History:
Museums and Libraries–
I.O.N Heritage Museum, 502 Swisher Ave, Jordan Valley, OR 97910, (541) 586-2100 http://www.cityofjordanvalley.com/id5.html
Ontario Community Library, 388 SW 2nd Ave, Ontario, OR 97914 (541) 889-4279. http://www.ontariocommunitylibrary.org In addition to many of the books listed below, the library has an archive of the Argus Observer.
Periodicals–
Owyhee Outpost. 1970- present. Publication of the Owyhee County Historical Society, Murphy, Idaho.
Books and Articles–
A Historical, Descriptive and Commercial Directory of Owyhee County, Idaho, January, 1898. Silver City, Idaho. Includes a brief history of the county, lists of local residents, and biographies. Google Book.
Larry D. Agenbroad. “The Five Fingers Buffalo Jump,” Explorers Journal 46 (1968):279-86.
_____. “Buffalo Jump Complexes in Owyhee County, Idaho. Tebiwa: Miscellaneous Papers of the Idaho State University Museum of Natural History, 1 (1976):1-38.
_____. “Buffalo Jump Complexes in Owyhee County, Idaho,” Plains Anthropologist, Vol. 23, No. 82, (November 1978), 213-21. This is an abridged version of the foregoing.
Mark G. Plew, “A Reassessment of the Five Fingers and ”Y” Buffalo Jumps, Southwest Idaho,” Plains Anthropologist, Vol. 32, No. 117 (August 1987), pp. 317-21. Raises questions about Agenboard's conclusions in the above articles, engendering the responses below.
Larry D.Agenbroad, “Bison (Artiodactyla), Rock Alignments, Artifacts and Chronology in Owyhee County, Idaho: A Reply to Plew.” Plains Anthropologist, Vol. 34 (February, 1989), pp. 49-55.
E. Steve Cassells, “Faunal Remains from the Five Fingers Buffalo Jump, Owyhee County, Idaho.” Plains Anthropologist, Vol. 34 (February, 1989), pp. 56-58.
Mark G. Plew. “Additional Comments on the Five Fingers and ”Y” Complexes: A Reply to Agenbroad,” Plains Anthropologist, Vol. 34 (February, 1989), pp. 59-61.
Mildretta Adams. Sagebrush Post Offices: A History of the Owyhee Country. Pocatello, ID: Idaho State University Press, 1986.
_____. Owyhee Cattlemen 1878-1978. Revised edition. Homedale: Owyhee Publishing Company, 1979.
C. Melvin Aikens. Archeology of Oregon. 2d ed. Portland, OR: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Oregon State Office, 1986.
An Illustrated History of Baker, Grant, Malheur and Harney Counties: With a Brief Outline of the Early History of the State of Oregon. Baker City, OR: Western Historical Publishing Company, 1902.
Herbert Hugh Bancroft. The Works of Herbert Hugh Bancroft: Volume XXXI, History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. San Francisco: The History Company, 1890. A general history that touches on the Owyhee, particularly on mining. Google Book.
John P. Bieter, Jr. Showdown in the Big Quiet. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 2015.
Jill A. Chappel. “Historic Structure Report, Birch Creek Ranch, Historic Rural Landscape, Malheur County, Oregon.” Historic Research Associates Report No. 188. Eugene, OR: Heritage Research Associates, Inc., March 15, 1996.
Inez Baltzor Collier. On This Side of Jordan. Yreka, CA: n.p., 1981. Memoir of living along Jordan Creek.
Marion Gerald Dazey, “History of Education in Public Schools in Malheur County before 1920,” MA Thesis, Eastern Oregon College, 1960.
Robert L. Deen. Owyhee County. Images of America. n.s.: Arcadia Printing, 2015. Consists primarily of images and focuses on Owyhee County, Idaho.
Ida Dutcher. Our Homstead in the Canyon: Now Succor Creek State Park. Prineville, OR: Central Oregonian, 1978.
Lt. Colonel C.S. Drews. Official Report of the Owyhee Reconnoissance in the Summer of 1864 Pursuant to the Orders of General George Wright, Commanding Department of the Pacific. Jacksonville, Oregon: Oregon Sentinel Printing Office, 1865.
Hiram Taylor French. History of Idaho: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People and Its Principal Interests. 3 Vols. Chicago and New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1914. A general history with scattered references to Owyhee county, mining and Indian problems.
Hazel R. Fretwell-Johnson. In Times Past: A History of the Lower Jordan Creek Communities. 3rd ed. Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers, 2008 (1990).
Hazel R. Fretwell-Johnson. The Best of Jordan Valley. Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers, 2009. Collection of anecdotes about people, place and things in the Jordan Valley, some of which repeat those found in the interviews.
“Gem State Rural’s” Farm Directory: Owyhee County, Idaho, Malheur County, Oregon With State and County Maps, 1918-1919. Published the Gem State Rural, Caldwell Idaho, 1918. Lists farmers and ranchers throughout the two counties with addresses or survey data and gives tax assessments. Available at Ontario Public library.
Jacob Ray Gregg, ed. Pioneer Days in Malheur County. Los Angeles, 1950.
John Hailey. The History of Idaho. Boise, Idaho: Syms-York Company, 1910. Two brief chapters on mining and Indian troubles plus scattered references to the Owyhee.
Michael F. Hanley, IV. Owyhee Graffiti, Vol 1. Homedale, ID: Owyhee Publishing Co., n.d. Mike Hanley’s family has ranched in the area for five generations, and he is dedicated to preserving the ranching culture and history.
Michael F. Hanley, IV. Owyhee Graffiti, Vol. 2. Jordan Valley, OR, 2012.
Mike Hanley and Ellis Lucia. Owyhee Trails: the West's Forgotten Corner. Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers, 1973.
Mike Hanley with Omer Stanford. Sage Brush and Axle Grease. n.s.: n.p., 1979.
Mike Hanley. Tales of the I.O.N. Country. Jordan Valley, OR: M.F. Hanley, 1988.
Mike Hanley. Veterans of the Owyhees: A Tribute to Those Who Served. Homedale, ID: Owyhee Publishing Co., 2005.
Mark Highberger. Untamed Land: The Death of Pete French & the End of the Old West. Wallowa, OR: Bear Creek Press, 2006.
Allen J. Johannsen. The Movie Palace at Owyhee Dam. [OR?: Allen J. Johannsen], 2006.
Earl J. Larrison. Owyhee: The Life of a Northern Desert. Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers, 1957. Mainly about Owyhee county, Idaho.
*D. J. Lesniak. Let The Mountains Remember: Campaign Against The Northern Paiute. Bend, OR: Maverick Publications, 2014.
Mark Lisk and William Fox. Owyhee Canyonlands. Caldwell, ID: Caxton Press, 2008. Photographs by Lisk and essay by Fox.
Lewis A. MacArthur. Oregon Geographic Names. 6th ed. Portland, OR: Oregon Historical Society Press, 1992.
Malheur Country Historical Society. Malheur Country History. 2 vols. [Ontario, OR]: Malheur Country Historical Society, 1988. Note on title page; “Much of the content of this book is contributed material, impossible to verify. Malheur Country Historical Society and the book committee therefore disclaim responsibility for all stories published herein.
Malheur Country Historical Society. The Forgotten Corner. [Ontario, OR]: Malheur Country Historical Society, n.d. Three original and reprinted articles by Mike Hanley and Chris Moore.
W.J. McConnell. Early History of Idaho. Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, 1913. The author was a US Senator and Governor “who was present and cognizant of the events narrated.” Brief coverage of mining disputes and Indian troubles.
Gregory Michno. The Deadliest Indian War in The West: The Snake Conflict, 1864-1868. Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers, 2007.
Captain John Mullan. Miners and Travelers' Guide to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. Via the Missouri and Columbia Rivers. Accompanied by a General Map of the Mineral Region of the Northern Sections of the Rocky Mountains. New York: Published by Wm. M. Franklin, (for the author), 24 Vesey Street, 1865. This work assembles newspaper articles, letters and other materials on the principal mining destinations, and considerable amount of which is devoted to the Owyhee region. Google Book.
Ray Nelson. Memoirs of An Oregon Moonshiner. Caldwell, ID:The Caxton Printers, Ltd., 1976.
Helen Nettleton. Sketches of Owyhee County. Nampa: Schwartz Printing Company, 1978.
“Peter Skene Ogden Journals: Snake Expedition, 1825-1826,” T.C. Elliot. Oregon Historical Quarterly, X.4 (Dec. 1909).
Andrew Gale Ontko. Thunder over The Ochoco:
Vol. I, The Gathering Storm. Bend, OR: Maverick Publications, 1993.
Vol. II, Distant Thunder. Bend, OR: Maverick Publications, 1994.
Vol. III, Lightning Strikes. Bend, OR: Maverick Publications, 1997.
Vol. IV, Rain of Tears. Bend, OR: Maverick Publications, 1998.
Vol. V, And The Juniper Trees Bore Fruit. Bend, OR: Maverick Publications, 1997.
Stacy Peterson. “Silas Skinner’s Owyhee Toll Road,” Idaho Yesterdays, (Spring 1966).
Mark G. Plew, Mark. “Aboriginal Hunting Complexes in the Owyhee Uplands, Idaho,” Masterkey 53 (1979).3:108-11.
_____. “The Prehistory of Owyhee County: A Preliminary Overview,” Idaho Archeologist 6.1-2 (1982):47-54.
Angus R. Quinlan, ed. Great Basin Rock Art:Archeological Perspectives. Reno and Las Vegas: University of Nevada Press, 2007. A collection of ten scholarly articles, two of which pertain to the Owyhee:
Myrtle P. Shock. “A Regional Settlement System Approach to Petroglyphs: Application to the Owyhee Uplands, Southeastern Oregon,” pp. 69-91.
Ken Boreson. “The Study of A Rock Art Site in Southeastern Oregon,” pp. 92-106.
Myrtle Pearl Shock. Rock Art and Settlement in the Owyhee Uplands of Southeastern Oregon. [Ontario, OR?]: n.p., 2002.
John Sackett Skinner. High Desert Promise: The Skinner Family Legacy. Hillsboro, OR: Golden Quill Publishing, 2009. Story of one of the region's prominent ranching families.
Omer Stanford. Owyhee County Corral Dust. n.p.: n.s., [1963].
An Illustrated History of Baker, Grant, Malheur and Harney Counties. Western Historical Publishing Co. 1902.
“Ranching on the Owyhee” Stacia Davis. Printed in Malheur Country Review, Malheur Country Historical Society, Volume 11, no 1-4. 1990. This is a revision of the transcript of Stacia's 1980 BLM interview.
Oral History–
Vale District Bureau of Land Management interviews with former residents of the Owyhee Canyon area. Conducted in June and July, 1980. Transcripts of the individual interviews were published in the Malheur Country Review, newsletter of the Malheur Country Historical Society, and may be consulted at the Ontario Community Library. The I.O.N. Heritage Museum also sells copies of the collected interviews. Since the transcripts are not entirely accurate, serious researchers might wish to consult the recordings, which are apparently are available only at Vale District Headquarters.
Basques–
My thanks to Kolbo San Sebastian for several of the entries in this section.
"Amerikanauk: Historias de la emigración vasca en América" http://amerikanuak.blogspot.pt In Spanish. Annotated lists of Basques who settled in ION country. Compiled by Kolbo San San Sebastian. (See below.) Bibliography and essays by Kolbo.
Arsen V. Alzola. The Basque Experience from the Pyrenees to the Owyhees, Murphy, Idaho: Ochs Press-Owyhee County Historical Society, 1992.
Christian Robert Nicholas Beers. “Basque Settlement in Jordan Valley, Oregon.” MA Thesis, 1982. University of Oregon
John Bieter & Mark Bieter. An Enduring Legacy. The story of Basques in Idaho, Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2000.
Pat Bieter. The Basques in Idaho. Boise: Idaho State Historical Society, 1970.
Bernice Brusen. Basques from the Pyrenees to the Rockies. Portland: Dynagraphics, 1985.
Joseph Roy Castelli. Basques in the Western United States: A Functional Approach to Determination of Cultural Presence in the Geographic Landscape. New York: Arno Press, 1980.
Roger Collins. The Basques. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986.
L.S. Cressman and Anthony Yturri. “The Basques in Oregon”, The Commonweath Review (Eugene), XX (1938): 367-380.
Eleanor Davis, "The Basques in Malheur County." Reprint of typewritten ms in University of Oregon Archives, prepared ca. 1939 under auspices of WPA.
William Douglass and Jon Bilbao. Amerikanauk: Basques in the New World. The Basque Series. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2005 [1975].
Jerónima Echeverria, Home away from home, Reno. University of Nevada Press, 1999.Joseph Eiguren. Kashpur, The Saga of the Basque Immigrants to North America. Basque Diaspora Series, 8. Reno: Center for Basque Studies, University of Nevada, 2014.
Dottie Crummett Edwards. Tales of Yesterday in Malheur County: The South Eastern Oregon Frontier. Ontario, OR: Malheur Publishing, 1969.
Joe Eiguren. Kashpar: The Saga of the Basque Immigrants to North America. Caldwell, ID: Caxton Printers, 1988.
Richard W. Etulain. ed. Basques of the Pacific Northwest. Pocatello: Idaho State University Press, 1991
Euskomedia. Kultura Topagunea Extremely useful website with bibliography and links to reprints. From the site: "Euskomedia is a Foundation belonging to Eusko Ikaskuntza - Basque Studies Society, founded on 18th February 2002. Its main objective is the dissemination, by telematic means, of cultural and scientific contents, elaborated by Eusko Ikaskuntza and by third parties, that could be of use for people interested in Basque society and culture."
Joseph Harold Gaiser. "The Basques of the Jordan Valley Area, A Study in Social Process and Social Change."PhD Dissertation. University of Southern California, 1944.
Adrien Gachiteguy. Les Basques dans l’Ouest Americain. 2 ed. Bayonne: Éditions Iru Errege, 2016.
Kevin Dean Hatfield. "We Were Not Tramp Sheepmen: Resistance and Identity in the Oregon Basque Community, Accustomed Range Rights and the Taylor Grazing Act, 1890-1955." PhD diss. University of Oregon. June 2003. An excellent study of the place of the Basque community in the grazing conflicts leading to the Taylor Grazing Act and of the impact of the TGA on the I.O.N. Basque community.
Ada H. Hedges. “The Basque of Oregon.” In History of Grazing in Oregon. Oregon Writers Project. Portland: Oregon Works Progress Administration, 1940.
_____. "The Basques of Oregon," VIIème Congres d'Etudes Basques = Eusko Ikaskuntzaren VII. Kongresua = VII Congreso de Estudios Vascos (7º.1948.Biarritz) . Link to reprint of paper presented at VIIème Congrès d’Etudes Basques (July 1948) in Biarritz, France.
Robert Laxalt. The Basque Hotel. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1989.
______. Sweet Promised Land. New York: Harper and Row, 1957.
Alfred L. Lomax. History of Pioneer Sheep Husbandry in Oregon. Portland: Oregon Historical Society, 1928.
Watt A. Long. “The Basques.” In History of Grazing in Oregon. Oregon Writers Project. Portland: Oregon Works Progress Administration, 1940.
Koldo San Sebastian. "Kalipornian Dauko Barrija: Lekeitio se Va al Oeste." Privately printed ms.
_____. "La puerta de Idaho LOS VASCOS DE OWYHEE (1889-1930)" Link to article on Kolbo's blog "Amerikanauk: Historias de la emigración vasca en América." Describes settlement of Basques in in Owyhee county, Idaho. Spanish.
Margaret McDonald. “Basque Settlement in Malheur County.” In History of Grazing in Oregon. Oregon Writers Project. Portland: Oregon Works Progress Administration, 1940.
Oregon Writers Project. History of Grazing in Oregon. Portland: Oregon Works Progress Administration, 1940.
Ott, Sandra. The Circle of Mountains: A Basque Sheepherding Community. Oxford University Press, 1981; reprint, Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1993.
Peter K. Simpson. The Community of Cattlemen: A Social History of the Cattle Industry in Southeastern Oregon, 1869-1912. Moscow: University of Idaho Press, 1987.
_____. “Studying the Cattleman: Cultural History and the Livestock Industry in Southeastern Oregon,” Idaho Yesterdays 28:2 (1984):
Geography:
“Owyhee Sub-Basin Plan” Chapter 1, Executive Summary. Prepared by the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes and the Owyhee Watershed Council. Steven C. Vigg, editor. Steven Vigg and Company, Final Draft. May 28, 2004.
Great Basin Riparian Ecosystems: Ecology, Management and Restoration. Edited by Jeanne C. Chambers and Jerry R. Miller. The Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration Series. 2d ed. Island Press, 2004.
The Great Basin and Invasive Weeds, https://www.usu.edu/weeds/great_basin/greatb.html