1. On March 2, 1859, Oregon was admitted as the 33rd state in the United States. The Oregon Territory had been established in 1848 and had been seeking statehood for over a decade.

2. The famous Oregon Trail, which brought thousands of settlers to the region in the mid-19th century, passed through what is now modern-day Oregon on its way to the West Coast. March 2 marks the anniversary of the trail's establishment in 1841.

3. March 2, 1894 saw the opening of the Oregon State Capitol building in Salem, which is still the seat of government for the state to this day. The building's distinctive gold dome is a well-known landmark in the city.

4. On March 2, 1942, the first trainloads of Japanese American internees arrived at the newly-established Tule Lake War Relocation Center in southern Oregon. Over 18,000 people of Japanese descent were forcibly relocated to the center over the course of the war.

5. Oregon has a long history of conservation and environmentalism, and March 2, 1964 marked a major milestone in that legacy. On that day, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act, which established the National Wilderness Preservation System and set aside large tracts of land in Oregon and other states for protection from development and exploitation.