Fresh air and friendly people make Salem, Oregon a refreshing and peaceful place to visit. Located at the center of the fertile Willamette Valley in Oregon, the city is Oregons second largest, boasting a population of a mere 140,000 people. Salem is situated between Portland and Eugene at the junction where Interstate Highway 5 and Oregon Highway 22 converge.
History of Salem, Oregon
Long before the first Westerners showed up on the scene, Native Americans lived in the rich and fertile valley now known as Willamette Valley. The first Western settlers of Salem dubbed it a new Eden. They came on the Oregon Trail beginning in 1843, and there were thousands of them.
During the gold rush, Salem and the rest of the Willamette Valley shipped their wheat, timber, and other goods by steamboat through Portland to California, jumpstarting their long history of being a top agricultural producer in the country. In fact, the Willamette Valley is considered one of the most fertile locales of the country. Its no surprise that as such, the area is among the most agriculturally active regions on earth. Indeed, Salem, Oregon is a major agricultural processing...