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For nineteenth-century pioneers, driving in covered wagons over the mountains and deserts of the arduous Oregon Trail, the Willamette Valley was the promised land. Rich and fertile, it became the home of Oregon's first settlements, and the valley is still the heart of the state's social, political and cultural existence. Portland , the biggest city, has a cozy European feel; Salem , the state capital, maintains a small-town air; and Eugene , at the southern foot of the valley, is a likeable college community.
East of Portland, waterfalls cascade down mossy cliffs along the Columbia River Gorge , south of which the twisting path of an old pioneer road leads through more beautiful scenery around Mount Hood . Central Oregon, and its increasingly popular recreation hub, Bend , is located on a high chaparral desert with sage and juniper trees, with close access to the southern Cascades, as well as numerous lakes and rivers dropping into striking canyons. Further south, around Grants Pass the major rivers drain to the Pacific, carving steep gorges and making for some excellent whitewater rafting, while the liberal hamlet of Ashland offers a splash of culture with its annual Shakespeare Festival.
Several highways link the Willamette Valley to the rugged coast, whose most northerly town, Astoria , enjoys a magnificent setting strewn with imposing Victorian homes. South along the coast, wide and protected expanses of sand are broken by jagged black monoliths; white lighthouses look out from stark headlands; and rough cliffs conceal small, sheltered coves. With its sand dunes, dense forests, and sheer variety, the coast is every bit as appealing as its Californian counterpart, albeit not as warm.
The rugged deserts and lava fields of Eastern Oregon are more remote and were only settled on any scale once the prime land in the west had already been taken. The settling process involved not only ferocious "Indian campaigns" but also the bitterly violent range wars between sheep-farmers and terrorist "sheep-shooters" (associations of cattle ranchers). Sheep and cows now graze in peace, and some small towns still celebrate their cowboy roots with annual rodeos.