Wallowa County, Oregon

Wallowa County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat:
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Court House:

101 S. River
Enterprise, OR 97828
Clerk: (541) 426-4543 Ext. 15
Courts: (541) 426-4991

Named: The Wallowa Mountains are an important geographical feature of the county. They are unlike other mountain ranges in the state due to their granitic rather than volcanic origin. They take their name from the Wallowa River that is formed by the confluence of the east and west forks about a mile south of Wallowa Lake and eventually flows into the Grande Ronde River. Wallowa is a Nez Perce word for "fish trap."

State & County QuickFacts:

History

Wallowa County was established on February 11, 1887, out of the eastern portion of Union County. It is the northeastern most county of Oregon. Subsequent boundary changes occurred in 1890, 1900, and 1915 when land was acquired from or transferred to Union County. Wallowa County is now bounded on the north by the State of Washington, on the east by the Snake River which is the boundary with the State of Idaho, on the south by Baker County, and on the west by Union County. The county's area is 3,153 square miles. Its 2000 population of 7,226 was an increase of 4.56% over 1990.

In 1877 the younger Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, incensed at the government's attempt to deprive his people of the Wallowa Valley, refused to be moved to an Idaho reservation. Several regiments of United States troops were dispatched to force him onto the reservation. After a number of battles and a thousand-mile retreat, Chief Joseph was compelled to surrender. He and the remnants of his band were removed to Oklahoma and later were relocated to a reservation in Washington State.

The Wallowa Mountains are an important geographical feature of the county. They are unlike other mountain ranges in the state due to their granitic rather than volcanic origin. They take their name from the Wallowa River that is formed by the confluence of the east and west forks about a mile south of Wallowa Lake and eventually flows into the Grande Ronde River. Wallowa is a Nez Perce word for "fish trap."

The City of Enterprise serves as the county seat. The City of Joseph was named the interim county seat until a general election chose Enterprise as the county seat in 1888. A proposition to contribute to the building of a county courthouse by sixty citizens was turned down by the county court in 1899. It was not until 1909 that a courthouse was built. Constructed of native stone the building continues to house county offices. Enterprise, in addition to being the county seat, is the Wallowa Valley's trade center for ranchers and has local offices for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

County government consists of a county court made up of a county judge and two commissioners. Other offices include clerk, sheriff, assessor, treasurer, and surveyor.

Principal industries in Wallowa County are agriculture, livestock, lumber, tourism, and recreation.

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County Resource Guide

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we’ve given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the “characteristic features of our country!”

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn’t the only reason to explore counties’ role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today’s counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990’s political slogan “Think globally, act locally.”

Penn Foster High School

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