Transportation

A war over riches on the Columbia River.
While the Civil War raged, a group of captains, merchants, bankers and gamblers in the Pacific Northwest formed the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. The first capitalistic enterprise in the new state, they aimed to develop the richest and most powerful transportation operation in the region, dominating hundreds of miles of river traffic from the Pacific Coast to Montana. Achieving such status was anything but easy. They battled competitors, lawyers, the river herself, and defectors within their management team. In the unregulated business environment of the nineteenth century, men like John Ainsworth made their own rules, often deploying frontier justice against their enemies.
Join author Mychal Ostler as he recounts the battle for power that shaped an industry.

From hot air balloons to home-built aircraft, the people of Oregon pursued every opportunity to explore the skies.

By the late 1800s, air travel had captured the imagination of the entire nation. From hot air balloons to home-built aircraft, the people of Oregon pursued every opportunity to explore the skies. At the 1905 world’s fair exposition, held in Portland, audiences gazed in awe as dirigibles claimed the title of first controlled flight in the state. Soon after, airfields began to dot the countryside. In 1910, Charles Hamilton became the first pilot to fly in Oregon, and by 1926, regular air mail deliveries were commonplace. Daring early aviators like Eugene Ely, Charles Walsh and Silas Christofferson lost their lives but have never been forgotten.

Author Arthur H. Redman explores Oregon’s aviation history.