Stockman's paradise
By Steve Lent, Crook County Historian
In 1866 Elisha Barnes traveled alone from Linn County to look over the possibilities of Central Oregon. He visited the Ochoco Valley and liked what he found and returned the following year to the Ochoco country with several of his friends: Wayne Claypool, William Smith, Ewen Johnson, Raymond Burkhart and George Barnes, his son.
They built the first cabin along Mill Creek near the confluence with Ochoco Creek. This was the beginning of the first settlement of Central Oregon. George Barnes later described the area as a stockman's paradise with plentiful grass and water.
Raiding Indians still roamed the region and the small group of settlers found themselves in a precarious position when a group of Indians entered the valley while they were cutting wood. They had left their guns at the cabin and hid themselves as the band raided and burned the cabin. They were then stranded without supplies, guns or shelter. They had also lost their horses to the Indians. The men set out on foot for the Warm Springs Indian Agency as it was the only established settlement in the region at the time. They got assistance at the agency and managed to cross over the mountains and regroup. They soon returned as Indian leader Paulina was killed in 1867 and raiding began to decline.
The vicinity had been settled relatively late as most immigrants were looking for Donation Land claims in the Willamette Valley and gold was never a major attracting force in Central Oregon. The lush grasslands of the region soon attracted other settlers. The first school in Central Oregon was a log building constructed near the Claypool cabin at the confluence of Ochoco Creek and Mill Creek in 1868.
The first settlement of Central Oregon had begun and soon there was a rush to the vicinity to take advantage of the great opportunities for stock raising.