Owyhee River
Owyhee River | |
---|---|
![]() The Owyhee River | |
![]() Map of the Owyhee River watershed | |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Nevada, Idaho, Oregon |
City | Rome, Oregon |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Near Wild Horse |
• location | Elko County, Nevada |
• coordinates | 41°30′17″N 115°44′30″W / 41.50472°N 115.74167°W[1] |
• elevation | 6,860 ft (2,090 m) |
Mouth | Snake River |
• location | Canyon County, Idaho/Malheur County, Oregon |
• coordinates | 43°48′46″N 117°01′32″W / 43.81278°N 117.02556°W[1] |
• elevation | 2,185 ft (666 m)[1] |
Length | 280 mi (450 km)[2] |
Basin size | 11,049 sq mi (28,620 km2) |
Discharge | |
• location | Owyhee, OR, 1 mi (1.6 km) from the mouth[3] |
• average | 1,146 cu ft/s (32.5 m3/s)[3] |
• minimum | 3.2 cu ft/s (0.091 m3/s) |
• maximum | 29,000 cu ft/s (820 m3/s) |
Type | Wild |
Designated | March 30, 2009 |
The Owyhee River is a tributary of the Snake River located in northern Nevada, southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon in the United States. It is 280 miles (450 km) long.[2][4] The river's
The Owyhee drains a remote area of the arid plateau region immediately north of the Great Basin, rising in northeastern Nevada and flowing generally northward near the 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.[6]
History of the name
The watershed of the river was part of region inhabited by the Shoshone and Bannock Native Americans. The name of the river is from the older spelling of "Hawaii".[7] It was named for three Native Hawaiian trappers, in the employ of the North West Company, who were sent to explore the uncharted river. They failed to return to the rendezvous near the Boise River and were never seen again. Due to this the river and its region were named "Owyhee".[6]
About one-third of the men with
History
Mining
![Owyhee River through Mountain City, Nevada](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/2013-06-16_15_39_56_View_south_across_the_Owyhee_River_as_it_flows_past_Mountain_City_in_Nevada_and_Nevada_State_Route_225.jpg/220px-2013-06-16_15_39_56_View_south_across_the_Owyhee_River_as_it_flows_past_Mountain_City_in_Nevada_and_Nevada_State_Route_225.jpg)
The discovery of gold and silver in the region in 1863 resulted in a temporary influx of miners and the establishment of mining camps, most of which have long since disappeared. The initial discovery was along
Death of Sacagawea's son
In 1866 the son of
Course
The source of the Owyhee River is in northeastern Nevada, in northern
The Owyhee River then enters extreme southeast Oregon in southern Malheur County, generally flowing north in a zigzag course west of the Idaho border. It merges with the West Little Owyhee River[10] from the south, then receives the Middle Fork Owyhee River[11] and North Fork Owyhee River[12] from the east at a location known as "Three Forks." It then passes through the Owyhee Canyon between Big Grassy Mountain and Whitehouse Butte, then turns north, flowing east of Burns Junction and then west of Mahogany Mountain. In this area the Owyhee River receives the tributaries of Jordan Creek, Rattlesnake Creek, and Crooked Creek.
The Owyhee River enters the Snake River from the west on the Oregon–Idaho border approximately 5 miles (8 km) south of Nyssa, Oregon, and 2 miles (3 km) south of the mouth of the Boise River. The final stretch of the river, below Owyhee Dam, emerges from the Owyhee Plateau and enters the Snake River Plain.
River modifications
In northern Malheur County, approximately 20 miles (32 km) upstream from its mouth on the Snake, the Owyhee River is impounded by the
Protected areas
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/Owyhee_River_Canyon.jpeg/170px-Owyhee_River_Canyon.jpeg)
In 1984, the United States Congress designated 120 miles (190 km) of the river as Owyhee Wild and Scenic River under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 to preserve the river in its free-flowing condition. Part of the designation includes the section of the river downstream from the Owyhee Dam, where the river flows through a remote section of deeply incised canyons surrounded by high canyon rims that are habitat for mountain lion, bobcat, mule deer, California bighorn sheep, and a large variety of raptors.
The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 designated 323,274 acres (130,824 ha) on and around the Owyhee River in Idaho as wilderness.[13] The bill was signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 30, 2009.[14] The new wilderness areas are:
- North Fork Owyhee Wilderness - 43,413 acres (17,569 ha)
- Owyhee River Wilderness - 267,328 acres (108,184 ha)
- Pole Creek Wilderness - 12,533 acres (5,072 ha)
After negotiations involving Oregon senators
Tributaries
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Owyhee_River%2C_with_Three_Forks_Recreation_Site%2C_Oregon.jpg/220px-Owyhee_River%2C_with_Three_Forks_Recreation_Site%2C_Oregon.jpg)
- The McDermitt, Nevada. Approximately 57 miles (92 km) in length, the river flows east by Deer Flat and into Louse Canyon. Near a prominent feature known as Twin Buttes, it turns sharply north as it cuts through the Owyhee Desert, making its way to the Owyhee River.[19]
- The Lake Fork West Owyhee River is a short tributary of the West Little Owyhee River that begins near Cat, Bend, and Pedroli springs near the eastern boundary of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation in southern Malheur County. It flows generally northeast to meet the larger river in Louse Canyon. The Lake Fork has no named tributaries.[20]
- The South Fork Owyhee River. Beginning at an elevation of 6,739 feet (2,054 m)[21] east of the Santa Rosa Range in eastern Humboldt County, Nevada, it flows generally east into Elko County, Nevada and the Owyhee Desert.[22]
- Blue Creek is a 53-mile (85 km) long[16] tributary that begins at an elevation of 6,097 feet (1,858 m)[21] in central Owyhee County, it flows generally south through the Owyhee Desert and near the community of Riddle, where it is roughly paralleled by Idaho State Highway 51. It then flows into the Duck Valley Indian Reservation to its mouth near the Idaho/Nevada border northwest of Owyhee, Nevada,[23] at an elevation of 5,289 feet (1,612 m).[24]
See also
- Green Dragon Canyon
- List of Idaho rivers
- List of longest streams of Idaho
- List of longest streams of Oregon
- List of National Wild and Scenic Rivers
- List of Nevada rivers
- List of rivers of Oregon
- Owyhee
References
- ^ a b c "Owyhee River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
- ^ a b Owyhee River [1], accessed November 3, 2019
- ^ a b "USGS Gage #13184000 on the Owyhee River at Owyhee, OR". National Water Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. 1890–1986. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
- ^ "Table of Tributary Rivers". snakeriverwaterkeeper.org. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ^ Willamette Subbasin Plan Archived 2012-02-13 at the Wayback Machine, Northwest Power and Conservation Council
- ^ a b c d e Owyhee Subbasin Plan Archived 2007-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, Northwest Power and Conservation Council
- ^ Reed, Ione (December 25, 1971). "What, Indeed, Is in a Name?". Eugene Register-Guard. p. 8. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ See Alexander Ross's Fur Hunters of the Far West, the Journals of Peter Skene Ogden and the Kittson map published with Ogden's journals by the Hudson's Bay Records Society.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Little Owyhee River
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: West Little Owyhee River
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Middle Fork Owyhee River
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: North Fork Owyhee River
- ^ "Resources". Owyhee Initiative. January 24, 2011. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
- ^ "Obama signs public lands reform bill". CNN. March 30, 2009. Archived from the original on March 31, 2009. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
- ^ "Senators seek to protect Owyhee River, 'Grand Canyon of Oregon'". 8 November 2019.
- ^ a b c "National Hydrography Dataset". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved September 3, 2010.
- ISBN 0-89933-235-8.
- ISBN 0-89933-284-6.
- ^ "West Little Owyhee River, Oregon". www.rivers.gov. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "United States Topographic Map". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved December 22, 2015 – via Acme Mapper.
- ^ a b Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.
- ^ "Little Owyhee River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. June 21, 1979. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
- OCLC 567571371.
- ^ "Blue Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. June 21, 1979. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
External links
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