On February 14, 1859, while sweethearts across America were swapping Valentine's Day cards, President James Buchanan signed a piece of paper that turned the Oregon Territory into the 33rd state in the United States. The new state covered the entire stretch from the wild Pacific coast inland to the high deserts, packed with towering Douglas firs, salmon-filled rivers, snow-capped Mount Hood, and the rugged Cascade Mountains.
For thousands of years, Oregon had been home to Native nations like the Chinook, Nez Perce, and Klamath. In the 1840s, thousands of American settlers had piled into covered wagons and rolled west along the 2,000-mile Oregon Trail, hoping for free land and fresh starts. Many died of disease, hunger, or accidents on the way. By statehood day, the new capital of Salem was a small town, Portland was still a muddy little port, and the population was barely 50,000 people. Most of the state was forest, mountain, and prairie.
Today Oregon is famous for crashing ocean waves at Cannon Beach, the deep blue water of Crater Lake (the deepest lake in the U.S.), giant roadside attractions, and one of the world's biggest collections of bookstore-loving, hiking-boot-wearing residents. It's also the only U.S. state with a two-sided flag and the home of the first official 'Oregon Trail' video game that taught generations of kids how easy it was to get dysentery. Not bad for a state that started as a Valentine's Day gift.
