Jedediah Strong Smith, was an American clerk, transcontinental pioneer, frontiersman, hunter, trapper, author, cartographer, and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the Western United States, and the Southwest during the early 19th century. After 75 years of obscurity following his death, Smith was rediscovered as the American whose explorations led to the use of the 20-mile (32 km)-wide South Pass as the dominant point of crossing the Continental Divide for pioneers on the Oregon Trail.
Fort Rock Cave was the site of the earliest evidence of human habitation in the US state of Oregon before the excavation of Paisley Caves. Fort Rock Cave featured numerous well-preserved sagebrush sandals, ranging from 9,000 to 13,000 years old. The cave is located approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Fort Rock near Fort Rock State Natural Area in Lake County. Fort Rock Cave was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
Reuben Aaron Long was an Eastern Oregon rancher, author, and story teller. He was known throughout Oregon as a witty and wise cowboy philosopher. In 1964, he joined E.R. Jackman to write The Oregon Desert, which is still a very popular book fifty years after its original publication.
The Oregon high desert is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon located east of the Cascade Range and south of the Blue Mountains, in the central and eastern parts of the state. Divided into a southern region and a northern region, the desert covers most of five Oregon counties and averages 4,000 feet (1,200 m) above sea level. The southwest region is part of the Great Basin and the southeast is the lower Owyhee River watershed. The northern region is part of the Columbia Plateau, where higher levels of rainfall allow the largest industry on private land to be the cultivation of alfalfa and hay. Public land within the region is owned primarily by the Bureau of Land Management, which manages more than 30,000 square miles (78,000 km2) including five rivers designated as Wild and Scenic.
The steamship Altona operated from 1890 to 1907 on the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. In 1907, she was transferred to Alaska.
Edwin Russell (E.R.) Jackman was an American agricultural expert from Oregon. He helped form the Oregon Seed Growers' League and the Oregon Wheat League. In 1964, he joined Reub Long to write The Oregon Desert, which is still a very popular book fifty years after its original publication. Jackman's professional papers and photograph collection are maintained in the Oregon State University archives.
The Fort Rock Valley Historical Homestead Museum is located in Fort Rock, Oregon, United States. Opened in 1988, it is a collection of original homestead era buildings including a church, school, houses, homestead cabins, and several other buildings assembled in a village setting. The structures were moved to the museum site from various locations around the Fort Rock Valley, named for volcanic landmark Fort Rock. Most of the buildings contain historic items used by local homesteaders including furniture, dishes, household products, and tools. The museum is open for self-guided tours from mid-March through September.
Michel Laframboise was a French Canadian fur trader in the Oregon Country who settled on the French Prairie in the modern U.S. state of Oregon. A native of Quebec, he worked for the Pacific Fur Company, the North West Company, and the Hudson’s Bay Company before he later became a farmer and ferry operator. In 1843 he participated in the Champoeg Meetings. Though he voted against the measure to form a provisional government, the measure passed and led to the creation of the Provisional Government of Oregon.
The Lost Forest Research Natural Area is a designated forest created by the Bureau of Land Management to protect an ancient stand of ponderosa pine in the remote high desert county of northern Lake County, in the south central area of the U.S. state of Oregon. Lost Forest is an isolated area of pine trees separated from the nearest contiguous forest land by forty miles of arid desert. There are no springs or surface water in Lost Forest, and much of the southwest portion of the natural area is covered by large shifting sand dunes that are slowly encroaching on the forest.
William D. Hanley, known as Bill Hanley, was a pioneer rancher in Harney County in southeastern Oregon. He owned several ranches between Burns, Oregon and Harney Lake. Together, his properties comprised one of the largest privately owned cattle operations in the United States. Hanley was also a progressive thinker and well known host. Among his personal friends were leading political figures, fellow cattle barons, industrialist, writers, and artists including Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, William Jennings Bryan, Peter French, James J. Hill, CES Wood, and Will Rogers. Hanley's progressive political views led him to run for Governor of Oregon and the United States Senate. A strong advocate of wildlife conservation, much of his ranch is now part of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
The following works deal with the cultural, political, economic, military, biographical and geologic history of pre-territorial Oregon, Oregon Territory and the State of Oregon.
The Catlow Valley is a basin in Harney County, Oregon, United States. It is a remote valley at the northwestern corner of North America's Basin and Range Province. The valley is named after a pioneer rancher, John Catlow. The area was used by Native Americans for thousands of years before European explorers arrived in the 19th century. Today, cattle ranching is the main commercial activity in the valley. The public land in the Catlow Valley is administered by the Bureau of Land Management. This public land offers a number of recreational opportunities including hiking, hunting, fishing, bird watching, and wildlife viewing.
Enterprise was a sternwheel steamboat that operated on the Willamette River from 1863 to 1875. This vessel should not be confused with several other steamers named Enterprise which operated in the Pacific Northwest at about the some time.
Oregon was a side-wheel driven steamboat that operated on the Willamette River in the state of Oregon from 1852 to 1854. The steamer was not economically successful and became a total loss by sinking after a short career.
Albany was a stern-wheel driven steamboat that operated on the Willamette River from 1868 to 1875. This vessel should not be confused with the later sternwheeler Albany, which ran, also on the Willamette River, from 1896 to 1906, when it was rebuilt and renamed Georgie Burton.
Occident was a steamer that operated on the Willamette River and occasionally its tributary, the Santiam River from 1875 to about 1890. Occident was designed primarily for freight work, and did not have passenger accommodations. This Occident should not be confused with the smaller steam launch Occident, apparently propeller-driven, which operated out of Astoria, Oregon in the 1890s.
Glass Buttes are a group of volcanic mountains made up of two prominent peaks and several smaller hills. They are located in the remote northeast corner of Lake County between Bend and Burns in central Oregon, United States. Raising high above the high desert plain, the buttes are an important landmark in an area once known as the Oregon's Great Sandy Desert. The buttes are named for the numerous large deposits of obsidian found on their slopes. Today, most of the mountains and surrounding land are administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The mountains offer a number of recreational opportunities including rock collecting, hiking, camping, and hunting.
Surprise was a steamboat which operated on the upper Willamette River from 1857 to 1864.
Fremont was an unincorporated community located in Lake County, Oregon, United States. The first homesteaders arrived in the area around Fremont in 1905. The population grew quickly, and the Fremont post office was opened in 1908. By 1915, the local population was declining rapidly due to a severe drought that dried up surface water and lowered the water table in the area around Fremont. Today, Fremont is a ghost town with no population and no surviving structures. The site is located approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Fort Rock state park. The nearest inhabited place is the small unincorporated community of Fort Rock, Oregon, which is 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of the Fremont townsite.
Fleetwood was an unincorporated community located in Lake County, Oregon, United States. The first homesteaders arrived in the area around Fleetwood in 1905. The Fleetwood post office was opened in 1913. By 1920, the local population was declining due to a severe drought that dried up surface water and lowered the water table in the area around Fleetwood. Today, Fleetwood is a ghost town with no population and no surviving structures at the townsite. The site is located approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of Fort Rock state park. The nearest inhabited place is the small unincorporated community of Fort Rock, Oregon, which is 9 miles (14 km) west of the Fleetwood townsite.
