After hearing of stories with caves & giant crystals and reports of unusual area activity, I did some research. Many have wondered the same thing for a very long time, and I welcome you to help share your stories.
Crow Creek, Wallowa, Crow Creek is northeast of Enterprise and flows northward to join Joseph Creek. According to J.H. Horner of Enterprise, the stream was named by A.C. Smith and Jasper Matheny in the late 1870s because they found the birds so thick in the aspen groves along its banks.
Oregon Geographic Names Lewis A. McArthur Sixth Edition
Oregons Historical Society Press
Copyright © 992 Lewis L. McArthur, Portland, Oregon
Crow Ridge, Wallowa. This ridge lies between Joseph and Deer creek in the northeast part of the country. It was named for Bert Crow, first settler on the ridge in the early 1880s. He was the first man to take a wagon from this ridge down to Grande Ronde River.
Oregon Geographic Names Lewis A. McArthur Sixth Edition
Oregons Historical Society Press
Copyright © 992 Lewis L. McArthur, Portland, Oregon
Following the Crowfoot Road
Crowfoot Road is still narrow and winds its way uphill to Lost Creek Reservoir. The town of Derby and the railroad disappeared long ago.
From Medford, drive 13 miles north on Highway 62 to the Butte Falls Highway. Turn right, continue 7.5 miles and turn left onto Crowfoot Road. In less than eight miles you’ll reach the Crater Lake Highway and Lost Creek Lake.
Opened for business in the summer of 1912, Crowfoot Road was a shortcut on the west side of Big Butte Creek, between what we now call the Butte Falls Highway and today’s Lost Creek Lake. It served the small community of Derby, which sat about eight miles east of the Crater Lake Highway. The road replaced an old, inadequate, pieced-together wagon trail through the same area. Earlier, the primary route had been McNeil Creek Road. It followed along the east bank of Big Butte Creek and was steep to climb and difficult to travel, particularly in winter.
With the coming of the Pacific & Eastern Railroad and its new depot in Derby, Upper Rogue farmers, ranchers and timber men realized that a better road to the railroad would save them at least 20 miles of wagon hauling to Medford and beyond. A petition asking the county to make a new road caught the eyes of railroad executives who thought that one day they might run a spur line from Derby north to the Rogue River.
Historical information provided by: MCArthur
Oregon Geographic Names – Sixth Edition