Oregon Trivia & Tidbits - Page 4

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

Originally built around 1940, the art deco-style Esquire Theater in Klamath Falls has been known as The Ross Ragland Theatre since the late 1980s, when it was renovated to become a permanent home for the community’s performing arts. Connected to the city’s geothermal heating system, it serves today as a venue for dance, music and theater, and welcomes more than 100,000 people annually.

first appeared: 7/29/2007

—Rising more than 2,000 feet above Lake Abert and stretching for 30 miles, Abert Rim is one of North America’s longest exposed fault escarpments. Formed during geological upheaval millions of years ago, the steep cliff near Lakeview (pop. 2,474) was named by Lt. John Fremont in 1843, for his commanding officer, Col. J.J. Abert. Today, the area is popular for hang gliding and bighorn sheep watching.

first appeared: 7/15/2007

—Flavel House, considered one of the state’s finest examples of Queen Anne architecture, occupies a full city block in Astoria (pop. 9,813). Capt. George Flavel earned his fortune as master of a ship fleet on the nearby Columbia River, and built his red-roofed home in the mid-1880s, complete with a fourth-story cupola with a view of the river’s boat traffic.

first appeared: 7/1/2007

—Founded in the late 1800s, Camas Prairie subsequently was renamed Ukiah (pop. 255) by resident E.B. Gambee, who had lived in Ukiah, Calif. The town is located in a large basin that once was covered by a lake. American Indians speak of a long-ago great rumbling, after which the lake disappeared. American Indians relied on the root of the blue camas that still grows in the Ukiah area as a food source. A member of the lily family, the plant has a large bulb from which its long, linear leaves grow. The flowers, which occur in shades of blue, bloom in spring.

first appeared: 6/17/2007

—The Portland Aerial Tram opened to the public in January, providing an important passenger link between the city’s South Waterfront district and the Oregon Health & Science University on Marquam Hill. The tram’s two cabins take three minutes to travel the 3,300-foot route, reaching a top speed of 22 mph and covering an elevation change of 500 feet.

first appeared: 6/3/2007

—The Schreiners—including Ray, Steve, Liz and Dave—carry on a family iris-growing tradition at Schreiner’s Iris Gardens near Keizer (pop. 32,203). Each year, the Schreiners create 16 new varieties and ship rootstock for more than 5 million irises to gardeners around the world. The family’s Willamette Valley farm was started in 1947 and helped establish Keizer as the “Iris Capital of the World.”

first appeared: 5/28/2007

—Each year, the folks at Portland-based Clear Creek Distillery head to the family orchards in Parkdale (pop. 266) when the pears are still small and slip bottles over the fruit. The pears continue growing on the trees, inside the bottles, and when the fruit is full-size, the bottles are cut from the trees and filled with pear brandy to create the distillery’s pear-in-the-bottle brandy.

first appeared: 5/6/2007

—In the 1960s, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs began spending thousands of dollars annually to buy artifacts from tribal members and families. The result is The Museum at Warm Springs (pop. 2,431), which opened in 1993 to display ancestral treasures.

first appeared: 4/22/2007

When a storm-fueled flash flood hit the community of Heppner (pop. 1,395) without warning on June 14, 1903—killing at least 247 people—residents Leslie Matlock and Bruce Kelley mounted horses to ride ahead of the waters that were flooding Willow Creek to warn residents and ranchers downstream of the impending disaster. The two are credited with saving many people and livestock.

first appeared: 4/22/2007

—A herd of rare Kiger mustangs, which possess many of the same characteristics as the Spanish horses that arrived in North America in the 16th century, can be seen near Diamond in Harney County (pop. 7,609). The wild horses have distinctive dun-colored coats that feature zebra stripes on the knees and hocks, along with hooked ear tips and fine muzzles.

first appeared: 4/8/2007

—The Shire, a new housing development in Bend (pop. 52,029), is re-creating the look of an 18th-century English village with its architecture and landscaping. The houses have gabled roofs, an artificial “thatch” made from PVC that resists fire, sunlight, rain and wind, and flower gardens.

first appeared: 3/25/2007

—When seven common murres were set free on the Oregon coast last October, the young birds immediately began flying and diving, just as staff from the Oregon Coast Aquarium hoped they would. Found on the beach as chicks that had become separated from their parents, the birds were cared for at the aquarium in Newport (pop. 9,532) until they were old enough to survive on their own.

first appeared: 3/11/2007

—Located on the Metolius River near Sisters (pop. 959), Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery is operated by the state’s Department of Fish & Wildlife and raises nearly 3 million fish each year, including rainbow, brook, brown and trophy trout, kokanee and Atlantic salmon. The Metolius River gets its name from a local Indian word that refers to the fish they found in it.

first appeared: 2/27/2007

The Metolius River was created after the Black Butte volcano erupted more than 1 million years ago, burying the area in lava. Today, water seeping underground from around this ancient cinder cone emerges in the form of springs to create the river’s headwaters just a few miles from the Wizard Falls hatchery, making the Metolius one of the nation’s largest spring-fed rivers.

first appeared: 2/27/2007

—Since its founding in 1977, Dogs for the Deaf, based in Central Point (pop. 12,493), has placed more than 2,500 dogs in homes to serve as “hearing dogs” and in other special “jobs.” The nonprofit organization adopts dogs from animal shelters and trains them to alert their owners to sounds such as the smoke alarm, telephone, a door knock and oven timer.

first appeared: 2/11/2007

—Derrick Cave in Lake County (pop. 7,422) was formed thousands of years ago when a stream of molten lava cooled on its edges, creating a rocky “tube” through which the rest of the lava flowed. Today, the ceiling in the quarter-mile-long, 30-foot-high cave has collapsed in some areas, creating access into the cave for sunlight and foot traffic.

first appeared: 1/28/2007

When Ig Vella sold The Rogue Creamery—which has been making cheese in Central Point (pop. 12,493) since the 1930s—to David Gremmels and Cary Bryant in 2002, the new owners promised to keep the creamery open, and a handshake sealed the deal. The entrepreneurs have stayed true to their word, producing cheeses such as their Rogue River Blue and earning gold medals in worldwide competitions.

first appeared: 1/14/2007

—Built in the early 1860s, the Chandler Log Cabin is one of Baker County’s oldest wooden structures. Originally located on the Chandler Hereford Ranch near Baker City (pop. 9,860), the cabin now stands in Haines (pop. 426). The Chandler family, who traveled to the Baker Valley by wagon train from Missouri, founded a line of Hereford cattle that continues today.

first appeared: 12/17/2006

—One of the newer specialty gardens at The Oregon Garden in Silverton (pop. 7,414) is the Pet Friendly Garden, which opened last year. Presided over by “Max,” a sculpture of a yellow Labrador retriever, the garden helps visitors learn which plants are friendly or toxic to pets. It also features garden designs, such as raised flowerbeds, that best accommodate dogs.

first appeared: 12/3/2006

—In 2004, Jeff Shepherd started selling chocolate truffles out of the trunk of his car at southern Oregon farmers markets. Today, his Lillie Belle Farms in Jacksonville (pop, 2,235) features a 30-item product line and factory, along with two acres of organic raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries used to flavor his award-winning chocolates.

first appeared: 11/19/2006

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