Burns, Oregon

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Burns, Oregon
City
North Broadway Avenue
Location in Oregon
Coordinates: 43°35′13″N 119°3′36″W / 43.58694°N 119.06000°W / 43.58694; -119.06000Coordinates: 43°35′13″N 119°3′36″W / 43.58694°N 119.06000°W / 43.58694; -119.06000
Country United States
State Oregon
County Harney
Incorporated 1889
Government
 • Mayor Craig LaFollette[1]
Area[2]
 • Total 3.55 sq mi (9.19 km2)
 • Land 3.55 sq mi (9.19 km2)
 • Water 0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation 4,147 ft (1,264 m)
Population (2010)[3]
 • Total 2,806
 • Estimate (2012) 2,729[4]
 • Density 790.4/sq mi (305.2/km2)
  U.S. Census
Time zone Pacific (UTC-8)
 • Summer (DST) Pacific (UTC-7)
ZIP Code 97720
Area code(s) 541
FIPS code 41-09800[5]
GNIS feature ID 1118337[6]
Website www.ci.burns.or.us

Burns is a city in and the county seat of Harney County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. According to the 2010 census, the population was 2,806. Burns and the nearby city of Hines are home to about 60 percent of the people in the sparsely populated county, the largest in Oregon and the ninth largest in the United States.

The Burns–Hines region has a high-desert climate but was much wetter in the recent geologic past. The Harney Basin was the largest of many depressions in which lakes formed in southeastern Oregon during the late Pleistocene. Remnants of an ancient lake that reached as far north as Burns are at the center of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, south of the city.

Northern Paiutes or their ancestors, who were hunter-gatherers, have lived in the region for thousands of years. Since the arrival of Euro-Americans in the 19th century, cattle ranching and other forms of agriculture have dominated land use in the area. In 1930, logging in the mountains north of Burns led to the creation of Hines, a lumber company town, and the timber industry remained important to the local economy until the 1990s. In addition to ranching, a variety of private and public enterprises support the Burns–Hines economy in the 21st century. Annual events include a migratory bird festival, the county fair, and a country music jamboree.

Geology

Burns is in southeastern Oregon near the northern edge of the arid Harney Basin. The basin is part of the High Lava Plains, a region dominated by erupting volcanoes in the late Miocene, five to ten million years ago. Centered on the Brothers Fault Zone, which runs southeast–northwest between Steens Mountain and Bend, the High Lava Plains merge with the Blue Mountains to the north and the Basin and Range Province to the south.[7]

Shallow basins formed by crustal stretching in the Basin and Range province were much wetter during the late Pleistocene, up to 11,000 years ago, than they are in the 21st century. Lakes formed in these basins, including those in the southern part of the High Lava Plains. Among these, the largest depression was the Harney Basin, covering 5,300 square miles (14,000 km2). Within the Harney Basin, ancient Malheur Lake—the 21st-century remnants of which include Malheur Lake, Harney Lake, and Mud Lake—covered 900 square miles (2,300 km2) and extended as far north as Burns. These remnant wetlands have become the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.[7]

Geography

Harney County is the largest county in Oregon and the ninth largest in the United States.[8] It covers about 10,000 square miles (26,000 km2) but has a total population of only about 7,600.[8] Most of that population lives in Burns or Hines, about 2 miles (3 km) southwest of Burns. Burns had about 2,800 residents in 2010[3] and Hines about 1,600,[9] for a total of 4,400, nearly 60 percent of the county population.

Silvies River east of Burns along Oregon Route 78
The city is 132 miles (212 km) east of Bend, and 132 miles (212 km) west of Ontario, Oregon, on U.S. Route 20 at its intersection with U.S. Route 395. Burns is about 200 miles (322 km) south of Pendleton.[10] Oregon Route 78 runs between Burns and communities to the southeast including Crane, Princeton, and Burns Junction, about 100 miles (161 km) away.[10] A fourth highway, Oregon Route 205, links the city to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, 36 miles (58 km) to the south, and to Frenchglen, further south near Steens Mountain.[10]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.55 square miles (9.19 km2), all land.[2]

History

Tribal

Archeologists have found evidence of human habitation in the general vicinity of Burns as early as 10,000 years ago.[11] Members of the contemporary Burns Paiute Tribe of Harney County descended mainly from the Wadatika band of Paiutes, hunter-gatherers of central and southern Oregon. The Wadatikas were named after the wada seeds collected as food from near Malheur Lake.[11] Their territory covered about 5,300 square miles (14,000 km2) from the Cascade Range to near Boise and from the southern Blue Mountains to south of Steens Mountain.[11] Scattered in the 19th century by clashes with white settlers and soldiers and through forced removal to distant reservations, some of the Paiutes eventually returned to Harney County.[12]

In the 1930s, the Burns Paiute Tribe began buying land near Burns and holding tribal elections.[11] By the late 1960s, the tribe had adopted a constitution and tribal bylaws, and in 1972 the Burns Paiute formally became an independent tribe, eligible to enter into contracts with other governments and legal entities.[11] The tribe owns the Burns Paiute Reservation, 770 acres (310 ha) north of Burns, and individual members of the tribe own more than 11,000 acres (4,500 ha) of land elsewhere in the county.[11] As of 1991, the tribe had about 350 members, and about 200 lived on the reservation.[13]

Cities and ranches

1942: Ponderosa pine logs from the Hines tract in the Malheur National Forest

After the arrival of Euro-American settlers in the 19th century, Burns was established in the 1880s. It was formally incorporated after Harney County's creation in 1889 through the splitting of Grant County into two counties. Early settler, merchant, and county commissioner George McGowan named the city after the Scottish poet Robert Burns. By 1891, the community had stores, a post office, hotels, and other businesses. McGowan was the town's first postmaster.[14]

In the 1920s, timber cutting and milling brought many newcomers to the region. In 1928, the Edward Hines Lumber Company acquired from the U.S. Forest Service the rights to cut timber in the Blue Mountains near Seneca, north of Burns.[15] After winning the timber contract, the Hines Company built the 52-mile (84 km) Oregon and Northwestern Railroad between Burns and Seneca.[16] Edward Hines, the company owner, built a lumber mill and company town, incorporated as the City of Hines in 1930.[17] Timber and logging remained important to the local economy until the 1990s, when the area's last lumber mill closed for lack of timber.[14]

Cattle ranching in the region began as early as the 1860s and expanded after passage of the Desert Land Act of 1877.[14] The act promoted development of arid and semi-arid public land in the western United States by making 320-acre (130 ha) plots available to individuals willing to "reclaim, irrigate, and cultivate" the land.[18] Some of the Harney County ranches established in the 19th century still exist in the 21st.[14] Agricultural revenue for Harney County in 2011 totaled about $84 million. Of this, about 65 percent came from cattle sales, 29 percent from the sale of alfalfa hay, and most of the rest from other crops and the sale of horses.[19]

Climate

Burns has a high desert climate that averages 99 days with precipitation each year.[20] Cloud cover varies from an average of 25 percent in July to 76 percent in January.[21] Annual precipitation amounts to about 11 inches (279 mm).[22] On average, about 42 inches (107 cm) of snow falls each year in Burns, 10 inches (25 cm) of it in December.[23] The average relative humidity, measured at 4 p.m. daily, is 42 percent, varying from 21 percent in July to 68 percent in December and January.[24] The coolest month is December, with an average high temperature of 34 °F (1 °C), and the warmest month is July, with an average high of 86 °F (30 °C).[22]

In January 1950, during a series of snowstorms the National Weather Service has identified as one of Oregon's top 10 weather events of the 20th century, about 32 inches (81 cm) of snow fell on Burns.[25] During another top-10 event, which occurred in February 1933, the temperature at Seneca reached −54 °F (−48 °C), the lowest ever recorded in Oregon.[25] By highway, Seneca is about 45 miles (72 km) north of Burns in the Blue Mountains.[26]

Climate data for Burns, Oregon
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 58
(14)		 67
(19)		 75
(24)		 86
(30)		 94
(34)		 100
(38)		 107
(42)		 103
(39)		 100
(38)		 89
(32)		 71
(22)		 61
(16)		 107
(42)
Average high °F (°C) 35
(2)		 39
(4)		 49
(9)		 57
(14)		 66
(19)		 75
(24)		 86
(30)		 85
(29)		 76
(24)		 62
(17)		 45
(7)		 34
(1)		 59.1
(15)
Average low °F (°C) 15
(−9)		 18
(−8)		 25
(−4)		 29
(−2)		 36
(2)		 42
(6)		 47
(8)		 45
(7)		 36
(2)		 28
(−2)		 22
(−6)		 14
(−10)		 29.8
(−1.3)
Record low °F (°C) −27
(−33)		 −28
(−33)		 −14
(−26)		 10
(−12)		 13
(−11)		 21
(−6)		 25
(−4)		 22
(−6)		 17
(−8)		 −7
(−22)		 −17
(−27)		 −28
(−33)		 −28
(−33)
Precipitation inches (mm) 1.19
(30.2)		 1.06
(26.9)		 1.09
(27.7)		 0.93
(23.6)		 1.23
(31.2)		 0.76
(19.3)		 0.40
(10.2)		 0.36
(9.1)		 0.44
(11.2)		 0.78
(19.8)		 1.17
(29.7)		 1.55
(39.4)		 10.96
(278.3)
Source: The Weather Channel[22]

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1890264
—
1900547107.2%
191090465.3%
19201,02213.1%
19302,599154.3%
19402,566−1.3%
19503,09320.5%
19603,52313.9%
19703,293−6.5%
19803,5798.7%
19902,913−18.6%
20003,0645.2%
20102,806−8.4%
source:[3][27][28]

As of the census of 2010, there were 2,806 people, 1,280 households, and 720 families residing in the city. The population density was 790.4 inhabitants per square mile (305.2 /km2). There were 1,490 housing units at an average density of 419.7 per square mile (162.0 /km2). The racial makeup of the city was 92.2% White, 0.3% African American, 2.6% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.7% from other races, and 3.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.7% of the population.[3]

There were 1,280 households out of which 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.6% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 43.8% were non-families. 36.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.77.[3]

The median age in the city was 44.5 years. 21.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20.3% were from 25 to 44; 30.7% were from 45 to 64; and 18.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 51.2% male and 48.8% female.[3]

The median income for a household in the city was $32,877, and the median income for a family was $42,885. The per capita income for the city was $19,567. About 19.6% of families and 20% of the population had incomes below the poverty line.[3]

Government

Harney County Courthouse
Burns has a mayor–council government.[29] Craig LaFollette, one of seven elected members of the council, is the mayor.[30]

A tribal council governs the Burns Paiute Tribe, immediately northwest of Burns. The tribe has its own police, court, and health and other services, including a tribal community center.[29]

The Harney County Courthouse is in Burns. County officials include a judge and two commissioners, a clerk, treasurer, assessor, district attorney, justice of the peace, sheriff, and circuit court judge.[31]

Harney County voters in 2012 voted heavily Republican. In the general election in November, Republican Mitt Romney won about 73 percent of the votes for U.S. President to about 23 percent for Democrat Barack Obama, while other candidates and parties shared the remaining 4 percent. In the contest for the U.S. Congressional 2nd District Representative, Republican Greg Walden garnered about 83 percent of the vote. In races for state offices, Republican candidates won between 63 and 69 percent of the vote in Harney County.[32]

Transportation

Burns Municipal Airport provides general aviation services.[33] The airport, with 5,100 feet (1,600 m) of lighted runway, is 6 miles (9.7 km) east of the city.[29] Pony Express provides air freight service.[29]

Eastern Point is an intercity bus company offering service between Bend and Ontario, Oregon, with connections to the Central Oregon Breeze and Porter Stage Lines.[34] Operating daily, the buses are wheelchair accessible, can seat up to 20 passengers, and can be used for package delivery as well as public transport.[35]

Infrastructure, education, services

Harney District Hospital
The city's public works department, consisting of a director and four full-time workers, maintains the water lines, sewers, and streets of Burns. The police department includes a chief of police, an office assistant, and three full-time officers who work for Hines as well as Burns. City officers and employees include a city manager, city clerk, municipal judge doubling as the utilities clerk, and an office assistant.[36]

Harney District No. 3 provides public education in Burns and Hines at Henry L. Slater Grade School in Burns, Hines Middle School, and Burns High School.[37] The district sponsors the Silvies River Charter School, which offers a home-school program for kindergarten through second grade and an online curriculum for older students.[38]

Harney District Hospital in Burns is a general medical and surgical hospital with 19 beds.[39] HDH Family Care and Mountain Sage Medical operate medical clinics in the city.[40] The Burns–Hines VA Clinic in Burns provides general medical services to military veterans.[41] Emergency medical services include AirLink Critical Care Transport via helicopter or airplane to the nearest appropriate treatment center.[42]

The Welcome Hotel in Burns, 1930. It burned down in 1939.
Formed in 1903 by the Ladies Afternoon Club, the Harney County Library in Burns has grown from an initial collection of 12 books to more than 30,000 items in 2013. Library offerings include public computers, wireless Internet, video conferencing equipment, meeting spaces, and public programs, as well as books, magazines, newspapers, audio books, videos, DVDs, and access to Interlibrary Loan.[43]

Staffed by volunteers, the Harney County Historical Museum in Burns offers displays of relics, documents, and photographs from the region's past. Established in 1960 at the site of a former brewery, laundry, and wrecking yard, the museum is open five days a week (Tuesday through Saturday) from April through September and at other times by appointment.[44]

Culture

Sagebrush Symphony Orchestra in about 1915
The Harney County Arts in Education Foundation (HCAEF) exists to support music education and the performing, visual, and theater arts in Burns and the region. The HCAEF is raising funds in hopes of creating a performing arts and education center with a 600-seat auditorium, art gallery, film studio, and other facilities for students and the community. The Portland Youth Philharmonic, which originated in Burns as the Sagebrush Symphony Orchestra, has performed in Burns in support of the HCAEF.[45]

Each April, Burns hosts the John Scharff Migratory Bird Festival and Art Show during the annual spring migration of waterfowl and other birds through the area. Pelicans, ducks, and raptors are among the birds frequenting the Harney Basin wetlands, a stopping place on the Pacific Flyway. Named for a former manager of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, the festival includes tours of the wetlands and nearby ranches as well as classes in topics such as birdhouse building, Harney County archeology, and bird sketching.[46]

In June, the High Desert Fiddlers host the Country Music Jamboree at the Harney County Fairgrounds on the edge of Burns. Players of all skill levels take part in the jamboree, with stages in three fairground buildings. Admission is free; donations are accepted. Concessions, dinners by reservation, camping in tents or recreational vehicles, and dancing are part of the entertainment. At other times of the year, the High Desert Fiddlers gather on Fridays at various locations around the city to hold public jam sessions including folk, country, bluegrass, and other music played on instruments such as the guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and hammered dulcimer.[46]

The Harney County Fair is held annually in September at the Harney County Fairgrounds. The fair, which lasts about a week, includes a rodeo, carnival, talent show, horse races, parade, and other events, including those sponsored by 4-H and Future Farmers of America.[47]

Media

The weekly Burns Times-Herald is the only newspaper in the city.[48] In 2006, five members of the Times-Herald staff formed Survival Media LLC, which bought the newspaper from its former out-of-state owners. According to Survival Media, this was the first staff buyout of a newspaper in Oregon.[49] Two radio stations, KORC (92.7 FM) and KBNH (1230 AM), broadcast from Burns.[50]

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ Parks, Randy (April 20, 2011). "Burns Appoints Craig LaFollette as Mayor, Fills Two Council Seats". Burns Times-Herald (Survival Media). Retrieved April 5, 2013. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "U.S. Gazetteer Files 2010: Place List". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 9, 2013. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 "American Fact Finder: Burns City, Oregon". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 6, 2013. 
  4. ↑ "Population Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 2, 2013. 
  5. ↑ "Geographic Identifiers: Burns City, Oregon". American FactFinder. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 8, 2013. 
  6. ↑ "Burns". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. November 28, 1980. Retrieved April 8, 2013. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Orr, Elizabeth L.; William N. Orr (1999). Geology of Oregon (5th ed.). Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. pp. 104–08. ISBN 0-7872-6608-6. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Destination Harney County, p. 48
  9. ↑ "American Fact Finder: Hines City, Oregon". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 6, 2013. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Destination Harney County, p. 33
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 Destination Harney County, pp. 34–37
  12. ↑ Allen, Cain (2005). "Malheur Indian Reservation". The Oregon History Project. Oregon Historical Society. Retrieved April 8, 2013. 
  13. ↑ Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project (1997). "Appendix 1–2: American Indian Background Information" (PDF). U.S. Forest Service. p. 19. Retrieved April 9, 2013. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "Burns, Oregon". Harney County Chamber of Commerce. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved October 30, 2007. 
  15. ↑ Powell, David C. (June 2008). "Early Timber Harvesting in the Blue Mountains" (PDF). United States Forest Service. p. 5. Retrieved April 7, 2013. 
  16. ↑ Culp, Edwin D. (1978). Stations West, The Story of the Oregon Railways. Bonanza Books. p. 99. OCLC 4751643. 
  17. ↑ Lewis, James G. "Biographical Portrait: Edward Hines (1863–1931)" (PDF). Forest History Today (The Forest History Society) (Spring/Fall 2004): 64–65. Retrieved April 7, 2013. 
  18. ↑ "Lands and Realty – General Land Policy". Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved April 7, 2013. 
  19. ↑ Destination Harney County, p. 88
  20. ↑ Taylor, p. 15
  21. ↑ Taylor, p. 38
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 "Monthly Averages for Burns, Oregon". The Weather Channel Interactive, Inc. Retrieved April 9, 2013. 
  23. ↑ Taylor, p. 115
  24. ↑ Taylor, p. 35
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Oregon's Top 10 Weather Events of 1900s". National Weather Service. Retrieved April 10, 2013. 
  26. ↑ The 2013 Road Atlas. Chicago: Rand McNally. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-528-00622-7. 
  27. ↑ Moffatt, Riley Moore (1996). Population History of Western U.S. Cities and Towns, 1850–1990. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-8108-3033-2. 
  28. ↑ "2000 Census: Burns City, Oregon". American FactFinder. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 9, 2013. 
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 Destination Harney County, p. 7
  30. ↑ "City Council". City of Burns. Retrieved December 27, 2013. 
  31. ↑ Destination Harney County, p. 75
  32. ↑ "Harney County, Oregon General Election: November 6, 2012" (PDF). Harney County. Retrieved December 27, 2013. 
  33. ↑ "Airport Master Record: Burns Muni". Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved April 5, 2013. 
  34. ↑ "Eastern Point Schedule" (PDF). TAC Transportation. Retrieved December 27, 2013. 
  35. ↑ Destination Harney County, p. 61
  36. ↑ Destination Harney County, p. 46
  37. ↑ "Schools". Harney County School District 3. Retrieved April 6, 2013. 
  38. ↑ Destination Harney County, p. 74
  39. ↑ "Harney District Hospital". U.S. News & World Report. 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2013. 
  40. ↑ Destination Harney County, pp. 59–60
  41. ↑ Destination Harney County, p. 47
  42. ↑ Destination Harney County, p. 58
  43. ↑ Destination Harney County, pp. 41–43
  44. ↑ Destination Harney County, p. 51
  45. ↑ Destination Harney County, p. 54
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Destination Harney County, p. 52
  47. ↑ Destination Harney County, p. 56
  48. ↑ Friedman, Ralph (July 10, 1960). "Old West Lingers On in Oregon's High Country" (PDF). The New York Times. p. XX22. Retrieved April 5, 2013. "The county has only one movie house, in Burns; only two physicians, both in Burns; only two television sets outside of Burns and one weekly newspaper, The Burns Times Herald." 
  49. ↑ Destination Harney County, p. 8
  50. ↑ "Oregon Blue Book: Media". Oregon State Archives. Retrieved November 1, 2007. 

Works cited

  • Jenks, Jennifer, ed. (April 3, 2013). Destination Harney County: 2013–14 Visitor and Relocation Information Guide. Burns, Oregon: Burns Times-Herald (Survival Media).
  • Taylor, George H., and Hannan, Chris (1999). The Climate of Oregon: From Rain Forest to Desert. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press. ISBN 978-0-87071-468-9.

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