Oregon History Project


The Oregon History Project is packed with historical goodness. I stumbled across it tonight looking for a good image of the Catholic Ladder (a visual device used by Catholic missionaries to convert the natives) and also found a great image of the combative Protestant Ladder (seen on the left--note the Pope tumbling into hell!). Rather than try and describe all the riches at this site let me just cut and paste the site introduction:

"Click onto Oregon Histories and browse narratives related to Oregon, Portland, Klamath Basin, Lewis and Clark, and Southwestern Oregon history. Go to Historic Viewers and participate in an interactive digitized learning experience that tracks change over time in the Portland landscape, Oregon boundaries, Celilo Falls, and Indian lands. See Oregon Biographies for intriguing stories about some of Oregon’s most significant historical figures. Search through Historical Records to see digitized photographs, artifacts, journal entries, government documents, maps, and a variety of other sources from the Oregon Historical Society Research Library and Collections. Visit the Learning Center for digitized lesson plans, information on how to teach with primary sources, interdisciplinary approaches to primary sources, and interpretive essays. If you already know what you are looking for, go to the Search function and research by keyword, primary source type, theme, era, or region. Finally, when you are done researching, please take a moment to fill out the Feedback form so that the Historical Society can better understand how to fulfill your needs!"