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Owyhee River
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Owyhee River
The Owyhee River is a tributary of the Snake River located in northern Nevada, southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon in the Western United States and its Pacific Northwest region. It is 280 miles (450 km) long. The river's drainage basin is 11,049 square miles (28,620 km2) in area, one of the largest subbasins of the Columbia River Basin with its major waterways of the Columbia River and Snake River. The mean annual discharge is 995 cubic feet per second (28.2 m3/s), with a maximum of 50,000 cu ft/s (1,400 m3/s) recorded in 1993 and a minimum of 42 cu ft/s (1.2 m3/s) in 1954.
The Owyhee drains a remote area of the arid plateau region immediately north of the Great Basin of Central Nevada, rising in northeastern Nevada and flowing generally northward near the north-south Oregon / Idaho border to the Snake River. Its watershed is very sparsely populated. The Owyhee River and its tributaries flow through the Owyhee Plateau, cutting deep canyons, often with vertical walls and in some places over 1,000 feet (300 m) deep.
The watershed of the river was part of region inhabited by the Shoshone and Bannock indigenous Native Americans / Indians. The name of the river is from the older spelling of "Hawaii". It was named for three Native Hawaiian trappers (from the then little-known far-off Hawaiian Islands chain in the middle of the Pacific Ocean). They were in the employ of the old North West Company (1779–1821). The North West Company was headquartered north of the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence River at Montreal, Quebec (then the province of Lower Canada in British North America, today is the modern Dominion of Canada), who were sent to explore the uncharted river in the Rocky Mountains wilderness of the Pacific Northwest region and far western North America continent. They failed to return to the rendezvous camp near the Boise River and were never seen again. Due to this the river and its region were subsequently named "Owyhee".
About one-third of the men with Donald MacKenzie's Snake Country Expeditions of 1819–1820 were Hawaiians, commonly called "Kanakas" or "Sandwich Islanders" in those days, with "Owyhee" being a standard period spelling of the proper Hawaiian language name for the islands, hawai'i, which then was otherwise unused in English. The three Kanakas were detached to trap on the river in 1819 and were probably killed by Native Americans that year. It was not until the spring or early summer of 1820 that MacKenzie learned the news of their deaths (probably at the hands of men belonging to a band of Bannocks led by a chief named The Horse). Native Americans led other trappers to the site, but only one skeleton was located. The earliest surviving record of the name is found on a map dating to 1825, drawn by William Kittson (who was previously with MacKenzie in 1819–1820, and then with Peter Skene Ogden (1790–1854), in 1825), on which he notes "Owhyhee River" (his spelling). Journal entries in 1826 by Peter Skene Ogden, a fur trapper who led subsequent Snake Country Expeditions for the Hudson's Bay Company refer to the river primarily as the "Sandwich Island River", but also as "S. I. River", "River Owyhee", and "Owyhee River".
The discovery of gold and silver deposits in the region in 1863 resulted in a usual "rush" of a temporary influx of prospectors / miners and the establishment of mining camps and ramshackle towns, most of which have long since decayed into ruins or disappeared. The initial discovery was along Jordan Creek, and mining activity rapidly spread through the Owyhee watershed in the 1860s. This activity involved not only placer operations, but also the digging of underground mine shafts and mills, resulting in a prolonged history of 19th century mining in the region.
On May 16, 1866, the Indian Lemhi Shoshone-French son of Sacagawea, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (1805–1866), died on May 16, 1866, at age 61 years old, near Jordan Creek / Owyhee River and Jordan Valley. He died after catching a "chill" or pneumonia upon crossing the Owyhee River en route from California to new gold field strikes in the old Montana Territory near the Owyhee River and Jordan Creek.
After almost a century of neglect, his grave is now well-marked, off the highway of U.S. Route 95 (see U.S. Route 95 in Oregon), near Danner, Oregon at 42°57′07.1″N 117°20′21.4″W / 42.951972°N 117.339278°W, at Jordan Valley.
The source of the Owyhee River is in northeastern Nevada, in northern Elko County, approximately 50 miles (80 km) north of the county seat / town of Elko. It flows north along the east side of the Independence Mountains of Nevada, passing through Wild Horse Reservoir and then cutting northeast past the north end of the range. The river runs through the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, and then past the communities of Mountain City and Owyhee in the Duck Valley Indian Reservation of Nevada. It then enters southwestern Idaho, flowing northwest for approximately 50 miles (80 km) across the southwest corner of the state through Owyhee County. It is then joined by the South Fork Owyhee River from the south, approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of the Oregon border. The main tributary of the South Fork is the Little Owyhee River.
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Owyhee River
The Owyhee River is a tributary of the Snake River located in northern Nevada, southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon in the Western United States and its Pacific Northwest region. It is 280 miles (450 km) long. The river's drainage basin is 11,049 square miles (28,620 km2) in area, one of the largest subbasins of the Columbia River Basin with its major waterways of the Columbia River and Snake River. The mean annual discharge is 995 cubic feet per second (28.2 m3/s), with a maximum of 50,000 cu ft/s (1,400 m3/s) recorded in 1993 and a minimum of 42 cu ft/s (1.2 m3/s) in 1954.
The Owyhee drains a remote area of the arid plateau region immediately north of the Great Basin of Central Nevada, rising in northeastern Nevada and flowing generally northward near the north-south Oregon / Idaho border to the Snake River. Its watershed is very sparsely populated. The Owyhee River and its tributaries flow through the Owyhee Plateau, cutting deep canyons, often with vertical walls and in some places over 1,000 feet (300 m) deep.
The watershed of the river was part of region inhabited by the Shoshone and Bannock indigenous Native Americans / Indians. The name of the river is from the older spelling of "Hawaii". It was named for three Native Hawaiian trappers (from the then little-known far-off Hawaiian Islands chain in the middle of the Pacific Ocean). They were in the employ of the old North West Company (1779–1821). The North West Company was headquartered north of the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence River at Montreal, Quebec (then the province of Lower Canada in British North America, today is the modern Dominion of Canada), who were sent to explore the uncharted river in the Rocky Mountains wilderness of the Pacific Northwest region and far western North America continent. They failed to return to the rendezvous camp near the Boise River and were never seen again. Due to this the river and its region were subsequently named "Owyhee".
About one-third of the men with Donald MacKenzie's Snake Country Expeditions of 1819–1820 were Hawaiians, commonly called "Kanakas" or "Sandwich Islanders" in those days, with "Owyhee" being a standard period spelling of the proper Hawaiian language name for the islands, hawai'i, which then was otherwise unused in English. The three Kanakas were detached to trap on the river in 1819 and were probably killed by Native Americans that year. It was not until the spring or early summer of 1820 that MacKenzie learned the news of their deaths (probably at the hands of men belonging to a band of Bannocks led by a chief named The Horse). Native Americans led other trappers to the site, but only one skeleton was located. The earliest surviving record of the name is found on a map dating to 1825, drawn by William Kittson (who was previously with MacKenzie in 1819–1820, and then with Peter Skene Ogden (1790–1854), in 1825), on which he notes "Owhyhee River" (his spelling). Journal entries in 1826 by Peter Skene Ogden, a fur trapper who led subsequent Snake Country Expeditions for the Hudson's Bay Company refer to the river primarily as the "Sandwich Island River", but also as "S. I. River", "River Owyhee", and "Owyhee River".
The discovery of gold and silver deposits in the region in 1863 resulted in a usual "rush" of a temporary influx of prospectors / miners and the establishment of mining camps and ramshackle towns, most of which have long since decayed into ruins or disappeared. The initial discovery was along Jordan Creek, and mining activity rapidly spread through the Owyhee watershed in the 1860s. This activity involved not only placer operations, but also the digging of underground mine shafts and mills, resulting in a prolonged history of 19th century mining in the region.
On May 16, 1866, the Indian Lemhi Shoshone-French son of Sacagawea, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (1805–1866), died on May 16, 1866, at age 61 years old, near Jordan Creek / Owyhee River and Jordan Valley. He died after catching a "chill" or pneumonia upon crossing the Owyhee River en route from California to new gold field strikes in the old Montana Territory near the Owyhee River and Jordan Creek.
After almost a century of neglect, his grave is now well-marked, off the highway of U.S. Route 95 (see U.S. Route 95 in Oregon), near Danner, Oregon at 42°57′07.1″N 117°20′21.4″W / 42.951972°N 117.339278°W, at Jordan Valley.
The source of the Owyhee River is in northeastern Nevada, in northern Elko County, approximately 50 miles (80 km) north of the county seat / town of Elko. It flows north along the east side of the Independence Mountains of Nevada, passing through Wild Horse Reservoir and then cutting northeast past the north end of the range. The river runs through the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, and then past the communities of Mountain City and Owyhee in the Duck Valley Indian Reservation of Nevada. It then enters southwestern Idaho, flowing northwest for approximately 50 miles (80 km) across the southwest corner of the state through Owyhee County. It is then joined by the South Fork Owyhee River from the south, approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of the Oregon border. The main tributary of the South Fork is the Little Owyhee River.
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