Lakeview

History

Native Americans occupied the area around Lakeview as early as 14,000 years ago, as evidenced by artifacts found in the Paisley Caves north of Lakeview. When European explorers came through the Goose Lake Valley, Shoshone-speaking people were living in the area. In 1827, Peter Skene Ogden led a brigade of Hudson's Bay Company trappers through the Goose Lake Valley. He was followed in 1832 by John Work and his trappers. Work noted the hot springs north of Goose Lake (now called Hunter's Hot Springs) in his journal. The hot springs are approximately north of the Lakeview town site. In 1867 and 1868, General George Crook led United States Army units and Indian scouts from the Wasco and Warm Springs tribes in a successful campaign against Northern Paiute bands in Eastern Oregon and Northern California. This was part of the conflict known as the Snake War. Crook used Camp Warner as his supply depot and administrative headquarters. The camp was abandoned in 1874. Camp Warner was northeast of the site now known as Lakeview. In 1869, M. W. Bullard settled along Bullard Creek at the mouth of Bullard Canyon at the northern end of the Goose Lake Valley. This became the town of Lakeview. William Heryford brought cattle into the Goose Lake Valley in 1872. In 1873, the area's first post office was opened at the Tenbrook Ranch, south of present-day Lakeview. Lake County was separated from Jackson County and Wasco County in 1874. The temporary county seat was in Linkville (now Klamath Falls, Oregon). In June 1876, an election was held to select a permanent county seat. Prior to the election, W. M. Bullard offered to donate along Bullard Creek in the Goose Lake Valley as a site for the county courthouse. In the election, "Bullard Creek" received 120 votes while…

Geography

Lakeview is in the Goose Lake Valley at the foot of the Warner Mountains to the east. It is on the edge of the high desert country of southeastern Oregon. At an elevation of , Lakeview is one of the highest cities in Oregon. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Lakeview has a typical semiarid continental Mediterranean climate (Köppen Dsb) for the leeward side of the Cascades. Summers are hotter than western Oregon during the daytime, but nights are always cool and rare frosts can occur during July. Little rainfall occurs during the summers; winters are cold and frequently severe because of the latitude and elevation, although snowfall can sometimes be heavy – the maximum monthly snow cover being during January 1993 and on the thirteenth day of that month. Typically, temperatures fall below freezing () half the year, and fall below on only five days a year. Extreme historical temperatures range from on December 8, 2013 to on August 7, 1905. Annual precipitation averaged between 1971 and 2000. The wettest calendar year since record-keeping started in 1888 is 1998 with ; the driest was 1924 with – less than the total for the wettest month of December 1964 of fall, including the melt from of snow. The most snowfall in a calendar month was in February 1894, and the most in a season at least (some days unavailable) between July 1893 and June 1894, in contrast to which as little as fell in the drought season between July 1923 and June 1924.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  260
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  183
• Mountain Chickadee

  Poecile gambeli (Ridgway, 1886) · Aves
  182
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  173
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  171
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  169
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  147
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  147

Largest nearby schools

• Fremont/Hay Elementary School
  Elementary · Lakeview · 349 students · 14.5:1 ratio
• Lakeview Senior High School
  High · Lakeview · 265 students · 13.3:1 ratio
• Daly Middle School
  Middle · Lakeview · 109 students · 27.3:1 ratio
• Union Elementary School
  Elementary · Lakeview · 48 students · 24:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.69 — 2026-05-06
  10 km E of Bonanza, Oregon
• M 3.25 — 2026-03-10
  36 km E of Bonanza, Oregon
• M 2.69 — 2026-03-07
  35 km E of Bonanza, Oregon
• M 2.66 — 2025-12-26
  51 km E of Fort Bidwell, California
• M 2.91 — 2025-11-29
  47 km E of Fort Bidwell, California
• M 2.83 — 2025-11-06
  9 km WNW of Lakeview, Oregon