It's also Oregon's birthday, and this year (2009) is Oregon's 150th birthday, or sesquicentennial for those of you who like big words. I remember Tennessee's 200th birthday, which was in 1996. (Wow, Oregon is a youngster!) I don't remember a whole lot about the Tennessee bicentennial, except that they changed the license plates for a while.
I'm not really all that into history, actually. Honestly, I usually find it pretty boring (especially to read) and so if you fall asleep reading this I'm really sorry. But, how often can you write about a sesquicentennial??!!
Okay, actually, 2009 marks lots of other sesquicentennials. It is also Boulder, Colorado's 150th birthday this year, and the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. Why don't you read some Darwin Awards to celebrate?? (Coincidentally, today would've been Darwin's 200th birthday, as well as Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday.) Sidenote: Why do people say it "would've been" his 200th birthday? Like, it "would've been" if he had lived an abnormally long time? I don't understand that (even though I just did it myself.) And even though the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Civil War isn't until 2011, the University of Richmond in Virginia is so excited they're just gonna go ahead and start celebrating now. The American Dental Association is also celebrating its 150th year, as is the city of Iola, Kansas. It's also the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (I guess that's how you're supposed to say it, though it is easier to just say "he would've been 150"), and the 150th birthday of America's first zoo - The Philadelphia Zoo. There are actually a lot of others, and I could go on... but I'm kind of bored with it now so I'm sure you are too. The point is a lot of shit was going down in 1859.
During the last paragraph I decided not to write in detail about the history of Oregon's statehood (I mean, seriously, one blog is not enough to cover 150+ years of history, folks.) If you're really interested, check it out for yourself. If you're not really interested I'll give you the highlights: Thomas Jefferson (a.k.a. "TJ") took $2,500 and hired his secretary, Meriwether Lewis (back when secretaries were men) to explore the land the US got from the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis needed some help so he hired a veteran army officer, William Clark to come along and they set out in the spring of 1804. Clark was an experienced surveyor, mapmaker, frontiersman and Indian negotiator so he was well-qualified. (Man, check out those qualifications! I would like to put "mapmaker and frontiersman" on my resume.) They went back to TJ with their reports of the area and how great it was. People gradually started moving west, the Oregon Trail happened, yada yada yada, white people kicked the Native Americans out, Great Britain and the US fought over the territory, blah blah blah, and then Oregon became a state on February 14, 1859.
There are a few really interesting things about Oregon's history, though: for about 90 years (between 1861 and 1951) it was against Oregon law to marry someone of a different race. In 1844, the territory mandated that slavery was illegal, but if there were any "free" slaves lurking around, they had to leave. The largest cities in Oregon (Portland, Salem, Eugene, and Bend) are all extremely liberal, but the rural areas of Oregon are extremely conservative. I, personally, think this political strife makes Oregon a fun and interesting place to live. But some people are not so happy about it. There have been several attempts by some groups to secede from the state.
So, in honor of Oregon's 150th birthday, there are several events going on around town. You can go on a horse drawn elk viewing tour, swim 150 miles, go birding, paddling, or you can attend a spiffy soiree, which currently has 14 confirmed guests on Facebook. Some celebration! But, Seskie the Sasquatch will be there, so it is tempting to go just to meet him in person:
But the thing everyone seems most excited about is the beer. Rogue Brewery has developed a special commemorative brew to celebrate the sesquicentennial. It's a limited edition, so get it while you can. Deschutes is also brewing 2 special beers with 100% Oregon ingredients for the celebration. Hopworks Urban Brewery has also come up with a special IPA, and McMenamins is brewing a special cream ale that will only be served at Saturday's Birthday Bash at the Crystal Ballroom. With all these new beers floating around, I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of beer-drinking going on Saturday night, and not much swimming or romantic dinners.
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