The History of the City of Sisters

Early Exploration

During December of 1825, Peter Skene Ogden and a party of Hudson Bay Company trappers embarked from the Columbia River, at the River of the Falls, the Deschutes of Central Oregon, to survey the little known region of inland Oregon. This was the first recorded exploration of the Central Oregon area.

At the same time Ogden left the Columbia, Finan McDonald was sent east across the Cascades to join up with Ogden along the River of the Falls. Upon joining forces, the group crossed the Deschutes above Madras and moved across the Agency Plains, making their first camp on the Crooked River. From this point, the explorers continued eastward along the Crooked River into the John Day area.

Ogden made a second trip south from the Columbia during 1826-27. He left his previous route at Dufur, went directly to White River and followed the western tributary to the Deschutes for a crossing at Sherars Falls. From here, the party continued into the Malheur-Harney region. On his return trip, Ogden discovered East and Paulina Lakes in Newberry Crater before turning south to California.

Nathaniel J. Wyeth became the first white man to visit the present site of Bend.* During December of 1834, Wyeth and his party proceeded through a heavy winter storm into the upper Deschutes River country. Their travels along the river brought them into contact with Benham and Pringle Falls. On his return trip, Wyeth paused at the head of Squaw Creek, before reaching the Columbia in February of 1835.

*Some scholars now believe a group from the Pacific Fur Co., the Reed & Seton party, came through Bend in 1813. A rock with the initials R & S and the date 1813 was found south of Bend and is now housed at the Deschutes County Historical Society

Eight years later, during 1843, John C. Fremont, an officer in the Topographic Engineers of the U.S. Army, guided by Kit Carson and Billy Chinook, a Warm Springs Indian, made the next trek into the Deschutes country. Departing The Dalles in November, they moved up the Deschutes to Tygh Valley, crossed the White River, proceeded through the Warm Springs country and reached the upper meadows of Tumalo Creek. Fremont's group then continued south into California.

The the first wagon train immigrants to cross Central Oregon did not initially settle in the Deschutes area. In 1845, the Blue Bucket Mine party from Missouri was the first wagon train to cross the interior country. Upon leaving Ft. Boise, the train left the Oregon Trail and headed across relatively unknown Central Oregon.

Legend states that somewhere in Malheur country, gold nuggets were discovered when water was drawn from a stream in a blue bucket. The wagon train envoy lost direction east of the John Day River, and continued through the High Desert with all its adverse conditions, eventually reaching the Crooked River near Prineville and completing the journey at The Dalles.

The second group of immigrants to cross Central Oregon was the Clark Massacre Party in the fall of 1851. At the Snake River, the group was attacked by Indians who killed several of the party. West of the Snake River, the wagon train departed from the Oregon Trail, approximating the route taken by the Blue Bucket Mine group. Clark had been advised to guide on three mountains (The Sisters) and to watch for a low volcanic cone, called Red Butte (Pilot Butte), directly in front of The Sisters.

The Clark Party located a good camping spot on the Deschutes River. They rested along the Deschutes for several days, apparently at the location of Bend's Pioneer Park, prior to moving north and crossing the Barlow Pass ultimately reaching Cottage Grove.

The Elliot Cutoff Party followed in the fall of 1853, the largest of all wagon train envoys to cross Central Oregon. The group became lost when they mistook the Three Sisters for Diamond Peak, the mountain that was to guide them to a new Cascade crossing. This pass near Diamond Peak had previously been crossed by a road-viewing expedition from Lane County. To save time, the Elliot Party headed west into the Central Oregon high country.

Due to extremely adverse conditions, the wagon train broke off advance segments to try and find help for the group. One group crossed the mountains west of Bend, between two of the Sisters. The main wagon train finally found its way to what is now known as the Willamette Pass.

In 1855, Lt. Robert S. Williamson and Henry Larcom Abbot were assigned to the Pacific Survey, to find the most suitable and economic route for a railroad from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean. Leaving their ship in San Francisco, the group moved northward and entered Oregon south of Klamath Falls and continued to the Upper Deschutes country. Here Williamson scouted the eastern slopes of Trout Creek and returned near the Sisters site to link up with Abbot. After reaching Ft. Vancouver, Abbot reported that topographic barriers of the Deschutes country would be almost impassable. This early engineering reconnaissance was to be proven wrong.

Early Settlement

Due to trouble with the Indians, particularly Chief Paulina, the government strongly discouraged settlement east of the Cascades. This was expressed as an official order from August of 1856 to October 1859. Despite the lifting of the order, there continued to be no significant movement of settlers into Central Oregon, other than those in search of gold. Around 1863, the first settlers began to appear in the Deschutes country, primarily along the routes of travel from The Dalles to the Upper Deschutes. Constant harassment by Chief Paulina and his followers throughout Central Oregon prompted the Army to establish outposts for the protection of miners and settlers. One of these was Camp Polk, just a short distance from Sisters.

Camp Polk

Camp Polk was established in 1865 adjacent to Squaw Creek, just three miles northeast of the City of Sisters. The military detachment, which established the camp, were men of Company A, 1st Oregon Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Captain Charles LaFollette. Leaving Ft. Yamhill, this was the first military group to cross the Cascades via the new Santiam Road. Upon arriving at the site adjacent to Squaw Creek, Captain LaFollette named the camp Polk after his home country. Here the men prepared a parade ground, trimmed a tall tree for a flagpole and built eight cabins. Before winter operations could be initiated against the Indians, word was received from the Chief of the Army to muster out all volunteers. Subsequently, the Camp Polk detachment remained in winter quarters and in the spring of 1866 returned to their home, thus ending the brief military history of Camp Polk.

During 1879, Samuel M.W. Hindman and his family homesteaded the Camp Polk site. In 1875, Hindman established a post office and a store and became the community's first postmaster. At this time, the area between the Cascades and the Deschutes River was virtually uninhabited, but destined to bustle with the future movement of cattle and sheep over the Santiam Pass.

City of Sisters

While Hindman was developing Camp Polk, the nearby Sisters site was being transformed from a ranch to a town. During the 1880's, large flocks of sheep were driven past the town site to summer pastures in the high Cascades. Sisters was the last settlement between Prineville and the mountains and consequently early entrepreneurs did a brisk business in the summer months.

Jacob Quiberg, a farmer in the vicinity bestowed the name Sisters upon the town. This name was chosen because of the proximity to the three imposing Cascade peaks, which overlook the town, the Three Sisters.

In 1888, the Camp Polk post office was moved to the village of Sisters and given the name of its adopted town. This post office was located on the homestead of John Smith, who had filed homestead rights in 1886 and received title in 1891. Smith was later to relocate the post office within the present city limits where Sisters Market now stands. During 1898, John Smith sold his holdings to Alex Smith (no relation) and in 1900, Alex Smith sold one-half interest to his brother Robert. On July 10, 1901, the Smith Brothers filed the original town plat, which comprised six city blocks bounded by Cascade Street on the south, Adams on the north, Elm on the west and Larch to the east. Mail was now being carried by stage from Shaniko, Prineville and Cline Falls, as the City of Redmond would not be established until 1910. This mail was taken to Cascadia, where it was transferred to Pony Express for points west.

Sisters became a stopping place for travelers, as it was the intersection of the Santiam and McKenzie Roads. Business and growth increased with the movement of stock to the U.S. Forest Service mountain pasture allotments. At the turn of the century, cattle raising had become a vital industry around Sisters. This industry centered on the vast holdings of the Black Butte Land and Livestock Company, with one of its headquarters at Black Butte Ranch approximately eight miles northwest of Sisters. By 1908, the benefits of the sheep traffic bound for mountain pasture dwindled.

Lumber also contributed to the activity and growth of the community. Small mills were in operation as early as 1890 and a large mill was built within the town site in 1912. Since then there have been many other mills in the area, with the last one ceasing operations in 1965.

Sisters' first school was built around 1885 and located near the Lundy Ranch, two miles to the north. The school was then a part of District No. 9, Crook County and accommodated thirty children. Around 1890 a second one-room school was constructed near the site of the recently removed Park Motel.

Fire struck the City a disastrous blow in 1923, destroying an entire block of business houses between Elm and Fir, south of Cascade; in 1924, fire consumed buildings on both sides of Cascade from Fir Street to Spruce Street.

The first pipeline for distribution of water in the city was installed in 1916. During the 1930's, electricity became available from the Langman Electric Company, which was generated in a building next to the Hitchcock Mill. Central Electric Cooperative extended a line from Redmond in 1941, replacing the private system. Streetlights were installed in June of 1951 along Cascade Street, the principal business street of the City.

A special election was held in 1946 and the people of Sisters voted 115 to 61 in favor of incorporating the town. Population of the city at that time was around 700; today the population is estimated at 911 people within the City limits.

Sisters continues to enjoy its location at the junction of the Santiam and McKenzie Highways, as service center for tourist traffic and the vast recreational area within the adjacent U.S. National Forest lands of the Cascade Range. The annual Sisters rodeo, outdoor quilt show, High Mountain Dixieland jazz festival and other events has established Sisters as a major tourist destination. Climate, recreational resources and major highway linkages bring continued activity to the community. Development of recreational oriented land developments, such as Indian Ford Ranch, Black Butte Ranch and Tollgate and Crossroads, indicate continuing growth and change for the City and its surrounding area.

Fred J. Becker, Architect

 

Back