The Geologic Setting of the John Day Country: Grant County, Oregon

The Geologic Setting of the John Day Country: Grant County, Oregon

The town of John Day, the John Day River valley, and the Strawberry Range, looking south and southeast. The tailings piles left by gold dredges have been levelled for building sites since the photograph was taken in 1946. One of the Pacific Northwests most notable outdoor recreation areas, the John Day Country in northeastern Oregon, is named after a native Virginian who was a member of the Astor expedition to the mouth of the Columbia River in 1812. There is little factual information about John Day except that he was born in Culpeper County, Va. about 1770. It is known also that in 1810 this tall pioneer with an elastic step as if he trod on springs joined John Jacob Astors overland expedition under Wilson Price Hunt to establish a vast fur-gathering network in the western states based on a major trading post at the mouth of the Columbia River. The expedition arrived in the vicinity of the Grand Tetons, in what is now Wyoming, in September 1811, and with the onset of winter met disaster along the Snake River. When they ran out of food near the present site of Twin Falls, Idaho, Hunt divided the expedition into four parties to seek food and a feasible route through the canyons. As described in Washington Irvings Astoria, the party that included John Day became widely separated from the others; experienced terrible hardships while wintering with Indians near Huntington; and was eventually reduced to just John Day and Ramsey Crooks. By mid-April of the following year, Day and Crooks reached the junction of the Columbia and Mah-hah Rivers, where a band of Indians took everything they had, including their clothes. Because of this incident, the Mah-hah River was renamed the John Day. Returning up the Columbia to seek help from friendly Indians, they were rescued by a party of trappers in canoes, and finally reached Astoria on the 11th of May 1812. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 46969
Author: Thayer, Thomas P.
Release Date: Sep 26, 2014
Format: eBook
Language: English