Praying for Oregon Counties: Lake
Old Fort Rock Store
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; Isaiah 43: 2, 3
As I write, the Bootleg fire in south central Oregon in the Fremont-Winema National Forest, is about 53% contained. This huge fire, the largest in the United States at the moment and third largest in Oregon history, is at about 413,000 acres, and around 2,000 people are involved in combating it. It started in Klamath County and spread north and east into Lake County.
Prayers for rain, containment and the safety of local residents and the fire crews are urgently needed.
Lake County is a fascinating place and with a huge land area and with a population of about one person per square mile. It was founded in 1874 and is part of the Oregon Outback, the dry high desert region of the state that makes up most of the southeastern quarter. When most folks think of Oregon, this landscape is not what they have in mind. It may be desert, but the county was named for the numerous lakes within its borders.
The county seat is Lakeview. The population of the county is divided between Lakeview and Paisley in the south, and Christmas Valley, Fort Rock and Silver Lake in the northern part of the huge county.
Early trappers came through this area. Peter Skene Ogden, with the Hudson Bay Company, was there is 1827. John C. Fremont, leading a party of exploration, came through in 1843.
Lake County, while not containing much population, has some of the most unique places to visit anywhere. Paisley Caves, north of Paisley, are the site of ongoing archeological digs that have revealed the caves were occupied by humans 14,300 years ago, the most ancient of such discoveries in Oregon.
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In the northern portion of the county, at Fork Rock Caves, various tools, baskets and items of clothing have been unearthed dating back more than 10,000 years. Oregon has the distinction of being the site of the oldest shoes ever discovered. In 1938 archaeologist Luther Cressman found multiple pairs of woven sagebrush bark sandals at Fort Rock, the oldest footwear ever found. In the 1930’s, Dr. Cressman was a well-known Oregon archeologist and founded the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oregon.
The geology of southern Oregon is very young, and Lake County reflects that. The neighboring county of Klamath is home to Crater Lake, the remains of Mt. Mazama, which exploded a mere 7,700 years ago. The layers of ash from that eruption are visible in the archeological digs.
Growing up in the hills near Molalla, which is on the western side of the Cascades, we frequently found obsidian arrowheads in the fields of our farm. The obsidian, a hard, shiny glass-like rock, came from east of the mountains, purchased or traded by the Native Americans. There are entire mountains of obsidian in southeastern Oregon, which are actually the remains of lava flows. One of the best, and one I visited as a kid, is Glass Butte in Lake County.
Other points of geological interest are Big Hole and Hole-in-the-Ground, formations thought to be volcanic in origin. Popular tourist destinations include Goose Lake, Hunters Hot Springs and Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge.
The rocks and minerals make Lake County a great place for explorers and rockhounds, but the area is also home to numerous miners, ranchers and farmers. In the latter part of the 19th century and early twentieth there was an influx of Basque and Irish sheepherders. With different grazing habits, the cattle and sheep did not share the landscape well, and this resulted in violent clashes – range wars - between the cattlemen and the sheepherders. According to the Lake County Examiner in 1968, the town of Lakeview, for fifty years, was the headquarters of the only all-Irish organization in Oregon, the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
The economic base continues to be agriculture, ranching, and timber with tourism growing. The county has a board of three commissioners who are elected for four overlapping years. Currently they are Barry Shullanberger, James Williams, and Mark Albertson.
How to pray for Lake County?
But He made His own people go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock; Psalm 78:52
Pray for those affected by the fires in Lake County. Homes have been lost as well as timber that was a source of income. Pray for the safety of the crews fighting the fire. Pray for rain.
Pray for the government leaders of the county, for supernatural wisdom.
Margaret
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