Page Index

• The Dalles-California Highway
• White River Falls
• Sherar's Falls
• Sherar's Bridge

This loop is described in the 1940 tour described below...

Oregon State Archives: A 1940 Journey Across Oregon

At 97.8 m. [West of Hwy. 730 Junction] is a junction with State 23.

Left on State 23 along gorge-enclosed watercourses to the plateau ran the Barlow road, first road over the Cascades from The Dalles region to the Willamette Valley. The route crosses Wasco County, once an empire in itself. With boundaries that reached from the Columbia River to the California Nevada Line, and from the Cascades to the Rockies, it was the parent of 17 Oregon counties, the greater part of Idaho, and portions of Wyoming and Montana. The name, meaning a cup, or small bowl of horn, was derived from a local Indian tribe, known for its art of carving small bowls from the horns of wild sheep.

In 1905 a very large apple orchard was planted on the plateau but it is now an expanse of wheat fields with but an occasional scraggy apple tree. The promoters proposed to sell individual investors separate lots on the basis of perpetual care, the owners to reap continuous dividends after the mature trees began producing. The soil was ideal for grain, but the moisture, though sufficient to produce large crops of wheat by dry farming methods, was inadequate for fruit. After the owners had lost the opportunity of making large profits, during the World War, when high wheat prices were enriching their neighbors, they belatedly grubbed up thousands of trees to return the land to grain.

On the edge of DUFUR 17 m. (1,319 alt., 382 pop.), is the BARLOW DISTRICT RANGER STATION of the Mount Hood National Forest. (Camp fire permits for restricted areas and information.) One of the earliest settlements in this region, Dufur overlooks undulating wheat fields and diversified farmlands, with the rugged contours of Mount Hood on the western horizon (R).

Right from Dufur on a gravel road that runs southwest to meet various forest roads entering recreational areas in the eastern sections of MOUNT HOOD NATIONAL FOREST.

From TYGH RIDGE on State 23, 26.9 m. (2,697 alt.), the former long Tygh grade, for many years notoriously steep and difficult, the highway skirts a canyon (L) hundreds of feet in depth. Paralleling the present highway, are three other gashes on the hillside, made by early road builders, the winding trail like thoroughfares of the Indians and emigrant wagon trains, the stage road, and a rutty passage for horse drawn vehicles and early Model T's that hazardously ventured into this part of Oregon 20 years ago.

At 34.3 m. is a junction with State 216.

Left on State 216, 7.9 m. to SHERAR'S BRIDGE, at the falls of the Deschutes River. It was here, in 1826, that Peter Skene Ogden, chief fur trader for the Hudson's Bay Company, found a camp of 20 native families. An Indian trail, later used by the fur traders, crossed the river at this point by a slender wooden bridge. During the salmon runs, descendants of these early tribesmen, who held fishing privileges under a Federal treaty, still gather annually to spear salmon or catch them with dipnets below the falls.

Joseph Sherar collected exorbitant tolls from travelers and stockmen for use of his bridge, near which he established a stage station and pretentious inn. Stephen Meek's exhausted wagon train of 1845 camped at this place, and the old ruts made by the 200 wagons are still visible on the ranch of E. L. Webb north of the bridge.

TYGH VALLEY, 34.7 in. (1,111 alt., 60 pop.), is in the valley of Tygh Creek, which took its name from the Tygh Indian tribe. Fremont called the place Taih Prairie. North of the town are the race track and the exhibit buildings of the Wasco County Fair Association, which holds its annual fairs in early September.

Right from Tygh Valley, 6 m. on a dirt road to WAMIC (1,664 alt., 106 pop.), in a stock raising country. This road is along the route of the old Barlow rail that led westward parallel to White River and crossed the Cascade divide at Barlow Pass. Above Smock Prairie, southwest of Wamic, the ruts of ox drawn wagons remain on the hillsides.

WHITE RIVER, 35.8 m., a tributary of the Deschutes, is noted for excellent fishing.

At 39.3 m. is a junction with a county road; (L) here 2 m. to the OAK SPRINGS STATE TROUT HATCHERY, in the Deschutes River Canyon. Millions of rainbow trout are propagated annually for restocking the Deschutes and other popular fishing streams of the region. The young fish, held in feeding pools until almost a legal size, are distributed in tank trucks, equipped with compressor machines to keep the water aerated. Former methods of distribution, when no provision was made for supplying oxygen, resulted in considerable loss of fingerlings. A chemical quality of the Oak Springs water keeps the young trout from fungus growths that destroy the fish in many hatcheries.

State 23 joins State 50 at 42.3 m.

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