Premission to reprint October 28, 2002
From the Central Oregonian October 25, 2002
The evolution of the Prineville/Crook County area closely follows along the classic path of American frontier development which is represented by wars of annihilation against the native peoples.
In fact, Crook county is named for General George Crook who fought Indians in the Oregon Country for two decades and led a successful campaign that quelled a Bannock Indian uprising in the area in 1878.
Military actions with native hostile Indian tribes are a significant factor in the area's history. Early settlement was discouraged in 1856 because of conflicts and General John E. Wool, commander of the Department of the Pacific of the U.S. Army issued an order on August 7th forbidding immigrants to locate east of the Cascade Mountains.
The order was revoked by General Harney on Oct. 31, 1858. Conflicts with the Indians began to subside with the signing of treaties with the Wasco and Walla Walla in 1855, creating the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Renegade groups led by leader Paulina continued to raid other tribes and settlers. By 1868 most of the skirmishes had begun to subside and settlers began to migrate to the area.
Elisha Barnes came to the Ochoco Valley in 1866 and liked what he saw and returned the following year with some of his friends, including David Wayne Claypool, William "Billy" Smith, Ewen Johnson, Captain White and Raymond Burkhart. They built a cabin along Mill Creek near the confluence with Ochoco Creek They were the first settlers in Central Oregon. The first school in Central Oregon was built in 1868 near the Claypool cabin.
In 1868 Barney Prine came to the Crooked River Valley and set up a blacksmith cabin, spirit dispensing business, and a primitive country store along the banks of Crooked River. A Post Office was established in 1871 and was named Prine in honor of Barney Prine. The name of the Post Office was changed to Prineville in 1872.
Thanks mainly to the stubborn insistence of a legislator from Prineville, Frank Nichols, Crook County was formed out of Wasco County by an act of the Oregon Legislature on October 24, 1882. The push for a separate county from Wasco was made at the time when vigilantism was rampant in this part of Wasco County. The nearest sheriff was located in The Dalles over 120 miles away. In 1884 the first elections were held in Crook County. Once local officials were elected the vigilante element in the area subsided and leaders of the group either left the area or faded into the background.
Monroe Hodges purchased Barney Prine's business and made a homestead claim on 80 acres in the Crooked River Valley. He began to plot a town site on his homestead and filed his plat in The Dalles on March 28, 1877. He chose to name the community Prineville as the Post Office was already established. The community became the center of commerce in central Oregon and was the chosen as the County seat for Crook County. Prineville boasted several businesses including a flour mill that was built in 1875. Other communities that began to develop in the newly formed Crook County were Paulina, Powell Butte, Madras, Redmond, Bend and Sisters. Prineville remained the premier community in central Oregon until after the turn of the century and the arrival of the railroads to central Oregon in 1911. The railroads by-passed the main community in favor of a rail line located to the west. The communities of Bend, Redmond, and Madras then became the major commerce centers in the area.