Sisters Country Places

AJ Warrin Road
AJ Warrin Road was established in 1879 as a road to Prineville, when the area was still part of Wasco County. Today what remains is a five mile section named Jordon Road and which is part of the Deschutes County “legacy roads’ database.

Willamette Valley and Cascade Mountain Military Road
In 1864 cattle rancher Luther Elkins organized in incorporated the WV and CMMR. The primary purpose of the road was to facilitate the movement of cattle to grazing lands east of the Cascade Range,

Metolius River
The Metolius River once had its source high on the slopes of Mt. Washington, but massive lava flows buried that region and Black Butte erupted directly over the Metolius River's route. Now the river percolates underground through the lava and emerges from gigantic springs at the base of Black Butte.

The Metolius' name comes from the Warm Springs Indian Mpto-ly-as, "white fish." Although the light-fleshed salmon that prompted this name are gone, kokanee salmon and native trout attract eagles, bears and flyfishermen.

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Cloverdale
A farming community settled in the late 1800s, Cloverdale homesteaders prospered growing crops of alfalfa, clover, grasses, potatoes and vegetables. The first school was built in 1900 on the George Cyrus place.

Hinkle Butte
This small cinder cone was named after J.E. Hinkle, a member of Company A who came to Central Oregon in 1865 as part of a military campaign to resolve the problem of Indian bands bothering settlers east of the Cascade Range.

Sisters
By the 1880s a few families lived in the area that became the town of Sisters. The area post office was moved from Camp Polk to Sisters in 1888. The post office was established on the homestead of John Smith who filed for his homestead rights in 1886. The community is named after the three towering peaks just west of town.

Tollgate
Nestled in towering ponderosa pines, setting upon the sloping outwash plains eroded by glaciers many thousands of years ago, this 440 acre development sits along side the AJ Warrin Road. This section of road also served as part of what was known as the Santiam Wagon Road.

North Sister
Towering at 10,085 feet above sea level and originally given the name “Faith” around 1840 by members of the Methodist Jason Lee Mission near Salem, Oregon, this volcanic peak is the second highest of the Three Sisters.

Middle Sister
The 10,047 feet above sea level volcanic peak is the smallest of the Three Sisters peaks. Originally called “Hope” the name was changed to Middle Sister in the 1960s accompanied by a great deal of opposition.

South Sisters
Originally call “Charity,” the 10,358 feet above sea level volcanic peak is the tallest of the Three Sisters. In 1839, Boston school teacher Hall J, Kelley proposed that the Cascade Range be called the “Presidents’ Range.”

Camp Polk
Company “A” from the home county of Polk settled on this location as their winter camp site in 1865. Their orders were to establish a military camp near the junction of the Santiam and McKenzie wagon roads as part of a campaign against Indian bands who had threatened settlers east of the Cascade mountain range.

Mt. Washington
About 100,000 years ago Mt. Washington began building itself through a series of volcanic eruptions. The mountain’s signature spire of 7734 feet above sea level is the result of heavy erosion. Located in a wilderness area that bears its name, it is easily seen rising above the Santiam Wagon Road.

Green Ridge
Rising nearly 2000 feet above the Metolius River, Green Ridge forms the eastern wall along the river. Explorer Lieutenant Abbot and his party first saw the upper Metolius from atop the ridge. Noting the rugged and at times shear walls of the ridge, Abbot’s party had a very difficult time descending into the lower river valley.

Camp Sherman
The Mitchell Arnold homestead claim of 1882 is the first settlement in the upper Metolius valley. An act of Congress in 1915 opened designated forest lands for summer home lease. Eighteen families from Sherman County mad e requests for leases, resulting in the area’s name.

Head of the Metolius River
Though Lieutenant Abbot’s party explored much of the river in 1855, the head waters of the Metolius were not discovered until the fall of 1859 by Andrew Wiley’s party. The river is unique in that a full flowing river emerges out of a rock wall.

Copyright © 2006 Sisters Country Historical Society

Plainview
Settlement began in this farming community around 1900. By 1907 a post office and school were built. Additional homesteaders were attracted to the area upon the completion of the Oregon Trunk line to Bend owned by Mr. Jim Hill.

Lafollette Butte
This hill was named after Captain Charles La Follette who led a contingent of 1st Oregon Volunteers into Central Oregon in 1865 to help suppress bands of Indians who were bothering settlers east of the Cascade Range.

Squaw Creek
Originating in the foothills of Middle Sisters, Squaw Creek was the last available surface water for travelers heading east until they reached the Deschutes River. The creek has provided irrigation water to homesteaders in the Sisters area since the late 1800s.

McKenzie Pass
Originally built as a toll road in the 1870s, the McKenzie Wagon Road became the mail route into Central Oregon. The road was under the control of the McKenzie Salt Springs and Deschutes Wagon Road Company for over two decades.

Indian Ford Creek
The 1855 Pacific Railroad team, headed by Lt. Henry L. Abbot, camped twice along the banks of the creek whose Indian name was Que-y-ee. The stream later became known as Indian Ford Creek.

Black Butte
With an elevation 6425 feet above sea level and towering 3000 feet above the meadows of Black Butte Ranch, this major geographic cinder cone was first illustrated in a drawing made by the 1855 Pacific Railroad team headed by Lt. Henry L. Abbot.

Santiam Wagon Road
Originally established as a major migration trail for Great Basin Native Americans, the Santiam Wagon Road is the name of a section of the Willamette Valley and Cascade Mountain Military Road that runs between Sweet Home in the west and Sisters/Camp Polk area on the east side of the Cascade Mountains.

Three Finger Jack
7,814 feet elevation
Quite new in terms of geologic time, Three Finger Jack’s development began about 100,000 years ago. Ignored by early explorers the mountain was originally called Mt. Marion. The current name came into use in the early 1900s, possibly because a three-fingered trapper named Jack lived in the area.

Mt. Jefferson
10,495 feet elevation
Named after President Jefferson by Lewis and Clark as noted in Clark’s journal on March 30, 1806. Though rugged and nearly inaccessible, explorer Lieutenant Henry Larcom Abbot noted in his journal of 1855 that trails in the area exhibited “a few rude pictures of men and animals scratched on the rocks.”

Black Butte Ranch
Today’s resort is comprised of numerous pieces of land that were part of ranches dating back to the 1880s. The Big Meadow section of today’s ranch was once known as Black Swamp Ranch due to the swampy condition of its meadows. Those areas were originally lakes, which became swamps and today are lush meadows.