Malheur

The Malheur River flows from the Blue Mountains through the dry country of eastern Oregon to join the Snake. Its waters supported salmon and other fish, while the surrounding uplands were part of Northern Paiute country. In 1826 the fur trader Peter Skene Ogden recorded the river's French name, meaning misfortune. His journal explained it by the loss of goods and furs that trappers had hidden beside the river and Indigenous people had found.