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Lake County is a county located in the high desert south central region of U.S. state of Oregon. It is named for the lakes found within its boundaries).[1] including Lake Abert, Hart Lake Reservoir, and Goose Lake. While it is among the largest Oregon counties in land area, it is thinly populated with 7,422 residents in 2000. The seat is Lakeview.[2] Lake County is home to several frontier towns and homesteads. There are many large cattle ranches and timber holdings (both public and private) in the high desert area, as well as lakes and striking geological features. The economy in Lake County is reliant on lumber, agriculture, natural resource extraction, a prison, and government. The area is generally divided between the communities around Lakeview in the south and North Lake County including several small communities and a number of geological features. Only one major mill remains and Lake County is now known as "Oregon's Outback".
[edit] HistoryNative American artifacts found in the Fort Rock area of North Lake County have been dated to more than 9,000 years ago. White traders, explorers and military expeditions arrived in the 1800s. Peter Skene Ogden led Hudson's Bay Company trappers at Goose Lake in 1827. In 1832, the Hudson Bay trappers under John Work were in the Surprise Valley area and mentioned Hunter's Hot Springs. Work visited Warner Lakes, Lake Abert, camped at Crooked Creek in the Chandler Park area where they ate wild plums, which still grow in the area. They also reported being attacked by Indians.[3] In 1838 Colonel J. J. Abert, U.S. engineer, prepared a map including Warner Lakes and other natural features using information from Hudson Bay trappers. In 1843, John C. Fremont led a party which named Christmas (Hart) Lake.[3] Lake County was once home to Basque[4] and Irish sheepherders.[5] Cattle ranchers later feuded and discouraged the wandering sheepherders.[6] Lake County grew with the arrival of homesteaders, but the dry climate made for challenging development. Lake County was created from Jackson and Wasco Counties on October 24, 1874 by the State Legislature. It then included the present Klamath County and all of the present Lake County except Warner Valley. In 1882, land was assigned to create Klamath County, and in 1885 the Warner area from Grant County was added. Linkville, now Klamath Falls, was the first county seat.[7] M. Bullard gave 20 acres (80,000 m²) as the Lakeview townsite. By the 1875 election, a town had been started and an election moved the county seat to Lakeview. Because of poor transportation connections with the rest of Oregon, the early economic orientation of Lake County was toward California: both the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner arrived in Lakeview daily, often before the The Oregonian. During the 1840s and 1850s the county was part of the military courier route between The Dalles on the Columbia River and the Presidio in San Francisco. The county acquired a railroad connection in the 1890s. That railroad spur, the Nevada-California-Oregon Railway line running from Lakeview to Reno, Nevada, emphasized the isolation of the county from the rest of Oregon.[8] A devastating fire in 1900 destroyed much of Lakeview, including 75 businesses.[3] [edit] EconomyThe economy in Lake County is reliant on lumber, agriculture, natural resource extraction, health care, a prison[9] and government. The area is also trying to promote itself for the many outdoor recreational and sightseeing opportunities offered.[10] Lake County includes numerous cattle ranches. Irrigation has also permitted some agriculture based upon the raising of livestock and the growing of hay and grain despite the low rainfall and a short growing season. Lumber and wood products are taken from the Fremont National Forest, Bureau of Land Management properties and private landholdings. The Collins Companies operates the last remaining mill in the area, the Lakeview sawmill, and is also a large landowner in the region.[11] Over 78% of the land in Lake County is owned and managed by the federal and state government.[6] The Lakeview area of Lake County also includes a perlite mine[12] and once included uranium mining[13] (now subject to clean-up operations).[14] Several exploratory wells were dug for oil, but without success. A railroad line ships timber products and perlite to Burlington Northern's rail hub in Alturas, California. At one time the railway was the only County owned and operated rail line in the country.[citation needed] Government employees from the national forest and the regional Bureau of Land Management headquarters provide many of the higher paying salary job in an economy that otherwise would have to rely only on seasonal agricultural, tourism and lumber jobs. The Bureau of Land Management is landowner of 49% of the lands within the county. Tourism is a growing industry because of the county's many attractions which include Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, Hunter's Hot Springs, Goose Lake, Warner Canyon, hanggliding[15] and areas for rock hunting. Lake County is home to the Lakeview Hospital, and other regional health care facilities. It's also the location for The Warner Creek Correctional Facility opened in 2005 and is a 400-bed minimum security state prison. The prison employs an average of 110 correctional professionals and is located on a site comprising 91 acres (370,000 m2). The facility itself occupies less than 15 acres (61,000 m2) and utilizes approximately 117,000 sq ft (10,900 m2). of building space which includes areas for inmate housing, work and education programs, health services, food services, religious services, physical plant, warehouse and storage, vehicle maintenance, a laundry facility, recreational activities, administration and various other functions. A unique feature of the prison is its use of natural geothermal sources deep inside the Earth. The geothermally heated water is pumped up through a well and piped into a heat exchange unit where the heat is then transferred to the prison’s water-loop system. Once the heat has been transferred and the water has cooled, the water is re-injected back into the ground.[16] Two prisoners briefly escaped in 2008.[17] [edit] PoliticsThough Lake County is located in central Oregon, politically it falls in line with the eastern side of the state. The majority of registered voters who are part of a political party in Lake County, as well as most counties in eastern Oregon, are members of the Republican Party.[18] In the 2008 presidential election, 71.53% of Lake County voters voted for Republican John McCain, while 25.95% voted for Democrat Barack Obama and 1.53% of voters either voted for a Third Party candidate or wrote in a candidate.[19] These numbers show a small shift towards the Democratic candidate when compared to the 2004 presidential election, in which 77.8% of Lake Country voters voted for George W. Bush, while 20.5% voted for John Kerry, and 1.7% of voters either voted for a Third Party candidate or wrote in a candidate.[20]
[edit] GeographyAccording to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 8,358 square miles (21,650 km2), of which 8,136 square miles (21,070 km2) is land and 223 square miles (580 km2) (2.66%) are water. Lake County ranges in elevation from 4,130 to 8,446 feet (1,260 to 2,570 m).[6] The area includes alkali lakes high desert scrub, Juniper, Ponderosa Pine, and Lodgepole Pine forests in the hills and mountains. There are also several unusual geologic features and good areas for rockhounding and geological touring. [edit] Lakes
[edit] Adjacent counties
[edit] National protected areas
[edit] DemographicsAs of the census[31] of 2000, there were 7,422 people, 3,084 households, and 2,152 families residing in the county. The population density was 1 person per square mile (0/km²). There were 3,999 housing units at an average density of 0 per square mile (0/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.97% White, 0.13% Black or African American, 2.37% Native American, 0.71% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 3.19% from other races, and 2.48% from two or more races. 5.44% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 14.1% were of Irish, 14.0% United States or American, 13.8% German and 11.8% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 95.9% spoke English and 3.6% Spanish as their first language. There were 3,084 households out of which 29.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.60% were married couples living together, 7.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.20% were non-families. 26.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.84. In the county, the population was spread out with 24.90% under the age of 18, 5.10% from 18 to 24, 24.30% from 25 to 44, 28.10% from 45 to 64, and 17.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 100.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $29,506, and the median income for a family was $36,182. Males had a median income of $29,454 versus $23,475 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,136. About 13.40% of families and 16.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.40% of those under age 18 and 9.50% of those age 65 or over. [edit] Arts and culture[edit] Museums and other points of interestNorth Lake County includes many geological sites including the Fort Rock, a crater marked by wave activity in what was once an ice age lake bed, and the Fort Rock Homestead Village Museum. It's also a site where camel bones and Native American artifacts have been uncovered. The "world's oldest shoes" were found here in in 1938, changing the dates range scientists believed that humans inhabited the far west from 4,000 years ago.[32] Several subsequent discoveries of even older sandals in the northern Great Basin confirmed the importance of archaeologist Luther Cressman's work. For this find, and for other research that broke down standing theories about the nature of the prehistoric Northwest, Cressman became known as the father of Oregon archaeology. [32] Other sights in North Lake include the Lost Forest, Crack-in-the-ground, and Hole-in-the-ground[33] Oregon sunstones are found north of Plush.[34] Sunstone is Oregon's state gemstone. Other areas of interest include, Abert Lake and Abert Rim, Goose Lake, Hunter's Hot Springs and its Old Perpetual Geyser, Schminck Memorial Museum and Lake County Museum[35], Lake County Round-Up Museum, Schmink Museum, Warner Canyon ski area, Gearhart Mountain Wilderness, Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, Summer Lake Hot Springs, sunstones (Oregon's state gemstone) near Plush, Warner Wetlands [36][37], Summer Lake Wildlife Area[38] and sections of the Fremont National Forest of the Fremont–Winema National Forests. The Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge includes big-horn sheep, pronghorn antelope, sage grouse, predatory birds and migratory birds. The Lake County Examiner is located in Lakeview and has been published continuously since the late 1800s.[39] [edit] Media[edit] Newspapers[edit] Infrastructure[edit] Major highways[edit] PoliticsIn Presidential elections, Lake County has voted overwhelmingly Republican for decades. In the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, George W. Bush carried the county by a massive 57.3% margin over John Kerry, with Kerry carrying Oregon by 4.2% over Bush. In 2008, Lake County voted for John McCain by a 45.6% margin over Barack Obama, making it McCain's strongest county in Oregon, with Obama winning statewide by 16.4% over McCain.[40] A Democratic presidential candidate has not received more than 27% of its vote in the 5 elections 1992 through 2008.[41] [edit] Communities[edit] Incorporated cities[edit] Unincorporated communities[edit] References
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