The Coast Starlight, running from Seattle, Washington to Los Angeles, California provides service to Portland, Salem, Albany, Eugene, Chemult, and Klamath Falls. The Amtrak Cascades, running from Vancouver, BC to Eugene, serves Portland, Oregon City, Salem, Albany, and Eugene. The Empire Builder, running from Portland to Chicago, Illinois, provides service to Portland.
Roads:
In the U.S. state of Oregon, Interstate 84 travels east–west, following the Columbia River and the rough path of the old Oregon Trail from Portland east to Idaho. Interstate 5 is the major north-south route.
Airports:
Airports with commercial service in Oregon include:
Portland International is by the far the largest and busiest with over 7 million passengers per year utilizing the facility.
The Flag:
The flag of the state of Oregon is a two-sided flag in navy blue and gold. On the front is the escutcheon from the state seal and on the reverse is a gold figure of a beaver, the state animal. Oregon is the only state to feature a double-sided flag.
History:
The current flag of Oregon became official on February 26, 1925. What is believed to be the first flag of Oregon produced was made that year by Meier & Frank, sewn by Marjorie Kennedy and Blanche Cox, employees of the department store. That flag was donated to Eastern Oregon University in 1954 by the grandson of former governor Walter M. Pierce. In 2010, the flag was restored.
Description:
The flag field is navy blue with all lettering and symbols in gold, representing the state colors of Oregon. On the obverse, the legend STATE OF OREGON is written above an escutcheon, which also appears in the Oregon state seal. The shield is surrounded by 33 stars, representing Oregon’s admission to the Union as the 33rd state. Below the shield is written 1859, the year in which Oregon became a state.
Oregon’s flag is the last remaining state flag in the U.S. in which the obverse and reverse sides have different designs. Paraguay is the only country that still has a two-sided flag. Two-sided flags were previously more common, but have been reduced due to increased costs of manufacturing a flag with two different designs. On the reverse of the flag is a depiction, also in gold, of a beaver, the state animal of Oregon.
State Nickname:
Oregon is nicknamed “The Beaver State,” though this has not been made official by the Oregon legislature. The beaver is also Oregon’s official state animal and appears on the state flag.
The nickname originated in the early 19th century when fur hats were fashionable and Oregon streams were an important source of beaver pelts. The trapping routes used by early “mountain men” later became known as “The Oregon Trail,” traveled by thousands of pioneers in the 1840’s.