In Memory Of:
Elsie Mitchell Age 26
Dick Patzke Age 14
Jay Gifford Age 13
Edward Engen Age 13
Joan Patzke Age 13
Sherman Shoemaker Age 11
Who Died Here
May 5, 1945
By
Japanese Bomb Explosion
Only Place On The
American . . . — — Map (db m112534) HM WM
Pinus ponderosa
When a Japanese balloon bomb exploded at
this site, Elsie Mitchell and her Sunday school
class of five children, out on an early spring
fishing outing, were killed. They were the only
World War II casualties to occur . . . — — Map (db m112595) HM
The history of the west is linked with the idea of finding a new home in a challenging land. We call it homesteading.
During the Pleistocene epoch, homesteaders in the Fort Rock Basin were mammoths, camels, horses, flamingos, and . . . — — Map (db m113604) HM
The Homestead Act of 1862 inspired thousands to seek land in the West. The law allowed heads of households, widows, and all single people over 21 years old to purchase 160 acres at $1.25 per acre, or by paying a $15 filing fee after 5 years of . . . — — Map (db m113592) HM
“Reuben Long, has lived on the desert all his life, taking the cold, the wind, and the pitiless summer sun, and giving back gentleness and understanding.
He is known to thousands as a desert philosopher, with wit and wisdom far beyond . . . — — Map (db m113572) HM
Fort Rock, towering above you to the north and west, is one of Oregon's most interesting geologic features.
Geologists believe it was formed near the end of the Ice Age some 10,000 to 12,000 years ago during a period of frequent volcanic . . . — — Map (db m113575) HM
Fort Rock is the remnant of a maar volcano or tuff ring, formed when rising basaltic magma encountered water and exploded violently. The exploded debris – called tuff – fell back to earth around the volcanic vent to form this . . . — — Map (db m113585) HM
The Fort Rock Grange was organized in 1930 during the great
depression, a time of hardship, drought, and struggle for those living
in the Fort Rock Valley. There were 17 charter members, whose
names hang on the north wall of the main hall. . . . — — Map (db m189155) HM
Ten thousand years ago, Fort Rock was prime real estate for cave-dwelling families. Food was plentiful and there was a great lake where you stand. Walk the trail of this giant "tuff ring" and you'll discover dynamic strands of nature woven . . . — — Map (db m113569) HM
The 1909 Enlarged Homestead Act fueled a landrush that began with the Homestead Act of 1862.
The Act allowed qualified individuals to claim 320 acres by building a residence and cultivating 40 acres.
Motivated by dreams of a "Garden of . . . — — Map (db m113590) HM
Reub Long was a lifelong cowboy of the Oregon desert.
When Reub was two years old, his family moved from Lakeview to Christmas Lake (about 30 miles S.E. of Fort Rock).
By the time he was twelve, he and his horse "...were out doing a man's . . . — — Map (db m113573) HM
They say it happened more than 100,000 years ago.
Molten rock, squeezing its way toward the surface, ran into groundwater. The result?
Great explosions of steam, lake-bed mud, and billions of glass shards.
Wave after wave of this boiling . . . — — Map (db m113570) HM
Near the end of the last Ice Age, America's first people migrated into this lake-filled basin, finding a climate cooler than today's.
A warming trend increased evaporation and the lake shrank. Soon these people discovered caves carved by waves . . . — — Map (db m113571) HM
Behind you to the east is a steep cliff called Abert Rim, made of many layers of hardened lava flows. This 30-mile-long, 2,500-foot-high, steep cliff is an example of a fault scarp, produced over millenia by great blocks of rock tilting and moving . . . — — Map (db m112536) HM
Very near here on a warm spring day in 1945, six people—a woman and five children— were killed by a Japanese “balloon bomb” or Fugo. The group had just arrived for a picnic when they discovered the deflated balloon. While . . . — — Map (db m147073) HM
Built in 1905, this Queen Anne style house was constructed by J.N. Watson and Cornelia Bernard Knox Watson as their home. Cornelia Knox was a well known photographer of the Lakeview scene.
The house changed hands several times after 1919 and was . . . — — Map (db m161943) HM
Having been among the early pioneers in this area, S.B. Chandler became one of the largest land owners in the vicinity during that era (1870 – 1930).
He ran large amounts of sheep and also some cattle.
At the peak of his land ownership . . . — — Map (db m113811) HM
July 31, 1919 – Contract awarded by the Catholic Church board to A.G. McComb to construct a hospital. Constructed of stone from a quarry near Alturas, CA.
Oct. 1920 – Hospital in use with local managers.
1935 – Sold to a . . . — — Map (db m150594) HM
1887 - Joe Frankl sold land to the Lakeview Bank, the first bank established in Lake County. The owners, P.G. Chrisman & Andy McCallen built this building.
1898 - The Bank of Lakeview, chartered in 1897 by Dr. Bernard Daly, Marius Miller and . . . — — Map (db m147063) HM
Constructed in 1913 by W.P. and J.D. Heryford, pioneer cattlemen, the primary purpose being to provide space for the early Elks Club and office space to attract good doctors and business people. The ground floor and basement was occupied by a . . . — — Map (db m112553) HM
Constructed about 1913 by pioneer cattleman W.D. Heryford as a family residence. It was maintained in Heryford occupancy until the late nineteen sixties, when it passed into other ownership. — — Map (db m150593) HM
1926 - Building constructed of
handmade concrete blocks by
Ike Kent as a family residence.
1940-1960 - Utilized as medical and
dental offices.
1971 - Purchased by Lake County
together with adjoining property
for future museum purposes. . . . — — Map (db m112554) HM
Honor Roll
Lake County, Oregon
World War I - 1917-1918
Philip Allen - Harold Neil Foster
Fred T. Benefiel - Joe Lanning
Robert Raymond Benefiel - Ned Miller
Michael Breen - John C. Nicholson
Raymond Clark - James O'Connor . . . — — Map (db m112558) WM
Erected in 1913 by the Nevada, California & Oregon Railroad running from Reno, Nevada to Lakeview, Oregon. Used as a passenger & freight station. Purchased by the Southern Pacific Railroad in the 1920's. Served as a residence and freight station. . . . — — Map (db m161948) HM
This brick building replaced an earlier wood structure of identical design. The lower floor being used for commercial purposes and the upper floor as a lodge hall. — — Map (db m147057) HM
(Two of the four interpretive panels highlight local history and other points of interest)Panel 1:
A Bit of History
Named for its vista of the once-larger Goose Lake, ten miles to the south, the high desert town of Lakeview . . . — — Map (db m147365) HM
The “Old Kentucky” Saloon was originally built at this location in 1896 by Peter Post & Jonas King. After the fire of 1900 that destroyed the majority of Lakeview's business district, the current brick structure was constructed in 1901, . . . — — Map (db m147065) HM
1922 - Building constructed by
Andy Underwood Contractor, as a
residence for Dalpheus & Lula Schminck
1936 - First museum display exhibited
in the basement. Eventually most
of the house was devoted to
museum display while they
continued in . . . — — Map (db m112555) HM
Oregon State Society of the
National Society
Daughters of the American Revolution Schminck Memorial Museum
Operated under trust established by Mr. & Mrs. D. C. Schminck
Lakeview Oregon Pioneers In recognition of
historical, . . . — — Map (db m223606) HM
Original building was constructed in 1901 on a site formerly occupied by the Hopkins Hotel which burned in the fire of 1900.
At some later date the building was extended to the west property line. The main building housed the First National Bank . . . — — Map (db m147058) HM
Congregation formed in Spring of 1873 & meeting for a time in various area schools. Church built in 1886 and dedicated in the Spring of 1887. Located about one mile south in California. Moved to New Pine Creek in 1897. Present property acquired by . . . — — Map (db m147055) HM
Marker on Left:
In 1846, Jesse Applegate and fourteen others from near Dallas, Oregon, established a trail south from the Willamette Valley and east to Fort Hall. This route offered emigrants an alternative to the perilous . . . — — Map (db m147032) HM
One of the oldest wood frame churches in northern Lake County.
1898 - Mininie & Herman Sadler of San Francisco donated lots 4 and 5 of Block F Paisley for this structure and parsonage.
Aug. 9, 1900 - Deeded to the congregation.
Feb. 3, 1901 . . . — — Map (db m112556) HM
Paisley was once the site of a seasonal Native American settlement. Northern Paiute and Klamath Indians came to the Chewaucan Marsh and River to harvest local resources, most notably the wapato, Silgittaria cuneata, a plant with . . . — — Map (db m113765) HM
The 19th century brought significant changes to this region.
In 1843, Captain John C. Fremont explored and mapped this area.
By the 1870s, most of the region's Native American inhabitants were removed to distant reservations.
Homesteaders . . . — — Map (db m113773) HM
Summer Lake and Winter Ridge were both named in 1843 by Captain John C. Fremont, leader of a US Army Topographical Corps expedition whose ambitious goal was to explore and map the Great Basin lands of eastern Oregon, Nevada, and Utah.
On . . . — — Map (db m113808) HM
side 1
The reports of this expedition directed the migration of the western settlement toward the Oregon Country which hitherto had been merely a rendezvous for trappers.
On December 16th 1843 the expedition, while enroute . . . — — Map (db m113809) HM
