The History of Grant County

Grant County covers 4,533 square miles in eastern Oregon and is a land of flat or gently tilted volcanic flows of basalt, separated by the Strawberry-Aldrich Mountain Range. It contains three main watersheds that have figured into it's history. Before there was even a county by the name of Grant, explorers and trappers, including a man named John Day, were moving through Eastern Oregon. It is from this man from Virginia, that the river and two towns in Grant County get their names.

The original inhabitants of Grant County were American Indians who were ancestors of the modern Burns Paiute, Umatilla, and Warm Springs Tribes. They fished and had winter villages in the low elevation valleys and hunted and gathered plant crops in the uploands during the warmer months. They possessed extensive fields of obsidian, a volcanic glass which was widely traded with other tribes. Obsidian from Grant County has been found in archaeological sites as far north as British Columbia and at sites as much as 12,000 years old. Obsidian was the most valuable mineral in Grant County until gold was discovered by Euro-American explorers during the great western migration of the 19th century.

The first settlers arrived as people moved west to escape the Civil War. It was in June 1862 that gold was discovered when a group of prospectors paused in Grant County on their way to Idaho from California.

Gold was mined in three ways: hydraulic mining, dredge mining and deep vein or lode mining. Gold was discovered in many other areas in what would become known as Grant County.

Also occurring in 1862 was the filing of the first homestead claim by B.C. Trowbridge. Livestock and crops became an important part of the economy as men gave up the hard physical labor of looking for gold, and turned to other forms of livelihood. The first wagon train, with thirty-two wagons, arrived from California in July 1863.

In 1864 Grant County was officially named, created out of Wasco County. Grant County contained the areas of both Grant and Harney counties today. In 1889, as the population in the southern part of the county began to grow, that part of the county became Harney County. From the earliest days, the county seat has been Canyon City, but other communities, such as Long Creek, have felt that their towns would have been a better choice.

There was an influx of Chinese laborers who came to work the gold fields. The population of Chinese in 1870 was 940. These industrious people also worked as cooks, laundrymen, merchants, a shoemaker, tailor and the most well known was Doc Ing Hay, who could diagnose illness by feeling a person's pulse. He was known throughout the west and treated ailments with Chinese herbs. Doc Hay and his business partner, Lung On, ran what became known as Kam Wah Chung -- a business that served as an employment contractor, medical office, general store, church and opium den for the large Chinese population.

The county survived many hard times, with the town of Canyon City burning to the ground not once, but three times. The town of John Day was founded about the same time as Canyon City in 1862. In 1868, as the more people came, the need for supplies grew. The United States Congress authorized the building of The Dalles Military Wagon Road, which further helped the county to flourish. The first newspaper here was "The Grant County News" published in 1879, by W.F. White.

The valley quickly became an agricultural area, though the John Day River was also dredged for gold. Mt. Vernon, west of John Day, was settled in the late 1870's along The Dalles Military Road. Prairie City also began as the mining town of Dixie and in 1872 the first mill was opened. The old mill building was used as a fort during the Paiute Bannock uprising. Prairie City became the terminus of the Sumpter Valley Railroad that ran from Baker City through Sumpter and on to Prairie City. Long Creek was established in the late 1870's by hardy pioneers who came primarily from Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri, California and the Willamette Valley. These settlers took up homesteads and began small-scale cattle and sheep ranches.

One of the county's most well known citizens was Joaquin Miller, who was known as the "Poet of the Sierras." He also became the second County Judge.

Grant County has a colorful past full of rich history -- gold miners, gamblers, law breakers, cattle ranchers, sheepherders, Chinese, dreamers and just plain folks who came seeking a better way of life and stayed!

Grant County Historical Museum 101 South Canyon City Boulevard P.O. Box 464 Canyon City, OR 97820 (541)575-0362 info@gchistoricalmuseum.com