 The
Legislative Assembly created Gilliam County on February 25,
1885, from the eastern third of Wasco County because residents thought
they were too far from the county seat in The Dalles. In 1899 a portion
of southern Gilliam County was used to form Wheeler County. Gilliam
County is bordered today by the Columbia River to the north, Wasco
and Sherman Counties to the west, Morrow and Grant Counties to the
east, and Crook County to the south. Gilliam County's area is now
1,223 square miles. It was named after Colonel Cornelius Gilliam who
died accidentally while commanding the Oregon volunteers during the
Cayuse War of 1847.
When
the Legislative Assembly created Gilliam County, Alkali (now Arlington)
was selected as the temporary county seat. The question of a permanent
county seat was placed on general election ballots in 1886, 1888,
and again in 1890 when Condon became the permanent seat of government
in Gilliam County. Condon was originally known as Summit Springs
which in 1884 took the name of a young lawyer from Alkali, Harvey
C. Condon, nephew of the state geologist and university professor
Thomas Condon.
Once
the question of the location of the county seat was settled, voters
in Gilliam County proved reluctant to provide a courthouse in Condon.
After the county seat moved to Condon in 1890, county government
operated out of a two-room house until 1903 when the county court
appropriated money to construct a courthouse. This building was
destroyed by a fire in 1954 resulting in heavy losses to the contents
of the building including a large number of county records. The
next year, the county replaced the burned structure with the present
courthouse built on the same site.
Gilliam
County continues to have a county court form of government. Elected
officials now include two county commissioners, a county judge,
district attorney, assessor, clerk, sheriff, surveyor, and treasurer.
The
county's population had dropped from a high of 3,960 residents in
1920 to 1,750 in 1992. However, the 2000 population of 1915 represented
a 11.53% increase from 1990.
For
many years, Indians had traversed the county on well-worn trails
to reach fishing, hunting, foraging, and trading areas. Many of
these trails are still visible in the rangeland. The first non-native
people in the area were Americans following the Oregon Trail to
the Willamette Valley. In the late 19th century, new settlers arrived
from the midwestern and eastern United States and Europe. Many settlers
were part of the larger reverse migration of people who had originally
settled in the Willamette Valley.
Gilliam
County is in the heart of the Columbia Basin wheat area. Its economy
is based primarily on agriculture centering on wheat, barley, and
beef cattle. Apples and other irrigated crops are becoming an increasingly
important part of the economy of the north end of the county. After
agriculture and livestock, other principal industries of Gilliam
County include tourism, hunting, and fishing.
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 Gilliam
County's western border is formed by the John Day River,
named after a member of the Astor-Hunt overland party.
Entrepreneur John Jacob Astor sent the party west from
St. Louis in 1810 with the goal of setting up a post
at the mouth of the Columbia River. Astor wanted to
dominate fur trapping in the region.
The
expedition became divided and widely separated. Experiencing
incredible hardships, John Day's group dwindled to two
people. Close to the mouth of the river that would later
bear his name, Day and Ramsey Crooks were attacked by
hostile Indians and robbed of everything--even their
clothes. While they were soon rescued, one source claimed
that Day later went insane and died in 1814.
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