Portal:Oregon/Selected article/84
Little Butte Creek is a 17-mile (27 km) long tributary of the Rogue River located in the U.S. state of Oregon. Its drainage basin consists of approximately 354 square miles (920 km2) of Jackson County, and another 19 square miles (49 km2) in Klamath County. The north fork of the creek begins at Fish Lake, while the south fork begins near Brown Mountain. The two forks flow generally west until they meet near Lake Creek. The creek then flows through the communities of Brownsboro, Eagle Point, and White City, finally emptying into the Rogue River about 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Eagle Point. Little Butte Creek's watershed was originally settled by the Takelma, and possibly the Shasta tribes of Native Americans. In the Rogue River Wars of the 1850s, most of the Native Americans were either killed or forced onto Indian reservations. Early settlers named Little Butte Creek due to its close proximity to Mount McLoughlin, formerly known as Snowy Butte. In the late 19th century, the watershed was primarily used for agriculture and lumber. Large amounts of water are diverted from Little Butte Creek to aid in irrigation and water storage. Systems of canals deliver the water to nearby Howard Prairie Lake and the Klamath River watershed, Agate Lake, and the Rogue Valley. Despite being moderately polluted, the creek is known to be one of the best salmon producing tributaries of the Rogue River. Several dams hinder their travel upstream, with one fish ladder built in 2005 to help fish swim past a dam in Eagle Point. Flooding destroyed the ladder three months later, but it was rebuilt in 2008.