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

Buncom

Buncom (also Bunkum, Buncombe or Buncomville) is situated at the conflu…
Bundy's Baths and Windemuth Portland Swimming Holes

From 1898 to 1924, the Willamette River near Ross Island, south of down…
Butteville

In its heyday, during the latter half of the nineteenth century, the to…
Butteville Store

The Butteville Store was not the first trading post or mercantile in th…
Fort Rock (formation)

Fort Rock is a volcanic citadel at the western end of the Fort Rock Val…
Gail Achterman (1949 - 2012)

Gail Achterman, a fourth-generation Oregonian, was one of the state’s l…
Juan Redón (1857?-1934)

Renowned for his exceptional riding and roping skills as well as his st…
LaFayette Grover (1823-1911)

LaFayette Grover was politically one of the most successful Democrats i…
Meier & Frank Co.

Meier & Frank, which advertised itself as “One of America’s Great Store…
Oregon State Fair

The call for an Oregon State Fair intensified in 1859 after California …
Paul De Muniz (1947-)

Paul Joseph De Muniz was the first Hispanic Chief Justice of the Oregon…
Richard C. Thompson (1945-2021)

Richard Thompson was an artist and teacher (and amateur fisherman) who …
Tejanos in Oregon

Tejanos (Tay-HAH-nohs)—Mexican Americans from south Texas—began moving …