Born and Raised on the Oregon Trail
The Malheur River provided much needed water for both
Oregon Trail emigrants and their livestock. Nearby hot springs
must have provided many an emigrant family with the first hot
bath in months of dry and dusty travel. The City of Vale stands
today on the same site at which the emigrants camped, and was
literally born and raised on the Oregon Trail.
The hot springs were the
site of Vale's first structure,
described by Sarah Sutton,
emigrant of 1854, as "a hut
and tent ocupi'd by A Mr.
Turner of Regon a Trader."
These springs were also the
site of Vale's first legitimate
building: the Bully Ranch,
owned by Capt. Jonathon
Keeney, a trapper, ferry-man
and jack-of-all-trades, who
sold whiskey to Oregon Trail
emigrants.
Lewis B. Rinehart bought
the "Bulley Ranch" and built
the historic Stone House,
which was opened as a hotel
with a grand ball on New
Year's Day in 1873. The Stone
House, which still stands on
Main Street, served as a
stagecoach stop, safehouse,
post office and store. The
name Vale was originally
bestowed upon the local post
office in 1893.
