One of the fastest growing airports on the West Coast, about 13.7 million passengers and almost 275,000 tons of freight moved through PDX in 1999. Ports Since 1792, when Captain Robert Gray became the first Yankee sailor to navigate the Columbia River in his search for beaver pelts, Oregon's history has been deeply rooted in a tradition of trade. Waterways have been and continue to be major links between Oregon and world markets. The 1891 Legislature created the Port of Portland and empowered it to dredge and maintain a 25-foot channel along the Columbia River between Portland and the Pacific Ocean. Oregon ports support waterborne-cargo transportation, air passenger and freight services, ship repair, fisheries, recreation and tourism.
Ports also engage in industrial development.
Altogether, Oregon ports make available nearly 14,000 acres of land for industrial development and more than 800 acres for commercial purposes. Second in the world in grain exports, the Columbia-Snake River system provides the state's major commercial transportation route. In 1998, about 50 million tons of waterborne cargo was shipped through deep-water ports between Portland and the mouth of the Columbia River. Marine terminals in Portland accounted for 60 percent of the total. Portland tonnage ranks third on the West Coast after Long Beach and Los Angeles.