Oregon |
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| Entered the Union: February 14, 1859 (33) | Capital: Salem | |
| Origin of Name: Unknown. First used by Jonathan Carver in 1778 – taken from the writings of Major Robert Rogers, an English army officer. It may derive from the word "ooligan" an Indian word for the smelt, a fish widely traded in the western parts of North America. Another possibility is a deritive of the French ouragan, meaning storm or hurricane. | ||
| State Nickname: Beaver State | State Flower: Oregon Grape | |
| State Bird: Western Meadowlark | State Tree: Douglas Fir | |
| State Insect: Oregon Swallowtail | State Animal: American Beaver | |
| State Fish: The Chinook Salmon | State Nut: Hazelnut | |
| State Rock: The Thunder-egg (geode) | State Beverage: Milk | |
| State Song: “Oregon, My Oregon" | State Gem: Oregon sunstone | |
| State Motto: Alis volat Propriis (She flies with her own wings) | ||
| National Park: 1 • National Forests: 11 • State Parks: 254 | ||
| Famous for: Crater Lake, Mt. Hood, Oregon Dunes, Columbia River, Tillamook Cheese | ||
| Famous Oregonians: Robert Gray (discovered Columbia River), Chief Joseph (Nez Perce), Dave Kingman (baseball), Jane Powell (actress & singer), Doc Severinsen (band leader), Sally Struthers (actress) | ||
| Native Animals and Birds: Click on photos of the animals and birds on this page to find out more about them and to hear the sounds they make. | ||
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| The first people probably came by a land bridge from Siberia over to Alaska, and then filtered southward to the Pacific Northwest 14,000 years ago. Along the coast of Oregon lived Salishan, Penutian, and Athapaskan. In central and eastern Oregon were Sahaptian. In the southeast were the Northern Paiutes. They hunted, foraged, fished, and traded -- but did not practice agriculture. Salmon was the staple food for most Oregon Indians. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The first white explorers came to Oregon by sea. Spain sent Juan Cabrillo, in 1542. Bartolomé Ferrelo, reached the southwestern coast in 1543 looking for a passageway between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, the Northwest Passage. In | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1776, the British sent James Cook to the Northwest to search for the Northwest Passage and to claim the land for Great Britain. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| By the early nineteenth century, ownership of the Oregon Country was disputed among Spain, Britain, Russia, and the United States. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to lead the first American overland expedition to strengthen the American claim to Oregon. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In 1834, Methodist missionaries established the first permanent American settlement in Oregon (Wilamette Valley). | |||||||||||||||||||||
| By 1843, thousands of American pioneers were migrating west on the Oregon Trail. The Trail began in Independence, Missouri and ended in Oregon City, crossing over 2,000 miles of prairie, desert, and mountains. The Oregon Trail is the longest of the overland routes used in the westward expansion of the United States. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Wars with Native Americans began in 1847. Settlers were massacred, and conflicts rose with the discovery of gold. To protect those migrating to the state, the United States government forced Native Americans to move onto reservations. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Formed more than 6,500 years ago, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States. It is the only lake to be formed in the remains of a volcano and its crystal-blue waters are known around the world. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The Tillamook Cheese Factory is the largest cheese factory in the world. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The Carousel Museum contains the world’s largest collection of carousel horses. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| At 8,000 feet deep, Hells Canyon is the deepest river gorge in North America. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| “The Beaver State” – Prized for its fur, the beaver was overtrapped by early settlers and eliminated from much of its original range. Through partial protection, the beaver has been reestablished in watercourses throughout Oregon and remains an important economic asset. The beaver has been referred to as "nature's engineer," and its dam-building activities are important to natural water flow and erosion control. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The Columbia River forms most of the northern border between Oregon and Washington. The Snake River forms over half of the eastern boundary with Idaho. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sea Lion Caves in Florence is the largest sea cave in the world. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Haystack Rock off Cannon Beach is 235 feet high and is the third largest coastal monolith in the world. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon has one city named Sisters and another called Brothers. Sisters got its name from a nearby trio of peaks in the Cascade Mountains known as the Three Sisters. Brothers was named as a counterpart to Sisters. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States and is formed in the remains of an ancient volcano. Its crystal-blue waters are world renowned. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| New Jersey is the only state without self-serve gas stations. Oregon banned self-service for over 70 years, but in 2023 it repealed that law and drivers may now pump their own gas. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Eugene was the first city to have one-way streets. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The Nike "swoosh" logo was designed by Portland State University student Carolyn Davidson in 1971 -- seven years after business undergrad Phil Knight and track coach Bill Bowerman founded the company they originally called Blue Ribbon Sports. Ms. Davidson was paid $35 dollars for her design. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The Carousel Museum contains the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of carousel horses. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| At 8,000 feet deep Hells Canyon is the deepest river gorge in North America. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Mount Hood, a dormant volcano, is the tallest peak in Oregon (11,239 feet). | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon has no sales tax. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| There are nine lighthouses standing along the Oregon coastline. The nation's most photographed lighthouse is the Heceta Head Lighthouse. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon's state flag pictures a beaver on its reverse side. It is the only state flag to carry two separate designs. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon has more ghost towns than any other state. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The Columbia River gorge is considered by many to be the best place in the world for windsurfing. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon's state birthday is on February 14, Valentine's Day. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Eugene is rated by "Bicycling Magazine" as one of the top ten cycling communities in the United States. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| High above the city of Portland the International Rose Test Garden features more than 500 varieties of roses cultivated continuously since 1917. Portland is known as The City of Roses. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Fort Clatsop National Memorial contains a replica of Lewis and Clark's 1805-1806 winter outpost. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The small village of Bickelton is filled with bluebird houses seen on the posts of every house. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Oregon's Ethnic Roots: German 20.5%, English 13.2%, Irish 11.9%, American 6.2%, Mexican 5.5%, Native American 1.6% | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion in Oregon: 70% Christian (54% Protestant, 15% Catholic, 1% Other), 24% No Religion, 5% LDS, 1% Other Religions | |||||||||||||||||||||
The Sitka Spruce at Klootchy Creek Park near Seaside, Oregon, was once the largest in the country at about 206 feet tall with a circumference over 52 feet. The roughly 750-year-old giant snapped in a 2007 windstorm, and its trunk still stands as a stump. |
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| Tillamook is home to Oregon's largest cheese factory. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Florence is known as Oregon's rhododendron capital. | |||||||||||||||||||||
At a Glance
Oregon Quick Facts
| Entered the Union | February 14, 1859 (33) |
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| Capital | Salem |
| Nickname | Beaver State |
| State Bird | Western Meadowlark |
| State Flower | Oregon Grape |
| State Tree | Douglas Fir |
New for 2026
More Oregon Facts & Photos
The largest known living organism on Earth spreads beneath the Malheur National Forest in eastern Oregon: a single honey fungus, Armillaria ostoyae, that covers about 2,385 acres and is estimated to be thousands of years old. Locals call it the Humongous Fungus.
Oregon's state fossil, adopted in 2005, is the Metasequoia or dawn redwood, a tree that flourished across the region tens of millions of years ago. Scientists believed it was long extinct until living dawn redwoods were discovered in a remote valley in China in the 1940s.
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument preserves one of the world's most complete fossil records of the Age of Mammals, spanning more than 40 million years across its three units: Sheep Rock, Painted Hills, and Clarno.
Silver Falls, Oregon's largest state park at more than 9,000 acres, features the Trail of Ten Falls, where hikers can walk directly behind the curtain of 177-foot South Falls.
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland has been staging plays since 1935, making it one of the oldest and largest professional nonprofit theaters in the country. It welcomed its 20-millionth visitor in 2015.
The Pendleton Round-Up has filled the second full week of September since 1910. One of the world's largest rodeos, it is famous for running its events on a grass arena instead of dirt.
Oregon Caves National Monument, proclaimed by President Taft in 1909, protects a cave system dissolved out of solid marble. The poet Joaquin Miller nicknamed it the "Marble Halls of Oregon."
Newberry National Volcanic Monument, created in 1990 south of Bend, encloses the largest volcano in the Cascades. Its caldera holds the Big Obsidian Flow, a 700-acre field of volcanic glass laid down about 1,300 years ago, Oregon's youngest lava flow.
Voices of America
In Their Own Words
Woodrow Wilson
"The Bible...is the one supreme source of revelation of the meaning of life, the nature of God and spiritual nature and needs of men. It is the only guide of life which really leads the spirit in the way of peace and salvation. America was born a Christian nation."
President
James Monroe
"The liberty, prosperity, and the happiness of our country will always be the object of my most fervent prayers to the Supreme Author of All Good."
March 5, 1821 Inaugural Address
President
James Madison
"Before any man can be considered as a member of civil society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe. And to the same Divine Author of every good and perfect gift [James 1:17] we are indebted for all those privileges and advantages, religious as well as civil, which are so richly enjoyed in this favored land."
President
Theodore Roosevelt
"To every man who faces life with real desire to do his part in everything, I appeal for a study of the Bible."
President
Ronald Reagan
“Faith and religion play a critical role in the political life of our nation -- and always has. The church -- all denominations --has had a strong influence on the state. And this has worked to our benefit as a nation... The Founding Fathers... understood that there is a divine order which transcends the human order. "
President
Harry S. Truman
“The fundamental basis of this nation's law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teaching we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don't think we emphasize that enough these days.
President
Calvin Coolidge
The government of a country never gets ahead of the religion of a country. There is no way by which we can substitute the authority of law for the virtue of men. Of course we can help to restrain the vicious and furnish a fair degree of security and protection by legislation and police control, but the real reform which society in these days is seeking will come as a result of religious convictions, or they will not come at all. Peace, justice, charity -- these cannot be legislated into being. They are the result of Divine Grace.”
President
Harry S. Truman
If we don't have the proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in the right for anybody except the state."
President
Last updated: July 2026