Plush, Oregon

People have lived in the Warner Valley for more than 10,000 years. Evidence of Native American occupation includes petroglyphs, hunting blinds, flakes from obsidian tools, and other material artifacts. By historic times, the Kidütökadö band of Northern Paiute frequented the valley and the uplands of Hart Mountain, the fault block ridge to the east.{{cite report|title=Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge|year=2014|publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service}}

The Euro-American settler community of Plush developed in the late 19th century around sheep grazing and small cattle ranches. Catholics from Ireland found work here as shepherds; their surnames and their churches are part of the regional heritage.{{cite web|author1=LaLande, Jeff|author2=OHP staff|title=A Distinct Community Takes Shape|url=http://oregonhistoryproject.org/narratives/high-desert-history-southeastern-oregon/resettlement/a-distinct-dispersed-community-takes-shape-1885-1910/#.VYWf6karGzk|work=The Oregon History Project|year=2014|orig-year=2005|publisher=Oregon Historical Society|access-date=June 22, 2015}}

The name "Plush" is said to have derived from a mispronunciation of the word "flush" during a 19th century poker game played in the community.{{cite book | last = McArthur | first = Lewis A. | author-link = Lewis A. McArthur |author2=Lewis L. McArthur |author2-link=Lewis L. McArthur | title = Oregon Geographic Names | orig-year = 1928 | edition = 7th | year = 2003 | publisher = Oregon Historical Society Press | location = Portland, Oregon| isbn = 0-87595-277-1 | page = 771}} The Plush post office was established in 1888, and David R. Jones was the first postmaster. Daniel Boone, a relative of the famous Kentucky pathfinder of the same name, became postmaster in 1898 and opened a general store in conjunction with the post office.{{cite book |last=Shaver|first=F. A.|title=An Illustrated History of Central Oregon Embracing Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam, Wheeler, Crook, Lake and Klamath Counties | year=1905| publisher=Western Publishing Co.|url=https://archive.org/stream/illustratedhist00shav#page/910/mode/2up/search/plush| location=Spokane, Washington|page=910|oclc=5436491|access-date=June 19, 2015|display-authors=etal}}

File:Church in Plush, Oregon.jpg

By highway, Plush is about {{convert|39|mi}} northeast of Lakeview and {{convert|18|mi}} north of Adel in the Warner Valley of south-central Oregon.Google Maps{{cite book|author=Friedman, Ralph|title=Oregon for the Curious|publisher=The Caxton Printers|location=Caldwell, Idaho|edition=3rd revised|year=1982|orig-year=1972|pages=[https://archive.org/details/oregonforcurious00frie/page/180 180–82]|isbn=087004-222-X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/oregonforcurious00frie/page/180}} Plush–Adel Road runs north–south along the valley floor, while Plush Cutoff links Plush to Oregon Route 140 west of Adel. Hogback Road runs north from Plush, while Hart Mountain Road, which terminates in Plush, runs east and northeast to the Warner Wetlands Area of Critical Environmental Concern and the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge.

Hart Lake, at the base of Hart Mountain, is about {{convert|1|mi|km|0}} east of the community. Honey Creek and Schneider Creek flow together and Schneider Creek then flows generally east from near the south end of Abert Rim forming a deep canyon that opens up just east of Plush and the creek continues through the north end of the town and down into the lake.{{cite book|title=Oregon Road & Recreation Atlas|publisher=Benchmark Maps|edition=5th|year=2012|location=Santa Barbara, California|page=101|isbn=978-0-929591-62-9}}

Plush is about {{convert|4500|ft|m}} above sea level, while Abert Rim reaches about {{convert|5800|ft|m}}{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System| publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = November 28, 1980 | url ={{Gnis3|1116754}}| title = Abert Rim | access-date =June 21, 2015}} and Hart Mountain {{convert|8000|ft|m}}.

Plush is also near a large Oregon sunstone gemfield, which is partly on private land and partly on public land. The Oregon Sunstone Public Collection Area, overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, is about {{convert|25|mi|km}} north of Plush. It allows amateur geologists (rockhounds) to remove sunstones—feldspar crystals that formed in lava beds over the past 13 to 14 million years.{{cite web|title=What Are Oregon Sunstones?|url=http://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/files/brochures/sunstone_rec_brochure.pdf|format=PDF|publisher=Bureau of Land Management|access-date=June 21, 2015}} Sunstone is the Oregon state gemstone.{{cite web|title=Rockhounding|publisher=Nature of the Northwest|year=2000|url=http://www.naturenw.org/rock-sunstone.htm|access-date=June 21, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424134725/http://www.naturenw.org/rock-sunstone.htm|archive-date=April 24, 2015}}

{{US Census population

|2020= 39

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 4, 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/pl?get=P1_001N,NAME&for=place:*&in=state:41&key=5ccd0821c15d9f4520e2dcc0f8d92b2ec9336108|title=Census Population API|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=Oct 12, 2022}}

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According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Plush has a semi-arid climate, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.{{cite web|title=Plush, Oregon|url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=296353&cityname=Plush%2C+Oregon%2C+United+States+of+America&units=|publisher=CantyMedia|work=Weatherbase|access-date=June 21, 2015}} On average, about {{convert|7|in|mm}} of precipitation falls on Plush each year. July is the warmest month with an average high temperature of about {{convert|87|F|C}}. January is the coldest, when low temperatures average about {{convert|20|F|C}}.{{cite web|title=Plush, Oregon (356717)|publisher=Western Regional Climate Center|url=http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?or6717|access-date=June 22, 2015}}

File:Plush, Oregon, school.jpg

Plush School District 18 is one of five school districts making up the Lake County Education Service District. Plush School, grades K–3, shares students with Adel School District 21, grades 4–8. The two schools combined have about a dozen students. For grades 9–12, the students generally attend Lakeview High School or Paisley School.{{cite web|title=Lake County ESD|url=http://www.oregon.gov/transparency/docs/2013/ESD%20Local%20Service%20Plans/Lake%20ESD%20LSP%2013-14.pdf|format=PDF|publisher=State of Oregon|date=August 2013|access-date=June 21, 2015|page=5/24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620025529/https://www.oregon.gov/transparency/docs/2013/ESD%20Local%20Service%20Plans/Lake%20ESD%20LSP%2013-14.pdf|archive-date=2015-06-20}}

In 1969 the Plush school had nine students.{{cite news|title=Desert School Enrolls 2|newspaper=Statesman Journal|place=Salem, Oregon|date=1969-01-01|page=5 of Section 1}} - [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105730804/ Clipping] from Newspapers.com.

The portion of the county the community is in is not in any community college district, but the county has a "contract-out-of-district" (COD) with Klamath Community College.{{cite web|url=https://www.clatsopcc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/02-2-OR-CC-color-map.pdf|title=Oregon Community Colleges and Community College Districts|publisher=Oregon Department of Community Colleges & Workforce Development|accessdate=2022-07-17}}

• Antelope Hot Springs, also known as Hart Mountain Hot Springs

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Category:Unincorporated communities in Lake County, Oregon

Category:Census-designated places in Oregon

Category:Census-designated places in Lake County, Oregon

Category:Unincorporated communities in Oregon