Oregon

File:Oregon State Flag (Front).gif

The front of the state flag of Oregon.

File:Oregon State Flag (Back).gif

The back of the state flag of Oregon.

Oregon is a state in the western United States. Its capital is Salem and largest city is Portland. Oregon became the 33rd state on Feb. 14, 1859.

Oregon was originally settled by many Native Americans before the Lewis and Clark expedition brought greater attention to the area from the United States and Britain. The British had control of the majority of the territory until the Oregon Trail started in the 1840s and American settlers began moving in. Eventually, the land was ceded to the United States in the resolution of a boundary dispute.

The people in Oregon are concentrated in the fertile Willamette Valley from Portland to Eugene. The Cascade mountains divide the state into wet and dry halves, much like neighboring Washington State, but Eastern Oregon lacks the irrigation works of the Columbia basin and much more resembles Nevada.

Since 2007, Oregon has offered domestic partnerships, which are similiar to same sex marriage

Oregon is the birthplace of guitarist Eddie Vedder, author Lance Goldman, and quarterback Harry Sheilds.