The Blue Mountains are a
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...
in the northwestern
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, located largely in northeastern
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
and stretching into extreme southeastern
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
. The range has an area of about , stretching east and southeast of
Pendleton, Oregon
Pendleton is a city and the county seat of Umatilla County, Oregon. The population was 17,107 at the time of the 2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are incarcerated at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution.
Pendleton ...
, to the
Snake River
The Snake River is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest region in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, in turn, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Snake ...
along the Oregon–
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
border.
The Blue Mountains cover ten counties across two states; they are
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
,
Umatilla,
Grant
Grant or Grants may refer to:
Places
*Grant County (disambiguation)
Australia
* Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia
United Kingdom
*Castle Grant
United States
* Grant, Alabama
*Grant, Inyo County, C ...
,
Baker
A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery.
History
Ancient history
Since grains ha ...
,
Wallowa Wallowa may refer to:
Places
*Wallowa, Oregon
*Wallowa County, Oregon
*Wallowa Lake
*Wallowa Lake State Park
*Wallowa Mountains
*Wallowa River
Other
*''Acacia calamifolia'', a shrub or tree
*''Acacia euthycarpa'', a shrub or tree
* ''The Wallo ...
and Harney counties in Oregon, and
Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to:
* Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named
* Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...
,
Columbia,
Garfield
''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his human ...
and
Asotin
Asotin is the county seat of the county of the same name, in the state of Washington, United States. The population of the city was 1,251 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lewiston, ID-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
The name ...
counties in Washington.
The mountains are unique as the home of the world's largest living organism, a subterranean colonial mycelial mat of the fungus ''
Armillaria ostoyae
''Armillaria ostoyae'' (synonym ''Armillaria solidipes'') is a species of fungus (mushroom), pathogenic to trees, in the family Physalacriaceae. In the western United States, it is the most common variant of the group of species under the nam ...
''. The Blue Mountains were named after the color of the mountains when seen from a distance.
Geology
The Blues are
uplift mountains
Orogeny is a mountain building process. An orogeny is an event that takes place at a convergent plate margin when plate motion compresses the margin. An ''orogenic belt'' or ''orogen'' develops as the compressed plate crumples and is uplifted t ...
[cbgwma.or]
The Columbia River Basalt Group , Continental flood basalt flows , cbgwma.org
accessdate: February 8, 2017 and contain some of the oldest rocks in Oregon.
Rocks as old as 400 million years protrude through surrounding Columbia River Basalt flows of 52 million to 6 million years ago.
Geologically
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Eart ...
, the Blue Mountains were created as an
island arc
Island arcs are long chains of active volcanoes with intense seismic activity found along convergent tectonic plate boundaries. Most island arcs originate on oceanic crust and have resulted from the descent of the lithosphere into the mantle alon ...
in the Pacific Ocean and
accreted onto the
North American plate
The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of , it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacific ...
.
Within these terranes are
igneous intrusions
Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...
which may have intruded before or after accretion. They are made up of several mountain ranges, from the
Ochoco Mountains
The Ochoco Mountains are a mountain range in central Oregon in the United States, located at the western end of the Blue Mountains. They were formed when Permian, Triassic, and Jurassic rocks were slowly uplifted by volcanic eruptions to form t ...
and
Maury Mountains
The Maury Mountains are a mountain range in Crook County, Oregon. Much of the range is within the Ochoco National Forest. Outstanding features of the range are the Maury Mountains Agate Beds and Antelope Flat Reservoir
Antelope Flat Reservoir ...
in the west near
Prineville, Oregon
Prineville is a city in and the seat of Crook County, Oregon, United States. It was named for the first merchant located in the present location, Barney Prine. The population was 9,253 at the 2010 census.
History
Prineville was founded in 187 ...
, through the
Greenhorn Mountains
The Greenhorn Mountains are a mountain range of the Southern Sierra Nevada, in California. They are protected within the Sequoia National Forest.
Geography
The range is located in eastern Kern County and Tulare County. They are east of the San ...
, the
Aldrich Mountains
The Aldrich Mountains are a mountain range in Grant County, Oregon, Grant County, Oregon, United States. An east–west range rising south of the John Day River valley, the mountains are bounded on the west by the South Fork John Day River, on the ...
, and the
Strawberry Range
The Strawberry Range, also known as the Strawberry Mountains, is a mountain range in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is east of John Day, within Malheur National Forest. The highest peak is Strawberry Mountain.
The Strawberry Range is part of the ...
, to the
Elkhorn Mountains
The Elkhorn Mountains are a mountain range in southwestern Montana, part of the Rocky Mountains and are roughly 300,000 acres (1200 km²) in size. It is an inactive volcanic mountain range with the highest point being Crow Peak at , right n ...
.
The tallest peaks are
Rock Creek Butte
Rock Creek Butte is a summit in Baker County, Oregon, Baker County, Oregon, in the United States. It is located in the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest, about northeast of Sumpter, Oregon, Sumpter.
Rock Creek Butte is the highest point of the ...
at in the Elkhorn Mountains, and
Strawberry Mountain at in the Strawberry Range.
History
Habitation by Native Americans
The river valleys and lower levels of the range were occupied by indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Historic tribes of the region included the
Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to:
* Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named
* Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...
,
Cayuse people
The Cayuse are a Native American tribe in what is now the state of Oregon in the United States. The Cayuse tribe shares a reservation and government in northeastern Oregon with the Umatilla and the Walla Walla tribes as part of the Confed ...
and
Umatilla, now acting together as the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are the federally recognized confederations of three Sahaptin-speaking Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited the Columbia River Plateau region: the Cayuse, Umatilla, and ...
, located mostly in Umatilla County, Oregon. The southern portion of the Blue Mountains were inhabited by several different bands of the
Northern Paiute
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a r ...
, a
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...
culture. Native American tribes originally migrated to the Blue Mountains for hunting and salmon runs. The Natives used to purposefully burn small parts of the forest in order to create pastures to attract game for hunting.
During westward expansion of the United States
In the mid-1800s, the Blue Mountains were a formidable obstacle to settlers traveling on the
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what ...
and were often the last mountain range American pioneers had to cross before either reaching southeast Washington near
Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to:
* Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named
* Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...
or passing down the
Columbia River Gorge
The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the sta ...
to the end of the Oregon Trail in the
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...
near
Oregon City
)
, image_skyline = McLoughlin House.jpg
, imagesize =
, image_caption = The McLoughlin House, est. 1845
, image_flag =
, image_seal = Oregon City seal.png
, image_map ...
.
Modern travel
The range is currently traversed by
Interstate 84, which crosses the crest of the range at a summit, from south-southeast to north-northwest between
La Grande and Pendleton. The community of
Baker City
Baker City is a city in and the county seat of Baker County, Oregon, Baker County, Oregon, United States. It was named after Edward Dickinson Baker, Edward D. Baker, the only United States Senate, U.S. Senator ever killed in military combat. The p ...
is located along the south-eastern flank of the range.
U.S. Route 26
U.S. Route 26 (US 26) is an east–west United States highway that runs from Seaside, Oregon to Ogallala, Nebraska. When the U.S. highway system was first defined, it was limited to Nebraska and Wyoming; by the 1950s, it continued into Idaho and ...
crosses the southern portion of the range, traversing the
Blue Mountain Summit
Blue Mountain Summit (el. ) is a mountain pass in Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (sta ...
and reaching an elevation of .
It is also crossed by the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
's mainline between Portland, Oregon, and Pocatello, Idaho, which crests the summit at
Kamela, Oregon
Kamela is an unincorporated community in Union County, Oregon, United States.(no longer supported) It is located west of Interstate 84 about 20 miles northwest of La Grande.
There are several stories about how the community got its name. Among ...
. The summit lies on Union Pacific's La Grande Subdivision, which runs between La Grande and
Hinkle, the latter of which is the site of a major UP yard.
Wildlife
Birds of the area include
bald eagle
The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...
,
northern spotted owl
The northern spotted owl (''Strix occidentalis caurina'') is one of three spotted owl subspecies. A western North American bird in the family Strigidae, genus ''Strix (genus), Strix'', it is a medium-sized dark brown owl native to the Pacific No ...
,
Lewis's woodpecker
Lewis's woodpecker (''Melanerpes lewis'') is a large North American species of woodpecker which ornithologist Alexander Wilson named after Meriwether Lewis, one of the explorers who surveyed the areas bought by the United States of America as pa ...
,
Williamson's sapsucker
Williamson's sapsucker (''Sphyrapicus thyroideus'') is a medium-sized woodpecker belonging to the genus '' Sphyrapicus'' (sapsuckers).
Habitat and range
Breeding habitat is open forested areas with conifers, mainly ponderosa pine, douglas-fir, a ...
,
red-breasted nuthatch
The red-breasted nuthatch (''Sitta canadensis'') is a small songbird. The adult has blue-grey upperparts with cinnamon underparts, a white throat and face with a black stripe through the eyes, a straight grey bill and a black crown. Its call, wh ...
,
golden-crowned kinglet
The golden-crowned kinglet (''Regulus satrapa'') is a very small songbird in the family Regulidae that lives throughout much of North America.
Description
Adults are olive-gray on the upperparts with white underparts, with thin bills and shor ...
and many migratory species, with the riverbanks important habitat for this birdlife. Mammals that move through the mountain grasslands include
Rocky Mountain elk
The Rocky Mountain elk (''Cervus canadensis nelsoni'') is a subspecies of elk found in the Rocky Mountains and adjacent ranges of Western North America.
Habitat
The winter ranges are most common in open forests and floodplain marshes in the lo ...
(including the largest herd in North America at Hells Canyon),
Bighorn sheep
The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...
and
Mule deer
The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer.
Unlike the related whit ...
. Native fish include Chinook Salmon, Steelhead, Redband Trout, Coho Salmon, Bull Trout, and Pacific Lamprey.
The Blue Mountains in Washington are home to one of 10 identified elk herds in the state, with a population of approximately 4,500 Rocky Mountain elk as of 2018 across the region.
In 1989, in response to a decline in the elk population and a heavy female-biased population, the Washington Fish & Wildlife Department regulated elk hunting in the Washington Blue Mountains with a "spike-only" general hunting season, permitting hunting of only male elk with at least one visible non-branched antler.
By the mid 1990s the area then became known for its mature males and trophy hunting. In 2018, Washington State proposed an updated elk management plan intended to improve the health of elk populations and habitats, reduce human conflict and agricultural damage, and managing elk populations for recreational, educational, scientific, and ceremonial purposes.
During winter months elk will prefer to use "moderately steep south slopes" rather than northern slopes because of the southern slopes being warmer and containing less snow.
Land management
The public lands in the Blue Mountains are managed not only by the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, but also by land owners and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Location
Much of the range is included in the
Malheur National Forest
The Malheur National Forest is a United States National Forest, National Forest in the U.S. state of Oregon. It contains more than in the Blue Mountains (Pacific Northwest), Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon. The forest consists of Great Basin ...
,
Umatilla National Forest
The Umatilla National Forest, in the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon and southeast Washington, covers an area of 1.4 million acres (5,700 km2). In descending order of land area the forest is located in parts of Umatilla, Grant, Columbi ...
, and
Wallowa–Whitman National Forest
The Wallowa–Whitman National Forest is a United States National Forest in the U.S. states of Oregon and Idaho. Formed upon the merger of the Wallowa and Whitman national forests in 1954, it is located in the northeastern corner of the state, in ...
. Several wilderness areas encompass remote parts of the range, including the
North Fork Umatilla Wilderness
The North Fork Umatilla Wilderness is a wilderness area located inside the Umatilla National Forest, in the Blue Mountains (Oregon), Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon. It is the smallest wilderness in northeast Oregon, encompassing only in U ...
, the
North Fork John Day Wilderness
The North Fork John Day Wilderness is a wilderness area within the Umatilla and Wallowa–Whitman National Forests in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon.
The wilderness consists of four separate units: the main unit of the North Fork Jo ...
, the
Strawberry Mountain Wilderness
Strawberry Mountain Wilderness is a wilderness area of the Strawberry Mountain Range, within Malheur National Forest in the Blue Mountains of east Oregon. The area comprises , including mountain peaks and several lakes, and contains more than o ...
, and the
Monument Rock Wilderness
The Monument Rock Wilderness Area is a wilderness area within the Malheur National Forest, Malheur and Wallowa–Whitman National Forest, Wallowa–Whitman national forests in the Blue Mountains (Oregon), Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon. It was d ...
, all of which are in Oregon. The
Wenaha–Tucannon Wilderness
The Wenaha–Tucannon Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon, and southeastern Washington, United States. It was created by the Endangered American Wilderness Act of 1978 and encompasse ...
sits astride the Oregon–Washington border.
Drainage
The range is drained by several rivers, including the
Grande Ronde and
Tucannon, tributaries of the Snake, as well as the forks of the
John Day,
Umatilla and
Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to:
* Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named
* Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...
rivers, tributaries of the
Columbia. The southernmost portion of the Blue Mountains is drained by the
Silvies River, in the endorheic
Harney Basin
The Harney Basin is an endorheic basin in southeastern Oregon in the United States at the northwestern corner of the Great Basin. One of the least populated areas of the contiguous United States, it is located largely in northern Harney County, ...
.
See also
*
List of mountain ranges of Oregon
There are at least 50 named mountain ranges in the United States, U.S. state of Oregon. Many of these ranges extend into the neighboring states of California, Idaho, Nevada, and Washington (state), Washington. Elevations and coordinates ar ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Mountain ranges of Oregon
Mountain ranges of Washington (state)
Physiographic sections
Landforms of Columbia County, Washington
Landforms of Garfield County, Washington
Mountain ranges of Grant County, Oregon
Landforms of Wallowa County, Oregon
Mountain ranges of Baker County, Oregon
Landforms of Union County, Oregon
Landforms of Umatilla County, Oregon
Malheur National Forest
Wallowa–Whitman National Forest
Umatilla National Forest