OTE - Oregon Travel Experience

Yaquina Bay

Posted on: November 13th, 2024 in Historical Marker Audio Tours, Historical Marker Details |

Yaquina Bay Marker

The old Yaquina Bay Llighthouse established in 1871 is the earliest aid to navigation standing within the range of the first recorded landfall made from a ship to the shores of the Pacific Northwest. Captain James Cook made this landfall on March 7, 1778. At noon he named Cape Foulweather. On account of the heavy weather he was compelled to stand out at sea at night and only approach the …

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Willamette Stone

Posted on: November 13th, 2024 in Historical Marker Audio Tours, Historical Marker Details |

This short trail leads to the Willamette Stone, the surveyor’s monument that is the point of origin for all public land surveys in Oregon and Washington. The landmark was established on June 4, 1851 by John B. Preston, Oregon’s first Surveyor General.

With increasing settlement and passage of the Donation Land Claim Act, the Oregon Territory desperately needed to extend the Public Land Survey System of 1785 that divided public lands …

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Willamette Falls Locks

Posted on: November 8th, 2024 in Historical Marker Audio Tours, Historical Marker Details |

WILLAMETTE FALLS LOCKS still in use below this point-were opened on New Years Day, 1873, when the steamer Maria Wilkins became the first vessel to navigate up the west end of Willamette Falls. Farming and shipping interests had long sought to eliminate expensive portages around this age-old bar to navigation 26 miles above the mouth of the river. The initial project was completed by the Willamette Falls Canal and Locks …

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Willamette Falls

Posted on: November 8th, 2024 in Historical Marker Audio Tours, Historical Marker Details |

Was the site of an Indian salmon fishing village. The falls furnished the power for a lumber mill which began operation in 1842, a flour mill in 1844, a woolen mill in 1864 and the first paper mill in the Pacific Northwest in 1867. The first long-distance commercial electric power transmission in the United States was from this area in the City of Portland in 1889.

Location: West Linn View …

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Vanport

Posted on: November 6th, 2024 in Historical Marker Audio Tours, Historical Marker Details |

Within a year of the US entering World War II, more than 160,000 people moved to Portland- a city of only 360,000 – to work in Home Front industries. Industrialist Henry Kaiser’s three shipyards employed the most workers. To house his employees and their families, Kaiser persuaded the US Maritime Commission in 1942 to fund the nation’s largest public housing project. Within 10 months, Kaiser had built an entire community …

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River Highway

Posted on: October 28th, 2024 in Historical Marker Audio Tours, Historical Marker Details |

The Agenda.

Native peoples have resided along this river since time immemorial. These lands have provided a bountiful life and a highway for extensive trade and travel. In the 1700s, European and American seafarers began plying the Pacific coast, seeking commerce, mapping, and claiming places. In October 1792, HMS Chatham entered this river. Lieutenant W.R. Broughton, ship captain, led the party in small boats upriver to this point. His party traded with …

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Oregon City Falls

Posted on: October 24th, 2024 in Historical Marker Audio Tours, Historical Marker Details |

Oregon City – once known as Willamette Falls – was early the site of an Indian salmon fishing village. The Falls furnished the power for a lumber mill which began operation in 1842, a flour mill in 1844, a woolen mill in 1864, and the first paper mill in the Pacific Northwest in 1867. The first long distance commercial electric power transmission in the United States was from Oregon City …

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Oregon City

Posted on: October 24th, 2024 in Historical Marker Audio Tours, Historical Marker Details |

Oregon City – supply point for pioneer emigrants was first located as a claim by Dr. John McLoughlin in 1829. The first provisional legislature of the Oregon Country was held here in 1843 and land and tax laws formulated. Oregon City was the capital of the Oregon Territory from 1845-1852. The first Protestant church (Methodist) west of the Rocky Mountains was dedicated in 1844 and the first newspaper (Oregon Spectator) …

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Historic La Grande

Posted on: October 21st, 2024 in Historical Marker Audio Tours, Historical Marker Details |

La Grande was the first town permanently settled in Northeastern Oregon. Daniel Chaplin laid out the original “Old Town” in spring of 1862 and Ben Brown built the first house, a log cabin, alongside the Oregon Trail at the corner of B Avenue and Cedar Street.

As the prime lands of western Oregon were settled, and then gold was discovered in eastern Oregon, a reverse migration used the Oregon Trail from …

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Japanese Attack on Oregon

Posted on: October 18th, 2024 in Historical Marker Audio Tours, Historical Marker Details |

Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, a contingent of Japanese I-Class submarines sailed from Yokosuka via the Marshall Islands to take up positions off Hawaii and the coast of North America. Five of these vessels carried midget two-man submarines and 11 carried aircraft.

Early on the morning of September 9, 1942, the Japanese submarine I-25 surfaced off Brookings. The crew quickly assembled a specially designed seaplane, and within a few …

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