Editing Prairie City, Oregon (section)

==History==
Prairie City grew out of the former mining camp of [[Dixie, Grant County, Oregon|Dixie]], established in 1862 about {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} up Dixie Creek from the [[John Day River]]. Prairie City, at the [[River mouth|mouth]] of the creek, was chosen after [[placer mining]] rendered Dixie unsuitable for a townsite. The new city's post office was established in 1870 with Jules Le Bret as postmaster.<ref name="OGN">{{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|isbn=0-87595-277-1|page=782}}</ref>

A [[narrow gauge]] line, the [[Sumpter Valley Railway]] (SVR), ran {{convert|80|mi|km}} from [[Baker City, Oregon|Baker City]] west to [[Sumpter, Oregon|Sumpter]] and on to its western terminus at Prairie City, which it reached in 1907.<ref name="Culp">{{cite book|last=Culp|first=Edwin D.|title=Stations West: The Story of the Oregon Railways|publisher=Bonanza Books|year=1978|location=New York|pages=91&ndash;95|isbn=0-517-243431}}</ref> It carried passengers as well as freight shipped by ranchers, mining interests, and timber companies until its piecemeal abandonment in the 1930s.<ref name="Culp"/> In the 21st century, a heritage railway operates on a segment of the original line between Sumpter and [[McEwen, Oregon|McEwen]].<ref>{{cite web|title=All Aboard for a Trip Back in Time|url=http://www.sumptervalleyrailroad.org/|publisher=Sumpter Valley Railroad|access-date=2013-06-05}}</ref>