Oregon is known as the “Beaver State” because fur companies operated in Astoria from 1811. An 1881 newspaper list of state nicknames, however, had “Web Foot” and “Hard Case” for Oregon and “Beaver State” for Florida. Books printed in 1881, 1882 and 1885 (see below) identify Oregon as the “Beaver State.”

The beaver was named the official state animal in 1969.


State Symbols USA
The Beaver State
The nickname for Oregon is The Beaver State, originating in the early 19th century when fur hats were fashionable and Oregon’s streams were an important source of beaver pelts. The trapping routes used by early “mountain men” later became known as The Oregon Trail, traveled by thousands of pioneers in the 1840’s. The beaver is also Oregon’s official state animal and appears on the state flag.

Chronicling America
3 May 1881, The Daily Bee (Omaha, NE), “State Nicknames,” pg. 3, cols. 4-5:
... Florida, the Beaver State; (...) Oregon, Web Foot or Hard Case; ...

Google Books
Higher Geography:
Embodying a comprehensive course with many original features
New York, NY: D. Appleton and Company
1881
Pg. 64:
Oregon Ore.  Beaver State

Google Books
The Teachers’ and Students’ Library:
A compendium of knowledge necessary to teachers, students and the general reader, embracing reading, penmanship, arithmetic ...
By G. Dallas Lind
Chicago, IL: T.S. Denison
1882
Pg. 527:
Oregon, Sp. oregano, wild marjoram, “The, Beaver State.”

Google Books
Practical Work in Geography:
For the use of teachers and advanced pupils
By Henry McCormick
Chicago, IL: A. Flanagan
1885
Pg. 319:
OREGON — Motto, Alis volat propriis, “She flies with her own wings.” The name is derived from the principal river of the State, and means the"River of the West.” It is known as the “Beaver State.”

Google Books
The International Cyclopaedia:
A compendium of human knowledge, Volume 13
By Harry Thurston Peck, Selim Hobart Peabody, Charles Francis Richardson, et al.
New York, NY: Dodd, Mead and Company
1892
Pg. 788:
BEAVER STATE. Oregon, from the early fur-trade originally carried on by John Jacob Astor.

Google Books
The Advanced Class-Book of Modern Geography:
Physical, Political, Commercial
By William Hughes and J. Francon Williams
London: G. Philip & son
1892
Pg. 629:
OREGON, the “Beaver State,” extends north of California to the Columbia River, which divides it from Washington.

Google Books
September 1893, The Teachers World, “For Interesting the Geography Class” by Gertrude E. Thompson, W. Medford, Mass., pg. 17, col. 2:
Oregon— White Fort State; “Hard Case State”; Beaver State; Pacific State.

7 September 1893, Cleveland (OH) Leader, pg. 4, col. 5:
... Oregon, “Web-foot Country”, and “Beaver State”; ...

13 May 1894, The Morning Star (Rockford, IL), “From San Diego to Siskiyou,” pg. 5, col. 3:
Oregon is known as “The Beaver state.”

OCLC WorldCat record
The beaver state : march
Author: Harker S Perkins
Publisher: Portland, Or. : H.S. Perkins, ©1915.
Edition/Format:  Musical score : Marches : English

OCLC WorldCat record
Oregon, the beaver state.
Author: R T Aitchison; Mentholatum Company.
Publisher: Wilmington, Del. : Mentholatum Co., copyright, R.T. Aitchison, 1940.
Edition/Format:  Map : English

OCLC WorldCat record
Poets of the Beaver state : an anthology of verse by the residents of the state of Oregon.
Publisher: [S.l.] : Paebar Co., 1948.
Edition/Format:  Book : English

OCLC WorldCat record
Oregon, the Beaver State
Author: Scott Ingram
Publisher: Milwaukee, WI : World Almanac Library, 2002.
Series: World Almanac Library of the states. 
Edition/Format:  Book : Juvenile audience : English
Summary: Presents information on the history, people, geography, economy, government, culture, and more of the state of Oregon.

OCLC WorldCat record
The beaver state : Oregon from A to Z.
Author: Betty Debnam
Publisher: [USA] : Universal Press Syndicate, ©2002.
Series: Mini pages
Edition/Format:  Book : English

OCLC WorldCat record
Oregon : the Beaver State
Author: Helen Lepp Friesen
Publisher: New York, NY : AV2 by Weigl, ©2013.
Series: Explore the U.S.A. 
Edition/Format:  Book : Juvenile audience : English