Soon after gold was discovered at Canyon City, it became necessary to establish a mail route to the Dalles on the Columbia River. The flood of gold from Canyon City was being shipped to Portland by way of Sherar’s Bridge and over the Barlow Road or to The Dalles by the mail route. Because of Indian attacks along the latter route, the U.S. Government improved the trail to allow for easier movement of soldiers to base camps along the way. It was then referred to as The Dalles-Canyon City Military Road. The town of Mitchell, named after J. H. Mitchell, a former U.S. Senator from Oregon, was a stopping place along the road. By the summer of 1884, the town was flourishing and even had a hotel. That the town was located at the bottom of a narrow canyon was an invitation to disaster. During that year, numerous heavy thunderstorms in the nearby mountains finally produced a nine-foot wall of water that inundated the town and swept away most of its buildings. In 1904 another and even worse flood hit the town with a thirty-foot wall of water. Most recent was a disastrous flood in 1960, but Mitchell still lives providing supplies for ranches and gas for the traveler between Willamette Valley and Eastern Oregon and Idaho. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenowith

Parts of the old wagon road from Canyon City to the Columbia River (near The Dallas) are visible along the John Day River, 15 miles north of Mitchell. The original road followed Bridge Creek north from Mitchell, past the Painted Hills National Monument (end of pavement) to the junction with the John Day River. The road then followed the John Day northwest. In places you can still see the "cut" where the old wagon road had been. Mitchell is an interesting town with friendly people - and lots of history.This area is definitely an interesting place to visit. (Town, painted Hills, old roads, scenery.) Submitted by :Bob Poet