Bridge Creek (John Day River)

Geobox | River
name = Bridge Creek
category = Creek

---

image_size =
image_caption = Bridge Creek in the Painted Hills
etymology = A small bridge made of juniper logs that mining prospectors built over the creek in about 1862.cite book | last = McArthur | first = Lewis A. | coauthors = 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]
country = United States
country_

state = Oregon
district_type = County
district = Wheeler
source = Ochoco Mountains
source_location = Mount Pisgah
source_region = Wheeler County
source_state = Oregon
source_elevation_imperial = 6333
source_elevation_note = Source elevation derived from Google Earth search using GNIS source coordinates.]
source_length_imperial =
source_lat_d = 44
source_lat_m = 28
source_lat_s = 00
source_lat_NS = N
source_long_d = 120
source_long_m = 14
source_long_s = 27
source_long_EW = W
source_coordinates_note =
mouth_name = John Day River
mouth_location = Near Coyote Canyon
mouth_district =
mouth_region = Wheeler County
mouth_state = Oregon
mouth_country =
mouth_note =
mouth_lat_d = 44
mouth_lat_m = 44
mouth_lat_s = 10
mouth_lat_NS = N
mouth_long_d = 120
mouth_long_m = 18
mouth_long_s = 30
mouth_long_EW = W
mouth_coordinates_note =
mouth_elevation_imperial = 1483
mouth_elevation_note = 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 | accessdaymonth=September 26, | accessyear=2008 ]
length_imperial = 28
length_round = 0
length_note =
watershed_imperial = 267
watershed_round = 0
watershed_note = 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 | accessdaymonth = September 27,| accessyear = 2008 ]
discharge_location = Coyote Canyon, convert|0.75|mi|km from mouth
discharge_round = 0
discharge_imperial = 48
discharge_note = The average discharge rate is based only on the one full calendar year, 2006, for which data is available from this gauge.]
discharge_max_imperial = 221
discharge_min_imperial = 0.15
discharge1_location =
discharge1_imperial =
discharge1_note =


map_size =
map_caption =
map1 = Oregon Locator Map.png map1_size = 300
map1_caption = Location of the mouth of Bridge Creek in Oregon
map1_locator = Oregon
commons =

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.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/max&CISOPTR=2325&REC=20
accessdaymonth = September 24, | accessyear = 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|cm 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
accessdaymonth = September 22, | accessyear = 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
accessdaymonth = September 22, | accessyear = 2008 ]

See also

* List of rivers of Oregon

References