Portland was first inhabited for many centuries by two bands of indigenous Chinook people; the Multnomah and the Clackamas before the American settlers began arriving in the 1800s. The Chinook people inhabiting the land were first recorded in 1805 by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The Willamette River valleys and Portland Basin of the lower Columbia River were the most heavily populated regions on the Pacific Coast before the settlement of Europeans. Large numbers of trailblazer dwellers began arriving in the Willamette Valley in the 1840s through the Oregon Trail, even though life was originally centered in nearby Oregon City. The coin used to determine the city's name is known as Portland Penny, and it can be found at the headquarters of the Oregon Historical Society. The first steel bridge was built on the West Coast in 1888. Henry Pittock's wife, Georgiana, founded the Portland Rose Society in 1889, and this led to the movement to make Portland a Rose City. Portland's passage to the Pacific Ocean through the Willamette and Columbia rivers and its easy access to the agricultural Tualatin Valley through the great plank road gave the pioneer city an edge over other nearby ports and grew very quickly.

Parks

Portland being home to over 200 parks means you will never run out of things to do in the city. There are hundreds of places to take a hike or stop for a picnic. Take a trip to Forest Park to enjoy its lush greenery within city limits or take full advantage of the waterfall less than 30 minutes away at the Columbia River Gorge. Interested in swimming? Travel for a little over an hour to Oregon Coast to have a feel of its water. You can also engage in snow-crested adventures or skiing at Mount Hood.
Food and Breweries

Portland has been ranked the best in the world for street food by various publications and news outlets, including World Report, the U.S News, and CNN. Food carts are extremely common in the city, with over 600 licensed carts, making the city one of the most healthy street food sites in North America. The Washington Post named Portland the fourth-best city for food in the United States in 2014. Portland is also known to have special coffee; the city is home to Stumptown Coffee Roasters and dozens of other micro-roasters and cafes.

Sports

Portland is home to three core sports franchises, the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer, Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA, and Portland Thorns FC of NWSL. The Timbers, in 2015, won the MLS Cup, which was the first male professional sports championship for a team from Portland after the Trail Blazers won the NBA Championship in 1977.

The Portland Trail Blazers sold out every home game for 814 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in American sports history. Since joining the MLS in 2011, the Timbers have sold out every home match, a streak that has reached 70+ matches. The Timbers became the first team in the northwest to win the MLS Cup in 2015, with player Diego Valeri marking a new record for the fastest goal in MLS Cup history at 27 seconds into the game.

Running is a popular activity in Portland. The Portland Marathon is held in the city and parts of the Hood to Coast Relay every year. It is the world's largest long-distance relay race (by number of participants).