Whychus Creek

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Whychus Creek
Whychus Creek, Oregon.jpg
Name origin:Native American (Indian) name for the creek, according to 19th-century surveyor, Robert S. Williamson [1]
Country United States
State Oregon
County Deschutes and Jefferson
Source Broken Top, Cascade Range
 - location Deschutes National Forest, Deschutes County
 - elevation7,617 ft (2,322 m) [2]
 - coordinates 44°05′21″N121°41′36″W / 44.08917°N 121.69333°W / 44.08917; -121.69333   [3]
Mouth Deschutes River
 - location Crooked River National Grassland, Jefferson County
 - elevation2,110 ft (643 m) [3]
 - coordinates 44°27′35″N121°20′07″W / 44.45972°N 121.33528°W / 44.45972; -121.33528 Coordinates: 44°27′35″N121°20′07″W / 44.45972°N 121.33528°W / 44.45972; -121.33528   [3]
Basin253 sq mi (655 km2) [4]
USA Oregon location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of the mouth of Whychus Creek in Oregon
TypeWild, Scenic
DesignatedOctober 28, 1988

Whychus Creek is a tributary of the Deschutes River in Deschutes and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. [5] Formerly named Squaw Creek, considered derogatory in the 21st century, [1] it was renamed in 2006. [6] Explorer John C. Frémont camped along the stream in 1843 but did not identify it by name. Robert S. Williamson, a surveyor who camped there in 1855, said its Indian (Native American) name was Why-chus. [1]

Contents

Course

Whychus Creek begins about 7,600 feet (2,300 m) above sea level [3] at the base of Bend Glacier on Broken Top in the Cascade Range. [7] Flowing generally north through the Three Sisters Wilderness, the stream plunges over 200-foot (61 m) Upper Chush Falls before receiving Park Creek from the left and plunging over 50-foot (15 m) Chush Falls. [8] Downstream of the waterfalls, the creek receives South Fork and North Fork from the left and Snow Creek from the right. [7]

Turning northeast, the creek intersects Whychus Creek Canal, [7] which diverts water to McKenzie Canyon Reservoir and other parts of the Three Sisters Irrigation District. [9] Flowing by the southeast side of the city of Sisters, Whychus Creek passes under U.S. Route 20 and Oregon Route 126, which overlap in this vicinity, before receiving Indian Ford Creek from the left. Continuing northeast, the creek leaves Deschutes County and enters Jefferson County and the Crooked River National Grassland. [7] The creek empties into the Deschutes River downstream of the city of Redmond and about 123 miles (198 km) from the larger stream's confluence with the Columbia River. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

References

  1. 1 2 3 McArthur, Lewis A.; Lewis L. McArthur (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 907. ISBN   0-87595-277-1.
  2. ↑ Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Whychus Creek". Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  4. ↑ Upper Deschutes Watershed Council (2009). "Whychus Creek Restoration Monitoring Plan" (PDF). Upper Deschutes Watershed Council. p. 1. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Whychus Creek". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Sisters Country Timeline". Sisters Country Historical Society. 1996. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer. Freeport, Maine: DeLorme Mapping. 1991. p. 50. ISBN   0-89933-235-8.
  8. ↑ Anderson, David L. (2007). Waterfalls of the Pacific Northwest. Woodstock, Vermont: The Countryman Press. pp. 183&ndash, 85. ISBN   978-0-88150-713-3.
  9. ↑ "Who We Are". Three Rivers Irrigation District. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  10. ↑ United States Geological Survey (USGS). "United States Geological Survey Topographic Map". TopoQuest. Retrieved May 1, 2012. The map quadrangles include river mile (RM) markers along the Deschutes River.
United States Bureau of Reclamation government agency

The United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR), and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and operation of the diversion, delivery, and storage projects that it has built throughout the western United States for irrigation, water supply, and attendant hydroelectric power generation. Currently the USBR is the largest wholesaler of water in the country, bringing water to more than 31 million people, and providing one in five Western farmers with irrigation water for 10 million acres of farmland, which produce 60% of the nation's vegetables and 25% of its fruits and nuts. The USBR is also the second largest producer of hydroelectric power in the western United States.

Oregon Public Broadcasting non-profit organisation in the USA

Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington. OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF translators, and over 20 radio stations and frequencies. Broadcasts include local and regional programming as well as television programs from the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and American Public Television (APT), and radio programs from National Public Radio (NPR), Public Radio International (PRI), American Public Media (APM), Public Radio Exchange (PRX), and the BBC World Service, among other distributors. Its headquarters and television studios are located in Portland.

<i>Oregon Field Guide</i> television series

Oregon Field Guide is a weekly television program produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting focusing on recreation, the outdoors, and environmental issues in the state of Oregon. The show has become part of the Oregon zeitgeist. Steve Amen is the show's host and executive producer. Named for the field guides used to identify plants, animals, and natural phenomenon, the wide-ranging series covers Oregon natural history, outdoor recreation, conservation, agriculture, rural life, and other local subjects. Produced with deep narratives rather than short segments, 13 half-hour and one full-hour episodes are shown per year.

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