Did the people in your family come to Oregon from Europe? Maybe your ancestors traveled west from Asia.
Or maybe they were brought to America by force from Africa and then moved west. They might have even traveled north from Central America. Or from South America. Then again, your ancestors may have been among the very first people who arrived much earlier, long before anyone else. Like the Paleo-Indians who are thought to have crossed the Bering Land Bridge from Asia to North America to what is now Oregon some 13,000 years ago. The lives of these individuals are points on a thread of time that has split into three cultural areas. The Northwest Coast is one area. The Columbia Plateau and the Great Basin are the others. Each area has its own traditions. Each has its own way of life.
