Day 72. July 17, 2019 John Day River Basin in Oregon

It's day 72....It's also July 17, 2019...And we....are in Oregon's John Day River Basin.

Hey There! And welcome back...so where were we?

Oh yea.. continuing our trek from Hardman, through Unity and into John Day Oregon....population around 1500.

The scenery both into, and out of John Day would be filled with 2 lane highways coming down out of...then back into the mountains of eastern Oregon. The landscape switching from cattle ranches...to BLM land...to miles of farms raising everything from hay, potatoes, and onions...to beets, and even mint. The area is often referred to as Treasure Valley...because of the intensive bounty of the land...in particular along the Idaho border.

After gassing up in John Day we pondered spending the afternoon and evening in an RV park...but having just done that at Willow Creek...I really felt like a little more alone time...soaking up the scenery would be better. Something was telling me that if we just trekked out into the John Day River Basin we would find the perfect spot...and we did. We would spend the night pulled off into in a scenic vista lookout in the middle of the Basin. The natural beauty...and breathtaking scenery ...combined with the intense geological history of the area makes it hard to stop staring. Amazing sunsets and sunrises....they only make it better.

We spent an evening wandering around the scenic vista and snapping photo's. Reading even more historical markers that speak to the history and hardship of the folks that had that trekked through this place all those years ago. And all this....combined with the overwhelming sense...of the millions of years it must have taken for this place to happen...to look like this....I was really itchin to get online and start learning...but for this night....it would be just the boys and I minus the internet.

The other thing I would begin to notice here is that time....at least according to a clock....would start to fade away. And become more about when the sun comes up....and when it goes down. I took photo's well into dusk....while conjuring up images in my head about who had passed thru here before me....and what they saw....and what they hoped to find just another few days up the trail. They didn't' mark things by miles trekked...They certainly did not have a cell phone telling them what was just up the road.......what they had instead was a vision conjured up in their head about this prosperous place called Oregon...word of mouth...and a dream had convinced them that what lie ahead...was the perfect place to Settle....live...work hard...and prosper. Was it a day away? Was it a Month away? They would know when they got there. I went to sleep pondering what it must have been like to go through everything they went through on a daily basis....only to go to sleep knowing that I would get up...and do it again...

Up at sunrise the next day...fired up a pot of coffee. After breakfast and a walk we plopped down in a folding chair in front of the RV to enjoy the scenery as I tapped away on the laptop writing this. It was also funny to me that as I was noticing ... for the first time....or maybe just paying attention and pondering on this particular morning... that regardless of where we park....and where I have them tethered on their retractable leashes...the boys always seem to be at the end of their retractable leash. There is never enough leash for them.....I began to wonder...what it might be like in their heads...what it might be life to live life constantly pulling on the leash...enough life is never enough...always pulling and pushing to go further....in a never-ending quest to ignore the thing...that holds you back...I guess maybe.... if something is holding you back...just keep pulling. Never give up....it seems to be workin for these two....

I was finishing up a second cup of coffee when a pick up truck rolled up the road pulling up to the fence line across the hiway....A couple of ranchers got out....hats on in preparation for the the rising sun...and began relocating fencing materials from the back of the pick up to the stretch of fence they would spend the next hour or so mending.

As I watched them work I kept shifting between random thoughts in my head...first....remembering my time with my Grandfather repairing fences on the cattle ranch in Gilroy California. It was hot...it was sweaty...it wasn't fun....the whole time thinking about a thousand other places I would rather be....but yet at the same time how determined he was to get the job done. Job has to be done...so do it...he would say. And then watching these two...clearly...this is their life...their land...their dreams....no doubt their livelihood.....there's a job to be done so they do it. So why does sitting here today watching them do this at the break of dawn .... in the middle of Oregon look so attractive to me. I no longer think about the places I would rather be

....and why do I somehow wish I was doing what they are doing....the very same thing I had spent so much time wishing I wasn't doing all those years ago.

I also suddenly realized that it made no difference to them whether or not the cell phone rang....or pinged with a text, email....or some random social media notification....

what mattered was that a fence was down and they needed to fix it. Hmmm....I dunno man...hard to articulate the crazy ramblings in the human brain.....but maybe sometimes.....we should just go fix a fence.

So....With a town....a river....a national monument...and even an entire basin named after him....lets start with...who's John Day?

At a time before the country had fought for, and won it's independence from Brittain...John Day would begin life in Culpepper County Virginia. References would indicate he was adventurous at a very young age and would find his fair share of indiscretions and trouble early on in life. Pinpointing exact dates and ages are difficult but it is clear that his quest to move west would begin early as he found his way through Kentucky...and can be traced to Missouri by the time he had hit his 20's.

Along the way he would try his hand at multiple trades. He would try farming for time...and at one point had even established a saltpeter mining operation.

But in the end...it would be his passion for hunting and trapping that he would excel at...and become known for across the region.

It is estimated that around 1810 John would cross paths with some other adventurers around Missouri and become a part of the Pacific Fur Company...led by Jacob Ator. You may remember Jacob Astor from my episode about Astoria Oregon...the town in which Astor would establish the first fur trading company in the pacific northwest...and the first settlement in Oregon would be named after him.

John Days reputation had preceded him....making his hunting and trapping skills a perfect fit for an expedition west. It also fit perfectly with his thirst for adventure and exploration. It was interesting to learn that while a part of this expedition...John day would trek all over Oregon, Washington and Idaho....but never actually spent any time in the area that so predominantly carries his name. How did that come to be?

Legend has it that during the expedition west...the party had become to large to manage...so it was decided that . John Day and Ramsay Crooks would split off and take a different path with a plan to meet up in the spring at the mouth of the Columbia River.

The winter of 1811 and into 1812 would test the two beyond imagination. The rugged terrain would present every obstacle imaginable through the harsh winter. Dealing with threats from wildlife, weather...navigating thier way through the rocky cliff's and deep gorges and attempted crossings of the then un dammed...and untamed Rivers would threaten their lives on what seems like a daily basis.

Things would turn even uglier for the two when they had finally reached and were descending the Columbia river in the spring of 1812.....when they were attacked, robbed, stripped of all their clothing and left to die by hostile natives in the area.

The attack would force the two to backtrack some 80 miles to the friendlier territories of the Umatilla tribes...

So once again...they would have to navigate, once again, the harsh terrain that had nearly killed them the first time.... without supplies...or even clothes. Sheer determination would somehow get them thru to where they would be met by friendly natives that would provide them shelter nurturing them back to health and helping to restock their supplies. Word of the attack must have somehow reached the remainder of the Astor party...as they would shortly thereafter rescue the two and the party would reach Ft, Astoria later that month.

Even Though he had not fully recovered from his ordeal...John Day would sent on another assignment just two months later in June. This time he would head back to Missouri as a member of Robert Stuarts party....but not long into the journey Stuart would become concerned with Day's behavior calling it strange and even suicidal. Fearing for everyone's safety...Stuart would pay a native to take Day back to Astoria. Upon his arrival Astoria however...Day appeared in good health exhibiting no signs of derangement.

In 1813 Fort Astoria and its assets would be sold to the Northwest Company and John Day would spend the next 8 years hunting and trapping for the new company. His expeditions thru this period took him mainly into the Willamette Valley and the interior Northwest.

In 1820, John Day was at the winter camp of Donald Mackenzie in Butte County Idaho. There are many stories around exactly what happened next but one of the more predominate telling's centers around the fact that Day had begun once again exhibiting signs of what was called "Madness" at the time. Ultimately, he would wander off into the woods and the harsh winter would claim his life on February 16 1820. He was buried in the area and a marker carries his name.

It would be the retellings harrowing journey through the area...and surviving it...that would lift the name to legendary status amongst the pioneer community. As mapping and naming of the area began....The area around the original attack along what was then called the Mau Mau River...would be renamed The John Day River. Through the years...his name would show up all across the region as a reminder....and monument to the extremes endured by so many during their travels into the Pacific Northwest.

As for Ramsay Crooks...who survived the attack along with John Day...he would later go on to become the general manager of the American Fur Trade company and serve as it's president from 1834 to 1939. Along the way he would marry twice having a total of 10 children. He ultimately ended up living in New York until his death in 1859. While his name does not show up across eastern Oregon....his contributions to the exploration and development of the area are as important as anyone's of the time.

The first homestead staked in John Day was in 1862, the same year that nearby Canyon City was platted. Not long after gold would be discovered in an area called Whiskey gulch leading to rapid growth for Canyon City.

The placer mines, as they would become known, in the Canyon District are considered to be the richest ever mined in Oregon.

Although accurate records were not kept in the 1860s, it is estimated that during the first few years, as much as five million dollars in gold was produced from these mines.

At the peak of the Canyon District rush, it is claimed that 10,000 people lived in Canyon City, making it larger than Portland at the time.

Prosperity, however, would not be kind to Canyon City in many ways. As the gold rush intensified, so did outlaw activity in the area ranging from bank and merchant robberies to stagecoach robberies into and out of the bustling mining community. In addition, claim jumping activity would rise as would bloody conflicts with the local native americans....which would continue until nearly the turn of the century.

As if these activities were not enough in America's, truly, wild west,....fires would devistate the town on three separate occasions which eventually would lead to folks migrating the two miles up the road to John Day where the local economy had remained more focused on farming, ranching, and timber. Today the population of Canyon City hovers at around 600 while neighboring John Day would eventually reach 1600 where it remains today.

Interestingly, the largest part of John Days earliest community would be composed of Chinese Immigrants drawn to the area during the gold rush. For many years this area of John Day would be affectionately referred to as Tiger Town....a nickname familiar to the area through modern day.

John Day would go on to be incorporated in 1901. The area would continue to thrive in agriculture and timber while retaining it's small-town personality all the way into the 1990's when a downturn in the timber industry would hit the towns economy pretty hard which led to the closure of mills and merchants through out the town.

Fortunately for John Day...local leaders at the time would adopt a forward-thinking strategy for the area in an effort to create a more sustainable "next chapter" for the town.

They would embark on an ambitious plan which included a five-year community investment strategy. The strategy included community amenities like...

developing and growing an integrated park system, collaboration for a new Grant County Library Facility, programs to foster entrepreneurship and small business, promoting areas abundance of outdoor activities ranging from hiking and biking through the rugged terrain....to canoeing and rafting adventures on the river....even skiing during the winter months.....and even plans for a state of the art aquatic center.

And an incredibly forward thinking strategy within all this, was to focus investment in vocational training in their local schools. An effort that would connect local youth with sustaining, and rewarding jobs in the area centered around the incredible history of the basin in general, what can be learned from it, and how it continues to drive the areas economy....pretty cool stuff John Day!

So what about the River Basin area itself? Well first....it is actually within the 14000 acre John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. The national monument is divided into three separate units...Sheep Rock, Painted Hills, and Clarno. All three units showcase colorful rock formations that preserve a world class record of plant and animal evolution...changing climate...and past ecosystems spanning over 40 to 60 million years. Collaborations between several groups in the area have provided scenic drives, hiking trails, and even the Thomas Condon Visitor Center, which takes a deep dive through exhibitions and video into the areas past and how it became what it is today. Point being...there is so much to learn here about the area's past and the formation of the Northwest portion of the continent....and you have several ways to explore and learn.

The river basin itself spans an area of around 10,000 acres and is drained by the John Day River and it's tributaries.

The backdrop for the entire area is Oregon's high desert scenery...an area of rugged mountainous terrain, steep river canyons and a rich wild life habitat.

The area has been formed by volcanic activity, with rock masses composed of numerous volcanic flows that alternate from ashes, tufas, sands, and gravels. And what is tufas? basically....it is a type of limestone

It's all pretty incredible that the science of geology...and the study of it has enabled us to learn things like....

This place thing that we now call Oregon spent the first 30 some million years of it's known existence under water. The fossil formations that have been discovered, and these rock formations that we look at today began it's formation submerged in what would become the pacific ocean. Glacial activity to the north combined with extreme volcanic activity would eventually shuv these formations to elevations of nearly 9000 feet above sea level. And within a few million years the area would develop into a lush tropical like area.... complete with Avocado's, banana's, palmettos within lush layers tropical plants some 700 plus species documented through fossil discovery. Relatives of animals we know as crocodile, rhino's, horses....and lots of other bizzare species humans would never see called this area home. Many of the species that have been found in fossil formations have been found nowhere else on the planet making this regtion of Oregon a very unique ecosystem...not only today....but apprently through millions of years of evolution as well.

Within a few million years from this, and some 30 million years ago ...continued volcanic activity throughout the area would begin to wipe out the existing landscape and replace it with a temperate hardwood forest....with more subtle iterations in between.

The area at this point in time....and up through the last 5 to 7 million years things would begin to shift more rapidly (relatively speaking) in the area making it a very dangerous place to be for the animals of the time. Lava flows throughout the area actually created scenarios in which a rhino like creature could be bathing in lake one moment....and be instantly consumed, roasted, and fossilized by a lava flow.

Over the last 6 or so million years things would calm down leaving us with what we see today....and all that it tells us. Also interesting to learn of the biological importance the area holds across the country, and world for that matter in that it is home to several protected species. In addition the Blue Mountain Bio Region...which the John Day River cuts through, is considered one of the most important habitat connectivity corridors in the world because it provides a corridor of public land that spans from the Rocky Mountains to the Cascades that countless wildlife species count on.

And just a quick reference for anyone out there interested in more detail around this areas development....I found a YouTube Channel named Oregon Wild. In particular I watched an episode titled Layers of Life. These folks are going on 5 decades of digging into topics like this all across the state of oregon...with their key mission being protecting Oregons wildlife. Pretty cool stuff.

As I packed things up preparing to head out....I kept staring into the vastness of this place....marrying it in my mind with what I had read about what it once was....how it has evolved over time....but most of all....how insignificant my passage through here is in the grand scheme of time. I also reflected back to a quote I heard once...I think it was Mel Robbins that said once during a Ted Talk quote well.....she said a couple things....first....she said that we live in an amazing point in time.....the discoveries made and the information that we have access to ... at our fingertips...literally...is un parralelled in history and gets deeper every day. She also quoted an interesting statistical fact that stuck with me for a couple of different reasons....Scientists have actually crunched the numbers and calculated the odd's of me being born when I was born....to my parents...with the DNA structure I have.....and the odds were 1 in 400 trillion that I would be born in those circumstances at that particular point in time. I was not born in a place or time when I could be eaten by a prehistoric animal simply by walking outside....I was not born in a time or place where I could be jailed...or killed...for speaking out agains a king, a dictator, or government.....I was not born in a time or place in which or had to walk with a mule for miles to go grocery shopping....or to hunt

Instead, against the odds of 1 in 400 trillion....I was born in a place and time in which I have access to everything I have access to in our world today,,,,and have the opportunity to sit in a place like this....in EAstern Oregon and not only wonder or fantasize about what it must have once looked like....or how it became what it is today.....but I can go to youtube and watch it happen before my eyes....

With odds like that workin in my favor.....be kinda dumb to not keep going.....not keep exploring....not keep wondering.

We pulled out of the Scenic Vista Over view and headed east towards the Idaho border and beyond....

I wonder what we will learn there.....