1. On January 3, 1855, the Rogue River Wars began in Southern Oregon. This conflict lasted for over a year and resulted in the removal of Native American tribes from their ancestral lands.

2. In 1935, construction of the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River began on January 3. It was one of the largest hydropower projects in the world at that time and provided electricity to thousands of homes and businesses in the Pacific Northwest.

3. On January 3, 1913, Portland's Union Station officially opened, replacing the city's previous train station. It was designed by architect Van Brunt and Howe and is now a historic landmark.

4. The Tillamook Burn, a series of devastating forest fires in Oregon's Coast Range, began on January 3, 1951. The fires destroyed over 350,000 acres of forest and resulted in significant changes to the state's forest management practices.

5. On January 3, 2007, the remains of an ancient mammoth were discovered in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. The tusks and other bones were estimated to be over 10,000 years old and provided insight into the state's prehistoric ecosystem.