It was a day for the angry masses in Portland: Even the city's iconic capitalist symbol got roped into the populist act. Pioneer Courthouse Square's Umbrella Man in his bronze business suit sported a peace symbol, a "We are the 99 percent" sign attached to his outstretched hand and a mask from "V for Vendetta" revolutionary fame.

The Occupy Wall Street movement hit Oregon's biggest city Thursday with a cast of thousands who spent hours gathering, listening, chanting, marching and finally mostly leaving downtown unscathed in what turned out to be a spirited, but peaceful demonstration much to the relief of police and Mayor Sam Adams.

They were young and old, with dogs and without, riding scooters, on bikes, but mostly walking slowly from Tom McCall Waterfront Park through downtown and finally to Lownsdale and Chapman squares across from the Federal Courthouse. Hundreds of people still milled there into the night as others set up a handful of tents to camp overnight with the city's approval.

Occupy Portland

But they have to be out of the parks by 9 a.m. to make way for setting up the Portland Marathon scheduled this Sunday. It's not clear where the demonstrators will go from there.

The occupation put Portland on the map with dozens of cities across the country that have plugged into a pervasive dissatisfaction with the nation's bleak economic future and partisan political breakdown. The protests -- from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles -- started on Wall Street three weeks ago targeting what demonstrators say is corporate rapaciousness and the growing U.S. underclass.

The demonstrators here and elsewhere have pointedly avoided unifying behind one issue and instead have preached an inclusive theme of a general, but deep distress about the country's financial and social malaise. Portland's marchers carried signs that showed the diversity of opinion and grievance, from the personal to the global:

Commuters experienced some delays as TriMet stopped and started trains in the core in response to the crowds. Police blocked streets when marchers were on the move or when the crowd stopped to listen to speeches at various downtown intersections. A stretch of Broadway was blocked for about an hour and a half, but mostly life went on as usual. Shoppers carried away Nordstrom shopping bags, the curious stopped to snap cellphone photos and others headed home for the day unperturbed by the street theater.

The mayor and police had tried to stave off any potential confrontations and disruptions by urging protesters to get a city permit to march ahead of time and map their intended route, but organizers declined. Instead they worked with police throughout the day to keep things in check.

Demonstration leaders wore arm bands that announced their roles: peace-keeper, food provider, medic and more. Before the march, organizers gathered to share phone numbers that would provide legal help in case of arrest and to urge protesters to keep the demonstration nonviolent.

"I think it's been phenomenal. I'm really proud of how the police protected us, and I'm really proud of Portland," said Carsen Harrison-Bower, a 19-year-old from Beaverton and one of the organizers. She brought a tarp and sleeping bag and change of clothes to spend the night.

Portland police spokesman Lt. Robert King said no one was arrested and officers -- many on bikes or horseback -- encountered few problems.

"We're very grateful for everybody who has participated and demonstrated their free speech peacefully," King said.

Before a light rain began to fall late in the afternoon, the throng was buoyant. People walked down the middle of Broadway, the first half of the snaking line chanting: "We are the 99 percent" -- a common mantra at the nationwide protests referring to everyone but the richest 1 percent of Americans. The second half of the crowd did a call-and-response: "Whose street? Our street!"

Paul Koprowski, who works at an Environmental Protection Agency office near Pioneer Courthouse Square, watched from outside Macy's as the demonstrators arrived.

"It's incredible," said Koprowski, 57. "It's amazing, the way it started off as such a small movement and now it's grown to this."

And given the opportunity, he was thinking of joining the march, he said. "It's been a long time coming," he said. "The so-called 1 percent has had the airwaves, and all the resources benefiting them. The average American hasn't had a voice."

Maxine Bernstein, Elliot Njus, Owen Smith, Stuart Tomlinson, Alison Barnwell contributed to this report.



--