers were also drawn to other parts of the state, where a profitable timber industry later developed around Oregon's bountiful supply of Douglas fir trees.

Oregon became the 33rd State to Unite under America on February 14, 1859.

The People

Whites make up 86.6 percent of the population while Asians are 3 percent percent. Blacks, most of whom live in Portland, account for 1.6 percent of the state's population. Native Americans, many of whom live in or near the Warm Springs, Umatilla, Siletz, and former Klamath reservations, constitute 1.3 percent of the population; Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders are 0.2 percent; and those of mixed heritage or not reporting ethnicity are 7.3 percent. Hispanics, who may be of any race, are 8 percent of the people.

The 1998 census put Oregon's population at 3,282,000. The State Capital is Salem, other major cities or towns include Portland, Eugene, Gresham, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Medford, Springfield, Bend and Corvallis.