Established: Jan. 11, 1854

Elev. at The Dalles: 98'

Area: 2,396 sq. mi.

Average Temp.: January 33.4°  July 73.1°

Assessed Value: $2,716,171,881

Real Market Value: $6,928,713,957

(includes the value of non-taxed properties)

Annual Precipitation: 14.9"

Economy: Agriculture, forest products, manufacturing, electric power, aluminum and transportation

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. It was named for the Wasco, or Wascopam, Tribe.

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. Thousands of years before that, humans scratched pictographs on rocks overlooking the Columbia River in this area. Later, tribes gathered for generations near Celilo Falls to trade and fish. The county’s tribal heritage continues in evidence today.