News - Oregon Travel Information Council

Pendleton group helps nudge history forward

Posted on: August 11th, 2015 in News & Press |

On August 6, 2015, a new Oregon historical marker was dedicated by the community of Pendleton and Oregon Travel Experience. The marker’s installation and historic text revision was sponsored by the 2015 Leadership Pendleton Class. A brief ceremony took place in front of the new marker on the eastern end of Pendleton, along Highway 30.
OTE’s Annie von Domitz and Oregon Historical Marker Committee member George Forbes attended the dedication and …

2026 Deep Roots Heritage Newsletter

Posted on: April 24th, 2026 in News & Press |

Our heritage programs had another eventful year! We’re celebrating 30 years of the Oregon Heritage Tree Program, reflecting on the Hood River community who came together to repair past harms and sponsor the state’s newest historical marker, and looking forward to dedicating Oregon’s 86th Heritage Tree this spring. Read all about it in our 2026 newsletter!

2026 Deep RootsDownload

30 Years of the Oregon Heritage Tree Program

Posted on: March 31st, 2026 in News & Press |

On November 8, 1995, a group of tree lovers gathered for the founding meeting of the Oregon Heritage Tree Committee. They came together to create a program that combined the majesty of Oregon’s trees with the history they witnessed over hundreds of years. The group crafted the program from scratch, discussing goals, formalizing criteria, and creating a brochure. In June of 1996 the first program guidelines were drafted, and by …

Historical Marker Honoring Nisei Veterans Dedicated in Hood River

Posted on: November 12th, 2025 in News & Press |

TIC Councilors and Oregon Historical Marker Committee Members stand with new marker.

On Veterans Day 2025, TIC joined with the Hood River community to dedicate a new historical marker on Highway 35, one mile south of Hood River.

Highway 35 from Hood River to Government Camp was dedicated as the Oregon Nisei Veterans WWII Memorial Highway by Governor Brown on March 7, 2022. The highway commemorates the second-generation Japanese American …

Heritage Tree Featured in Countdown to America’s 250th Anniversary

Posted on: October 28th, 2025 in News & Press |

Oregon’s 81st heritage tree was recently featured on KPTV’s countdown to America’s 250th anniversary.

The PSU Copper Beech has witnessed more than 100 years of urban development and is a living link to Oregon’s past. Listen to Oregon Heritage Tree Committee Chair Dave Hedberg share more:

JQA Young House Fruit Trees

Posted on: August 19th, 2025 in Heritage Tree Details |

Shellbark Hickory, Gravenstein Apple, Bartlett Pear

These trees are all that remain from an extensive orchard planted on the west side of the Elizabeth Constable and John Quincy Adams Young House. Family orchards were common in the 1870s, but few homes from Oregon’s Resettlement Era survive to show the association of the trees with the house. Familiar fruit and nut trees provided a customary food source for some pioneers and connections …

Oregon Nisei Veterans WWII Memorial Highway

Posted on: August 19th, 2025 in Historical Marker Details |

This highway is dedicated to the Oregon Nisei (2nd generation Japanese American) soldiers who served our country during World War II (1941-1946), even as many of their families were incarcerated in camps on American soil.

Oregon Nisei Veterans’ ServiceImmediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. entered war against Imperial Japan, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Italy. Anti-Japanese attitudes in the U.S. grew rapidly in the public arena, and U.S. military …

Cape Sebastian

Posted on: July 17th, 2025 in Historical Marker Details |

Native people call this cape Daa-ghvsh-ne’. European explorers noted the landmark because of its elevation rising 668 feet above the Pacific Ocean; the name Cape San Sebastian was later given in 1603 by Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizciano. In the 1960s, the seventy-pound, fossilized remains of a duck-billed hadrosaur were discovered in the sandstone that forms the cape. The sandstone and fossil share a complex geologic history. During the Late Cretaceous period (84 to 72 million years ago) the creature fell into a river or was swept out to sea …

Hinds Walnut at Yellow Creek

Posted on: July 15th, 2025 in In Memoriam-Trees |

Juglans hindsii

The Hinds Walnut died on November 11, 2017 when it collapsed into the highway. Foresters removed the tree. It’s story lives on below:

This tree is notable for its size, age and that it is not native to Oregon. It is located at the probable Indian camping and fishing ground where migrating salmon were in abundance and accessible. It predates the arrival of settlers and may have sprouted from a …

Silver Maple at Seven Oaks Farm

Posted on: July 15th, 2025 in In Memoriam-Trees |

Acer saccharinum

Arborists determined the hollow limbs of the tree were a liability for people walking under it. In 2013, the arms were cut leaving a stump and trumpet vine. The story of the tree lives below:

This Silver maple, remarkable for its age and size, was planted around 1860 to provide shade for the adjacent log cabin. This historic cabin served as the store for the pioneer-era stagecoach stop that operated …

Camp Oregon Caves Port Orford Cedar

Posted on: July 15th, 2025 in In Memoriam-Trees |

Chamaecyparis lawsoniana

The Camp Oregon Caves Port Orford Cedar died in 2014 due to Port Orford root rot disease. In 2024, the Wild River Ranger District removed the tree because it became a hazard to the campground. The story of the tree lives below:

This Port Orford cedar is the only remaining tree standing from when Camp Oregon Caves Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) facility was established on this site in 1933. …