Cove Orchard
The Cove Orchard was a pioneering fruit orchard located deep in the Crooked River canyon west of Culver, Oregon. It was the first sizeable commercial orchard in Central Oregon. The orchard and surrounding community were completely flooded in 1964 when Round Butte Dam was completed, creating Lake Billy Chinook. Today, the Cove lies approximately 200 feet beneath the surface of the reservoir, a lost piece of Jefferson County's agricultural heritage.
History
Early Settlement (1878-1888)
The original homesteader of the Cove was Green Clark Rogers (1825-1891), known throughout his life simply as Clark Rogers. Born in Indiana to Lewis Franklin Rogers and Nancy Ann Richards, he crossed the plains to Oregon in 1845 with his brother James, secured a Donation Land Claim within the present city limits of McMinnville, married Mary Jane Nelson in 1847, and served in the Cayuse Indian War of 1849. Widowed in 1876, he departed Yamhill County in 1878 and crossed the Cascades into what was then the vast western reach of Wasco County, settling on the Crooked River near its confluence with the Deschutes. He named his homestead The Cove and called the plateau above it the "Plains of Abraham"; to other early pioneers it was known as "No Man's Land," and later as "The Island."
In October 1879 Clark's daughter Ella Rogers and her husband George Henry Osborn — a native of Kansas who had spent time near Goose Lake and in the Willamette Valley — crossed the Cascades in a wagon with their infant son Frank to join him. Ella later wrote in her memoir Our Pioneer Life:
- "In October, 1879 we loaded all of our belongings in our wagon and started out for some place--we did not know where, but some place where we could get us some land and start us a home. All we had was a wagon and five head of horses and one cow. It took us fifteen days to get over the mountains. Oh, such roads, spechly the lavy beds!"
Clark and George cleared rye grass that stood "ten feet high and so thick you could hardly get through it," built a ten-by-twelve log kitchen, and lived in a tent while putting in a vegetable garden. Once the homestead was established, Ella recorded: "They kept on clearing up land and went to the Dalles and got fruit trees and set them out. I guess there are some of them old trees there yet." According to the Genealogical Forum of Portland (1980), Clark and his son-in-law George Osborn "planted the first fruit trees in Central Oregon."
Ella and George lived at the Cove for about two years before moving on to Osborn Springs in 1880. Clark remained, eventually trading the Cove homestead to the McCallister family in exchange for a house in Prineville, where he spent his later years and served as city recorder. He died in Prineville on February 4, 1891, and is buried in the old Prineville Cemetery beneath a marker that reads simply "Clark Rogers."
The McCallister Years (1888-1905)
T.F. "Ferd" McCallister acquired the Cove in 1888 and established a true commercial orchard there. Under his stewardship, the orchard expanded to include apples and peaches, which thrived in the protected canyon environment. The natural irrigation from the river and the sheltered location created growing conditions unmatched elsewhere in the high desert of Central Oregon.
The Boegli Orchard Era (1905-1940)
William Boegli purchased the Cove in 1905 and developed what became Central Oregon's first large-scale commercial fruit operation. Boegli, who would later become the first judge of Jefferson County, expanded the orchard to 11 irrigated acres and diversified the plantings to include:
- Apples (multiple varieties)
- Pears
- Apricots
- Peaches (his "Yellow Crawford" variety was particularly prized)
- Plums
- Prunes
- Grapes
In its heyday through about 1920, the Cove Orchard supplied markets in Prineville and Bend once or twice a week. Hauling the fruit up the arduous grade out of the Crooked River Canyon was challenging work, but the quality of the Cove's produce made it worthwhile.
A 1907 advertisement in the Madras Pioneer shows Boegli selling fruit at retail prices: apples at 50 cents to $1 a bushel, pears at $1.25 to $2 a bushel, peaches at 5 cents per pound or 85 cents per box, and grapes at 10 cents per pound or $1 per box.
State Park Era (1940-1964)
In 1940, William Boegli sold the Cove to the Oregon State Highway Commission. The property was developed as Cove State Park, becoming a beloved destination for picnics, camping, and day trips, especially for local residents of Jefferson County. The original park land in the Crooked River Canyon was acquired by lease agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In the 1950s, visitors drove into the Crooked River and Deschutes River canyons to see the spectacular geologic formations. The area was modestly developed for camping and day use, and the old orchard trees continued to bear fruit, providing shade and a connection to the pioneer past.
The Flooding (1964)
Between 1961 and 1964, Portland General Electric constructed Round Butte Dam near the confluence of the Crooked, Deschutes, and Metolius rivers. When the dam was completed on August 7, 1964, the rising waters of the newly-created Lake Billy Chinook slowly submerged the Cove forever.
The original campground, the historic orchard, the homestead buildings, and decades of accumulated memories disappeared beneath 200 feet of water. The Crooked River Petroglyph, an ancient Native American rock carving that had stood along the west bank of the river, was extracted in the winter of 1963 and relocated to higher ground - one of the few artifacts saved from the flooding.
What Was Lost
The flooding of Lake Billy Chinook claimed:
- The Cove Orchard - 11 acres of heritage fruit trees, representing the first commercial orchard in Central Oregon
- Historic homestead structures - Buildings dating back to the 1878 Rogers homestead
- Cove State Park - The original campground and day-use facilities
- A unique microclimate - The sheltered canyon bottom that made fruit cultivation possible
- Pioneer history - Physical evidence of early agricultural experimentation in the high desert
It is historically regrettable that the varieties of fruit trees in the Boegli orchard are now unknown and unknowable. The orchard represented a living archive of late 19th and early 20th century fruit cultivation adapted to Central Oregon conditions.
Legacy
Today, the throngs of fishermen, water-skiers, and pleasure boaters who flock to Lake Billy Chinook every summer are largely unaware that beneath the surface, not far from the main bridge on the Crooked River arm, the Cove and its orchards lie unmarked and forgotten.
The modern Cove Palisades State Park, which surrounds Lake Billy Chinook, takes its name from this lost community. The park now encompasses approximately 5,200 acres and serves hundreds of thousands of visitors annually with campgrounds, day-use areas, and marina facilities - a far cry from the quiet canyon orchard that gave the area its name.
The Cove Orchard stands as a reminder that progress sometimes comes at a cost, and that beneath the recreational waters of Lake Billy Chinook lies a piece of Central Oregon's pioneering agricultural heritage.
Location
The Cove was located deep in the Crooked River canyon, west of Culver, Oregon, at an elevation of approximately 1,745 feet - significantly lower than the surrounding high desert plateau. The site is now submerged beneath Lake Billy Chinook, on the Crooked River arm of the reservoir, approximately where the modern Crooked River Day Use Area is located above.
Approximate historical coordinates: 44.526, -121.265 (now underwater)
See Also
- Osborn Springs - The Osborns' second homestead, established 1880 after leaving the Cove
- McCoin Upper - Another heritage orchard in Jefferson County; Sarah (Osborn) McCoin was George Osborn's sister
- McCoin Lower - Heritage orchard on the Crooked River National Grassland
- Cyrus Horse Camp - Historic homestead orchard
- Unique Trees - Heritage trees with no known variety match
References
- Ellen Rogers Osborn, "Our Pioneer Life" memoir (early 1940s)
- Martha Mitchell, "Osborn's First Homestead At The Cove Now Lies Four Hundred Feet Under Water," Central Oregon Rancher, December 1980
- "Pioneer Families of Yamhill County, Oregon, Volume III," Genealogical Forum of Portland, Oregon, Vol. XXX No. 4, December 1980
- Biographical sketch of George H. Osborne, An Illustrated History of Central Oregon (1905)
- Biographical sketch of Hon. W.F. Osborn, History of Kansas (Greenwood Co.) (A.T. Andreas, 1883)
- Jefferson County Historical Society, "Six Jefferson County Homestead Orchards," The Agate, Spring 2015
- Oregon State Parks, "The Cove Palisades State Park" history
- Pamplin Media Group, "Family pioneers in areas of the Cove, Haystack"
- Pamplin Media Group, "History: How the Island formed in Lake Billy Chinook"
Historical Documents
- "The Agate" Article (2015) - Pages 15-16 document the Cove orchard history
- Mitchell, "Osborn's First Homestead At The Cove..." — Rancher, Dec 1980 (p1)
- Mitchell, "Osborn's First Homestead At The Cove..." — Rancher, Dec 1980 (p2)
- Mitchell, "Osborn's First Homestead At The Cove..." — Rancher, Dec 1980 (p3)
- Rogers family entry, Genealogical Forum of Portland, Dec 1980 (p1)
- Rogers family entry, Genealogical Forum of Portland, Dec 1980 (p2)
- Lewis Rogers family researcher sketch
- Stephenie Flora, "Emigrants to Oregon in 1845"
See also: Document Archive
Related Orchards
Lower Metolius Orchards
These orchards were part of the early 1900s homesteading in the Lower Metolius region of the Deschutes National Forest.
