Ashwood is an unincorporated

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 community in Jefferson County

Jefferson County, Oregon

Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. In 2010, its population was 21,720. It is named after Mount Jefferson. The seat of the county is Madras.-History:...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, 32 miles (51.5 km) northeast of Madras

Madras, Oregon

Madras is a city in Jefferson County, Oregon, United States. Originally called The Basin after the circular valley the city is located in, it is unclear as to whether Madras was named in 1903 for the cotton fabric called "Madras" that originated in the Madras area in India, or from the city of...

. It is considered a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

.

Ashwood was named for its proximity to Ash Butte, a butte with volcanic ash

Volcanic ash

Volcanic ash consists of small tephra, which are bits of pulverized rock and glass created by volcanic eruptions, less than in diameter. There are three mechanisms of volcanic ash formation: gas release under decompression causing magmatic eruptions; thermal contraction from chilling on contact...

 deposits on its sides, and to honor Whitfield T. Wood, who settled in the area in the 1870s. Ashwood post office was established in 1898.

The Ashwood area was first used by the Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 Sahaptin

Sahaptin people

The Sahaptin people are a Native American people that inhabited territory along the Columbia River. The Nez Perce tribe is one of the major Sahaptin groups.-Territory:...

 and Northern Paiute

Paiute

Paiute refers to three closely related groups of Native Americans — the Northern Paiute of California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon; the Owens Valley Paiute of California and Nevada; and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah.-Origin of name:The origin of...

 people. After the Sahaptin were forced to move to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation

Warm Springs Indian Reservation

The Warm Springs Indian Reservation consists of 1,019.385 sq mi in north central Oregon, in the United States, and is occupied and governed by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.-Tribes:...

 in the 1850s, and the Northern Paiute were defeated in the 1870s, settlers moved into the area to raise cattle and sheep. Sheep ranching became an important local industry by 1900 because of the availability of the railroad in nearby Shaniko

Shaniko, Oregon

Shaniko is a city located in Wasco County, Oregon, United States, on U.S. Route 97 and about eight miles north of Antelope. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 26—a virtual ghost town whose preservation is being spearheaded by investments from Robert B...

 that facilitated the shipping of wool

Wool

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....

. Ashwood became a gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

- and silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

-mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 boomtown

Boomtown

A boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid population and economic growth. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although the term can also be applied to communities growing very rapidly for different reasons,...

 in the 1910s. The Oregon King Mine was an important mine that was established during the early boom period. The minerals soon began to play out, however, and local residents turned back to ranching and agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 as the mainstays of their economy.

Ashwood is popular with rockhound

Rockhounding

Amateur geology is the recreational study and hobby of collecting rocks and mineral specimens from their natural environment.-Collecting:...

s, as the area has an abundance of petrified wood

Petrified wood

Petrified wood is the name given to a special type of fossilized remains of terrestrial vegetation. It is the result of a tree having turned completely into stone by the process of permineralization...

, jasper

Jasper

Jasper, a form of chalcedony, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. This mineral breaks with a smooth surface, and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for vases, seals, and at one time for...

, and thunderegg

Thunderegg

A thunderegg is a nodule-like geological structure, similar to a geode, that is formed within a rhyolitic lava flow.-Appearance and composition:...

s—Oregon's state rock.

External links

• Ashwood – Madras-Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce