Oregon Trivia & Tidbits

Looking for Oregon trivia? Try our list Oregon little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Remote Leslie Gulch in southeastern Oregon’s Malheur County (pop. 31,615) is known for its volcanic tuff (consolidated volcanic ash) towers and windblown, multilayered rock formations. In 1965, 17 California bighorn sheep were reintroduced to the area, and the herd now numbers more than 200. Access to Leslie Gulch is by dirt road off U.S. Highway 95.

first appeared: 3/7/2010

Singer and actress Jane Powell was born Suzanne Burce in Portland on April 1, 1929. Her singing career began on Portland radio, and at age 12 she was selected “Oregon Victory Girl” for local fundraisers. It wasn’t until her family moved to Los Angeles in the 1940s, however, that her career took off. Her most famous role was in the 1954 movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. She now lives in Connecticut.

first appeared: 2/21/2010

Heceta Head Lighthouse, near Yachats (pop. 617), long has been rumored to be haunted by the Gray Lady. As the story goes, the wife of one of the early light keepers lost her daughter to drowning and to this day stalks the stairs of the lighthouse mourning for her child. Both the lighthouse and the light keeper's quarters are on the National Register of Historic Places and the house now provides bed-and-breakfast rooms for guests.

first appeared: 2/7/2010

The Three Sisters Wilderness Area, south of the town of Sisters (pop. 959), is named after three peaks-North, Middle and South Sister mountains-all more than 10,000 feet high. Together with Broken Top Mountain, the area offers one of the best areas in the Pacific Northwest for studying the effects of glaciation. The area's Collier Glacier is the largest sheet of ice in the state.

first appeared: 1/24/2010

China Ditch, northeast of Myrtle Creek (pop. 3,419), is a monument to Chinese labor in the American West. From 1891 to 1894, some 200 Chinese laborers dug about 30 miles of ditch to provide water for gold mining operations. The ditch is on the National Register of Historic Places, and a section of it has been set aside as a driving loop for visitors.

first appeared: 1/10/2010

Unusual for its isolation in the high desert, the Lost Forest consists of an area of ponderosa pines. Situated near the Christmas Valley in Lake County (pop. 7,422), the pine trees are separated from other forests by more than 25 miles.

first appeared: 12/27/2009

Established in 1906, Hendricks Park is Eugene's (pop. 137,893) oldest city park. The park's 78 acres include a mature forest and a world-renowned rhododendron garden. Visitors can view a variety of ferns and wildflowers and more than 6,000 varieties of rhododendrons and other ornamental plants.

first appeared: 12/13/2009

Wolf Creek Inn, near the town of the same name in Josephine County (pop. 75,726), is one of the oldest continually operated inns in the Pacific Northwest. Built in 1883 as the Wolf Creek Tavern, the inn has hosted famous guests, including Jack London, Clark Gable, Carol Lombard and President Rutherford B. Hayes. Today, the inn is a State Heritage Site and continues to house guests.

first appeared: 11/29/2009

The community of Rome along U.S. Highway 95 in Malheur County (pop. 31,615) shares its name with nearby imposing formations of fossil-bearing clay that resemble Roman ruins. The 100-foot-high formations, known as the "Pillars of Rome," measure about five miles long and two miles wide. The rock formations were used as a landmark by travelers on the Oregon Trail.

first appeared: 11/15/2009

Collier Memorial State Park and Logging Museum, near Chiloquin (pop. 716), began in 1945 with a donation of 146 acres of land by brothers Alfred and Andrew Collier, followed by their contribution of antique logging equipment in 1947. Their intent was to show the evolution of logging from the use of felling axes and oxen to chainsaws and diesel trucks. The museum also spotlights the role that railroads played in the timber industry and is among several sites in the state that chronicle Oregon's logging history.

first appeared: 11/1/2009

Well-known children's book author Clare Turlay Newberry (1903-1970) was born in Enterprise (pop. 1,895) and studied art at the University of Oregon and the School of Portland Art Museum, as well as in California and Paris, France. Known for her drawings of cats and kittens, four of her books, including Marshmallow and April's Kittens, were designated runners-up for the Caldecott Medal.

first appeared: 10/18/2009

Klamath Falls (pop. 19,462) originally was called Linkville after George Nurse founded the town in 1867. He named it after the Link River on whose falls the city is situated. In 1893, citizens renamed their community Klamath Falls-a change ratified by the state Legislature, which incorporated the town in 1905. The area's prosperity was given a considerable boost in 1909 when the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived.

first appeared: 10/4/2009

During an annual race in Corvallis (pop. 49,322), teams of contestants pedal human-powered kinetic sculptures through a course that includes clay, sand, water and mud. The engineering marvels have included contraptions such as a flying pink elephant, a slice of cheese and a yellow submarine. The contest is part of the town's da Vinci Days festival, a July celebration of art, science and technology.

first appeared: 9/20/2009

In the early 1800s, American Indians of the Northwest were plagued by exposure to white men's diseases. One story says that when traditional ways couldn't cure them, "four Indian wise men from the West" walked from the Oregon territories to St. Louis to seek help, and a contingent from the Methodist church returned to offer aid. Pulpit Rock in the town of The Dalles (pop. 12,156) was the gathering place for those seeking help and spiritual guidance.

first appeared: 9/6/2009

Large, colorful murals grace the walls of many buildings in The Dalles (pop. 12,156), graphically relating the region's history. Scenes depict the life of the original American Indian tribes in the area, the Lewis and Clark Expedition that passed through and the pioneers who arrived at the end of the Oregon Trail. The murals were painted by various artists and feature legends describing the illustrations.

first appeared: 8/23/2009

Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge features 1,853 coastal islands, rocks and reefs scattered along 320 miles of the state's coast. The offshore rocks and islands harbor thousands of seabirds comprising 13 species. The habitat also is home to harbor seals, northern elephant seals and California sea lions. The best place to view a portion of the refuge is at Coquille Point near Bandon (pop. 2,833).

first appeared: 8/9/2009

Oregon's scenic coastline features one of the most spectacular ocean drives in the nation on U.S. Highway 101. Along the coast from Brookings (pop. 5,447) to Astoria (pop. 9,813), a distance of about 350 miles, the state's park system maintains some 85 areas designated for day use or camping. The areas include state parks, recreation sites, natural areas, scenic corridors and state heritage sites, as well as beaches, waysides and picnic areas.

first appeared: 7/26/2009

—Madame Marie Dorion, an American Indian of the Sioux Nation, was the only woman on the 1811 Wilson Hunt expedition from Montreal to Oregon. Accompanying her husband Pierre Dorion, who served as an interpreter during the 11-month journey of trappers to the Columbia River, Marie gave birth to a child, survived a brutal winter and her husband's death, and eventually settled with her children in Oregon. She died in 1850 and is buried in Gervais (pop. 2,009).

first appeared: 7/12/2009

—Officially founded on Feb. 1, 1842, Willamette University in Salem established the Pacific Northwest's first law school in 1883 and the first school of medicine in 1866-67.

first appeared: 6/28/2009

—The ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum in Ashland (pop. 19,522) has hosted more than 150,000 school children since opening in 2002. Its 80-plus interactive exhibits allow children to put themselves inside a soap bubble, propel a model electric train with pedal power, draw in 3-D, and use a paper plane launcher to learn about aerodynamics.

first appeared: 6/14/2009

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