Millican’s history began in the 1880s when George Millican founded a ranch 25 miles east of Bend. Soon after, a small township bearing his name emerged, and by 1913, it became an official town with its own post office. With the construction of US Hwy 20 in the 1930s, most of the town’s population moved out in search of a better life, leaving only one man, Billy Rahn, to run the post office until it closed in 1942. After World War II, a businessman named Bill Mellin bought and ran the old gas station, store, and post office, but he was later murdered by his only employee. Since then, several families and businesses have bought and sold the town, none keeping the land for long. Millican is now a ghost town with no inhabitants. [Oregon Secretary of State]

The Dark Skies route is at the northern edge of the Great Basin, a 209,162-square-mile area that once drained internally. This means that rivers, streams, and creeks found no outlet to either the Pacific Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico; all precipitation in the region evaporated, sank underground, or flowed into lakes. With the construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which broke ground in 1908, large amounts of water were diverted outside of the area, forever altering the landscape. [Wikipedia]

“Pine Mountain Observatory, located 34 miles southeast of Bend, is perched atop a mountain at an elevation of 6,300 feet. The observatory’s location is well placed to make the most of the dark skies that the Eastern Oregon high desert provides.

The observatory is operated by the University of Oregon Department of Physics under a special use permit from the Deschutes National Forest. The observatory’s primary function is research and other astronomical observations, including basic and advanced scientific research. However education at all levels is also an important function and objective of the observatory.” [Pine Mountain Observatory]

Photo Credit: Grant Tandy

The Fecker 15″ Cassegrain telescope is known as “The Matriarch of the Mountain” due to its long and important history in the development of the observatory. Back in 1950, the University of Oregon bought the telescope and placed it on top of a building in Eugene. In 1961, Dr. E.G. Ebenhausen took the telescope up to Cache Mountain to study the atmosphere. Views were subpar, and so in search of drier weather and clearer skies, he moved the telescope to Pine Mountain. And thus the observatory was born! The Fecker got its own dome in 1968 and was a high performer until the 90s when it fell into disrepair. In 2012, a volunteer named Alton Luken found the telescope tucked behind some insulation and spent three years restoring it. Since 2015, the Fecker has been used to help University of Oregon physics students develop their communication skills and teach the public about the universe. [Wikipedia]

Photo Credit: University of Oregon

The Boller & Chivens 24″ dome was the very first building constructed at the Pine Mountain Observatory. It was completed in summer 1967, after getting a special use permit from the Deschutes National Forest. In August of that same year, the telescope was installed, and the grand opening of observatory was held on September 17, 1967. That was a big night because it was also the first time the telescope saw its first light. This telescope was a big deal back in the 70s and 80s, doing cutting-edge astronomy research such as discovering magnetars in 1970. Even today, it’s still one of the most important telescopes at the observatory as it is used for all sorts of undergraduate research, technology development, and public outreach events. [Wikipedia]

Photo Credit: Grant Tandy

The Planewave 14″ Corrected Dall-Kirkham, also known as “the Robbins,” is the newest telescope at the Pine Mountain Observatory. Construction started in 2015 and after two summer seasons of commissioning, the telescope was finally ready for observations in Fall 2018. This telescope is unlike any others at the observatory because it uses a camera system instead of the traditional eyepiece. Plus, it can be operated remotely from the University of Oregon campus or other institutions near or far. Even though it’s smaller than the other telescopes at the observatory, it’s one of the most powerful instruments because of its top-of-the-line optics, electronics, and camera system. [Wikipedia]

Photo Credit: University of Oregon

Along this sector is a beautiful, healthy Ponderosa Forest. Do you know this about Ponderosa Pines and fire? (1) They have exceptionally thick bark, which acts as a protective shield for the tree’s sensitive cambium layer, which is essential for nutrient transport and growth. (2) They have resin ducts that produce a sticky, resinous substance that during a firee melts and flows down the trunk, creating a fire-resistant barrier that shields the tree from the heat and flames. (3) They self-prune their lower branches as they grow, leaving fewer branches close to the ground. This reduces the “ladder fuel” that can carry ground fires into the tree’s crown.(4) They can resprout from the cambium layer beneath the fire damaged bark can quickly regenerate, often with multiple trunks growing from a single base.