The Oregon Encyclopedia

Historians, scholars, and experts have been sharing their research in entries for The Oregon Encyclopedia for over a decade. They have created a compendium of Oregon History free and open to all, and it grows each week, entry by entry. Check here to read the latest pages on The OE.

Recently published

Adams-Onís Treaty (1819)

The oldest political terrestrial state boundary of Oregon—the southern …
Ardyth Kennelly (1912–2005)

Novelist and artist Ardyth Kennelly was “one of the last of a celebrate…
Carol Menken-Schaudt (1957–)

Carol Menken came to Oregon State University to study broadcasting, gra…
Commercial Salmon Fishing in the Columbia River

Salmon fisheries have a long history in Oregon, going back to as many a…
Herman the Sturgeon

Herman the Sturgeon is a 10-foot-long, 500-pound white sturgeon who has…
Jim Hibbard (1936–2022)

Jim Hibbard was a principal founder of Blackfish Gallery, the first coo…
Joaquin "Chino" Berdugo (1850-1931)

Joaquin “Chino” Berdugo was a prominent vaquero leader and stockman in …
Lafayette

The town of Lafayette, situated in the Willamette Valley between McMinn…
Larry Mahan (1943–2023)

Larry Mahan was a six-time all-around world champion cowboy and a two-t…
Linnton Plywood Mill

The Linnton Plywood Association (LPA) was a cooperative worker-owned mi…
Lisa Malinowski Steinman (1950–)

Lisa M. Steinman writes “to make sense of myself and the world,” she to…
Margaret Comstock Snell (1843–1923)

Margaret Comstock Snell was a pioneering domestic scientist who in 1889…
Marion Sayle Taylor (1889–1942)

Marion Sayle Taylor was the Voice of Experience, a radio personality wh…
Modoc Tribe

The Modoc are a thriving Indigenous people who live predominantly in no…
Obukan Judo Dojo

Obukan Judo, the oldest dōjō in Oregon, has had a presence in Portland …
Richard Steiner (1901–1975)

Richard Steiner was the senior minister of the First Unitarian Church i…
Rocky Butte

Rocky Butte is a 612-foot-high extinct cinder cone volcano in Portland,…
Santiago Ventura Morales Exoneration Case

In 1986, Mixtec farmworker Santiago Ventura Morales was wrongfully conv…
Seneca

Seneca is a small town in Bear Valley near the Blue Mountains and the M…
Sylvia Williams Thompson (1873–1950)

In January 1920, during a special session called by Governor Ben W. Olc…
Vale

The City of Vale is about twelve miles west of the Oregon-Idaho state l…
Walter Alan Curtis (1941–2023)

Walt Curtis was an Oregon writer, painter, and literary activist and—in…
William Schonely (1929–2023)

Bill Schonely wasn’t just the longest tenured broadcaster in the histor…