Oregon Trivia & Tidbits - Page 14

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

The 1917 Vista House, an interpretive center and historic site overlooking the Columbia River Gorge, was built to commemorate completion in 1916 of the Columbia River Highway from Portland east to Hood River. From here, on the Crown Point promontory 733 feet above the river, “the Columbia could be viewed in silent communion with the infinite,” said Samuel Lancaster, supervisor of the highway project.

first appeared: 10/6/2002

A two-mile-long natural ground fissure east of Deschutes National Forest near Christmas Valley is deep enough to contain ice year-round and is known simply as Crack-in-the-Ground.

first appeared: 10/6/2002

The world’s shortest river, the D River in Oregon, is only 120 feet long and runs from Devils Lake straight into the Pacific Ocean. It and the lake divide nearby Lincoln City (pop. 7,437) into north and south.

first appeared: 9/29/2002

Jesse Applegate, the Kentucky native who was a key figure in opening the South Road to Oregon, served in the future state’s provisional government, beginning in 1845, and was instrumental in developing the Oregon Territory as an eventual part of the United States.

first appeared: 9/22/2002

Koberg Beach, a picnic park near Hood River (pop. 5,831), was the site of an outdoor resort and dance hall from about 1915 to 1950. The ballroom eventually had to make way for the rising Columbia River after hydroelectric dams were built.

first appeared: 9/22/2002

Dave Kingman, a native of Pendleton (pop. 16,354), hit 442 home runs in 16 years with the Giants, Mets, Cubs, A’s, Padres, Angels, and Yankees. Kingman earned the nickname Kong for his gargantuan blasts and is noted for hitting three home runs in a game five times. He retired from baseball in 1986.

first appeared: 9/15/2002

Salem’s Thomas Kay Woolen Mill, founded in 1890, operated under the direction of four generations of the Kay family until 1959. The mill closed in 1962 but now, as a museum, offers exhibits of old-time milling processes.

first appeared: 9/8/2002

The Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Wasco County Historical Museum in The Dalles (pop. 12,156) offers a look at volcanic episodes and floods that created the river gorge and the people who have lived in the area for 10,000 years. The gorge is the only sea-level route through the Cascade Mountains. It is 80 miles long and 4,000 feet deep in places.

first appeared: 9/1/2002

The founder of Salem, Jason Lee, had religion on his mind rather than city-building when he established a mission on the Willamette River in 1834. Soon after, he moved the mission to what would become Salem, establishing a school that eventually became Willamette University.

first appeared: 8/25/2002

Joseph Lane came close to missing his chance of being governor (1849-50) of the Oregon Territory. President James K. Polk appointed Lane, instructing Sheriff Joe Meek from Oregon City to deliver the commission to Lane at his home in Indiana and then accompany Lane to Oregon. Polk, nearing the end of his term as the nation’s 11th president, wanted Lane in the governor’s seat before his political foe, Zachary Taylor, took over as president. Lane and Meek barely made the trip in time.

first appeared: 8/18/2002

Employees at Platt Electric, a family-owned electric supply firm in Beaverton, have donated more than $1 million to cystic fibrosis research since 1989. The company plans to keep up this work until the disease is eliminated.

first appeared: 8/11/2002

The Newberry Volcano near Bend (pop. 20,469) was built up by thousands of eruptions over the last 600,000 years. The most recent occurred about 1,300 years ago and left behind a large lava flow of obsidian, a dark natural glass formed when molten lava cools. The Newberry crater also contains two alpine lakes, which are home to trophy-size brown and rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon.

first appeared: 8/4/2002

The state seal shows a British man-of-war sailing away as an American merchant ship sails toward the Oregon shore, representing the end of British influence. The Oregon Territory once was an important fur-trading area for the British Hudson’s Bay Company.

first appeared: 7/28/2002

The first woman elected to the U.S. Congress from Oregon was Nan Wood Honeyman (1937-39). She was born in New York in 1881 and moved with her family three years later to Portland. Active in civic and humanitarian organizations before entering politics, Honeyman held other governmental positions during her career, including U.S. Price Administration representative in 1941 and 1942. She also was appointed to fill an Oregon state senate vacancy in 1941.

first appeared: 7/21/2002

The Willamette Stone State Heritage Site, west of Portland, marks the starting point for all land surveying west of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon and Washington. The entire country is divided into a grid for land surveying, with several places across the country designated as starting points, called meridians. A marker at the park explains the significance of the Willamette Stone as the “zero point” for the Willamette Meridian.

first appeared: 7/14/2002

Abigail Scott Duniway led a 42-year effort to gain the right to vote for Oregon women. The Illinois farm girl, who moved to Oregon in 1852 with her family when she was 17, saw her battle for suffrage won in 1912, three years before she died.

first appeared: 7/7/2002

Molalla River State Park near Canby (pop. 12,790) boasts a large blue heron rookery in addition to excellent bird watching and wildlife viewing. Located at the confluence of the Willamette, Molalla, and Pudding rivers, the area is home to a variety of waterfowl, wading birds, deer, small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.

first appeared: 6/30/2002

Two towns in Oregon could be said to have a sibling rivalry. Sisters (pop. 959) takes its name from the Three Sisters Mountains in the Cascade Range. About 75 miles southeast, deep in cattle ranch country, lies the town of Brothers.

first appeared: 6/23/2002

Newberry National Volcanic Monument south of Bend takes in more than 50,000 acres, including a huge, active volcano. The numerous cinder cones and lava flows are among the monument’s attractions, as well as spectacular views of the Oregon Cascades.

first appeared: 6/16/2002

Tryon Creek State Natural Area is a 645-acre oasis in Portland’s metro area that provides hiking, horse, and bike trails. In the 1880s, the Oregon Iron Co. logged the canyon at Tryon Creek to obtain fuel for a nearby iron smelter, but the forest has long since re-grown. The park is now home to beaver and other small mammals and more than 50 species of birds.

first appeared: 6/9/2002

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