Dave Knows Portland

November 9, 1857: Oregon Constitution Ratified

by Leave a Comment

Oregon Constitution title page

We the people of the State of Oregon to the end that Justice be established, order maintained, and liberty perpetuated, do ordain this Constitution.-

Oregon’s electorate, made up of white men over the age of twenty-one, ratified the Oregon Constitution on November 9, 1857.

The process of drawing up the constitution began earlier in the year, with growing concerns over the slavery question.

Democrats hoped to consolidate their power despite splits in the party over slavery, while anti-Democrats sought to avoid having slavery forced upon them by the federal government in the wake of the disturbing events in “Bleeding Kansas” and the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision.

Delegates met in Salem in August to draft the constitution. On November 9 the voters ratified the constitution, rejected making Oregon a slavery state, and also passed a negro exclusion clause. The U.S. Senate ratified Oregon’s constitution soon thereafter, but the Congress didn’t agree until February 12, 1859. President James Buchanan signed the law making Oregon a state on Valentine’s Day, 1859.

Further reading:

November 8, 1849: Portland Post Office Established

by Leave a Comment

The Portland post office was established on November 8, 1849, almost a decade before statehood, with Thomas Smith as postmaster. Salem’s was established the same day, with John B. McClane postmaster.

According to the Earliest Oregon Postoffices as Recorded at Washington (by Lewis A. McArthur in the Oregon Historical Quarterly Vol. 41, No. 1 – March 1940), which used as its source Book 19 of “a series of volumes in the office of the Division of Postmasters’ Appointments at the Post Office Department in Washington, D. C.”, the Salem and Portland post offices were the third and fourth in Oregon, after those in Astoria (March 9, 1847) and Oregon City (March 29, 1847).

November 7, 1888: Portland Zoo Begins With Bear Donation

by Leave a Comment

Morning Oregonian headline about the bears on 17 May 1888What we now know as the Oregon Zoo has its roots in a free menagerie located downtown near 2nd and Morrison, which featured eagles, owls, ducks, geese, swan, and several fish (Morning Oregonian, 12 May 1888). It was run by druggist, and exotic animal aficionado, Dr. Richard B. Knight.

On May 17, 1888 two significantly more impressive additions to the collection arrived from Baker City: a yearling black bear and a two-year-old grizzly (Morning Oregonian, 17 May 1888).

The bears, it should come as no surprise, quickly became too much to handle. At Dr. Knight’s pleading the Portland City Council agreed on November 7, 1888 to take over the care and feeding of the bears (they’d already been moved to a pair of city owned circus cages in Washington Park in June), thus giving birth to Portland’s municipal zoo.

November 6, 1984: Oregon Voters Approve State Lottery Measures

by Leave a Comment

Oregonian headline, 7 November 1984
On November 6, 1984 Oregon voters approved two ballot measures establishing the Oregon Lottery (The Oregonian, 7 November 1984)

Measure 4, which amends the Oregon Constitution to allow a lottery, and measure 5, which specifies how the lottery would operate, won strong approval.

The lottery measures require profits from the state-operated games to be used for economic development and allow the lottery to start 105 days after the state Senate confirms at least three lottery commisioners and a director.

The first scratch tickets were issued on April 25, 1985.

November 5, 1896: Cascade Locks and Canal Open to Steamboat Traffic

by Leave a Comment

Cascade Locks illustration from the Morning Oregonian, 6 November 1886Nearly two decades under construction, the Cascade Locks and canal finally opened to river traffic on November 5, 1896 (Morning Oregonian, 6 November 1896).

The opening of the Cascade locks … will prove an epoch in the history of the state of Oregon. There were thousands who witnessed the swinging of the massive steel gates at the western approach to the lock. The exercises preliminary to the opening of the locks were simple in character, consisting only in a short address by Governor W. P. Lord in presenting the steel lever to be used in the opening of the gates to Captain W. L. Fisk, of the United States engineer corps, who had charge of the work on behalf of the government, and a brief reply by him.

Until the completion of the canal and locks all river traffic had to portage around the Cascade Rapids, the furthest downstream rapids on the Columbia River.