Great Basin and Owyhee Uplands
70. Lower Owyhee River Canyon
OWESA geographic model: | geomorphology | climate |
vegetation | wildlife | human
settlement |
Geomorphology
The Owyhee Upland is located the southeastern corner of Oregon in a rough,
uneven plateau, older and more dissected than the Basin and Range Region.
The rocks are mailnly old lava flows and sediments. The highest point, 6,525
feet, is on the Mahogany Mountains; the lowest, 2,100 feet, is near Ontario
on the Snake River. The Owyhee River and its tributaries have carved deep
canyons in the east-section. A high dam on the Owyhee River backs up a reservoir
35 miles long and provides water for irrigation in Oregon and Idaho. Image
on far right is at the location of the dam, note high canyon walls.
Climate
Vegetation (see images)
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Wildlife
Songbirds, waterfowl, birds of prey and upland birds. The viewing area is
a 13-mile corridor along the paved road to the Owyhee Dam. Noted cottonwood
trees and willows well established on river offer a wide variety of bird
life. The aird canyon walls provide excellent opportunities to view desert
birds such as rock wens, sparrows and birds of prey. Watchable Wildlife
visiting areas are well presented. (See trail image at site.) See the Oregon
Wildlife Viewing Guide (1994) for important additional details on
wildlife description, viewing information, and directions to wildlife viewing
sites.
Human Settlement
The word 'Owyhee' was used in the early days to describe the islands of
Hawaii. Hawaiians were often recruited as crew members of sailing ships
that stopped at the islands. Some were recruited by fur trapping expeditions.
Early fur trappers named the Owyhee River and its canyon for two Hawaiians
who were killed there in 1819 by Snake Indians. Today, the nearest town
is Adrian. Driving anything other than a car past the dam to Lake Owyhee
State Park may be diffcult.
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Sources
ExplOregon , CD-ROM, 1995. University of Oregon, Departments
of Geography and Fine and Applied Arts.
Watchable Wildlife: Oregon/Washington.. n.d. . Bureau of Land
Management, Department of the Interior.
Yuskavitch, J., Oregon Wildlife Viewing Guide , 1994. Falcon
Press, Helena, Montana.
Copyright
Phil Kessinger, 1997
Eugene,Oregon USA
All Rights Reserved
phil_k
at
efn.org
Revised December 2002