1859 March | April 2016

OUTDOORS
adventures
Russ Roca
Cycling the Oregon Scenic Bikeway.
BAKER CITY
Established in the 1860s, Baker City was
named for United States Senator Edward
D. Baker, who was killed in 1861 while
leading the Union Army into combat and
is the only sitting senator to have been
killed in military engagement. The town
grew slowly until 1884, when the Oregon
Short Line Railroad came to Baker City,
bringing growth and trade. By 1900, Baker
City grew to become the largest city
between Salt Lake City and Portland and
a thriving trade center for the region. An
emblem of the wild west and pioneering
days, Baker City offers no shortage of
history, and with the Blue Mountains to
the west and the Wallowa Mountains to
the east, the area provides an abundance
of adventure.
Within Baker City itself, you could
spend a day or a long weekend exploring
the town’s roots. The Historic Walking
Tour will take you to many of the 130
historical sites, at least half of which are
masonry buildings built between 1870
and 1915. Particularly noteworthy are
the nine-story Baker City Tower, dating
back to 1929, and the tallest building in
Oregon east of the Cascade Mountain
Range, as well as the Geiser Grand Hotel,
built in 1889, where legend has it you can
see bullet holes in the walls—a testament
to the wild past. Don’t leave without visiting
the Baker Heritage Museum, formerly
the Oregon Trail Regional Museum, a
33,000-square-foot building that houses
cultural and wildlife exhibits, as well as
ruts that remain in place from pioneer
wagons. Afterward, quench your thirst
at Barley Brown’s Brew Pub with any of
their twenty-two beers on tap, including a
number of award-winners.
Once you’ve had your fill of history lessons
and craft beer, it’s best to head for
the hills. The Elkhorn Mountains (part of
the Blue Mountain Range), to the west,
offer granite peaks, alpine lakes, camping,
hiking, backpacking, biking and skiing
during the winter.
INTERESTING FACT
The cannon presently on the east
lawn of the county courthouse
courtyard was believed to be from
the Imperial Japanese Army.
JOHN DAY
John Day started with a homestead in
1862 and grew slowly and steadily until
the turn of the century. In the early days,
it was largely populated by Chinese immigrants,
who had come to the area during
the gold rush, and by residents of Canyon
City who were displaced by a series of fires
between 1870 and 1898. A trading post
dating to the 1860s was purchased in 1887
by two Chinese immigrants, Lung On and
Ing Hay, who turned it into a general store
and community center that thrived until
the 1940s. In the 1970s, the building was
converted into a museum and today, it’s a
National Historic Landmark and a wellpreserved
record of a nineteenth-century
Chinese apothecary.
The town sits along an Oregon Scenic
Bikeway and a Transamerica bike touring
route at the junction of Routes 26 and 395.
It also serves as a jumping off point to the
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
to the west, the Strawberry Mountains
to the south, and the Blue Mountains to
the east. Before leaving town, however,
it’s worthwhile to make a stop at the local
watering hole, The Dirty Shame Saloon.
120 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE MARCH | APRIL 2016