Following are some of the important events in Wallowa County (including pre-county) history:

 

1859 – Initial treaty between Nez Perce bands and the U.S. Government was signed. First official documentation of the existence of Wallowa Valley.

1863 – Amended treaty negotiated surrendering Wallowa Valley by part of the Nez Perce; Old Chief Joseph refused to sign.

1872 – First permanent white resident of the Wallowa (then part of Union County), William McCormack, builds cabin on Hurricane Creek. First homestead filings made. A.B. Findley family, first white family, arrives in valley.

1874 – First post office established at present site of Wallowa.

1877 – The Joseph/Wallowa band of Nez Perce forced out of ancestral homeland in May.

1878 – Lostine post office established.

1879 – Joseph, the first town of Wallowa County, established as Lake City at foot of Wallowa Lake. First road into county built and stage line started.

1880 – First store built in Joseph by F.D. McCully; post office started there.

1884 – County’s first newspaper, the Wallowa Chieftain, founded in Joseph.

1885 – Post office established at Imnaha.

1887 – Wallowa County created, splitting off from Union County. Joseph incorporated and becomes county seat. First bank chartered in Joseph. Township of Enterprise founded. Ten Chinese miners found massacred on the Snake River.

1888 – City of Enterprise incorporated. First general election held, and Enterprise becomes county seat.

1899 – City of Wallowa incorporated, first newspaper started there and first jail built.

1901 – First electric lights turned on in Enterprise.

1903 – City of Lostine incorporated. Operations of mining companies along Snake River a big topic of the day.

1904 – Young Chief Joseph dies at Nespelem, Wash., after spending much of his life trying to regain beloved Wallowa homeland for his people.

1905 – Wallowa Forest Reserve and Chesnimnus Reserve (forerunner of Wallowa-Whitman National Forest) proclaimed by President Theodore Roosevelt.

1906 – First horseless carriage in county owned by F.D. McCully. About same year, resort area at south end of Wallowa Lake started.

1908 – The railroad made it to Wallowa County, a Union Pacific branch line from La Grande.

1910 – Permanent Wallowa County Courthouse completed in Enterprise.

1912 – Small herd of elk transported by rail from Jackson Hole, Wyo., to Wallowa County.

1915 – Eastern Oregon Lumber mill opens in Enterprise, eventually employing 500 men in all operations.

1916 – Wallowa County population hits all-time peak, an estimated 12,000 people.

1919 – Bond passed for county’s first street pavement in Enterprise, and movement begins to pave highway through Wallowa Valley.

1923 – First part of Wallowa Lake Lodge built, added to in 1926.

1926 – Bankruptcy of Eastern Oregon Lumber Co. devastates already depressed economy; Great Depression begins early in Wallowa County. Old Chief Joseph re-buried at Wallowa Lake.

1938 – Work begins on highway from Lewiston to Enterprise.

1940 – Eagle Cap Wilderness designated as a wilderness area, and brought into the federal Wilderness Preservation System in 1964.

1946 – First Chief Joseph Days celebration held in conjunction with dedication of Joseph State Airport.

1951 – Wallowa Lake State Park dedication held.

1955 – Idaho Power Co. granted licenses to build three dams on Snake River.

1960 – KWVR radio starts broadcasting in Enterprise.

1968 – Construction of Wallowa Lake tramway at south end of Wallowa Lake gets under way.

1975 – Hells Canyon National Recreation Area created by an act of U.S. Congress.

1976 – County celebrates U.S. Bicentennial; its project, Wallowa County Museum, dedicated in Joseph in October, opens in May 1977.

1979 – Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce founded.

1982 – Wallowa County’s first fine arts bronze foundry, Valley Bronze, pours first sculptures.

1983 – Wallowa Valley Arts Council formed, holds first arts festival.

1987 – Wallowa County Centennial celebrated all year.

1990 – U.S. Forest Service moves into new headquarters on hill just west of Enterprise.

1991 – First Wallowa Band Nez Perce pow-wow, friendship feast (now Tamkaliks) held in Wallowa.

1992 – Four Wallowa County sites added by act of Congress to Nez Perce National Historic Park.

1995 – Coalition (becomes Wallowa Band Nez Perce Interpretive Center, Inc.) formed to establish Nez Perce homeland project.

1999-2000 – Joseph, Enterprise complete streetscape improvement projects.

2005 – County law enforcement moves into new Justice Center building.

2007 – New hospital dedicated in Enterprise. Wallowa Forest Products mill outside Wallowa, the county’s last big mill, closes.

2011 – County forms an entity to purchase old Wallowa Forest Products millsite for development as a biomass site.