Vale
is the county seat for Malheur County.
Vale
boasts twenty-three professionally painted outdoor murals depicting life
on the Oregon Trail.
Malheur
County has a total area of 9,926 square miles or 6,352,640 acres.
Malheur
County is the only county in Oregon on Mountain Time.
Malheur
County is larger
than the states of Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.
The
population (in 1999) of Malheur County was 29,500.
Most
of the county's population is in the northeast communities of Vale, Nyssa
and Ontario.
71%
of the land in Malheur County is managed by the U.S.
Bureau of Land Management.
Malheur
County derived its name from "Riviere au Malheur" or "Unfortunate River",
named by early French trappers whose furs were stolen from their river
encampment.
94%
of Malheur County is range land, 2/3 of which is managed by the BLM.
10%
percent of the onions grown in the U.S. come from this region.
Malheur
County has rich Basque, Japanese and Mexican heritages.
The
Four
Rivers Cultural Center in Ontario showcases the people and the history
of the region.