Unincorporated community in the state of Oregon, United States
The former school in Hilgard, Oregon
Hilgard is an unincorporated community in Union County , Oregon , United States , at the junction of Oregon Route 244 with Interstate 84 /U.S. Route 30 , near the Grande Ronde River .[ 1] It is also the site of a junction (wye ) of the Union Pacific Railroad . Hilgard Junction State Recreation Area is across the river from the community.
The Oregon Trail passed through this location, where the covered wagons had to maneuver downhill from La Grande.[ 2] Most emigrants camped at Hilgard before continuing back uphill towards Emigrant Springs or Meacham .[ 3]
Hilgard was named for both Eugene W. Hilgard , dean of the College of Agriculture at the University of California , and for Henry Villard , whose name prior to immigrating to the United States was Ferdinand Heinrich Gustav Hilgard.[ 4] [ 5] Villard was Hilgard's cousin, and when he built the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company railroad line over the Blue Mountains ,[ 5] he enlisted Hilgard to make an agricultural survey of the area.[ 4] In July 1883, a post office named "Dan" was established.[ 4] The name was changed to "Hilgard" in August of that year when the well-known Eugene Hilgard was in the Pacific Northwest .[ 4] The office closed in 1943.[ 4]
In the early 20th century, the Hilgard vicinity had several sawmills .[ 3] The Mount Emily Lumber Company had a mill there in the 1920s.[ 6]
References
^ "Hilgard" . Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey , United States Department of the Interior . November 28, 1980. Retrieved January 13, 2010 .
^ "Northeast Oregon: Primitive Camping" (PDF) . Oregon Parks and Recreation Department . April 2009. Retrieved January 13, 2010 .
^ a b Beckham, Stephen Dow . "Grande Ronde River Oregon: River Widths, Vegetation Environment, and Conditions Shaping Its Condition, Imbler Vicinity to Headwaters" (PDF) . Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project. pp. 9, 26. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 15, 2009. Retrieved January 13, 2010 .
^ a b c d e McArthur, Lewis A. ; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 467. ISBN 978-0875952772 .
^ a b Deumling, Dietrich (1972). The Roles of the Railroad in the Development of the Grande Ronde Valley (masters thesis) . Flagstaff, Arizona : Northern Arizona University . p. 31,81. OCLC 4383986 .
^ "City of Prineville Railroad" . Active Short Lines of the Pacific Northwest. Retrieved January 13, 2010 .
External links
45°21′07″N 118°13′41″W / 45.352074°N 118.228002°W / 45.352074; -118.228002