Oregon
Art, History & Archaeology Sites & Museums

One of the three coterminous states bordering the Pacific Ocean, Oregon was historically home predominantly to a wide range of indigenous groups, among them the Chinook, Tillamook, Nez Percé, and the Modoc. Their lifestyles were reflective of the diverse environments in the state, which range from forested mountains to open river valleys. Spanish and English sailors navigated Oregon’s coast in the 16th century, although it would only be in the early 19th century that Europeans, largely in the form of fur traders, arrived overland from the east. The 1830s saw the growth of European American settlement, with Oregon becoming a state in 1859, after which the area’s indigenous peoples were increasingly pushed onto reservations.