Plush is an

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

rural community and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

in the

Warner Valley The Warner Valley is a valley in south-central Oregon in the United States. It is a remote valley at the northwestern corner of North America's Basin and Range Province. The valley is home to a chain of lakes and wetlands known as the Warner ...

of Lake County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 57. The community is in an arid, sparsely populated part of the state by road northeast of Lakeview. The valley surrounding Plush contains many marshes and shallow lakes, most of them intermittent. Frequented by Native Americans for many thousands of years, the valley became a region of sheep grazing and cattle ranching by the late 19th century. Plush's infrastructure includes a store, an elementary school, and a church. Nearby attractions include Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, Warner Wetlands, and the Oregon Sunstone Public Collection Area.

History

People have lived in the Warner Valley for more than 10,000 years. Evidence of Native American occupation includes petroglyphs,

hunting blind A hunting blind (US), hide or machan is a concealment device or shelter for hunters or gamekeepers, designed to reduce the chance of detection by animals. There are different types of blinds for different situations, such as deer blinds and ...

s, flakes from obsidian tools, and other material artifacts. By historic times, the Kidütökadö band of Northern

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Paiu ...

frequented the valley and the uplands of Hart Mountain, the fault block ridge to the east. The Euro-American

settler A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settl ...

community of Plush developed in the late 19th century around sheep grazing and small cattle ranches. Catholics from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

found work here as shepherds; their surnames and their churches are part of the regional heritage. The name "Plush" is said to have derived from a mispronunciation of the word "

flush Flush may refer to: Places * Flush, Kansas, a community in the United States Architecture, construction and manufacturing * Flush cut, a type of cut made with a French flush-cut saw or diagonal pliers * Flush deck, in naval architecture * Fl ...

" during a 19th century poker game played in the community. The Plush post office was established in 1888, and David R. Jones was the first postmaster. Daniel Boone, a relative of the famous Kentucky pathfinder of the same name, became postmaster in 1898 and opened a general store in conjunction with the post office.

Geography

By highway, Plush is about northeast of Lakeview and north of Adel in the Warner Valley of south-central Oregon. Plush–Adel Road runs north–south along the valley floor, while Plush Cutoff links Plush to

Oregon Route 140 Oregon Route 140 (OR 140) is a state highway in southern Oregon, United States. It is the longest state highway in Oregon, running from the community of White City, Oregon (just north of Medford), through Klamath Falls and on to Lakeview. It ...

west of Adel. Hogback Road runs north from Plush, while Hart Mountain Road, which terminates in Plush, runs east and northeast to the Warner Wetlands

Area of Critical Environmental Concern Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) is a conservation ecology program in the Western United States, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The ACEC program was conceived in the 1976 Federal Lands Policy and Management Act (F ...

and the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. Hart Lake, at the base of Hart Mountain, is about east of the community. Honey Creek and Schneider Creek flow together and Schneider Creek then flows generally east from near the south end of Abert Rim forming a deep canyon that opens up just east of Plush and the creek continues through the north end of the town and down into the lake. Plush is about above sea level, while Abert Rim reaches about and Hart Mountain . Plush is also near a large Oregon sunstone gemfield, which is partly on private land and partly on public land. The Oregon Sunstone Public Collection Area, overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, is about north of Plush. It allows

amateur geologists An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History His ...

(rockhounds) to remove sunstones—

feldspar Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagioclase'' (sodium-calcium) felds ...

crystals that formed in lava beds over the past 13 to 14 million years. Sunstone is the Oregon state gemstone.

Demographics

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Plush has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps. On average, about of precipitation falls on Plush each year. July is the warmest month with an average high temperature of about . January is the coldest, when low temperatures average about .

Education

Plush School District 18 is one of five school districts making up the Lake County Education Service District. Plush School, grades K–3, shares students with Adel School District 21, grades 4–8. The two schools combined have about a dozen students. For grades 9–12, the students generally attend Lakeview High School or Paisley School. In 1969 the Plush school had nine students. The portion of the county the community is in is not in any community college district, but the county has a "contract-out-of-district" (COD) with Klamath Community College.

References