Editing Portland, Oregon (section)

===Establishment===
[[File:1886 Pioneer Post Office.jpeg|thumb|[[Pioneer Courthouse]], 1886]]
[[File:Portland, Oregon 1890 Perspective Birds-eye-view Map.jpg|thumb|1890 map of Portland]]

Large numbers of pioneer settlers began arriving in the Willamette Valley in the 1840s via the [[Oregon Trail]] with many arriving in nearby [[Oregon City, Oregon|Oregon City]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=First Year in Oregon, 1840–1869: A Narrative History (U.S. National Park Service)|url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/first-year-in-oregon-1840-1869-a-narrative-history.htm|access-date=August 25, 2022|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref> A new settlement then emerged ten miles from the mouth of the Willamette River,{{sfn|Scott|1890|p=61}} roughly halfway between Oregon City and [[Hudson's Bay Company]]'s [[Fort Vancouver]]. This community was initially referred to as "Stumptown" and "The Clearing" because of the many trees cut down to allow for its growth.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Orloff|first=Chet|year=2004|title=Maintaining Eden: John Charles Olmsted and the Portland Park System|journal=Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers|volume=66|pages=114–19|doi=10.1353/pcg.2004.0006|s2cid=129896123|issn=0066-9628}}</ref> In 1843 [[William Overton (Portland founder)|William Overton]] saw potential in the new settlement but lacked the funds to file an official land claim. For 25 cents, Overton agreed to share half of the {{convert|640|acre|km2|adj=on}} site with [[Asa Lovejoy]] of [[Boston]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=000128AC-3AC7-1E8B-891B80B0527200A7|work=Oregon History Project|title=Overton Cabin|access-date=October 29, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117015811/http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=000128AC-3AC7-1E8B-891B80B0527200A7|archive-date=November 17, 2015}}</ref>

In 1844, Overton sold his remaining half of the claim to [[Francis W. Pettygrove]] of [[Portland, Maine]]. Both Pettygrove and Lovejoy wished to rename "The Clearing" after their respective hometowns (Lovejoy's being Boston, and Pettygrove's, Portland). This controversy was settled with a coin toss that Pettygrove won in a series of two out of three tosses, thereby providing Portland with its namesake.<ref name="naosum.org">{{cite web|title=Portland: The Town that was Almost Boston|publisher=National Association of Scientific Materials Managers|url=http://www.naosmm.org/confer/port-or/history.html|access-date=March 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727122038/http://www.naosmm.org/confer/port-or/history.html|archive-date=July 27, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The coin used for this decision, now known as the [[Portland Penny]], is on display in the headquarters of the [[Oregon Historical Society]]. At the time of its incorporation on February 8, 1851, Portland had over 800 inhabitants,<ref name="Gibson">Gibson, Campbell (June 1998). [https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027/twps0027.html Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990]. ''U.S. Bureau of the Census – Population Division''.</ref> a steam sawmill, a log cabin hotel, and a newspaper, the ''[[The Oregonian|Weekly Oregonian]]''. [[Great Fire of 1873|A major fire swept through downtown in August 1873]], destroying twenty blocks on the west side of the Willamette along Yamhill and Morrison Streets, and causing $1.3 million in damage,{{sfn|Scott|1890|p=160}} roughly equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|1300000|1873|r=-1}}}} today.{{Inflation-fn|US}} By 1879, the population had grown to 17,500 and by 1890 it had grown to 46,385.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Loy|first=William G.|author2=Stuart Allan|author3=Aileen R. Buckley|author4=James E. Meacham|title=Atlas of Oregon|publisher=[[University of Oregon Press]]|year=2001|pages=32–33|isbn=978-0-87114-101-9}}</ref> In 1888, the first steel bridge on the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] was opened in Portland,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?a=284506&c=51811|work=Portland Online|title=Historical Timeline|access-date=October 30, 2015}}</ref> the predecessor of the 1912 namesake [[Steel Bridge]] that survives today. In 1889, Henry Pittock's wife, Georgiana, established the Portland Rose Society. The annual Portland Rose Festival" is held here in June.<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Portland (Oregon) |volume=22 |page=121}}</ref> The movement to make Portland a "Rose City" started as the city was preparing for the 1905 [[Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition]].<ref name=":0" />

Portland's access to the [[Pacific Ocean]] via the Willamette and Columbia rivers, as well as its easy access to the agricultural [[Tualatin Valley]] via the "[[Canyon Road|Great Plank Road]]" (the route of current-day [[U.S. Route 26 in Oregon|U.S. Route 26]]), provided the pioneer city with an advantage over other nearby ports, and it grew very quickly.<ref>"City keeps lively pulse". (Spencer Heinz, ''The Oregonian'', January 23, 2001)</ref> Portland remained the major port in the Pacific Northwest for much of the 19th century, until the 1890s, when Seattle's deepwater harbor was connected to the rest of the mainland by rail, affording an inland route without the treacherous navigation of the Columbia River. The city had its own Japantown,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/nikkeialbum/albums/44/slide/|title=Portland's Japantown}}</ref> for one, and the [[lumber industry]] also became a prominent economic presence, due to the area's large population of [[Douglas fir]], [[western hemlock]], [[Thuja plicata|red cedar]], and [[Acer macrophyllum|big leaf maple]] trees.<ref name="anderson"/>

[[File:Portland, Oregon, in 1898 - Herbert A. Hale.jpg|thumb|right|Portland waterfront in 1898]]

Portland developed a reputation early in its history as a hard-edged and gritty [[port town]].{{sfn|John|2012|p=16}} Some historians have described the city's early establishment as being a "[[Lineal descendant|scion]] of [[New England]]; an ends-of-the-earth home for the exiled spawn of the eastern established elite."{{sfn|John|2012|p=10}} In 1889, ''[[The Oregonian]]'' called Portland "the most filthy city in the Northern States", due to the unsanitary sewers and gutters,<ref name="mac1885">{{cite book|last=MacColl|first=E. Kimbark|title=The Shaping of a City: Business and Politics in Portland, Oregon 1885 to 1915|publisher=The Georgian Press Company|location=Portland, Oregon|date=November 1976|oclc=2645815}}</ref> and, at the turn of the 20th century, it was considered one of the most dangerous port cities in the world.<ref name="kennedy">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/fodors/top/features/travel/destinations/unitedstates/oregon/portland/fdrs_feat_121_5.html?n=Top%2FFeatures%2FTravel%2FDestinations%2FUnited+States%2FOregon%2FPortland|work=The New York Times|title=The Shanghai Tunnels|author=Kennedy, Sarah|access-date=September 26, 2014}}</ref> The city housed a large number of saloons, [[bordello]]s, gambling dens, and boarding houses which were populated with miners after the [[California gold rush]], as well as the multitude of sailors passing through the port.{{sfn|John|2012|p=16}} By the early 20th century, the city had lost its reputation as a "sober frontier city" and garnered a reputation for being violent and dangerous.{{sfn|John|2012|p=16}}{{sfn|Chandler|2013}}