Editing Mitchell, Oregon (section)

==History==
===Foundation===
At the request of William "Brawdie" Johnson, a blacksmith, a post office was established at Mitchell in 1873.<ref name="OGN"/> Johnson, the first postmaster, suggested the name ''Mitchell'' after [[John H. Mitchell|John Hipple Mitchell]], a [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] from Oregon. Senator Mitchell held the office in 1873−1879, 1885−1897, and 1901−1905. [[Plat]]ted in 1885, the community was incorporated in 1893.<ref name="OGN">{{cite book |last= McArthur |first= Lewis A. |author-link= Lewis A. McArthur |author2=Lewis L. McArthur |author2-link=Lewis L. McArthur |orig-year= 1928 |year= 2003 |title= [[Oregon Geographic Names]] |edition= 7th |publisher= Oregon Historical Society Press |location= Portland, Oregon |isbn= 0-87595-277-1 |page=652}}</ref>

In 1872 the first school in Wheeler County was established near Mitchell, and in 1874 it was relocated into the town itself.<ref name="Stinchfield"/>

===Early town===
Over the next two decades, Mitchell grew to include a store, assay office, two churches, two hotels, a [[livery stable]], three houses of ill-repute (one of which is still standing), five saloons, a flour mill, and an apothecary. There were also two newspapers: ''The Sentinel'' and ''The News''.

The business district, including the saloons, grew up along [[Bridge Creek (John Day River)|Bridge Creek]] and became known locally as "Tiger Town". The church and most of the city's homes were built at higher elevation on a [[bench (geology)|bench]] overlooking the creek; this part of town was known locally as "Piety Hill". About half the town was destroyed by fire in 1899, but it was later rebuilt.<ref name="Stinchfield">{{cite book |editor-last1=Stinchfield |editor-first1=Janet L. |editor-last2=Stinchfield |editor-first2=McLaren E. |year=1983 |title=The History of Wheeler County, Oregon  |place=Dallas, TX |publisher=Taylor Publishing |oclc=10948544 |pages=8−9}}</ref>

===Three catastrophic flash floods===
Since its founding, Mitchell has experienced three catastrophic [[flash floods]] along Bridge Creek, which runs through the center of the city. Flooding caused great damage to the city in 1884 and 1904.<ref name ="salemlibrary">{{cite AV media |title = Oregon Historic Photographs Collection |publisher = Salem Public Library |url = http://photos.salemhistory.net/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/max&CISOPTR=2325&REC=20 |access-date = September 24, 2008}}</ref>

The third flood occurred on July 13, 1956, shortly after an intense thunderstorm in the hills to the south. Bridge Creek is usually less than {{convert|12|in|cm}} deep during July,<ref name="noaa"/> but minutes after the thunderstorm a {{convert|50|ft|m|adj=on}} wall of water surged through Mitchell, destroying or heavily damaging 20&nbsp;buildings in the city and several bridges over the creek. Eight people were killed including a family of four who were swept away and never recovered.

An observer from the [[United States Geological Survey]] estimated that about {{convert|4|in|cm}} of rain had fallen in about 50&nbsp;minutes at the storm's center.<ref name ="noaa">{{cite report |title = Some of the area's rainstorms |publisher = National Weather Service Forecast Office |place=Portland, Oregon |url = http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/paststorms/rain.php |access-date = September 22, 2008}}</ref> Total damage from the flood, which also caused extensive damage to crops and roads in a nearby valley, was {{US$|709,000|1956|round=-3|about=yes}}.<ref name="armycorps">{{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 |access-date=September 22, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110002337/http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/dpn/fldinfo/ff19556.htm |archive-date=January 10, 2009 }}</ref>

===Oregon's first dinosaur fossil===
In 2018, a geologist from the [[University of Oregon]] found a fossilized toe of a plant-eating [[dinosaur]] near Mitchell, where the Pacific Ocean coast lay 100&nbsp;million years ago. This discovery has been billed as the first dinosaur fossil found in Oregon.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ross |first=Erin |date=November 20, 2018 |title=Meet the 'Mitchell ornithopod': Oregon's 1st dinosaur fossil find |publisher=[[Oregon Public Broadcasting]] |url=https://www.opb.org/news/article/mitchell-oregon-first-dinosaur-fossil-ornithopod |access-date=November 25, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122141200/https://www.opb.org/news/article/mitchell-oregon-first-dinosaur-fossil-ornithopod |archive-date=November 22, 2018}}</ref>

A competing claim involves fossil fragments of a [[hadrosaurid|hadrosaur]] or duck-billed dinosaur found in the [[Otter Point Formation]] near the mouth of the [[Rogue River (Oregon)|Rogue River]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bishop |first=Ellen Morris |year=2003 |title = In Search of Ancient Oregon: A geological and natural history |place=Portland, Oregon |publisher=Timber Press |isbn=978-0-88192-789-4 |pages=52–56}}</ref>