Standing in the Gap for Oregon

Crater Lake You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it. You water its ridges abundantly.  You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth.   Psalms 65: 9-10   The county of Klamath, like Josephine County, is also along the southern border, touching California to the south, Jackson County to the west, Deschutes due north, Lake to the east and Lane and Douglas counties to the northwest. It was established in 1882 and named for the local Klamath Indians. The county has around 66,000 population with 20,000 of that in Klamath Falls, the county seat.   Klamath County contains beautiful country and includes Crater Lake and Crater Lake National Park, which was established in 1902 as the fifth national park in the United States.    Those who came to Oregon in the first wave of immigrants in 1843 and the years afterwards unt...

  But first… Rogue River Oregon Much has happened since I began this blog post on Josephine County. On September 8 th we evacuated from our house in Molalla due to the Beachie Creek and Riverside fires. Although our house survived there was damage to our family timberland which was in the path of the Beachie Creek fire, and in a domino effect, my daughter and I then relocated to Oregon City.   While I know of writers – journalists, novelists, war correspondents – who write in the midst of chaos, bombs, forest fires etc., I don’t seem to have inherited that ability. But as we get settled, I am once again taking pen in hand.   Getting back to Oregon’s counties….   The choice of counties we explore might seem pretty random – not east to west nor in alphabetical order. We began closest to (my) home, then criss-crossed the state to include all four corners and touch all four borders. Then we looked at population centers. Now we are looking at Josephine County, (for ...

This family is safe, but lost their home. Molalla, OR 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   Oh my, where to start?   “Start where you are,” is the common wisdom, and since we are based in the community of Molalla, I will start with our story.   In 1938 when my grandfather bought our farm, now a “tree farm” where we grow trees for timber, it was mostly brush and tall, black snags (dead trees). Just a few years prior to his purchase a forest fire had blazed through the area and blackened hundreds of acres. My father, after he inherited the land, put a lot of time and effort into clearing out those snags and big old burned stumps. The last 40 years the property has been managed as timberland, and is covered with Douglas fir, cedar, hemlock and Ponderosa Pine among other species – a healthy and diverse forest...

Lafayette Historical Museum They may curse, but  you will bless: when they attack they will be put to shame, but your servant will rejoice .   Psalm 109:28   Lafayette, Oregon is a pretty little town along the Yamhill River on Oregon Route 99, about 35 miles southwest of Portland, 25 miles north of Salem. It is the third oldest town in the Willamette Valley, established in 1846 and incorporated in 1878. It is in Yamhill County and was originally the county seat until 1889 when the citizens voted to make McMinnville the seat. The population is currently around 4,000.   The town has a number of old homes and historic buildings, a few even on the National Register of Historic Places. The Lafayette Locks Park is at the site of a former dam and locks that were decommissioned in the 1950’s. Other points of interest include a log house museum and the Lafayette Pioneer Cemetery which was established in 1873.   The old cemetery has a lot of atmosphere and is associated w...

  The  Lord   is  my  shepherd ; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters… Psalm 23:1 Morrow County was created in 1885 from the western part of Umatilla County and a bit of eastern Wasco. In 1887 an election was held to determine the county seat with Heppner defeating Lexington by a narrow margin.     I’ll admit I have not been very familiar with Morrow County. It’s a bit like “flyover country” to someone who drives to the eastern part of the state occasionally. I have driven through Morrow many times via I-84 but never paid much attention to where Wasco County left off and Morrow began.    It has, I find, a fascinating history.   The story of Morrow County is often linked to or even hyphenated with Umatilla County (Umatilla-Morrow.) The geography and economy, tied to agriculture, ranching and the Columbia River, are very similar.    In 1855 the Native Americans in that a...

Ontario, OR park The   stranger  who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were  stranger s  in   the   land  of Egypt: I  am   the   Lord  your God .  Leviticus 19:34   We briefly mentioned the eastern Oregon town of Ontario when we wrote about Malheur County. Today I want to delve into the history a little more, and to honor one long-term resident, my mother-in-law Ila Mae Mills, who passed away August 13 th  at the age of 97.   Ontario is a town with which I am familiar. My grandparents lived there for many years, from the 1940’s until the 1970’s. My parents were married there, as was I. My in-laws lived in Ontario from 1948 on. My father-in-law, a local bookkeeper, passed away in 2013 at the age of 95.    Ontario is the largest town in the far eastern portion of Oregon and sits right up against the Snake River and the border with Idaho. P...

The wilderness and the dry land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.  Isaiah 35:1   We have covered ten of the thirty-six Oregon counties in our blog so far. This week we are looking at the county just to the west of Wallowa and Union Counties in the northeastern section of the state.     Umatilla County was established in 1862 out of part of Wasco County. Its northern border is the Columbia River. Like many places in Oregon, it was gold that first drew pioneers to the area who then realized the country was a good place to raise cattle. By 1868 the town of Pendleton had become the county seat and remains so. In 1881 the arrival of the railroad made dryland wheat farming practical. Other types of agriculture were limited, however, in an area that grew sagebrush best until the Umatilla Irrigation Project was established early in the 20 th  century. Then "the desert bloomed" and the economy began to grow, especially in the western section ...