Oregon150

Pony Express & Stagecoach Routes

Susan Reed
Northeastern Oregon

by Susan Reed
Beaverton, OR
While growing up in Eastern Oregon there were quite a few stories about the Pony Express coming through there. My dad, Harry D. Proudfoot Jr., had a place named Sarvis Springs Ranch. It was 40 mi from Pendleton, 30 mi from Heppner, and 20 mi from Hermiston on Butter Creek. Our address [...]

My Mountains

Lisa Jacoby
Baker City

by Lisa Jacoby
Baker City, OR

Baker City became my home on May 9, 1979. It was just “Baker” then, and to this day I still drop the “City.”
You always know a newcomer because they insist on “Baker City.” (The town was originally Baker City, then was Baker until 1990 when it was returned to the former [...]

Oregon Rain

Carla Perry
Oregon

by Carla Perry
Newport, OR
The water whispered at first
and found me among the low mounds
of Kansas strip mines, living in drought
It padded alongside
as I scratched at the earth of Missouri
perspiring on parched soil
trying to be sensitive about hidden springs
as I peered into empty winter wells
In Iowa the water enticed, cajoled,
then insisted
I dream about a land
where water [...]

Oregon, You Are My Home (original folksong)

Suzanne Chimenti
Oregon

by Suzanne Chimenti
Damascus, OR
I teach music at Fairview Elementary School. I wrote this song for my students. It was recorded by my band, The Mighty Filberts (known for their original Oregon songs). We were joined by a chorus of my students.
01 Oregon, You Are My Home.mp3 (4 MB)
Oregon, You Are My Home [...]

The McGee-Wilcox Family 1853-1864 of Douglas County, Oregon

Pat Kennedy
Douglas county OR

by Pat Wilcox-Kennedy
Medford, OR
On Tuesday, 15 March 1859, at 4:30 in the morning, the steamer Brother Jonathan arrived from San Francisco bringing the news of the admission of Oregon as a state of the Union. The bill for admission of the state had passed Congress and received the signature of the President Buchanan, on [...]

School Kids and State Lands

Oregon Department of State Lands
Salem, Oregon

from the Oregon Department of State Lands
Salem, OR
Oregon - the “Eden at the End of the Oregon Trail” – was land rich and cash poor at statehood in 1859. As scores of new families came west to settle and prosper, the new state had few resources to educate their children.
Realizing this challenge, [...]

Changing Directions

Margaret Garrington
Ashland, Oregon

by Margaret Garrington
Ashland, OR
In 1977 my first visit to Oregon changed the direction of my life. Working as a land use planner in Arizona, Oregon was already on my radar because of the state’s progressive land use laws. Oregon was often cited as unique in the country because of the strong protections for farms, [...]

Window View

Kim Hall
Cascades

by Kim Hall
Salem, Oregon
I boarded the 8:30 morning train leaving Klamath Falls headed to Salem. Stepping onto the train with my black bag containing a few personal items, I looked for a seat next to a window. Several passengers had boarded the train with me and seats were running out, so I quickly took a [...]

In Love with Oregon

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Shirley Nelson- Port Orford, OR

“At eighteen I left Washington state and traveled to Oregon with my family….”