News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

An historic Sisters-area road — the A. J. Warrin County Road

We have some wonderful historic roads in the Sisters country. Some of them are paved over, some are barely discernible wagon tracks through the forests and grasslands and some are graveled — but their routes still exist, on maps, in photos and in people’s minds.

Today they go through public and private lands and some sections have remained in the public domain while others have not. One historic road that can still be followed for much of its length was established in 1879 as the A.J. Warrin County Road.

A.J. Warrin Road went from the Santiam Wagon Road west of Black Butte, through what is now Black Butte Ranch and Tollgate, across then Squaw Creek where the old McKenzie Trail crossed and through the flatlands to Cloverdale.

It then went into upper Deep Canyon along the north side of Fryrear Butte and up into the uplands between Deep Canyon and the Deschutes River. It crossed the Deschutes River at Tetherow Crossing (also established in 1879), went to Crooked River at Carmicle and along the river to Prineville.

White and yellow paint on rocks, trees and posts marked each mile along the route. Parts of it have been known as Tetherow Bridge Road, Redmond-Sisters Road and South Redmond-Sisters Road.

Cloverdale was an important stop between Tetherow Crossing and Sisters and the Cyrus family was instrumental in its development. The place was first owned by Oscar Maxwell who homesteaded 160 acres and built a home and rest stop for travelers.

In the early 1900s, Enoch and Mary Cyrus bought the land and buildings for $1,000. They built an addition onto the house and built a big barn on the south side of the road which housed horses and hay for travelers. They also acquired another 640 sections of federal land.

Near the barn was a store owned by Otis “Ote” Cobb. Attached to the store was a small, lean-to blacksmith that Enoch Cyrus ran. These supplied both travelers and homesteaders in the Cloverdale area.

In 1905 George Cyrus built a house to the north of his parents’ house. This is where Alvin Cyrus was born. The house was later sawed in half and moved to another site. Other buildings on the corner included an ice house, a smoke house and the first cistern in the area.

People camped under the juniper trees and horses were tied out if there wasn’t room in the barn. In the 1920s or ’30s, travel along this road became less frequent and the stopping place gradually lost its importance.

At one time Tom and then Frank Arnold owned the corner and then it was purchased by Melvin Cyrus and later Willard Cyrus. At some point, the barn collapsed and the store building was moved from the south side of the road to its present location. Other build-ings were moved or torn down.

This historic road has had continued use by the public for well over a century. It was once well-traveled. Part of it is now called Jordan Road and it goes from Sisters to Fryrear Road via Cloverdale. While much of it is closed to motorized vehicles, it is a nice mountain bike route to Cloverdale and Fryrear areas.

It is one of Deschutes County’s legacy roads and is identified in the Sisters Community Trail Plan as a non-motorized route from Sisters to BLM lands to the east. The road follows Highway 20 for about a mile southeast out of Sisters and then goes left or east-southeast on a gravel road. The angle of the road meeting Highway 20 has recently changed but the new access remains a county road.

This part comes out at the corner of Jordan Road and Cloverdale where two of the old buildings still stand. From the Jordan/Cloverdale intersection, the old road continues along paved Jordan Road to George Cyrus Road. The old road leaves the pavement and goes along the north side of Fryrear Butte. There’s a gate which looks like it’s Canyon Llamas private drive but it is more than that — it is also the county road which goes for a few hundred feet and hangs a left after the rock outcropping.

Through another gate it goes into beautiful upper Deep Canyon where you might see elk and a variety of raptors and, in the spring, an abundance of wildflowers. From Fryrear a trailhead a few hundred yards to the south takes you onto the many, many trails in the BLM lands on the east side of Fryrear.

The maps showing this route are among the Deschutes County Web pages.

 

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