24/7 Biohazard and Crime Scene Cleanup in Jordan Valley, OR

Jordan Valley is a city in Malheur County, Oregon, in the Owyhee country along Jordan Creek, a tributary of the Owyhee River, and it calls itself the "Heart of the Owyhees."

Jordan Valley lies on Mountain Time, unlike most of Oregon, and it is part of the Ontario, Oregon-Idaho Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Non-native settlement began after gold was discovered along Jordan Creek in 1863, and the valley was named for prospector Michael M. Jordan, one of the men in the discovery party.

Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the son of Sacagawea, was among the early miners who came to the Jordan Creek gold fields.

A post office opened in 1867 in the cabin of John Baxter, one of Jordan Valley's first permanent residents, and miner Silas Skinner built a toll road into the mining area before opening the Skinner Ranch.

When mining declined around 1875, Jordan Valley survived by switching to ranching, and by 1888 an estimated 100,000 head of cattle grazed in the area.

Basque immigrants began arriving around 1889, and local oral history says they soon made up about two thirds of the town, building sandstone boarding houses and the 1915 Pelota Fronton, which still stands as a historic landmark.

Basque settlers also helped build St. Bernard's Catholic Church with local Irish immigrants, and a majority of Jordan Valley residents today identify as being of Basque heritage.

Jordan Valley was incorporated in 1911, and the 2020 census recorded 130 residents in 81 households, with a median age of 61.8 years.

Jordan Valley sits at 4,515 feet elevation and covers 2.08 square miles, with the blunt plateau called Pharmacy Hill standing across Jordan Creek from town.