Wheeler County is a county in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,451, making it Oregon's least populous county. It is named in honor of Henry H. Wheeler. an early settler who owned a farm near Mitchell. The county seat is Fossil, and Wheeler County is known for having Oregon's largest deposit of fossils.
Dayville is a city along U.S. Route 26 in Grant County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was incorporated in 1913. The population was 149 at the 2010 census.
Antelope is a town in rural Wasco County, Oregon, United States. Antelope had an estimated population of 47 people in 2012.
Shaniko is a city located in Wasco County, Oregon, United States, on U.S. Route 97 and about 8 miles (13 km) north of Antelope. The population was 30 at the 2020 census.
Mitchell is a city in Wheeler County, Oregon, United States. The population was 130 at the 2010 census. It was founded in 1873 and was named after John H. Mitchell, a politician.
Paulina is an unincorporated community in Crook County, Oregon, United States. It is about 55 miles (89 km) east of Prineville on Oregon Route 380. It was named after Paiute Chief Paulina. Paulina post office was established in 1882. Paulina has one K-8 grade school. The community is the home of the Paulina Rodeo, which was the subject of a Kim Stafford poem, and the Paulina Ranger District of the Ochoco National Forest.
Mill Creek Wilderness is a wilderness area located in the Ochoco National Forest of central Oregon. It was established in 1984 and comprises 17,400 acres (7,040 ha). Of the three wilderness areas in the Ochoco National Forest - Mill Creek, Bridge Creek, and Black Canyon - Mill Creek is the largest and most heavily used.
U.S. Route 26 is a major cross-state United States highway with its western terminus in the U.S. state of Oregon, connecting U.S. Route 101 on the Oregon Coast near Seaside with the Idaho state line east of Nyssa. Local highway names include the Sunset Highway No. 47, Mount Hood Highway No. 26, and John Day Highway No. 5 before continuing into Idaho and beyond.
Odell Lake is located near Willamette Pass in the northwest corner of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. It is one of several lakes in the Cascade Range in Central Oregon, and lies within the Deschutes National Forest. It was named for Oregon Surveyor General William Holman Odell by Byron J. Pengra, in July 1865, while they were making a preliminary survey for the Oregon Central Military Road, which would later become Oregon Route 58. The lake fills a basin carved by a glacier, and the resulting terminal moraine confines the water along the lake's southeast shore.
Richmond is an unincorporated community in Wheeler County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Richmond lies on Richmond Road southeast of its intersection with Oregon Route 207 between Mitchell and Service Creek. The community had a post office from 1899 to 1952.
Bridge Creek is a 28-mile (45 km) tributary of the John Day River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River, its watershed covers 267 square miles (690 km2) in Wheeler County.
The Dry River is an intermittent tributary, 88 miles (142 km) long, of the Crooked River in the U.S. state of Oregon. The stream arises near Hampton Buttes north of Hampton and U.S. Route 20 between Brothers and Riley in the Oregon High Desert. Beginning in eastern Deschutes County near its border with Crook County, it flows generally northwest along the Deschutes–Crook county line, crossing briefly into Crook County before turning slightly south and returning to Deschutes County. Along these upper reaches, it flows roughly parallel to the highway, under which it passes several times before turning sharply north near the Horse Ridge Research Natural Area, 19 miles (31 km) southeast of Bend. Continuing north and re-entering Crook County, it passes under Powell Butte Highway, Oregon Route 126, and Oregon Route 370 before entering the Crooked River 34 miles (55 km) from the larger stream's confluence with the Deschutes River.
Fairbanks is an unincorporated community in Wasco County, Oregon, United States. It is about 12 miles (19 km) east of The Dalles, just south of U.S. Route 30/Interstate 84, near Fifteenmile Creek.
Twickenham is an unincorporated community in Wheeler County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located along the John Day River between Service Creek and Mitchell, Oregon. A bridge at Twickenham carries North Twickenham Road over the river.
Waterman, also known as Waterman Flat, is an unincorporated community in Wheeler County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Waterman lies southeast of Richmond and northeast of Mitchell at the intersection of Richmond Road, Parrish Creek Road, and Waterman Road. Waterman Road intersects U.S. Route 26 about 10 miles (16 km) south of Waterman. The cattle-ranching community had a post office from 1887 to 1944. Caleb N. Thornburg was the first postmaster.
The Dalles Military Road, also known as The Dalles – Boise Military Wagon Road, was a mid-19th century wagon road surveyed and barely built by The Dalles Military Road Company between 1868 and 1870. To qualify for government land grants, the company was supposed to build a wagon road from The Dalles, Oregon, to Fort Boise in Idaho. However, the company's road, on which it spent about $6,000 and for which it received nearly 890 square miles (2,300 km2) of public land, consisted largely of existing wagon roads and rudimentary trails. In particular, the company took credit for building a well-traveled and pre-existing wagon road between The Dalles and Canyon City, Oregon.
Joseph Sherar was a 19th-century wagon road builder who, with his wife, Jane, owned and operated a Deschutes River toll bridge and a nearby stagecoach station and hotel in Wasco County in the U.S. state of Oregon. The bridge and buildings were slightly downstream of Sherars Falls, the river's lowermost waterfall, and a traditional fishing spot for the native inhabitants of the region.
Bakeoven is an unincorporated community in Wasco County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is southeast of Maupin and northwest of Shaniko along Bakeoven Creek, a tributary of the Deschutes River.
Criterion is an historic unincorporated community in Wasco County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It lies along U.S. Route 197 between Maupin and Madras. Nearby is Criterion Summit, which at about 3,360 feet (1,020 m) above sea level is the highest point along the highway between The Dalles to the north and Redmond to the south. In the late 19th century, the route over the summit was a wagon road linking The Dalles to Lakeview and California.
Nansene is an unincorporated community in Wasco County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It lies along Long Hollow Market Road southeast of the small city of Dufur. Between Nansene and Dufur, the road crosses Dry Creek, a tributary of Fifteenmile Creek.
