S S RESOURCEII NATURAL HUMAN ATLAS ECONOMIC PUBLIC APRIL 1973 EXTENSION PROJECT OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY S Gilliam County, Oregon NATURAL RESOURCE HUN ATLAS ECONOMIC PUBLIC April 1973 Oregon State University Extension Service Prepared by Ron Scharback, Research Assistant, Under the supervision of: Robert 0. Coppedge, Extension Economist, and Russell C. Youmans, Extension Resource Economist, Department of Agricultural Economics For sale by the Extension Business Office, Extension Hall 118, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331. $2.50 per copy. MILES tO 15 20 GILLIAM COUNTY LEGEND PRIMARY HIGHWAYS 0 SECONDARY HIGHWAYS COUNTY ROADS INTERSTATE HIGHWAYSC CONTENTS Page General Description 1 Physical Aspects 2 Climate 2 Soils 4 Soil Characteristics Land Capability 5 Land Capability 5 Land Ownership 8 Land Use 8 Agricultural Land 12 Forest Land 12 Water 12 Minerals 16 Wildlife 16 Human Resources 18 Population 18 Employment 21 Income 28 Education 30 Health 33 Public Welfare 36 Housing 37 The County's Economy 38 Agriculture 38 Logging and Wood Products 45 Manufacturing Mining Outdoor Recreation 46 Business 48 Public Service 49 Transportation 49 Communication 51 Library Facilities 52 Utilities 53 Public Finance 54 Selected List of Agencies 61 Selected Bibliography 63 GENERAL DESCRIPTION Gilliam County was established in 1885 froma portion of Wasco County It is named for Colonel Cornelius Gilliam who foughtin the Cayuse War The original county seat was locatedin Alkali, now Arlington Condon is currently the county seat,as well as Gilliam County's largest city The area is devoted mainly to agriculture, particularly cattle and wheat Gilliam County encompasses an area of 773,120acres, 2 0 percent of the total area of Oregon, and ranks 24thamong counties in area The county contains 1,218square miles of which 1,037 lie within the John Day River Basin A bess mantle covers most of Gilliam County The land slopes toward the Columbia River andis part of the Umatilla plateau. The county has a continental climate, with low winter andhigh summer temperatures It has low annual precipitation and very dry summers Elevations range from 147 feet at theriver mouth to 4,000 feet along the county line The frost-free growing season varies from 50 daysat higher elevations to 200 days along the Columbia River Where dryland grains are raised it varies from 120 to 170 days About 93 percent of the county isin private ownership, and 7 percent is publicly owned. Gilliam County is located in the northern-centralpart of Oregon. The county is bounded on the west by Sherman County,on the south by Wheeler County, on the east by Morrow County, andon the north by the Columbia River. The county seat, Condon is approximately 198 mileseast of Salem, 151 miles east of Portland, 261 miles north ofEugene and 103 miles west of Pendleton A brief summary of the major facts for the county are noted below. Area: 1,218 square miles Population: 2,342 773,120 acres (July 1, 1972) Elevation at Condon: 2,844 feet True Cash Value: $66,996,305 (1971) Average Temperature: Principle Industries: Summer - 63 9 Agriculture, Livestock raisin Winter - 33 9 Transportation County Seat: Condon SOURCES Oregon State Executive Department, Clay Meyers, Secretary of State, Oregon Blue Book, 1971-72, January 1971, Oregon State University Cooperative Extension, Agriculture in Oregon Counties Farm Sales and General Characteristics, Special Report330, Oregon State 'University, June 1971. PHYSICAL ASPECTS Gilliam County is located on the Columbia River plateau which contains basaltic, andesitic, and rhyolitic lava flows and eruptive materials such as ash and tuff. The county includes Quaternary, Tertiary, Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Permian periods. The valley includes young and old alluvium. The soils on steep and very steep southerly exposures are generally very stony and shallow; these soils are also limited to range use. Gilliam County lies within the iimatilla plateau. The lower portion of the county, within the plateau area, slopes gently toward the Columbia River. Elevations range from 265 feet at the river mouth to nearly 4,000 feet along the south Gilliam County line. The John Day River and tributaries are entrenched in the lava plateau with relatively narrow and flat bottom-lands at scattered locations. The lands on the plateau are generally smooth and rolling, but the drainage pattern is characterized by steep swales and narrow canyons with abrupt sides. Climate Gilliam County's climate is generally semi-arid, characterized by a low annual precipitation, low winter temperatures and high summer temper- atures. Torrential rain storms occur occasionally in the spring and summer seasons causing severe soil erosion, flood damage to soil and crops, and adding little moisture to the soil. At Arlington (elevation 315 feet) the annual rainfall is about 9 inches with 57 percent of this coming during the months from November to February. Condon (elevation 2,850 feet) receives an annual rainfall of about 13 inches, averaging one inch per month except for 2to 3 months. During a ten year period the temperatur8 ranged from a high of 109 F. in July at Arlington to a low of -22 F. in December at Condon. The average growing season varies from 50 days at higher elevations to 200 days along the Columbia River. The growing season on the Gilliam plateau ranged from 120 to 170 days. The average growing season, consecutive frost-free days, is 200 days at Arlington to 130-160 says at Condon. The average temperature recorded at Arington is 54.2 F. Mean temperature recorded at Condon ranges from 29 F. in January0to 66 F.m July. The average maximum for these same geriods s 38 and 84 F., respectively, with an average minimum 21 and 49 F., respectively. 1/ State Water Resources Board, John Day River Basin, 1962. Table 1. Temperature and Precipitation, By Month, 1951-1960 Averages Station Jan. Feb.jMar. Apr. May JuneJuly Aug. Sept.jOct. Nov. Dec. Annual Average Temperature degrees Farenheit Arlington.... 33.5 40.345.4 53.6 61.6 67.7 75.8 73.4 66.5 54.4 41.0 36.8 54.2 Condon 29.5 33.6 7.4 44.3 51.4 57.9 66.1 64.0 58.6 48.3 36.8 32.5 46.7 Mikkalo 31.6 37.0 41.5 49.2 57.1 63.8 71.9 69.8 63.8 52.7 39.7 34.8 51.1 Average Precipitation inches Arlington.... 1.86 1.15 .90 .49 .69 .44 .15 .16 .40 .51 1.21 1.25 9.21 Condon 1.71 1.37 1.44 .82 1.75 .92 .43 .42 .54 .86 1.41 1.67 13.34 Mikkalo 1.92 1.10 1.04 .66 1.09 .64 .21 .16 .53 .69 1.15 1.35 10.54 Highest Temperature degrees Farenheit Arlington.... 60 67 78 88 100 106 109 106 97 90 69 65 109 Condon 58 66 75 81 89 97 102 98 95 88 68 62 102 Mikkalo 62 65 78 89 94 101 104 101 100 88 70 66 104 Lowest Temperature degrees Farenheit Arlington.... -22 - 2 0 22 26 40 45 43 30 20 - 5 11 -22 Condon -20 -15 2 17 19 27 29 32 26 19 -13 3 -20 Mikkalo -16 - 5 8 18 26 33 38 42 27 28 - 4 3 -16 Mean Number of Dais with Temp. 32 or Below days Arlington.... 19 14 12 4 0 0 0 + 4 16 20 89 Condon 27 24 24 17 6 1 + + 2 12 21 27 161 Mikkalo 25 18 16 6 1 0 0 0 + 2 16 24 108 A plus sign indicates more than 0 but less than 0.5 SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Weather Bureau, Decennial Census of U.S. Climate, Supplement for 1951-1960, Oregon, No. 86-31, 1965. 3 Soils Due to lack of information of soil classification in Gilliam County, this paper will generalize soil type in the county. A thin bess mantle covers most of Gilliam County. The silty soils developed in the bess are on the average 2 to 5 feet deep.Most of these soils are used for dryland wheat under a summer fallow system of farming. On the very steep northerly exposures, the soils are de- rived from bess and they are commonly deep, but rock outcrop and topography limit these soils to range use. The soils on steep and very steep southerly exposures are generally very stony and shallow; these soils are also limited to range use. On the other hand, most of the soils on the flood plains are medium to moderately fine textured and moderately deep to very deep. Although most of these soils are excessively deep and some contain alkali, most of the land consists of deep, well-drained soils. Accord- ing to the 1969 Census of Agriculture, 6,828.7 acres of landwere irrigated or 3.6 percent. Most of the low terrace and alluvial fan soils adjacent to the flood plains are somewhat finer textured than the flood plain soils, and most of these soilsare irrigated. The basalt plateau area extends south from the Columbia River to about the Gilliam-Wheeler County line with elevations from less than 1,000 feet in the north to 4,000 feet in the south. The precipitation is about 9 inches in the north and increases to about 13 inches in southern Sherman and Gilliam counties. Most of the precipitation falls as rain in the winter and spring months. The frost-free season is over 170 days at lower elevations and decreases to 125 days at Condon. The wind-carried silty bess deposits were blown from the Columbia River flood plain and adjacent sand plains during the Pleistocene period.