William Henry Rector was an Oregon pioneer, builder, business innovator, and political figure. He helped blaze the trail south of Mount Hood in 1845 and, …

Oregon Encyclopedia

William H. Kinross conducted Oregon’s earliest performances of symphonic choral music, skillfully leading local talent in great oratorios and classical orchestral works. Born on December …

Oregon Encyclopedia

William James “Jack” McLarty, one of Oregon’s veteran modern painters, was born in 1919 in Seattle but grew up in downtown Portland, helping his parents …

Oregon Encyclopedia

William Johnson was the first permanent European settler in what is now the City of Portland. In late 1841, he moved his family from Champoeg, …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Oregon's birds have had few better friends than William Lovell Finley. As a biologist, photographer, writer, filmmaker, and public official, Finley spent his life tirelessly …

Oregon Encyclopedia

William McClendon was a writer, journalist, intellectual, activist, and jazz musician who was a prominent member of Portland’s civil rights community from 1938 until his …

Oregon Encyclopedia

William M. Tugman played a major role in the history of Oregon as an editor for the Eugene Register-Guard and the Port Umpqua Courier and …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Although he hailed from the State of Washington, William O. Douglas represented the greater Pacific Northwest on the national stage as a U.S. Supreme Court …

Oregon Encyclopedia

William P. Overton was in Oregon fewer than three years, yet he made a mark on Oregon history. In May 1841, Overton and others from …

Oregon Encyclopedia

William Henderson Packwood holds a unique place in Oregon history as the youngest participant of Oregon's Constitutional Convention of 1857. This mostly self-educated pioneer became …

Oregon Encyclopedia