Stand Tall For America

Latest Updates

Posted on Saturday, February 14, 2009

State has contributed much in first 150 years

By Senator Ron Wyden
February 14, 2009

On this day 150 years ago, President James Buchanan signed the bill that admitted Oregon as the 33rd member of this great union.

There were barely 50,000 people living in Oregon at the time. Pictures from that era show hearty men and women standing in mud streets in front of clapboard buildings. That would soon change as thousands migrated across the continent on The Oregon Trail, a trek that would become synonymous with the American spirit.

Those who made that arduous journey were not nomads aimlessly wandering the land looking for a quick buck. They came with a purpose: to work hard and to make a new start in a new land.

And what a new land it was. Oregon was graced by Providence with endless forests, rivers teeming with fish, fertile valleys, majestic mountains, a dramatic coastline and rugged high deserts.

Today, more than 3,500,000 people live in Oregon. There may be fewer forests and less fish, but the remaining farm land, mountains, coastline and high deserts still beckon to those who seek a better life, much in the same way as those who endured The Oregon Trail. In some parts of Oregon the tracks made by the pioneers covered wagons are still visible, forever etched in the landscape.

Oregon has its geographic icons such as the Columbia River, Crater Lake, and Mount Hood. It has its great names: Wayne Morse, Mark Hatfield, Tom McCall. It has been a national leader with innovations such as an initiative system that dates back to the turn of the last century, a beach bill, a bottle bill and a statewide land-use planning process to protect those things that brought people to Oregon in the first place.

Oregon has earned a reputation as a progressive, forwarding-thinking state. We Oregonians are not without our quirks, but we embrace them with enthusiasm and wear them with pride. We have watched our economy change from one based on forestry and wood products to one that has become a leader in high-tech innovation. Millions of people around the world know of Oregon because such companies as Nike and Columbia Sportswear call Oregon home.

As we begin our second 150 years, Oregon is already moving to cultivate new economies grounded in alternative energy, green buildings and clean technology. Wind, geothermal and wave energy is either being generated in Oregon as we speak or close to it. The solar energy industry has recognized the quality of Oregon’s work force and is moving to our state in a big way.

But as Oregon embraces the new economy and new technology, we have not forgotten those places for which we have become famous. With the help of this body, thousands of acres of Oregon’s most beautiful, rugged and pristine areas have been protected.

The recent additions of the Lewis and Clark Mount Hood Wilderness, the Copper Salmon Wilderness, the Badlands Wilderness, the Spring Basin Wilderness and the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument guarantee future generations of Americans will see firsthand why Oregon was the nation’s first destination resort.

These are serious times that require our full and undivided attention if we are going to restore America’s greatness as an economic power and rebuild our reputation with the rest of the world. But at the same time, I believe there is value at looking back to celebrate a place that has done so much to help make this country great.

(Appeared in the Salem Statesman Journal, February 14 2009)