Jordan Valley was founded along the Skinner Toll Road. Among its earliest settlers was John Baxter, who established an inn, store, and post office in his cabin in 1867. The town served as a rest stop for miners journeying to nearby boomtowns like Silver City and DeLamar in present-day Idaho. Officially incorporated in 1911, Jordan Valley thrived while neighboring boomtowns dwindled after the mines faltered in 1875, thanks to its transition to cattle ranching. As of 2020, Jordan Valley has 179 residents.

Originating from the Pyrenees Mountains in northern Spain and southwest France, Basque immigration to the U.S. peaked from the late 1880s to the mid-1920s. They brought with them their traditional games, customs, and celebrations, including the popular handball game, pelota. In Jordan Valley, Basque immigrants constructed this pelota fronton, or handball court, in the spring of 1915, using local stone. Restored in 1997 and commemorated with a Basque Fall Festival, this court stands as Oregon’s sole remaining Basque handball court today.

During its mining days in the late 1800’s, Jordan Valley did not have a church and only hosted visiting missionary priests from Boise and Baker. In 1914, Irish and Basque settlers began building St. Bernard’s Catholic Church from local stone. Oscillating between having an appointed priest and being a missionary church, St. Bernard’s has gone through a number of renovations, the most recent of which occurred in 2016.

In 1865, Silas Skinner began constructing a toll road by hand, to aid in the transport of supplies for miners and the shipment of precious metals to the West Coast. The Skinner Toll Road, opened on May 19, 1866, linked to a route to Chico, California, and eventually to San Francisco, enabling freight to traverse between Silver City and Chico within a week. As traffic gradually shifted, more freight from Silver City traveled the Skinner Toll Road, leading to Chico via the Sacramento River, rather than the Columbia River route.

Jordan Creek is a 99 mile tributary to the Owyhee River. It was in this creek that the first gold placers were discovered in 1863, leading to the rush of growth in the area during the heyday of gold and silver mining. Today, Jordan Creek is used for irrigation for local ranches.

Aspens are the most widespread tree in North America. A grove of aspen is recognized to be one organism, meaning each tree is a genetic replica of all the trees in the group. In fact, one aspen grove in Utah is thought to be 80,000 years old, and is considered the heaviest living organism on earth. If you’re lucky to be on this route in the fall, keep your eyes peeled for the vibrant yellows and oranges that aspens are known for.

Only the cement power plant ruins and remnants of the mine stand as reminders of Dewey. Initially named Booneville, the town was purchased and rebuilt by Colonel W.H. Dewey in 1896. Renamed in his honor, Dewey flourished briefly with the construction of a grand three-story hotel, a post office, and a twenty-stamp mill. There was even talk of becoming the terminus for the Boise, Nampa, and Owyhee Railroad. However, the town declined as mining activity died, and the hotel succumbed to fire, ultimately leading to a ghost town.

Today, Silver City is kept alive by tourism. Accommodations include a historic hotel, recently outfitted with indoor plumbing. Silver City has two prominent cemeteries—the Masons/I.O.O.F Cemetery and the Silver City Citizens Cemetery. A third cemetery, up Slaughterhouse Gulch hill, bears a simple sign reading “Cemetery,” serving as the final resting place for the town’s Chinese population. Chinese miners made up 21% of the population. Most of the Chinese graves in Silver City were relocated, leaving this Cemetery as a poignant reminder of the town’s overlooked Chinese residents amidst the romanticized tales of its mining heyday.

The DeLamar Mine, described as “the first modern open pit silver mine”, operated from 1977 to 1998. It has been reported that 625,500 ounces of gold and 45 million ounces of silver were produced over the life of the mine. In 2017, Integra Resources acquired the project and gold and silver mining is, once again, in active production in this area.

Located on a volcanic plateau, Jordan Valley was shaped by volcanic activity dating back approximately 150,000 years. Here, on the eastern edge of that plateau you will find, Split Rock. It has only 165 feet of prominence but impressive east and west faces that highlight the rock tower that is separated from the rest of the monolith.