Stone Bridge and the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road
Encyclopedia
The Stone Bridge is a causeway
built by the United States Army
in 1867. It crosses the marshy channel that connects Hart Lake and Crump Lake in a remote area of Lake County
in eastern Oregon
, United States
. It was later incorporated into the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road which was completed in 1872. The wagon road eventually became the subject of scandal and litigation ending with a United States Supreme Court decision in 1893. The Stone Bridge and the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1974. Today, the Stone Bridge is located on land claimed by the State of Oregon under riparian rights. The wagon road adjacent to the Stone Bridge is owned by the United States Government and is administered by Bureau of Land Management
.
selected a site along Honey Creek on the west side of the Warner Lakes in what is today Lake County, Oregon. In 1866, a unit of the 14 Infantry Regiment was sent from Fort Boise
to establish the fort. The 14 Infantry came by way of Fort Harney
, arriving on the east side of the Warner Lakes in late summer. The Army was unable to cross the chain of lakes which stretched more than seventy miles north to south. After several skirmishes with Indians, the soldiers decided to build Camp Warner on the east side of the lakes. The camp was sited poorly and its construction was hasty. As a result, the men had a very difficult winter, losing one sergeant who froze to death during a snow storm.
In the spring of 1867, the 14 Infantry was replaced by a company of the 23 Infantry Regiment
. In February, General George Crook
visited Camp Warner. Crook directed that the camp be moved to the Honey Creek site west of the lakes. To get the Army’s wagons and equipment across the Warner wetlands, forty men under the command of Captain James Henton were assigned to build a bridge across a narrow, marshy channel between Hart Lake and Crump Lake. Shortly after the bridge was begun a second detachment was sent ahead to construct the new fort. The bridge was completed that summer and the soldiers moved into the new camp, which was named Fort Warner.
By 1869, the Indian raids in south-central Oregon had ended and a treaty had been signed. With no Indian raiders left in the area, Fort Warner was abandoned in 1874. While the fort is gone, the Stone Bridge the Army built to cross the Warner wetlands still exists.
The Stone Bridge is actually a quarter mile long causeway
rather than a traditional bridge
. It was constructed by hauling basalt
boulders and smaller rocks from nearby Hart Mountain
and dumping them into the marsh. When it was completed, the causeway was probably several feet above the water level and was wide enough for wagons to pass over it.
The Army abandoned the crossing in 1874 when it closed Fort Warner and left the area. In the meantime, the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road had begun using the Stone Bridge to cross the Warner Lakes. However, the road company never maintained it. After the military road was abandoned, local ranchers used the causeway as a cattle crossing for many years. Eventually, the causeway settled into the soft marshy ground, disappearing beneath the water. Today, the Stone Bridge is completely underwater except during periods of drought. As a result, it is very difficult to find.
awarded land grants to the State of Oregon to pass on to companies constructing military wagon roads. The roads were intended to facilitate the movement of Army units within the state and promote settlement along the routes. Congress eventually authorized the construction of five military wagon roads in Oregon. The first military road was approved by Congress on 2 July 1865. Known as the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road, it was to run from Eugene, Oregon
to Fort Boise in Idaho
.
The Civil War
had drained the United States treasury
and the State of Oregon did not have a tax base sufficient to support road construction so the government financed the military road projects with land grants. Private companies were specifically chartered to construct the roads. Congress allowed the construction companies to claim three sections of land for every mile of road they built, every odd numbered section in a swath covering three miles (5 km) on either side of the road. As ten-mile (16 km) sections of road were completed, the companies could claim up to thirty sections of land along the route as payment. Once the tracts were patented
, the company could sell or lease the land to recover the cost of construction and create profits for its investors.
As a result, road surveyors laid out routes designed to pass through as much well watered, desirable land as possible. For example, when the Oregon Central military road reached the summit of the Cascade Mountains, it did not head due east toward Fort Boise; instead, it turned south through the upper Deschutes River country into the Klamath Basin
. It then followed the Williamson
and Sprague Rivers, claiming large parts of the Klamath Indian Reservation. The Oregon Central road meandered through the Goose Lake Valley
, the Warner Valley
, the Harney Basin
, and the Pueblo Valley, securing thousands of acres of valuable grazing land before finally turning north toward Fort Boise.
that the road was complete. This allowed the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road Company to claim property along the route. However, most of the Oregon Central roadway was nothing more than a rudimentary trail.
In reality, the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road was a giant scam
, designed to acquire public lands at little or no cost to the road company’s investors. Nevertheless, the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road Company claimed a total of 875196 acres (3,541.8 km²) of public land. The company was able to patent 235568 acres (953.3 km²) before law suits ended the fraud. Legal disputes kept the ownership of these lands in question for decades, preventing honest settlers from claiming land grants for farms and ranches. In addition, the company paid no taxes while the land claims were disputed. At the same time, the value of the land and its timber, minerals, and grazing potential continued to increase as the property rights were passed from one investor group to the next. Finally, newspaper reports of the fraud compelled Congress to investigate. This led to a major court case, known as the United States versus the California and Oregon Land Company. That case was decided by the United States Supreme Court on 6 March 1893. As a result, the United States Government was able to reclaim the unpatented lands; however, title to patented lands remained in private hands.
Eventually, the land passed into the hands of the Oregon Valley Land Company, which subdivided
it into 14,000 lots and parcels. The property was finally sold in a nationally advertised auction held in Lakeview, Oregon
in 1909. The company sold a total of 340000 acres (1,375.9 km²). Many of the properties included a separate lot in the town of Lakeview along with the rural land purchase. Many buyers bid on land without actually seeing it. As a result, the company was able to sell thousands of acres of dry, worthless land during their week long auction. As a result, very few purchasers ever lived on their property or received economic benefits from it.
.
At that point, the original road headed south through northern Klamath County
past what is now the community of Chemult
. It followed the Williamson and Sprague Rivers before turning east into Lake County. The road road passed over Drews Gap
and followed Drews Creek through the north end of the Goose Lake Valley
, along what is Oregon Route 140 today.
It then crossed the Warner Mountains
and entered the Warner Valley, crossing over the Warner Lakes at the Stone Bridge between Crump Lake and Hart Lake. The road continued south of Hart Mountain, through what is today the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge
. The road crossed the Catlow Valley and then Steens Mountain
. It continued through Harney County
, entering Malheur County
near the Whitehorse Ranch on the east side of the Pueblo Valley. From there the road follows Crooked Creek northeast, passing near what is now Rome, Oregon
. From there it ran along Jordan Creek to Silver City, Idaho
.
Causeway
In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...
built by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in 1867. It crosses the marshy channel that connects Hart Lake and Crump Lake in a remote area of Lake County
Lake County, Oregon
Lake County is a county in the high desert south central region of the U.S. state of Oregon, so named for the many lakes found within its boundaries, including Lake Abert, Hart Lake Reservoir, and Goose Lake. While Lake is among Oregon's largest counties, it is sparsely populated with 7,895...
in eastern Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was later incorporated into the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road which was completed in 1872. The wagon road eventually became the subject of scandal and litigation ending with a United States Supreme Court decision in 1893. The Stone Bridge and the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1974. Today, the Stone Bridge is located on land claimed by the State of Oregon under riparian rights. The wagon road adjacent to the Stone Bridge is owned by the United States Government and is administered by Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
.
Camp Warner
In 1865, the Army decided it needed a fort near the Warner Lakes to facilitate the interdiction of Indian raiding parties passing through the area. Army scouts from Fort VancouverFort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...
selected a site along Honey Creek on the west side of the Warner Lakes in what is today Lake County, Oregon. In 1866, a unit of the 14 Infantry Regiment was sent from Fort Boise
Fort Boise
Fort Boise refers to two different locations in southwestern Idaho. The first was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post near the Snake River on the Oregon border, dating from the era when Idaho was part of the fur company's Columbia District. After several rebuilds, it was ultimately abandoned in...
to establish the fort. The 14 Infantry came by way of Fort Harney
Fort Harney
Fort Harney was a United States Army outpost in eastern Oregon, United States. It was name in honor of Brigadier General William S. Harney. Fort Harney was used as a supply depot and administrative headquarters from 1867 to 1880 during the Army's campaign against Northern Paiute bands in Eastern...
, arriving on the east side of the Warner Lakes in late summer. The Army was unable to cross the chain of lakes which stretched more than seventy miles north to south. After several skirmishes with Indians, the soldiers decided to build Camp Warner on the east side of the lakes. The camp was sited poorly and its construction was hasty. As a result, the men had a very difficult winter, losing one sergeant who froze to death during a snow storm.
In the spring of 1867, the 14 Infantry was replaced by a company of the 23 Infantry Regiment
23rd Infantry Regiment (United States)
The 23rd Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment in the United States Army originally formed on June 26th 1812. The 23rd saw action in 14 battles during the War of 1812...
. In February, General George Crook
George Crook
George R. Crook was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.-Early life:...
visited Camp Warner. Crook directed that the camp be moved to the Honey Creek site west of the lakes. To get the Army’s wagons and equipment across the Warner wetlands, forty men under the command of Captain James Henton were assigned to build a bridge across a narrow, marshy channel between Hart Lake and Crump Lake. Shortly after the bridge was begun a second detachment was sent ahead to construct the new fort. The bridge was completed that summer and the soldiers moved into the new camp, which was named Fort Warner.
By 1869, the Indian raids in south-central Oregon had ended and a treaty had been signed. With no Indian raiders left in the area, Fort Warner was abandoned in 1874. While the fort is gone, the Stone Bridge the Army built to cross the Warner wetlands still exists.
Bridge structure
The Stone Bridge was the first large structure built in the south-central part of Oregon. It was constructed between 16 May and 24 July 1867 by forty men from the 23 Infantry Regiment under the supervision of Captain James Henton. The site chosen for the bridge was a narrow marsh that connects Hart Lake and Crump Lake, two large lakes at the southern end of the seventy-mile long chain of lakes and wetlands known as Warner Lakes.The Stone Bridge is actually a quarter mile long causeway
Causeway
In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...
rather than a traditional bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
. It was constructed by hauling basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
boulders and smaller rocks from nearby Hart Mountain
Hart Mountain
Hart Mountain is a fault-block mountain, in Lake County, Oregon, USA. It lies about to the east of Lakeview.It is sometimes confused with a mountain range, but is more properly described as one mountain. The two highest peaks are Warner Peak and Hart Peak.The top of the mountain is part of the...
and dumping them into the marsh. When it was completed, the causeway was probably several feet above the water level and was wide enough for wagons to pass over it.
The Army abandoned the crossing in 1874 when it closed Fort Warner and left the area. In the meantime, the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road had begun using the Stone Bridge to cross the Warner Lakes. However, the road company never maintained it. After the military road was abandoned, local ranchers used the causeway as a cattle crossing for many years. Eventually, the causeway settled into the soft marshy ground, disappearing beneath the water. Today, the Stone Bridge is completely underwater except during periods of drought. As a result, it is very difficult to find.
Road construction
Between 1865 and 1869, the United States CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
awarded land grants to the State of Oregon to pass on to companies constructing military wagon roads. The roads were intended to facilitate the movement of Army units within the state and promote settlement along the routes. Congress eventually authorized the construction of five military wagon roads in Oregon. The first military road was approved by Congress on 2 July 1865. Known as the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road, it was to run from Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
to Fort Boise in Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
.
The Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
had drained the United States treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
and the State of Oregon did not have a tax base sufficient to support road construction so the government financed the military road projects with land grants. Private companies were specifically chartered to construct the roads. Congress allowed the construction companies to claim three sections of land for every mile of road they built, every odd numbered section in a swath covering three miles (5 km) on either side of the road. As ten-mile (16 km) sections of road were completed, the companies could claim up to thirty sections of land along the route as payment. Once the tracts were patented
Land patent
A land patent is a land grant made patent by the sovereign lord over the land in question. To make a such a grant “patent”, such a sovereign lord must document the land grant, securely sign and seal the document and openly publish the same to the public for all to see...
, the company could sell or lease the land to recover the cost of construction and create profits for its investors.
As a result, road surveyors laid out routes designed to pass through as much well watered, desirable land as possible. For example, when the Oregon Central military road reached the summit of the Cascade Mountains, it did not head due east toward Fort Boise; instead, it turned south through the upper Deschutes River country into the Klamath Basin
Klamath Basin
The Klamath Basin is the region in the U.S. states of Oregon and California drained by the Klamath River. It contains most of Klamath County and parts of Lake and Jackson counties in Oregon, and parts of Del Norte, Humboldt, Modoc, Siskiyou, and Trinity counties in California. The drainage basin...
. It then followed the Williamson
Williamson River (Oregon)
The Williamson River of south-central Oregon in the United States is about long. It drains about east of the Cascade Range. Together with its principal tributary, the Sprague River, it provides over half the inflow to Upper Klamath Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Oregon...
and Sprague Rivers, claiming large parts of the Klamath Indian Reservation. The Oregon Central road meandered through the Goose Lake Valley
Goose Lake Valley
The Goose Lake Valley is located in south-central Oregon and northeastern California, United States. It is a high valley at the northwestern corner of North America’s basin and range province. Much of the valley floor is covered by Goose Lake, a large endorheic lake that straddles the...
, the Warner Valley
Warner Valley
The Warner Valley is located in south-central Oregon, United States. It is a remote valley at the northwestern corner of North America’s Basin and Range Province. The valley is home to a chain of lakes and wetlands, known as Warner Lakes. The Warner Valley was used by Native Americans for...
, the Harney Basin
Harney Basin
The Harney Basin is a structural basin in southeastern Oregon in the United States at the northwestern corner of the Great Basin. One of the least populated areas of the contiguous United States, it is located largely in northern Harney County, bounded on the north and east by the Columbia Plateau,...
, and the Pueblo Valley, securing thousands of acres of valuable grazing land before finally turning north toward Fort Boise.
Scandal and litigation
On 12 January 1870, Oregon’s Governor, George L. Woods, certified to the United States Secretary of the InteriorUnited States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
that the road was complete. This allowed the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road Company to claim property along the route. However, most of the Oregon Central roadway was nothing more than a rudimentary trail.
In reality, the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road was a giant scam
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
, designed to acquire public lands at little or no cost to the road company’s investors. Nevertheless, the Oregon Central Military Wagon Road Company claimed a total of 875196 acres (3,541.8 km²) of public land. The company was able to patent 235568 acres (953.3 km²) before law suits ended the fraud. Legal disputes kept the ownership of these lands in question for decades, preventing honest settlers from claiming land grants for farms and ranches. In addition, the company paid no taxes while the land claims were disputed. At the same time, the value of the land and its timber, minerals, and grazing potential continued to increase as the property rights were passed from one investor group to the next. Finally, newspaper reports of the fraud compelled Congress to investigate. This led to a major court case, known as the United States versus the California and Oregon Land Company. That case was decided by the United States Supreme Court on 6 March 1893. As a result, the United States Government was able to reclaim the unpatented lands; however, title to patented lands remained in private hands.
Eventually, the land passed into the hands of the Oregon Valley Land Company, which subdivided
Subdivision (land)
Subdivision is the act of dividing land into pieces that are easier to sell or otherwise develop, usually via a plat. The former single piece as a whole is then known in the United States as a subdivision...
it into 14,000 lots and parcels. The property was finally sold in a nationally advertised auction held in Lakeview, Oregon
Lakeview, Oregon
Lakeview is a city in Lake County, Oregon, United States. The population was 2,294 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Lake County. Although it is an incorporated city, the municipal government refers to the community as "The Town of Lakeview", and bills itself as "Tallest Town in Oregon"...
in 1909. The company sold a total of 340000 acres (1,375.9 km²). Many of the properties included a separate lot in the town of Lakeview along with the rural land purchase. Many buyers bid on land without actually seeing it. As a result, the company was able to sell thousands of acres of dry, worthless land during their week long auction. As a result, very few purchasers ever lived on their property or received economic benefits from it.
Route
The Oregon Central Military Wagon Road was a circuitous 420 miles (675.9 km) wagon trace designed to capture government land grants rather than link destinations. Today, Oregon Route 58 (also known as the Willamette Pass Highway) follow the first leg of the Oregon Central military road from Eugene over the Cascades to Central OregonCentral Oregon
Central Oregon is a geographic region in the U.S. state of Oregon and is traditionally considered to be made up of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties. Other definitions include larger areas, often encompassing areas to the north towards the Columbia River, eastward towards Burns, or south...
.
At that point, the original road headed south through northern Klamath County
Klamath County, Oregon
-National protected areas:* Bear Valley National Wildlife Refuge* Crater Lake National Park * Deschutes National Forest * Fremont National Forest * Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge* Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge...
past what is now the community of Chemult
Chemult, Oregon
Chemult is an unincorporated community in Klamath County, Oregon, United States, on U.S. Route 97. Chemult has a population of about 300 people. Chemult's elevation is ....
. It followed the Williamson and Sprague Rivers before turning east into Lake County. The road road passed over Drews Gap
Drews Gap
Drews Gap is a mountain pass in the U.S. state of Oregon traversed by Oregon Route 140. It is named for Major Charles S. Drew of the 1st Oregon Cavalry, who surveyed a route from Fort Klamath east to the Owyhee River in 1864 that became the Oregon Central Military Road.It is located between Drews...
and followed Drews Creek through the north end of the Goose Lake Valley
Goose Lake (Oregon-California)
Goose Lake is a large alkaline glacial lake located in the Goose Lake Valley on the Oregon-California border. The north end of the lake is in Lake County, Oregon and the south end is in Modoc County, California. The mountains at the north end of the lake are part of the Fremont National Forest...
, along what is Oregon Route 140 today.
It then crossed the Warner Mountains
Warner Mountains
The Warner Mountains are an 85-mile-long mountain range running north-south through northeastern California and extending into southern Oregon in the United States...
and entered the Warner Valley, crossing over the Warner Lakes at the Stone Bridge between Crump Lake and Hart Lake. The road continued south of Hart Mountain, through what is today the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge
Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge
Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge on Hart Mountain in southeastern Oregon, which protects more than and more than 300 species of wildlife, including pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, mule deer, sage grouse, and redband trout...
. The road crossed the Catlow Valley and then Steens Mountain
Steens Mountain
Steens Mountain is a large fault-block mountain in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. Located in Harney County, it stretches some and rises from an elevation of about above the Alvord Desert to its peak at...
. It continued through Harney County
Harney County, Oregon
-National protected areas:*Malheur National Forest *Malheur National Wildlife Refuge*Ochoco National Forest -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 7,609 people, 3,036 households, and 2,094 families residing in the county. The population density was 1 people per square mile...
, entering Malheur County
Malheur County, Oregon
Malheur County is a county located in the southeast corner of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is included in the eight-county definition of Eastern Oregon. Most of the county observes the Mountain Time Zone, although the southern quarter of the county observes the Pacific Time Zone along with the...
near the Whitehorse Ranch on the east side of the Pueblo Valley. From there the road follows Crooked Creek northeast, passing near what is now Rome, Oregon
Rome, Oregon
Rome is an unincorporated community in Malheur County, Oregon, United States, part of the Ontario, OR–ID Micropolitan Statistical Area. In the sparsely populated high desert of southeastern Oregon, Rome is immediately west of the Owyhee River on US-95, approximately 12 miles northeast of...
. From there it ran along Jordan Creek to Silver City, Idaho
Silver City, Idaho
Silver City is a ghost town in Owyhee County, Idaho, United States. At its height in the 1880s it was a gold and silver mining town with a population of around 2,500 and approximately 75 businesses. Silver City served as county seat of Owyhee County from 1867 to 1934. Today, the town has about 70...
.