The Joseph Branch
Posted by: 
Volcanoguy
N 45° 36.704 W 117° 37.828
11T E 450841 N 5051103
This history sign is located along Ore. Hwy. 82 at a Hells Canyon Scenic Byway information site.
Waymark Code: WM91Z6
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 06/15/2010
Views: 4
Marker Name: The Joseph Branch
Marker Text: Train whistles have been a familiar sound in the canyon of the Wallowa River since 1908, when the Joseph branch of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company (ORN) Railroad was built along the riverbank.
If it weren’t for some crafty tactics by residents of the town of Joseph, the railroad might never have extended to the Wallowa Valley at all. Initial ORN plans called for a branch only from Elgin to the confluence of the Minam and Wallowa Rivers -- today’s Minam -- to take advantage of the rich timber lands in the surrounding hills.
Concerned that their town was being left out of the railroad boom, an enterprising group from Joseph created rumors of a competing railroad in the works. ORN officials moved quickly to buy land and extend their line into the Wallowa Valley -- not knowing they were being successfully bluffed.
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