Climatic variations and agricultural settlement in southeastern Oregon

This study traces, describes, and analyzes the effects that climatic variations have had on agricultural settlement in Harney and Lake Counties, Oregon, between the 1870s and 1984. The historical record, largely obtained from newspapers, was compared with the climatic record and stream flows for selected stations in the region. In particular, the study focuses on how climatic elements, especially precipitation and freezing temperatures, have influenced agricultural activities. Human responses (economic, social, and political) and perceptions of the climate are correlated with instrumental data. The changing perception of the climate and climatic variations during the study period are identified and discussed.; The study indicates that climate has had a major influence on agricultural activities. Severe winters in 1880-81 and again 1889-90 resulted in large losses of livestock and virtually ended the notion that livestock could survive on the open ranges without supplementary feed during the winters. Attempts to establish gardens and orchards by farmers around the start of the twentieth century were thwarted by the occurrences of late spring frosts. Adverse climatic conditions, principally a short growing season and increasing aridity, were major factors accounting for the abrupt ending of the settlement by homesteaders between 1910 and 1920. Drought that essentially lasted from 1917 to 1934, further adversely affected ranchers and farmers. Drought-relief programs in the 1930s included the slaughter of large herds of cattle, procurement of new water supplies, and the enactment of the Taylor Grazing Act (1934).; A number of humid years beginning in the 1940s, and rural electrification in the mid 1950s, brought renewed optimism to farmers and ranchers in the region. However, periodic dry spells (some severe), hard spring freezes, and damaging floods such as in 1955, 1964, and in the early 1980s still cause large agricultural losses.; The study concludes that climatic conditions often adversely impact agricultural activities. Proxy data from studies of tree ring growth indicate that the drought from about 1920 to the mid 1930s was exceptionally severe but the climate between 1880 and 1984 was, in general, comparable to that which the region experienced during the previous 700 years.