The History of Zigzag Oregon – A Little Town With a Deep History

The History of Zigzag Oregon

The history of Zigzag Oregon is not the story of a town that failed to grow, although it never did. It is the story of a place that has always been defined by movement – by rivers, trails, roads, and the people who passed through them. Long before there was a town of Zigzag, settlers, businesses or the highway that travels past, this area was already an important place on the south side of Mount Hood.

What later became Zigzag was shaped by geography in ways that drew people here again and again for thousands of years.

An Ancient Place of Convergence

For millennia before Euro-American settlement, the Zigzag area was an important Indigenous crossroads. Three major Native trail systems converged here, making this location a natural place of passage and gathering. This convergence of trails was dictated by mountains, valleys and a convergence of rivers.

Native people would travel to and from the Willamette Valley, Columbia River Gorge and Central Oregon on familiar ancient trails. In the Spring they would travel to the foothills on the south side of Mount Hood to hunt, fish, pick huckleberries, harvest food and medicinal roots and plants from the numerous wetland areas. At the end of the season, they would prepare their stores for the journey back to the low land homes.

How Zigzag Got Its Name

The name Zigzag does not originate from an unusually crooked river, but from the manner of travel through the landscape.

On October 11, 1845, pioneer Joel Palmer crossed a deep ravine near the timberline of Mount Hood while searching for a workable route across the mountain. Palmer recorded the crossing in his journal, describing the steep descent into what later became known as Zigzag Canyon:

“The manner of descending is to turn directly to the right, go zigzag for about one hundred yards, then turn short round, and go zigzag until you come under the place where you started from; then to the right, and so on, until you reach the base.”

This method of descending—cutting sharply back and forth across steep terrain—was memorable, practical, and descriptive. The term “zigzag” became associated not with the shape of the river itself, but with the technique used to cross the canyon. As this story was shared with other travelers the river he followed and the mountain that he passed through the shadow of was named Zigzag River and Zigzag Mountain.

Early references commonly used the two-word form “Zig Zag.” When the Zigzag Post Office was established in 1917, the U.S. Post Office standardized the name to Zigzag, combining it into a single word. The post office operated intermittently until 1974.

Sharon Springs and Clear Creek

At the center of this convergence of rivers and trails was Sharon Springs, a small but dependable year-round cold-water spring located on Clear Creek, just above its junction with the Sandy River. Named by settlers, who Sharon was is lost to time.

For Indigenous travelers, a reliable clean water source at a trail junction was invaluable, especially in the Summer when the rivers are low and water quality just as low. Later, immigrant wagon trains depended on the same spring. The spring gave the area one of its earliest names. Sharon Springs.

Immigrants and the Descent from Mount Hood

When immigrants began arriving in greater numbers in the mid-19th century, they followed the same trails that Indigenous people had used for generations. The opening of the Barlow Road in 1846 formalized one of those routes, allowing wagon trains to cross the south side of Mount Hood rather than float the Columbia River.

As wagons descended the south side of Mount Hood, they traveled down the north side of the Zigzag River on their way toward the Willamette Valley and the official end of the Oregon Trail. The descent was steep, slow, and exhausting. By the time travelers reached Zigzag it was a welcome place to stop, water animals, and rest before their push to their final destination. Thousands of wagons and weary travelers passed through Zigzag on the old Barlow Trail.

Zigzag was never the destination, but it was an important and remembered part of the journey west.

Yochahina, Deveny, and Early Settlement

By the late 19th century, homesteaders began claiming land in the area. Early records refer to the settlement as Yochahina or Yochahinaville, suggesting a brief period when residents believed a permanent community might develop here.

One of the most influential early settlers was William “Wm.” Deveny, a landholder and local promoter whose legacy remains today. The lower Lolo Pass Road, what once was Deveny Road, passes through land once associated with him and reflects early efforts to develop the area into a tourist destination. And also, an attempt to make money selling property to folks wanting to build a cabin in the hills.

Just up the road, the Truman Ranch represented an early layer of agricultural use. Farming, ranching, logging and mills existed while surrounding communities increasingly focused on travel, lodging, and tourism, especially with more modern improvements made to the Barlow Road, changing it into the Mount Hood Loop Highway.

Despite these efforts, Zigzag never fully transitioned from a place of passage into a commercial center.

Attempts at Commercial Development

Sharon Springs later became the site of Howard’s Hotel, built to serve travelers moving through the Mount Hood corridor. For a time, the hotel transformed Zigzag from a simple stopping place into a recognizable destination.

Stage passengers, teamsters, and early motorists stopped for meals, rest, and water. The hotel did not create importance; it relied on the importance the place already had.

When Howard’s Hotel burned, Zigzag lost its strongest early commercial anchor. Unlike nearby communities such as Welches or Government Camp, the hotel was never replaced. With its loss went much of the area’s early momentum.

Rivers, Bridges, and Limits to Growth

Zigzag’s geography was both its strength and its limitation. The Zigzag River and the Sandy River lie close together here, creating repeated challenges for transportation and infrastructure.

Bridges were essential and often fragile. Seasonal flooding regularly damaged or destroyed early crossings, which took time to rebuild. The bridges were replaced frequently. They were typically made from, material harvested from near where the bridge was built and were simple cribbing containing rock with planks running over them traversing the river.

As transportation improved in the early automobile era, road planners increasingly designed more permanent structures. Allowing reliable access to the area for the people who had settled there.

Commercial Life Along the Mount Hood Loop Highway

When the Mount Hood Loop Highway replaced the old Barlow Road, commercial activity shifted decisively to the roadside. Whatever commercial development Zigzag experienced took place along the highway rather than up Deveny Road (Lolo Pass Road).

The Zigzag Store, Zigzag Inn, and Barlow Trail Inn, built during the expansion of the Mount Hood Loop Highway. These businesses reflected a new phase in Zigzag’s role as a modest roadside community serving motorists headed to and from Mount Hood.

The Zigzag Post Office reinforced that identity. It provided a formal name, a mailing address, and a sense—however small—of a town.

The Zigzag Ranger Station

Zigzag’s role in forest administration began earlier than the buildings most people recognize today.

In 1908, the U.S. Forest Service established the Oregon National Forest around Mount Hood, placing the Zigzag area within a newly defined federal forest reserve. This marked the beginning of Zigzag’s formal connection to federal land management, even before a permanent ranger station complex existed.

The first Forest Service building at the Zigzag site was constructed in 1917, establishing a local administrative presence. Additional buildings were added during the 1920s as forest management activities expanded and the need for on-site staff increased. In 1924, much of the Oregon National Forest was redesignated as the Mount Hood National Forest, including what became known as the Zigzag Ranger District.

A major period of construction began during The Depression in 1933, when the Civilian Conservation Corps arrived in the area. Between 1933 and 1942, CCC crews built nine ranger station buildings, creating the cohesive complex that survives today. The CCC workers came from nearby Camp Zigzag and carried out construction under the supervision of Forest Service rangers.

The completed complex functioned as a self-contained administrative center, housing offices, residences, and support facilities for forest rangers, firefighters, and maintenance crews.

Today, the Zigzag Ranger Station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, recognized for both its architectural integrity and its significance in the history of forest administration in Oregon. It remains one of the most visible reminders of Zigzag’s 20th-century identity.

A Place Defined by Movement

Zigzag never developed a traditional downtown or commercial core. Instead, it remained what it had always been: a place shaped by people moving through it. It eventually became a settlement for more and more residents seeking a home in the hills and forests.

Indigenous trails became wagon roads. Wagon roads became highways. Sharon Springs continued to flow quietly on Clear Creek. Deveny Road and Truman Road’s names have changed, but they still trace early land use. The rivers continue to shape the land as they always have.

Zigzag’s importance was never about permanence. It was about connection.

That continuity—stretching from ancient trails to modern highways—is the true history of Zigzag Oregon.

Sources

• United States Forest Service, Mount Hood National Forest publications and historic trail summaries
• Oregon Historical Society, manuscript collections, historic maps, and pioneer accounts
• Oregon State Archives, land claims, road records, and early settlement documentation
• United States Geological Survey, historic topographic maps of the Sandy River and Zigzag River area
• United States Post Office Department, post office naming conventions and place-name standardization records
• Oregon Geographic Names, place-name origins and historical usage
• The Oregonian, historic newspaper articles referencing Zigzag, Sharon Springs, hotels, bridges, and road development
• Oregon Daily Journal, early 20th-century coverage of Mount Hood travel and roadside businesses
• Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office (GLO) plats and homestead records
• Historic photographs and ephemera from private collections and regional archives
• Author’s field research, site visits, historic map comparison, and analysis of surviving landscape features

About the reconstructed images on this website.
Some images in these articles may be reproductions based on historic photographs or newspaper articles that survive only in poor condition. These images have been digitally restored to improve clarity and, where necessary, reconstructed to represent the originals accurately. All reconstructions are guided by historical evidence and are intended to clarify-not reinterpret-the original scenes.