This sign is located in a small park at the west edge of Vale, Oregon
Marker Name: Vale
Marker Text: Origin of name, Vale of Cashmere
The first building on the site on the present City of Vale was built on the banks of the Malheur by Jonathan Keeney in 1864. He offered accommodations to the migrants and miners on their way to the Powder River area. The crossing of the Malheur, by the wagon trains on the Old Oregon Trail, was made at Vale. Near the crossing, natural hot springs bubbled forth and it is reported that the immigrants welcomed the source of hot water for laundering and bathing. The Malheur was named by Peter Skeen Ogden in 1826 while in command of a fur trading expedition for the Hudson Bay Co. out of Ft. Vancouver, who left a cache of supplies and furs hidden on the river. When he returned for them, he found that Indians had raided his storage place. He named the river Malheur, which translated literally means “Evil Hour”.
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