Balsamroot and lupine wildflowers near Tom McCall Preserve on Rowena Crest along the Historic Columbia River Highway in the Columbia River Gorge. (Oregon State Archives Scenic Images collection)
County Seat: 401 E 3rd Street, The Dalles 97058
Phone: 541-506-2500 (General); 541-506-2700 (Court Administrator)
Email:
countyclerk@co.wasco.or.usAbout
Established: Jan. 11, 1854
Elev. at The Dalles: 98'
Area: 2,396 sq. mi.
Average Temp.: January 33.4° July 73.1°
Assessed Value: $3,353,280,411
Real Market Value: $6,257,816,645
(includes the value of non-taxed properties)
Annual Precipitation: 14.9"
Economy: Agriculture, forest products, manufacturing, electric power, aluminum and transportation
Related Resources
Historical Records Inventory
Wasco County Scenic Images
"County QuickFacts" (population and economic data from U.S. Census Bureau)
County Seat Map (from Google Maps)
County Map (from ODOT)
Incorporated Cities
Points of Interest
Columbia and Deschutes rivers, Fort Dalles Museum, Pulpit Rock, The Dalles Dam, Celilo Converter Station, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, Mount Hood, Sorosis Park, original Wasco County Courthouse, St. Peter’s Landmark, Columbia River Gorge Discovery Center
History and General Information
Designation for the Wasco County Fair & Rodeo.
When the Territorial Legislature created Wasco County in 1854 from parts of Clackamas, Lane, Linn and Marion counties, it embraced all of Oregon east of the Cascade Range, most of Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming. The county was named for the Wasco Tribe, the eastern-most group of Chinookan-speaking people on the Columbia River.
Wasco’s county seat is The Dalles. Now the trading hub of north-central Oregon, The Dalles gained earlier fame as the town at the end of the Oregon Trail. In this area thousands of years earlier, people etched pictographs on rocks overlooking the Columbia River in this area. For generations, Indigenous tribes near Celilo Falls gathered to trade and fish, but The Dalles Dam flooded the falls in 1957.
Agriculture, lumber, manufacturing, electrical power, transportation and tourism are the main economic drivers.
County Officials
Commissioners: Phil Brady (2027), Scott Hege (2027), Jeff Justesen (2029); Dist. Atty. Kara Davis (2029); Assess. Jill Filla Amery (2029); Clerk Chrissy Zaugg (2029); Sheriff Lane Magill (2029); Surv. Brad Cross; Treas. Elijah Preston (2029)