Desertification of the Camp Creek Drainage in Central Oregon

The environment of the Crooked River region, with particular emphasis on Camp Creek, is examined for the period 1826 to 1905. Vegetation is reconstructed from explorers’ journals, travelers’ diaries, military records, early residents’ accounts, and original survey plats and notes. The first year for which a written account of Euro-American exploration in the Crooked River region exists is 1826. In 1905 the valley floor is first described as criss-crossed by arroyos or small canyons. The objective of this study was to determine when Camp Creek became an incised stream and whether incision occurred as a result of inappropriate land-use practices or in response to climatic fluctuations. Historical evidence indicates that during a period of prolonged drought intense grazing, as well as other activities associated with settlement, weakened the vegetative cover of the floodplain, after which time heavy rains eroded the stream channel.