1916 Map of Condon

About this map

The John Day River winds through deep canyons on this plateau map of Gilliam County, marking the western boundary with Sherman County. Surveyed just before the First World War, the landscape is defined by an extensive network of school districts and isolated ranching outposts. The county seat of Condon serves as the central hub, surrounded by smaller rail-line or stage-road settlements like Mikkalo, Clem, and Gwendolen. The deep incisions of Thirtymile Creek and Rock Creek create a rugged geography where travel was dictated by the terrain of Cottonwood Canyon and the Devils Backbone. Numerous rural educational landmarks, such as Huffs School and Linville School, show the distribution of family homesteads across the high desert during this era of early twentieth-century settlement. In the south, the village of Fossil sits near the headwaters of Butte Creek, illustrating the early footprint of Wheeler County.