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Origin and history of Oregon

Oregon

1765 as the name of a large river in the west of North America, probably the modern Columbia; a word of uncertain and disputed origin. It seems to be of Algonquian origin. In the U.S. it came to be applied to the northwest generally. From 1848 as the name of a U.S. territory, admitted as a state 1859. The Oregon in Pennsylvania was named for the western territory. Related: Oregonian.

also from 1765

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or
c. 1200, "either, else, otherwise, as an alternative or substitute," from Old English conjunction oþþe "either, or," which is related to Old Frisian ieftha, Middle Dutch ofte, Old Norse eða, Old High German odar, German oder, Gothic aiþþau "or." This word was extended in early Mi
Chinook
name for a group of related native people in the Columbia River region of Washington and Oregon, from Salishan /činuk/, name...
dalle
the source of The Dalles, city name in Oregon, U.S., from dalle, the name given by French employees of the Hudson's Bay Company...
Portland
Portland, Oregon, was said to have been named for the city in Maine, which won the honor by a coin toss over Boston....
Nike
The brand of athletic shoes and apparel, based near Portland, Oregon, has been so known since 1971, named for the Greek goddess...
northwest
Pacific Northwest, describing Oregon and Washington, is by 1874....
cowbell
[from "The Psalm of Jazz," Oregon Voter, Aug. 30, 1919] But an article on cowbells in "Hardware" magazine for Dec. 25, 1897...
us
Old English us (cognate with Old Saxon, Old Frisian us, Old Norse, Swedish oss, Dutch ons, German uns), accusative and dative plural of we, from PIE *nes- (2), forming oblique cases of the first person plural personal pronoun (source also of Sanskrit nas, Avestan na, Hittite nash
Salem
place mentioned in Genesis xiv.18, from Hebrew Shālēm, usually said to be another name for Jerusalem and to mean "peace" (compare Hebrew shalom, Arabic salaam). A typical meetinghouse name among Baptists and Methodists, so much so that by mid-19c. it (along with Bethel and Ebenez
bend
Old English bendan "to bend a bow, bring into a curved state; confine with a string, fetter," causative of bindan "to bind," from Proto-Germanic base *band- "string, band" (source also of Old Norse benda "to join, strain, strive, bend"), from PIE root *bhendh- "to bind." The mean

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