A Brief History of Quamash

The valley where Quamash sits has been used by Native peoples for thousands of years. The town takes its name from the camas lily (Camassia quamash), whose bulbs were an important food source for the Northern Paiute and other groups who gathered in the meadows each spring to harvest them.

White settlement in the area started in the 1860s with the gold rush that brought prospectors up the John Day river. By the 1890s the gold was thinning out and the miners who stayed on turned to ranching and timber. A small community formed along the creek and in 1893 a post office was established under the name Quamash.

Town grew slowly through the early days. A one-room schoolhouse went up in 1878 and the current building replaced it sometime in the fifties. The church dates to 1871. Timber kept things going through the mid-century, along with cattle ranching on the grasslands around town.

Like a lot of small towns in Grant County, Quamash has gotten smaller over the years. The sawmill closed in 1987. Young people leave for Bend or Portland or wherever. But the town is still here. The diner is still open. The library is still staffed. And the camas still blooms in May.

This page is a work in progress. If you have memories, photos, or documents related to Quamash history, the library would love to hear from you.