Everything about The Malheur River totally explained
The
Malheur River (pronounced "muh-LOOR" by non-Oregonians; locals pronounce the name "MAL-hyure") is a tributary of the
Snake River, approximately 165 mi (266 km) long, in east central
Oregon in the
United States. It drains a high desert
plateau region south of the
Blue Mountains between the
Harney Basin and the Snake.
Description
It rises in the southern
Blue Mountains of southern
Grant County, south of
Strawberry Mountain in the
Strawberry Mountain Wilderness. It flows south through
Malheur National Forest, then southeast past
Drewsey and through
Warm Springs Reservoir. At
Riverside in eastern
Malheur County it receives the
South Fork from the south, then turns sharply back northward to
Juntura, where it receives the
North Fork form the north. From Juntura it flows generally east past
Vale, joining the Snake from the west approximately 2 mi (3 km) north of
Ontario, Oregon.
The lower river near Ontario is used for
irrigation in the
agricultural potato-growing in the valley of the Snake along the Idaho-Oregon border. Agricultural runoff has resulted in a
phosphorus pollution problem in its lower reaches.
Despite the similarity of name, the river doesn't flow into nearby
Malheur Lake, which is located in the enclosed Harney Basin southwest of the watershed of the river.
History
The name of the river is derived from the
French, literally translated as "bad hour," but commonly meaning "misfortune." The name was attached to the river by
French Canadian trappers with the Snake County Expeditions of Donald MacKenzie as early as 1818 for the unfortunate circumstance that some beaver furs they'd cached there were discovered and stolen by Indians. The name first appears in the record in 1826 when
Peter Skene Ogden, a
fur trapper with the
Hudson's Bay Company, referred to it as "River au Malheur (unfortunate River)" and thereafter as "Unfortunate River."
The river lived up to its name a second time in 1845, when mountain man
Stephen Meek, seeking a faster route along the
Oregon Trail, led a migrant party up the river valley into the high desert along a route that has since become known as the
Meek Cutoff. After leaving the river valley the party was unable to find a water supply and lost 23 people by the time they reached
The Dalles on the
Columbia River.
In 1853 the river was used more successfully as the route of the
Free Emigrant Road, a branch of the Oregon Trail that cut directly across eastern Oregon to
Eugene at the south end of the
Willamette Valley.
In
October 28,
1988, the Malheur was one of forty rivers originally designated in the Omnibus Oregon Wild and Scenic River Act of 1988. Residing completely on National Forest System lands, the entire
Wild and Scenic river boundary encompasses with of river.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Malheur River'.
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