"Sir Francis Drake,
England's "merry" buccaneer, is thought to have reached the southern Oregon coast in 1579". *
* A excerpt from That Balance So Rare, The Story of Oregon
by Terence O'Donnell pg. 8
"Sir Francis Drake,
England's "merry" buccaneer, is thought to have reached the southern Oregon coast in 1579". *
* A excerpt from That Balance So Rare, The Story of Oregon
by Terence O'Donnell pg. 8
1542--Bartolome Ferrelo, pilot for Juan Rodrigues Cabrillo, sails north as far as southwest coast of Oregon.
1579--Sir Francis Drake sails north to the southern part of Oregon.
1603--Martin d'Aguilar sails along the Oregon coast and sights a river where the Columbia was later discovered.
1765--"Ouragon," first known use of Oregon, in a proposal by Major Robert Rogers.
1774--Juan Perez, first known Spanish Explorer in 170 years, sails along the coast.
1775--Bruno Heceta and Juan Francisco de Bodega y Quadra land on what is now Washington soil. First recorded Europeans known to stand on Northwest soil.
1778--Captain James Cook visits the Northwest coast on a voyage of discovery and, via the sea-otter trade with China, starts heavy fur trading by many nations in this area.
1779--"Oregon" first used in print by Jonathan Carver.
1788--Capt. Robert Gray, first American landing in Oregon, arrives at Tillamook. Markus Lopius, first black to set foot on Oregon soil, is aboard Robert Gray's sloop Lady Washington.
1792--Captain Robert Gray discovers the river of the West, naming it the Columbia, after his ship, the Columbia Rediviva.
1793--Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the first white man to cross the North American continent, canoes down the Bella Coola River to the Pacific Ocean.
1803--President Jefferson purchases Louisiana from France. American interests now turn to this new land of Louisiana and the unknown wilderness beyond it, called Oregon Country.
1804-1806--Captains Lewis and Clark and party travel from St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia. A Shoshone Indian, Sacajawea, and her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, serve as guides and interpreters from what is now North Dakota to the Pacific.
1807-1812--David Thompson, a British fur trader of the North West Company and explorer, is the first white man to travel the entire length of the Columbia River.
1811--The Pacific Fur Company, financed by John Jacob Astor, is established near the mouth of the Columbia River, where Astoria now stands.
1812--South Pass, the gateway through the Rocky Mountains, is discovered by Robert Stuart of the Pacific Fur Company and is later used by pioneers on the Oregon Trail.
1813--Astoria is sold to the North West Fur Co., a British enterprise, and later is taken by the British and considered a prize of the War of 1812. It is later renamed Fort George.
1814--Jane Barnes, first white woman to land in the Pacific Northwest, arrives at Fort George.
1814--First livestock in the Pacific Northwest is brought from California by ship.
1817--William Cullen Bryant uses the name "Oregon" in his poem Thanatopsis.
1818--Fort George returns to American ownership, by Treaty of 1814. A treaty of joint occupancy is signed by U.S. and Great Britain for this Pacific Northwest territory.
1824--Hudson's Bay Co. headquarters moves from Fort George to newly selected Fort Vancouver site on north bank of Columbia. Dr. John McLoughlin becomes chief factor at the post, where he remained for 22 years.
1827--First sawmill in the Pacific Northwest built by Dr. McLoughlin.
1828--Jedediah Smith, fur trapper, reaches the Pacific Northwest from California, the first party to come overland from California. Fifteen of his 18 men were massacred by Indians on the Umpqua River.
1828--First grist mills built by Hudson's Bay Co. at Fort Vancouver and Fort Colville.
1829--Hudson's Bay Co. post established at Willamette Falls, present site of Oregon City.
1831--Four Indians of the Flathead and Nez Perce tribes travel to St. Louis seeking missionaries to come to Oregon.
1832--Captain Bonneville and party of 110 men, come west via the Rocky Mountains and travel to Fort Walla Walla.
1832--First expedition of Nathaniel Wyeth travels into Columbia River country. Hudson's Bay Co. establishes fort on the Umpqua River.
1833--First school in the Pacific Northwest at Fort Vancouver. Teacher is John Ball, member of Wyeth's party. Same year, first timber to be shipped from Oregon is sent to China.
1834--Fort Hall, in what is now Idaho, is established by Nathaniel Wyeth on his second expedition. This same year, the Jason Lee party of the first Protestant missionaries to the Oregon Country arrives at Fort Vancouver with Wyeth. Later established the Willamette Mission near present-day Salem.
1836--The Beaver, first steamboat on the Pacific Ocean, is brought to Fort Vancouver. Protestant missionaries, Dr. Marcus Whitman, H.H. Spalding, their wives, and W.H. Gray, arrive in Oregon Country. Mrs. Whitman and Mrs. Spalding are the first white women to come across the continent to Oregon Country. This is the first group to bring wagons west of Fort Hall. Waiilatpu Mission (Protestant) is established by Dr. Whitman at this time. Alice Clarissa, the Whitman's daughter, was the first white American child born here.
1838--Congress is asked to extend United States jurisdiction over Oregon. The Reverends Francis Blanchet and Modesti Demers celebrate the first Catholic Mass in the Pacific Northwest. The first cattle drive of the West arrives from California.
1839--First printing press in the Northwest brought to Lapwai (now Idaho) from Honolulu and used to print a Nez Perce primer, the first book produced in the Pacific Northwest. Father Blanchet establishes the first actual Catholic mission in St. Paul, Oregon.
1841--American settlers in the Willamette Valley meet to create a government, but fail. The Star of Oregon, first ship built by Americans in the Oregon Country, is launched this year.
1842--Dr. John McLoughlin designs plans for what is now Oregon City. Willamette University, first university west of the Mississippi, founded by Jason Lee.
1843--Civil government established in Oregon Country. The first large group of Americans arrives over the Oregon Trail; approximately 900 settlers come to the Willamette Valley.
1844--National election slogan "54-40 or Fight" is proof of growing American interest in Oregon. First American taxes on the Pacific Coast were collected on a voluntary basis.
1845--Second provisional government in Oregon Country is organized. George Abernethy is elected provisional governor.
1846--Treaty between the U.S. and Great Britain establishes the Oregon boundary at 49 degrees north latitude. First newspaper, Oregon Spectator, is printed at Oregon City.
1847--Whitman Massacre at Waiilatpu. The Cayuse War, first Indian war, follows.
1848--Oregon Territory is organized on August 14 (Abraham Lincoln is asked to be governor of the Territory of Oregon).
1849--Gen. Joseph Lane, first appointed territorial governor, arrives. Vancouver made military headquarters for Pacific Northwest.
1850--Donation Land Claim law is enacted. Mail service between San Francisco and the Columbia River is established. Rogue River Indian War begins.
1851--Portland is incorporated. (Named after Portland, Maine, by flipping a coin to decide between "Boston" and "Portland.")
1851--Territorial Government enacts a law allowing black pioneer and humanitarian, George Washington Bush, to settle in Oregon.
1851--The first person of Chinese ancestry to settle in Portland, Sung Sung.
1853--Washington Territory created from part of Oregon Territory. Southern boundary is marked by the Columbia River.
1853--The Typographical Society is the first labor union in Oregon.
1855--The Yakima Indian War begins, fought on both sides of the mid-Columbia. First telegraph company is operated in Oregon.
1855--Oregon's first State Capitol, erected in 1854, burns.
1856--Eastern Washington and Oregon are closed to settlers by Army order, due to Indian war.
1858--First election of Oregon state officers.
" In October 1923, the three DeAutremont brothers, in what was called the nation's last great train robbery, dynamited the Southern Pacific's Gold Special when it passed through a tunnel in the Siskiyou Mountians near Ashland. In fact, the train carried no gold. Four trainmen were killed, but the brothers escaped into the mountians and were not captured until four years later. It was Oregon's most sensational criminal case."*
* A excerpt from That Balance So Rare, The Story of Oregon
by Terence O'Donnell pg.98
1859--February 14: Congress ratifies Oregon State Constitution. This is the formal birthday of the state.
June 3: Congressional proposal to admit Oregon into the Union is accepted by the state. John Whiteaker becomes the first elected governor of Oregon. Ladd and Tilton Bank, first in the state, is founded.
1860--Daily stagecoach service inaugurated between Portland and Sacramento.
1861--Historic village of Champoeg destroyed by one of worst floods in Northwest history.
1863--Idaho Territory created, eventually making three full states out of original Oregon Country.
1864--Salem becomes the State Capital by popular vote. Transcontinental telegraph lines into Portland via California are first existent.
1867--The first Chinese Temple or "Jess House" built and dedicated to Kuan-yin, a revered Buddhist saint.
1868--Corvallis College, designated as Agricultural College of Oregon (now Oregon State University), is first state-supported institution of higher education in Oregon.
1869--First public high school is established in Oregon.
1871--Abigail Scott Duniway first introduces Susan B. Anthony in Oregon to help galvanize a woman suffrage crusade.
1872--Modoc Indian War.
1873--Oregon Pioneer Association, the state's first historical society, founded in Butteville.
1876--University of Oregon opens in Eugene.
1877--Nez Perce War.
1878--Bannock Indian War.
1880--Miyo Iwakoshi is the first person of Japanese ancestry to settle in Oregon.
1882--State normal schools for training teachers established at Monmouth and Ashland.
1883--Transcontinental railroad is completed.
1886--Mary Leonard becomes the first woman admitted to the bar to practice law in Oregon.
1888--Oregon Volunteer group is in the first military expedition to the Philippines.
1888--Oregon Historical Society incorporated.
1890--The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association is established; reorganized in 1910; incorporated in 1911.
1892--Portland Art Association is founded.
1902--Initiative and referendum laws adopted allowing people of Oregon to place measures on ballot and recall existing laws by popular vote. Oregon is first state to adopt such laws.
1903--McCants Stewart, first Black admitted to Oregon Bar.
1903--Voters' Pamphlet first published.
1904--George Hardin is the first Black officer appointed to the Portland Police Bureau.
1905--Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition is held in Portland, celebrating 100 years since the visit of Lewis and Clark.
1905--Sarah A. Evans, appointed first City Market Inspector in the U.S., marks the beginning of the consumer-protection movement.
1906--Association of Oregon Counties first organized.
1908--Lola Baldwin is named head of the newly formed Women's Division (Portland), becoming first female Civil Service police officer in United States.
1912--Women's suffrage is adopted in Oregon.
1913--South jetty at the mouth of the Columbia is completed to facilitate shipping on the Columbia and Willamette Rivers.
1920--Oregon League of Women Voters formed.
1921--Ku Klux Klan organized in Oregon.
1922--Compulsory education law passed.
1922--Beatrice Cannady, first Black woman admitted to Oregon Bar.
1922--Japanese American Citizen's League is established.
1925--League of Oregon Cities formed.
1933--The Tillamook Burn, one of the nation's worst forest disasters, wipes out 240,000 acres of Oregon's finest timber.
1935--State Capitol, built in 1876, is destroyed by fire.
1936--Nan Wood Honeyman elected, Oregon's first woman representative in Congress.
1937--Bonneville Dam completed, providing Oregon with a great source of hydroelectric power.
1939--New Capitol at Salem is completed.
1941--Shipbuilding boom starts at Portland.
1942--First women are called to jury duty in a federal court in Oregon.
1946--Rural School Bill passed. Equalization measure encourages consolidation and raises standards of rural schools.
1947--Gov. Earl Snell, Sec. of State Robert S. Farrell Jr. and Pres. of the Senate Marshall E. Cornett killed in private plane crash.
1948--Memorial Day Flood completely destroys Vanport, suburban Portland city of 17,500 built to house wartime workers.
1949--Fair Employment Practices Commission, first in a series of State Civil Rights Legislation.
1949--First woman mayor in Portland, Dorothy McCullough Lee.
1952--Constitutional amendment approved assuring equal representation in State Legislature.
1954--McNary Dam on Columbia River dedicated by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
1960--Maurine Neuberger, Oregon's first woman elected to U.S. Senate--3rd in U.S.
1961--Freeway completed connecting Salem and Portland.
1962--October 12 (Columbus Day) storm causes extensive damage.
1966--Opening of Astoria Bridge linking Oregon and Washington at the mouth of the Columbia. Ceremony marks completion of I-5 freeway, nonstop, Washington to California.
1967--Beach Bill approved.
1968--John Day Dam, last remaining damsite on Columbia River, dedicated by Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
1971--Bottle Bill approved--first in nation. Single member district reapportionment for Oregon Legislature.
1973--Statewide Land Use Planning approved. Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ratified; reaffirmed in 1977.
1976--Norma Paulus elected Oregon's first woman secretary of state.
1977--March 1, ban on aerosol sprays. Capitol Wings Addition completed.
1977--Confederated Tribe of Siletz won restoration of trust relationship.
1978--Congress lists the Oregon Trail as a National Historic Trail.
1980--Mt. St. Helens erupts with cataclysmic force in southwestern Washington, devastating 200 sq. mi. of popular forestland and triggering destructive ash, floods, mud flows and river silt. The busy Columbia River is temporarily closed to deep-draft ships at Portland and Vancouver.
1982--Cow Creek Band of Upper Umpqua Indians win restoration of trust relationship.
1982--Betty Roberts is the first woman justice of the Supreme Court of Oregon.
1983--Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde win restoration of trust relationship.
1984--Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians win restoration of trust relationship.
1985--Vera Katz becomes first woman speaker of Oregon House of Representatives.
1986--Klamath Tribe wins restoration of trust relationship.
1986--MAX (Metropolitan Area Express) light rail begins operation.
1986--China Gateway, the second largest in the United States, is dedicated.
1987--Oregon Vietnam Veterans' Living Memorial dedicated in Portland.
1988--State Capitol is 50 years old, officially listed in Historic Register.
1988--Grand Ronde Reservation Act signed into law, reestablishing a 9,811 acre reservation for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community.
1990--The Northern Spotted Owl listed as a threatened species by the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife.
1990--Oregon Convention Center is opened.
1990--Voters passed Ballot Measure 5, limiting property taxes for schools and government operations.
1991--Barbara Roberts inaugurated as Oregon's first woman governor.
1992--James A. Hill Jr. elected as first black state official.
1993--Oregon Trail 150th Anniversary Celebration.
1993--Oregon holds the nation's first statewide vote-by-mail election.
1995--Beverly Clarno becomes first Republican woman to serve as speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives.
1996--Oregon conducts the first vote-by-mail election for a federal office.
1996--Douglas Franklin Wright is executed at the Oregon State Penitentiary--the state's first in 34 years.