Bridge Creek (John Day River tributary)
{{Short description|River in Oregon, United States of America}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Bridge Creek
| name_native =
| name_native_lang =
| name_other =
| name_etymology = A small bridge made of juniper logs that mining prospectors built over bridge creek in about 1862.{{cite book | last = McArthur | first = Lewis A. |author2=McArthur, Lewis L. | title = Oregon Geographic Names, Seventh Edition | publisher = Oregon Historical Society Press | date = 2003 | location = Portland, Oregon | pages = 110–11 | isbn = 0-87595-277-1}}
| image = BridgeCreekpaintedhills.jpg
| image_caption = Bridge Creek in the Painted Hills
| image_size = 300
| map =
| map_size = 300
| map_caption =
| pushpin_map = USA Oregon
| pushpin_map_size = 300
| pushpin_map_caption= Location of the mouth of Bridge Creek in Oregon
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = United States
| subdivision_type2 = State
| subdivision_name2 = Oregon
| subdivision_type3 =
| subdivision_name3 =
| subdivision_type4 = County
| subdivision_name4 = Wheeler
| subdivision_type5 =
| subdivision_name5 =
| length = {{convert|28|mi|km|abbr=on}}
| width_min =
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| width_max =
| depth_min =
| depth_avg =
| depth_max =
| discharge1_location= Coyote Canyon, {{convert|0.75|mi|km}} from mouthThe average discharge rate is based only on the one full calendar year, 2006, for which data is available from this gauge.
| discharge1_min = {{convert|0.15|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}
| discharge1_avg = {{convert|48|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}The average discharge rate is based only on the one full calendar year, 2006, for which data is available from this gauge.
| discharge1_max = {{convert|221|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}
| source1 = Ochoco Mountains
| source1_location = Mount Pisgah, Wheeler County, Oregon
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|44|28|00|N|120|14|27|W|display=inline}}
| source1_elevation = {{convert|6333|ft|abbr=on}}Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.
| mouth = John Day River
| mouth_location = Near Coyote Canyon, Wheeler County, Oregon
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|44|44|10|N|120|18|30|W|display=inline,title}}
| mouth_elevation = {{convert|1483|ft|abbr=on}}{{cite web | title = Bridge Creek | work = Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)| publisher = United States Geological Survey (USGS) | date = November 28, 1980 | url = http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1138616 | accessdate=September 26, 2008 }}
| progression =
| river_system =
| basin_size = {{convert|267|sqmi|abbr=on}}{{cite web| title= USGS 14046778 Bridge Creek above Coyote Canyon near Mitchell, OR| publisher = United States Geological Survey |date = 2008 | url = http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?14046778 | accessdate = September 27, 2008 }}
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}}
Bridge Creek is a {{convert|28|mi|km|adj=on}} tributary of the John Day River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River, its watershed covers {{convert|267|mi2|km2}} in Wheeler County.
From its headwaters in the Ochoco Mountains in central Oregon, the creek flows generally northeast for about {{convert|13|mi|km}} from Mount Pisgah in the Bridge Creek Wilderness to the small city of Mitchell on U.S. Route 26. From Mitchell, it flows generally northwest for about {{convert|15|mi|km}}, passing through the Painted Hills unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument before meeting the John Day River.{{cite map |publisher = DeLorme Mapping |title = Oregon Atlas & Gazetteer |edition = 1991 |section = 80 |isbn = 0-89933-235-8}}
Bridge Creek is subject to occasional flash floods, which have affected Mitchell as well as rural areas nearby. Surging water along the creek, which flows parallel to Main Street in Mitchell, caused great damage in 1884 and 1904.{{cite web
| title = Oregon Historic Photographs Collection
| publisher = Salem Public Library
| url = http://photos.salemhistory.net/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/max&CISOPTR=2325&REC=20
| accessdate = September 24, 2008 }} A third flood occurred on July 13, 1956, shortly after an intense thunderstorm in the Ochoco Mountains. The creek is usually less than {{convert|12|in|cm}} deep in Mitchell during July. Minutes after the thunderstorm, a sudden surge of water destroyed or heavily damaged 20 buildings in the city and several bridges over Bridge Creek. An observer from the United States Geological Survey estimated that about {{convert|4|in|mm}} of rain had fallen in about 50 minutes at the storm's center.{{cite web
| title = Some of the Area's Rainstorms
| publisher = National Weather Service Forecast Office, Portland, Oregon
| url = http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/paststorms/rain.php
| accessdate = September 22, 2008 }} Total damage from the flood, which also caused extensive damage to crops and roads, was $709,000.{{cite web
|title=Flood of 1955-1956: Columbia River and Tributaries
|publisher=U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
|url=http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/dpn/fldinfo%5Cff19556.htm
|accessdate=September 22, 2008
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110002337/http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/dpn/fldinfo/ff19556.htm
|archivedate=January 10, 2009
}}
See also
References
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