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Oregon - Always Things to See and Do
If you like the outdoors, Oregon is an incredible state
for all sorts of recreational activities including skiing, hiking, boating,
fishing, hunting, backpacking, biking, sea kayaking, or just taking a walk.
You will always have somewhere to go and something to do. It
may be the coast, the mountains, the desert, the city, a winery, a brewery,
a rose garden, or browsing at Powell's Books. Here are some links
to help you learn more about Oregon and explore it further.
Cultural
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Oregon
Historical Society located in the heart of Portland's Cultural District
offers Oregon's rich multicultural history through museum exhibitions,
research collections, and publications.
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Oregon Shakespeare Festival is located in Ashland, Oregon.
It is a nonprofit theater established in 1935 and has an annual
attendance of more than 340,000. It presents eleven plays in repertory
from mid-February through October on its three stages.
Especially for Children
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High Desert Museum
Located south of Bend (central Oregon) on highway 97, the High Desert
Museum has eye-catching appeal. You will find pallid bats, collared
lizards, a barn owl, playful river otters, birds of prey, plus many
other desert animals. You can also view eight dioramas representing
a century of overland migration across the American West.
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Oregon Coast Aquarium
was the home where Keiko, the killer whale or orca celebrated in "Free
Willy," recovered before being moved to Iceland and subsequently to
Norway where he died.
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Oregon
Museum of Science and Industry featuring Omnimax Theatre.
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Oregon Zoo has
about 1,029 specimens representing 200 species of birds, mammals, reptiles,
amphibians and invertebrates. Of these, 21 are from endangered
species and 33, from threatened species. Don't miss it!
Light Rail Service (MAX) stops 200 feet from the Zoo entrance.
Travel in Oregon
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 Oregon
Directory of Bed and Breakfasts, Country Inns, and Small Hotels
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Oregon Worldwide
Travel Tourism and visitor guide - they cover 20 plus states
and major cities.
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The
Edge of Oregon highlights curious, interesting, and unusual places
found in the State of Oregon. You will enjoy it.
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Travel Oregon
is the official Web site of the Oregon Tourism Commission. Great
slideshow of the major regions: The Coast, Portland, Mt. Hood
and The Gorge, Willamette Valley, Southern Oregon, Central Oregon, and
Eastern Oregon.
Recreation and Play
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Oregon
Ski/Snow Links Links for all the ski areas, resorts, and snow
play.
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Oregon Wine Advisory
Board Oregon is home to 47 wineries. Pinot Noir and
Pinot Gris are the two wines that have made Oregon an internationally
recognized wine growing area.
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Pacific
Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is the jewel in
the crown of America's scenic trails, spanning 2,650 miles from Mexico
to Canada through three western states (Washing, Oregon, and California).
It reveals the beauty of the desert, unfolds the glaciated expanses
of the Sierra Nevada, and provides commanding vistas of volcanic peaks
and glaciers in the Cascade Range. The trail also passes through historic
mining sites and evidence of man's endless quest for natural resources.
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Team Oregon
Devoted to runners and walkers of all ages, with coaching, publications,
rehabilitation, and forum pages.
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Western Fly Fishing One of the webmaster's favorite site.
Covers fishing in Oregon and Washington.
Oregon Events and Fairs
Other
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Discover Oregon
Your trail guide to 50 plus sites and pages about Oregon.
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Oregon Climate Service
(OCS) is the official state archive agency for Oregon weather and
climate data. OCS is affiliated with the
College of Oceanic
and Atmospheric Sciences at
Oregon State University,
Corvallis, Oregon.
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Oregon Online is the table of contents and index to all the Oregon
state government Web sites and services. .
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Oregon Trail Web site is brought to you by Mike Trinklein and Steve
Boettcher, creators of The Oregon Trail, the award-winning documentary
film that aired nationally on PBS stations.
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Oregon Trail Museums and Interpretive Centers Links to all
five interpretive center sites.
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The Oregon Plan
represents an unprecedented undertaking on the part of the State of
Oregon to restore our state's salmon and trout resources. The
goal is to restore populations and fisheries to productive and sustainable
levels that will provide substantial environmental, cultural, and economic
benefits.
Books
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Atlas of Oregon - 2nd Edition The atlas contains information
on Oregon history, economy, geography, geology, demographics, industry,
and natural resources, among other topics. Its 320 pages, almost all
in full color, feature more than 1,000 maps and diagrams.
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Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie
Campbell by Kristiana Gregory. Reconvenes the Dear America
series in 1847, as Hattie, her parents, and her two younger brothers
begin the long trek. Considered a children book but good reading
for all ages (some of us adults have read all the Laura Ingalls Wilder
and Harry Potter books).
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Best Places Destinations: Oregon Coast by Stephanie Irving (Editor).
From Astoria to the California border, this opinionated guide rates
the finest restaurants, accommodations, and shopping. As with all the
Best Places guides, you'll find suggestions you can trust--whether it's
a beach walk or...
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Driving Guides to American Pacific Northwest: Oregon This
guide will motivate you to pack the car and strike out on your journey.
For each of 22 long drives in 3 states--Washington, Oregon, and Alaska--National
Geographic provides the itinerary, general driving directions, and highlights
of sights to visit along the way.
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Foder's Oregon The great outdoors -- Crater Lake, Mount Hood,
the Wine Country, the Columbia Gorge, and the John Day Fossil Beds,
plus hiking, biking, fishing, rafting, golf, and whale watching.
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Frommer's Oregon Inviting places to stay and dine in all price
ranges. The best of the outdoors: flyfishing, mountain biking, windsurfing,
nature hikes, coastal drives, and more. What to see and do, from Willamette
Valley wineries to Crater Lake National Park.
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Portland Best Places 4th Edition by Kim Carlson. The new edition
of this popular guide has been updated by a team of Portland critics
to review the very best of the city's attractions, including more than
150 restaurants. Expert opinions, inside information, and timely
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Out and About Portland With Kids: The Ultimate Family Guide for Fun
and Learning by Elizabeth Hartzell Desimone. One reviewer
said "this book has been a godsend. It does a wonderful job of
covering hundreds of different things to do in Portland and surrounding
areas (the coast, the mountains) with kids.
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120 Hikes on the Oregon Coast A completely
revised and expanded guide to all the best trails on the Oregon coast--including
44 new hikes. Thorough descriptions of every trail are supplemented
by natural history sidebars highlighting the varying flora and fauna
of the 362 miles of coastline. Eighty black & white photos, 38
maps, 28 illustrations.
Matt Love's Book Recommendations
 Matt
Love's Beaver State Trilogy includes these three books: "Grasping Wastrels
vs. Beaches Forever Inc.: Covering the Fights for the Soul of the Oregon
Coast", "The Far Out Story of Vortex I", and "Red, Hot and Rollin,"
which will
be published in the Spring of 2007. Matt is also the author of "Let it Pour:
An Unconventional Drinking Guide to the North Oregon Coast."
In September 17, Matt wrote a column in THE OREGONIAN.
His purpose in reading the article, "To aid those interested in overcoming
their ignorance, I offer a list of books that I believe can provide any
newcomer to Oregon with a basic political understanding." Matt lives
on the Oregon Coast.
These books can be purchased at
Powell's City of Books
in Portland.
"The First Oregonians," edited by Carolyn Buan and
Richard Lewis (1991)
Astute awareness of any place in the Americas begins with what happened
to the indigenous people of that place. "The First Oregonians," an eclectic
collection of essays published by the Oregon Council for the Humanities,
is the best overview I have read. It includes wonderful photos and a fascinating
digression into Oregon tribal languages.
"Death of Celilo Falls" by Katrine Barber (2005)
In 1957, an engineer at The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River gave the "down
gates" command. Less than five hours later, Celilo Falls was dead, and so,
ultimately, was the 10,000-year-old spiritual and economic tradition of
thousands of Native Americans who gathered there seasonally to trade and
fish for salmon. I am not alone in casting the drowning of Celilo Falls
as the greatest act of cultural genocide in Pacific Northwest history. In
her superb book, Barber documents the many political and cultural machinations
that made construction of the dam almost inevitable. The 50th anniversary
of the event takes place in March. How that commemoration plays out will
make for one of the more compelling Oregon stories of 2007.
"Landscapes of Promise: The Oregon Story 1800-1940"
(1997) and "Landscapes of Conflict: The Oregon Story 1940-2000" (2004)
by William G. Robbins
Robbins' innovative two-volume history explores the shifting relationships
that Oregon's human occupants have had with the state's landscapes. Never
dull, often magisterial, this companion set can lay claim to the title of
the most provocatively thematic work ever written about Oregon history.
"The Lawgiver," an essay by Lincoln Steffens included
in "This Land Around Us: A Treasury of Pacific Northwest Writing" (1969)
Muckraking journalist Steffens profiled Oregon politician William U'Ren
at the dawn of the 20th century and produced a masterpiece that glorified
the father of the Oregon System, the direct democracy measures of the initiative,
referendum and recall. U'Ren successfully championed them all, putting Oregon
on the map for progressive reform. In the profile, U'Ren shouts, in response
to Steffens asking how hard he would fight to protect the public's interest,
"I would go to hell for the people of Oregon!" Shouldn't that line be worked
into the oath of office for governor?
"McNary of Oregon: A Political Biography" by Steve
Neal (1985) and "Wayne Morse: "A Political Biography" by Mason Drukman
(1997)
Once upon a time in Oregon, two long-serving Oregon U.S. senators, Charles
McNary (R) and Wayne Morse (D), put country, the Constitution, protecting
natural resources, working-class people and the public interest above partisanship,
expediency, extremism and presidential agenda. "Halfway between the extremes
is usually the point of wisdom," McNary said. No, these two books are not
fiction. They are quality biographies of two former giants in Oregon politics
who couldn't win a primary today.
"Fire at Eden's Gate: Tom McCall and the Oregon Story"
by Brent Walth (1994)
In my mind, this biography of McCall -- the two-term governor from 1967-74
who fought for and signed the legislation that turned this state into one
of the coolest places in North America -- stands as the most important Oregon
history book to appear in the last 50 years. It certainly is the most cited.
If a reader has time for only one book on this list, this is the one. (Walth
is a reporter for The Oregonian.)
"The Far Out Story of Vortex I" by Matt Love (2004)
It may smack of shameless self-promotion to recommend one's own book, but
my effort documenting the notorious 1970 rock festival held near Estacada,
still the only state-sponsored event of its kind in American history, offers
the most revealing glimpse I've come across into the unconventional and
unprecedented initiatives that characterized the McCall Era. McCall backed
Vortex I hoping to avoid a potential violent clash in downtown Portland
between the American Legionnaires and opponents of the Vietnam War. A lot
of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll later at the festival, peace prevailed.
"A Hundred Little Hitlers" by Elinor Langer (2003)
Any honest accounting of Oregon history must confront the state's racist
past -- some of it not that long ago. Langer's book, the most brilliantly
conceived and executed work of nonfiction I've read in recent memory, details
the 1988 murder of an Ethiopian man in Portland by racist Skinheads and
the civil trial that unfolded in the murder's aftermath. Sometimes we in
Oregon like to think our state is above racist barbarity. It is not. Hate
has flared here before with tragic consequences, and it will again.
"Oregon Geographic Names" by Lewis A. McArthur and
Lewis L. McArthur (2003)
It behooves every resident of this state to own this classic reference work
to learn the origins of the names of Oregon places where we live, work and
play. Let's say someone lived near Whiskey Creek in Tillamook County. Shouldn't
that person know the creek's name originated when several wives became highly
upset because their husbands sat at water's edge drinking from a keg of
whiskey and wouldn't help with camp chores? And then the women dumped the
liquor in the creek! Yes, that person should.
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John McLoughlin,
Father of Oregon
John McLoughlin was born
in the province of Quebec in 1784 of an Irish Catholic father and a Scotch
Presbyterian mother. John was apprenticed to a doctor at the age of
14 and was licensed to practice medicine at 18. A famous uncle, Simon
Fraser, obtained an appointment for him as medical officer for the North
West Company, fierce competitor in the fur trade of the Hudson's Bay Company.
About 1811 he married the French-Indian
widow of Alexander McKay, who had been a member of the Astor party that
started an American fur trading post called Astoria in 1811.
McLoughlin proved to be as good
a businessman as a medic and soon became a partner in the North West Company.
In 1821 North West merged with Hudson's Bay, with the latter name surviving.
Three years later, at the age of 40, McLoughlin was placed in command of
the Pacific Northwest where he selected the site of Fort Vancouver.
 One
of his greatest assets was his influence over the Indians who called him
"White Eagle," for his prematurely white hair, and who held in awesome respect.
He quickly built fort Vancouver
into a profitable industrial center as well as a fur trading post.
But when American settlers arrived
in the Oregon Country, in the 1830's and 1840's McLoughlin made his fatal
mistake. He advanced them credit and sold them provisions that permitted
them to survive and establish an American foothold in the region. His North
American boss, Sir George Simpson, and other Hudson's Bay officials criticized
him for his soft-headedness, to which McLoughlin replied in a famous
letter:
But what else could I do as
a man having a spark of humanity in my nature? I did not invite the Americans
to come. To be frank, I greatly regretted their coming, but they did come,
covered with the dust of travel, worn out by fatigue, hardships and dangers
incident to a very long and perilous journey. The Bible tells me that if
my enemy is hungry, I must feed him, if naked, I must clothe him, but these
destitute men and helpless women and children were not my enemies, and I
am sure that God does not want me to do more for my enemies than these.
McLoughlin staked out a land
claim at the falls of the Willamette in 1830 pending the settlement of the
dispute over whether the U.S. or Britain was to have jurisdiction over the
Oregon Country. In 1842 when Methodist missionaries tried to build
a mission on his claim, he laid out and named the townsite of Oregon City
and built a flour mill.
McLoughlin's relations with his
employers continued to deteriorate and in 1846 he was demoted. He
resigned and moved to Oregon City, build a lumber mill and fine home that
today is a National Historic Site and personal museum. When Oregon became
a territory of the U.S. in 1848 he swore allegiance to the United States
and settled down to become a respected American citizen.
But this was not to be.
The fact that he was once a British subject and an ardent Catholic, combined
with his affluence, alienated many of the American settlers.
Meanwhile, the "Honorable Company"
docked him for the bad debts he had incurred among the American emigrants,
which dissipated McLoughlin's personal fortune. He tried to collect some
of these debts himself, but only made more enemies in doing so.
The last straw was the Oregon
Donation Land Act of 1850 which contained a technicality that prevented
the "good doctor" from owning land in the new American territory.
This was the result of pressure by McLoughlin's enemies on the territorial
delegate to Congress, one Samuel R. Thurston, a well known anglophobe.
Finally, in 1857, the man who
had ruled an empire two and a half times the size of Texas, died broken
and bitter, at age 73. Five years later, in an act of penitence, the legislature
of the new State of Oregon restored his land to his heirs; 100 years later
the legislature at long last officially proclaimed him "Father of Oregon."
Ted Magnuson, author of Oregon Trivia. It's
a good traveling companion when exploring the state of Oregon. You
can purchased this book from
Powell's Books in Portland.
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