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23-568: The Grande Ronde Valley is part of the Columbia River Plateau . The Columbia River Plateau was created by a series of basalt flood eruptions. These happen when a long crack in the Earth's crust spews floods of lava . The molten rock then hardens and creates layers of basalt . The Grande Ronde Valley floor began to sink from this plateau at a rate of about .07-.18 millimeters per year about nine million years ago. The Grande Ronde Valley floor

46-675: A prominent force until the Nibley-Stoddard mills were purchased or closed between 1920 and 1931. The influence of the Mormons in the area was limited, as all profits were sent to Utah , rather than staying with local businessmen. Many railroad efforts were begun, including the Grande Ronde and Walla Walla Railroad Company in 1872 by H. J. Mecham and James Hendershott, as well as an effort to connect to Dorsey S. Baker 's Walla Walla and Columbia River Railroad . The Grande Ronde and Walla Walla route

69-581: A record of passing through the area was left with a favorable impression. Early pioneers chose not to settle in the valley, perhaps because they were intent upon reaching the Willamette Valley, it was too far from a supply base, or they feared the Native Americans in the area. The first permanent settlement in the Grande Ronde Valley was not established until 1861. The first permanent settler in

92-493: A spur line from La Grande to Elgin . When the spur was completed, La Grande citizens paid $ 7,000 to OR&N. The first logging railroads in the valley were built in 1907 for the Hilgard Lumber Company and Mecham Lumber Company , both owned by Charles W. Nibley with partners J. F. Nibley and Merrill Nibley . These temporary lines were 4 to 7 miles (6.4 to 11.3 km) long. There are six ways to get in and out of

115-476: A thickness of more than 6,000 feet (1.8  km). As the molten rock came to the surface, the Earth's crust gradually sank into the space left by the rising lava. The Columbia River Basalt Group consists of seven formations: The Steens Basalt, Imnaha Basalt , Grande Ronde Basalt, Picture Gorge Basalt, Prineville Basalt, Wanapum Basalt, and Saddle Mountains Basalt. Many of these formations are subdivided into formal and informal members and flows. The subsidence of

138-652: Is a wide flood basalt plateau between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains , cut through by the Columbia River . During late Miocene and early Pliocene times, a flood basalt engulfed about 63,000 square miles (160,000 km ) of the Pacific Northwest, forming a large igneous province . Over a period of perhaps 10 to 15 million years, lava flow after lava flow poured out, ultimately accumulating to

161-555: Is also known as the Rawhide or Strap Iron Railroad. The nicknames come from the early days when the rail line used wooden rails. Strap iron was placed on top of the wooden rails to improve the longevity of the rails. The strap iron was secured in place by nails. Rawhide was used when a quick repair was needed to secure a snakehead. In 1881, the railroad came under the control of the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company (OR&N), and

184-468: Is at about 2,700 feet (820 m) above sea level. Its horizon is dominated by the Blue Mountains . Eagle Cap Wilderness is to the southeast. The highest nearby mountains are Mount Fanny to the east, with an elevation of 7,136 feet (2,175 m); Mount Harris to the northeast, elevation 5,335 feet (1,626 m); and Mount Emily to the northwest, elevation 6,110 feet (1,860 m). Communities within

207-487: Is melting rock beneath the Columbia Plateau Province at the base of the lithosphere (the layer of crust and upper mantle that forms Earth's moving tectonic plates). In an effort to figure out why this area, far from a plate boundary, had such an enormous outpouring of lava, scientists established hardening dates for many of the individual lava flows. They found that the youngest volcanic rocks were clustered near

230-416: The boundary between the core and mantle . The concentrated heat triggers a plume hundreds of kilometers in diameter that ascends directly through to the surface of the Earth. The track of this hot spot starts in the west and sweeps up to Yellowstone National Park . The steaming fumaroles and explosive geysers are ample evidence of a concentration of heat beneath the surface. The hotspot is stationary, but

253-535: The Columbia Plateau include: Idaho cities in the Columbia Plateau include: 45°59′58″N 119°00′05″W  /  45.99944°N 119.00139°W  / 45.99944; -119.00139 Walla Walla and Columbia River Railroad The Walla Walla and Columbia River Railroad was a 3 ft ( 914 mm ) narrow gauge railroad that operated a 46 miles (74 km) of track running east from Wallula , to Walla Walla, Washington , United States. It

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276-602: The Grande Ronde Valley was Benjamin Brown, an Englishman who had originally settled in Michigan . Not long after, the Leasey family and about 20 others settled there. Serving as a travelers inn, the settlement was originally named Brown's Fort, and then Browns Town or Brownsville. Since there was already a Brownsville in Linn County , the name was changed to La Grande. Early settlements were in

299-417: The Grande Ronde Valley. [REDACTED] Media related to Grande Ronde Valley at Wikimedia Commons 45°21′46″N 117°57′18″W  /  45.36278°N 117.95500°W  / 45.36278; -117.95500 Columbia River Plateau The Columbia Plateau is an important geologic and geographic region that lies across parts of the U.S. states of Washington , Oregon , and Idaho . It

322-546: The North American plate is moving over it, creating a superb record of the rate and direction of plate motion. Part of the Columbia Plateau is associated with the Columbia Plateau ecoregion , part of the "Nearctic temperate and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands" ecoregion of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome . Washington cities in the Columbia Plateau include: Oregon cities in

345-463: The Yellowstone Plateau and that the farther west they went, the older the lavas. Although scientists are still gathering evidence, a probable explanation is that a hot spot , an extremely hot plume of deep mantle material, is rising to the surface beneath the Columbia Plateau Province. Beneath Hawaii and Iceland , a temperature instability develops (for reasons not yet well understood) at

368-542: The bountiful Grande Ronde Valley. Here they would forage, hunt, fish, and bathe in hot springs. Tribes that may have been hostile toward each other would live together harmoniously in the "Valley of Peace". The Astor Expedition passed through the valley in 1811, and it was a waypoint along the Oregon Trail . Since the 1840s, settlers headed toward the Willamette Valley would pass through it. Every traveler who left

391-534: The continuing presence of emigrants from the Oregon Trail, and the discovery of gold mines in the surrounding area, including at Baker in 1861 and the Powder River Mines in 1862. Mormons were attracted to the valley after an 1889 business trip by David Eccles , Charles W. Nibley , and George Stoddard , who set up businesses in the area. Mormons followed and settled in the valley after then, and remained

414-482: The crust produced a large, slightly depressed lava plateau. The ancient Columbia River was forced into its present course by the northwesterly advancing lava. The lava, as it flowed over the area, first filled the stream valleys, forming dams that in turn caused impoundments or lakes. Entities found in these lake beds include fossil leaf impressions, petrified wood , fossil insects, and bones of vertebrate animals. Evidence suggests that some concentrated heat source

437-493: The hub in mud." Two routes were proposed to exit the valley eastward, one that would put the railroad close to Union, and one that would put it close to La Grande. Both towns wanted the railroad, so a competition developed with both towns trying to please the engineers sent to survey the routes. Eventually the La Grande route was chosen. The railroad was completed in 1884. The Oregon Railway and Navigation Company (OR&N) built

460-429: The more arable northern parts of the valley, as the southern end was subject to flooding, swampy, and contained alkaline soil . In 1862, Conrad Miller settled the opposite side of the valley. This settlement grew into the city of Union, the second largest community in the Grande Ronde Valley. Island City, Cove, and Summerville were not far behind. Many factors contributed to the growth of the valley. Some of these were

483-503: The valley include Cove , Imbler , Island City , La Grande , Summerville , and Union . The Grande Ronde River flows through the valley; its tributaries include Catherine , Fir, Ladd, Little, Mill, Pyles, and Willow creeks. Eastern Oregon and the surrounding area was a haven for many Native American tribes. Many of these tribes, including the Nez Perce , Cayuse , Umatilla , Walla Walla , and Shoshone , would spend their summers in

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506-468: The whole enterprise was surrendered to Henry Villard and his Oregon Railway and Navigation Company . The Oregon Railway and Navigation lines were to be joined to the Oregon Short Line and Union Pacific at Huntington , causing the valley to no longer be connected by difficult wagon roads. As one pioneer woman in the area wrote, "No more big, heavily loaded freight wagons with their wheels buried to

529-577: Was to be 80 miles (130 km) long but was never completed, and the connection from Walla Walla to the Columbia River covered 33 miles (53 km) and took six years to complete. In 1878, several La Grande residents spearheaded an effort to build a railroad from La Grande to the Columbia River at Umatilla . They organized a company, called the Columbia River and Blue Mountain Railroad Company, and sent teams to Umatilla to begin grading. In 1879,

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