Happy Anniversary, Beaver Staters!

Feb. 14 may be best known as the lover’s day, with hearts and chocolates, expensive gifts and odes of affection.

But it’s also the day Oregon became a state in 1859.

To mark 164 years as a part of the United States, a few odds and ends about our quirky state.

Note: The infamous laws to bar black from the state and some of the violent and corrupt incidents over the decades are well chronicled and will be repeated often by Oregon Capital Bureau reports.

The items today are more toward the weird and one-of-a-kind end of the spectrum. They’re drawn from EO Media Group archives, Travel Oregon, the Oregon Blue Book, the Oregon Historical Society and newspaper clippings over the years.

The 33rd Star on Old Glory: Oregon was the 33rd of the 50 states to attain statehood. It’s sandwiched on the statehood list between Minnesota in 1858 and Kansas in 1861. 

Big spaces: Oregon is the ninth largest state, with 98,380 square miles. It’s between Colorado (the last of the 50 states larger than 100,000 square miles) and just over 500 square miles larger than Wyoming.

Not so crowded: It’s the 27th most populated state, with about 4.3 million people based on the 2020 U.S. Census. That put Oregon between Kentucky and Oklahoma.

We invented it: The Tater Tot was invented in Oregon by Nephi and Golden Grigg, the founders of Ore-Ida. Oregon also claims to have invented the corn dog.  

Hands off the gas pump: Oregon and New Jersey are the only states with restrictions on self-serve gasoline, though Oregon has started to make exemptions to the law in less populated areas. But in Portland and other cities, you wait for the gas jockey to come out and fill ‘er up.

Ah, nuts: The hazelnut is Oregon’s official state nut. The state grows 99% of the entire U.S. crop. 

Not exactly creative thinking: The settlers who came to Oregon were nostalgic for home. They tended to name cities after, well, cities in other states. The capital of Salem shares a name with the witchy-connected Massachusetts city. The prime example is the state’s largest city. Its name was decided by a coin toss. Advocates of Portland (Maine) won. If the coin had come up the other way, the City of Roses would be called…Boston. 

Then there’s Eugene: The hometown of the University of Oregon is named after the first white settler. His first name: Eugene. Last name, Skinner, which is attached to the butte that overlooks downtown. Also, in 1948, Eugene became the first Oregon city to institute widespread use of one-way streets. 

Only U.S. Senator killed in combat: Oregon Sen. Edward Dickinson Baker led a colorful political life — and death. He was elected to Congress in Illinois in 1844, defeating his friend Abraham Lincoln for the Whig Party nomination. By 1860, he had moved west and was a U.S. Senator representing Oregon. When the Civil War broke out, he raised a unit of volunteers and while Congress was in recess in 1861, the Senator — holding the rank of Colonel in the Union army, led a brigade of 1,700 soldiers to attack Ball’s Bluff, about 40 miles north of the U.S. Capitol. Confederate guns opened fire and Baker was killed, while his unit suffered 1,000 killed, wounded or captured. An investigation found the attack poorly planned and disastrously executed. In World War II, Congress officially barred sitting members from simultaneously serving in the military. That left Baker — for whom the Oregon county is named — as the only U.S. Senator to die in combat.

Odd — and maybe ugly: Oregon is the only state whose flag has two different sides. Both sides have a blue field with gold highlights. The front features an escutcheon — the official term for a shield with symbols on it. Above the symbol are the words “State of Oregon” in a undulating wave line, and below, “1859,” the year the state was founded below. On the reverse side is an image of the state animal, the beaver. The flag was adopted in 1925. The North American Vexillological Association, a group of flag design advocates, put out a report in 2001 ranking the design quality of 72 state, territorial and Canadian provincial flags. Oregon finished at No. 62. No. 1 went to New Mexico’s sunburst design.

No impeachment: Oregon is the only state that does not allow for the impeachment of the governor by the House, followed by a trial in the Senate. The only way to remove a governor who won’t resign is through recall, which requires an election. The issue was highlighted in 2015 when Gov. John Kitzhaber was undecided on whether to step down amid allegations of influence peddling. He eventually opted to leave office and Secretary of State Kate Brown became governor.

Coulda been Courtney: A fishing trip by Gov. Tom McCall in 1971 cost Senate President Peter Courtney the governor’s job in 2015. The Oregon Constitution originally had the Secretary of State assume the office of governor if the state’s chief executive died in office or resigned to become a U.S. Senator or other reasons. 

But three times — in 1877, 1910 and 1919 — the secretary of state who became governor held onto both jobs, or didn’t appoint a successor as secretary of state. Some collected two paychecks for two offices.

In 1920, voters approved a change in the succession order that made the President of the Senate the first in line for the job when the governor left office. 

Over the next 52 years, two Senate presidents and one House speaker would become governors under the revised succession rules.

Then McCall went fishing in 1971 along the Snake River. The border with Idaho runs through the middle of the river. When McCall camped for the night on the Oregon side, he had all the powers of governor. When he was on the Idaho side, the Senate President became acting governor. 

McCall was a Republican. Senate President John Burns was a Democrat. As acting governor, Burns had the power to issue some executive orders. He also was paid $79.30 per day as acting governor. Another reform to bar anyone holding two positions meant that when Burns became acting governor, he couldn’t vote in the Senate. 

In 1972, voters switched the succession back to the Secretary of State. It was a moot point until Kitzhaber’s resignation. Under the old law, Senate President Peter Courtney would have become governor. But the new law — which reinstated much of the old succession — elevated Brown instead.

No lieutenant governor: The succession wouldn’t be an issue except for another quirk: Oregon is one of five states that does not have the office of lieutenant governor. The line of succession to the governor currently is: secretary of state, state treasurer, president of the State Senate, and speaker of the House of Representatives. 

About St. Valentine: A final note about Feb. 14. It’s Valentine’s Day, tied to the feast day of a martyred 3rd century A.D. Roman clergyman. Along with “courtly love,” St. Valentine is the patron saint of the mentally ill, beekeepers, people who faint, epileptics, and sufferers of the plague. There may have been two or even three men who make up St. Valentine. He’s recognized by the Anglican, Episcopalian and Lutheran churches. Also Greek Orthodox — though the feast day is July 6.