Wasco County, Oregon
| Wasco County, Oregon | |
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Wasco County Courthouse in The Dalles
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 Location in the U.S. state of Oregon |
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 Oregon's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | January 11, 1854 |
| Seat | The Dalles |
| Largest city | The Dalles |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2,395 sq mi (6,203 km2) |
| • Land | 2,382 sq mi (6,169 km2) |
| • Water | 14 sq mi (36 km2), 0.6% |
| Population (est.) | |
| • (2015) | 25,775 |
| • Density | 11/sq mi (4/km²) |
| Congressional district | 2nd |
| Time zone | Pacific: UTC-8/-7 |
| Website | co |
Wasco County is a county in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 census, the population was 25,213. Its county seat is The Dalles. The county is named for a local tribe of Native Americans, the Wasco, a Chinook tribe who lived on the south side of the Columbia River.
Wasco County comprises the The Dalles, OR Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Celilo Falls on the Columbia River served as a gathering place and major trading center for the local Native Americans, including the Wasco, Paiute, and Warm Springs tribes, for thousands of years. These rapids came to be named Les Grandes Dalles de la Columbia or "The Great Falls of the Columbia" by the French Canadian fur traders.
The Dalles served initially as a way station on the Oregon Trail as it approached the Willamette Valley. The construction of the Barlow Road over the Cascade Range in 1845, and the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 encouraged families to settle in the area. Over the following years, Wasco County was a major transportation hub for both river and inland traffic.
The Oregon Territorial Legislature created Wasco County on January 11, 1854, from the parts of Clackamas, Lane, Linn and Marion counties, that were east of the Cascade Range. At the time of its creation, it was the largest county in the United States, consisting of 130,000 square miles (340,000 km2) that stretched clear to the Rocky Mountains. Its northern border was the Washington Territory line (the Columbia River). When Dakota Territory (including present-day Wyoming) was created in 1861, Idaho Territory in 1863, and Montana Territory in 1864, the parts of Wasco County east of the present Oregon boundaries were ceded to those territories. Other Oregon counties were split away, and Wasco was reduced to its current size.
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