Portland Mayor Harry Lane

Harry Lane was Portland’s first Oregon born mayor and the main force
behind the Rose Festival. As a result of decorating for the 1905 Lewis
and Clark Centennial Exposition, which included a wide variety of
flowering shrubs and roses, Lane elected to begin a festival of
roses in 1907. The center piece of the first rose festival was a
parade featuring horse drawn floats, aquatic events in the harbor
and a night of fireworks displays.

1909