Ontario & the Snake — Four Rivers Cultures, Owyhee Canyons & Thunderegg Country

Just across the Snake River in eastern Oregon, the farm town of Ontario sits at the confluence of four rivers and, less obviously, four cultures — a crossroads shaped by Northern Paiute homelands, Basque sheepherders, Mexican-American farmworkers, and the Japanese-American families who put down roots here after being uprooted from the West Coast during World War II. This two-day journey uses the excellent Four Rivers Cultural Center as its lens. Day one explores that layered heritage and the Snake River waterfront before an evening in Ontario. Day two heads south and west into the wild Owyhee country — the dramatic canyons and reservoir of the 'Oregon Grand Canyon' — and the volcanic thunderegg beds around Nyssa, self-proclaimed Thunderegg Capital of the World, before the short drive home.