Throughout the city's history, Portland residents have shown a zest for life in their exuberant yet diligent progress. In 1843, Asa Lovejoy and William Overton first arrived on the site that would eventually become Portland. The area was fertile and lovely, and Overton immediately saw the potential. He shared his dreams with Lovejoy who agreed to join him in filing a land claim and supplying the required 25 cents. The fateful combination of Overton's vision and Lovejoy's quarter would purchase a 640-acre site that became known as "The Clearing" and, eventually, Portland.

Visionary as he might have been, Overton was also a drifter, and not long after his initial purchase, he sold his part of the claim to Francis Pettygrove, a merchant from Oklahoma City. Once again a single coin would intervene to shape the future of the city. Lovejoy wanted to name the new town after Boston, whereas Pettygrove sought to honor his home town, Portland, Maine. Pettygrove won the coin toss that decided the matter. Portland became a city on January 14, 1851.

Portland's growth was quickly fueled by trade as the city always lacked industry or natural resources. However, it built its trade relationships and prospered despite these limitations. Much of the city's trade centered on San Francisco and was based on four main sources of income:

1. Portland would import manufactured goods from San Francisco and distribute them throughout the northwest region.
2. Portland merchants would extend credit to farmers and would resell their goods in San Francisco. Several of these credit lenders eventually developed into full-fledged banks that then provided a source of reliable credit for the growing city.
3. Some of these merchants chose to invest in land surrounding the city. As it grew, the tracts that the merchants had purchased would become more valuable as developers sought to expand the bounds of the city and the merchants would resell the land.
4. The third investment avenue for the merchants centered on local industries such as shipping, paving and wool manufacture. The merchants were even able to create monopolies at times, which frustrated buyers, but allowed the merchants to charge higher prices for the goods or services.

Portland also saw some shady characters in the late 1800s. The hotelier "Bunco Kelly" was one of the many hotel and bar owners who would intoxicate young men and then sell them to ship captains. Once the ship was out at sea, the unconscious men would awake to find themselves with the choice of working or being thrown overboard. Bunco became one of the most notorious due to his boast that he could man an entire ship in less than 12 hours. This ambitious boast occasionally proved difficult to implement so Bunco would be forced to extreme measures. Supposedly he sold 22 dead men to one captain who didn't discover they weren't going to wake up until he was already out of port. Another incident was reported that he stole a wooden Indian statue from a local store and sold it as a crew member.

However, with the city's development, this corruption was brought under control and better jobs became available. Samuel Benson was one of the leaders in making improvements to the city. The dedicated philanthropist had made his fortune as a lumber baron. He didn't believe in drinking and upon discovering some of his employees drank because of the lack of fresh water available in town, he had 20 drinking fountains built. They became known as Benson Bubblers and reputedly decreased Portland's beer consumption by 25 percent. Today these fountains still grace the downtown and provide fresh water for the thirsty.

Sources:
(http://www.usacitiesonline.com/orcountyportland.htm#history)