Page 8C
OUTSIDE
East Oregonian
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Ritter Hot Springs sits in a bend of the Middle Folk John Day River, near Long Creek in northern Grant County.
Ritter Hot Springs: Far away in time and distance
Photos and story
by E.J. HARRIS
East Oregonian
Area in
detail
84
U m atil l a R.
UMATILLA
Pilot Rock
MORROW
74
Ritter Hot
Springs
UMATILLA
NATIONAL
FOREST
244
Ukiah
UMATILLA
NATIONAL
FOREST
395
N . Fk. John Day
MALHEUR
NATIONAL
FOREST
GRANT
N
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Ritter Hot Springs main attraction is its spring-fed swimming pool where guests can soak in the 80
plus degree waters piped in from the hot springs.
5 miles
. Fk
. Jo
hn
Da
y
395
Long Creek
Ri
ve
r
Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
If you go
Ritter is located in northern Grant County off Highway 395.
If traveling south from Pendleton, turn west on Ritter Road near
mile marker 77 and drive ten miles, then turn right at the sign.
It operates seasonally, and opened this year on Memorial Day
weekend. It consists of eight hotel rooms, two cabins and also
has camping space and RV hookups. Because its owners is a
Seventh-day Adventist, the pool is closed from sundown Friday
to sundown Saturday. The pool is open the other six days of the
week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
For more information on Ritter Hot Springs call 541-421-3846.
A century old hot springs
comes with a lot of upkeep and
renovations seem to be constantly
underway. Tillay, who is also pres-
ident and CEO of Grab on Grips,
a company that makes bicycle
handlebar wraps, can be found
working on improvements to the
property most days of the week,
although he has no plans to expand
current operations.
While retelling an account for a
guest, Tillay touched one of Ritter’s
biggest charms — its remoteness.
“The absolute best thing about
Ritter is that there is nothing to do,”
Tillay said. “You can just put your
mind in neutral. You can just chill.”
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A cabin still sits on the original site homesteaded by William Neal
McDuffee.
BLOOMIN’ BLUES
A prairie lotus by any other name
By BRUCE BARNES
For The East Oregonian
Common Name: Prairie
lotus
Scientifi c Name: Acmispon
americanus
This small plant has had
its scientifi c name changed at
least three times in the past 20
years or so. Past names include
Lotus purshianus, Lotus amer-
icanus, and Lotus unifoliatus.
Fortunately, Shakespeare had
it right when he wrote in one of
his plays “A rose by any other
name is still a rose.”
The name Lotus was the
Greek name given to this group
of plants, which is not related
to the Japanese Lotus fl ower in
any way.
About ten years ago this
species along with other North
395
M
If you are looking for a health
spa with herbal wraps, cucumber
water and Yerba mate lattes, then
Ritter Hot Springs is not for you.
However, what Ritter might lack
in posh accouterments, it more than
makes up for with scenic beauty,
a rich history and plenty of hot,
healing spring water.
Ritter was fi rst discovered
and homesteaded by William
Neal McDuffee in the 1850s and
was originally named McDuffee
Hot Springs. One of McDuffee’s
original cabins can still be found
on the site today. McDuffee was
an interesting character, according
to current Ritter owner Mike
Tillay of Walla Walla. Tillay, who
has studied the history of the hot
springs, says McDuffee was miner,
a watermaster and even spent time
in prison for murdering a man on
the property.
“(McDuffee) was an out of luck
miner and he struck gold with hot
water,” Tillay said.
Ritter was later renamed for the
popular John Day Valley pioneer
minister Rev. Joseph Ritter, who
had bought the ranch where the
springs are located.
The resort is ten miles west of
Highway 395 on Ritter Road, along
a meander of the Middle Fork John
Day River in Grant County roughly
20 miles north of Long Creek.
The sleepy little alcove was
once, and still is, a destination for
people looking to reap the health
benefi ts of the mineral waters
found at the hot springs, according
to Tillay. He said the water feels
smooth due to its high alkalinity,
close to a nine on the pH scale,
which can be good for your skin.
“I have a lady staying here right
now that takes a fi ve-gallon bucket
of it home and sprays it on her after
a shower because it makes her skin
feel smooth,” Tillay said.
Pendleton
ORE.
Photo courtesy Bruce Barnes
Prairie lotus
American native lotus species
were separated from Old
World species into Acmispon.
I could fi nd no reference to the
meaning behind the new name.
Regardless of name, this
plant is an annual that is a
member of the pea family. It
is found throughout most of
North America from southwest
Canada to Mexico, to the
Atlantic, and is one of the most
common of the native Acmi-
spon species.
They are often found in
patches in wet spring soil, and
sometimes form dense tangled
masses about a foot high. The
stems are often simple with
no branches, but can also be
found looking bush-like with
many branches. The plant in
the photo is about six inches
tall, with both seed pods and
fl owers.
The plant’s leaves are
alternate on the stem, and on
a single plant may be simple
or compound into two or three
leafl ets, which is an unusual
feature. The stems and leaves
are rather hairy, with fi ne
spreading hairs. The pea-like
fl owers are white, sometimes
with the broad banner petal
having thin red stripes. The
seed pods are fl at, elliptic in
outline, and have four to eight
seeds.
Two Indian tribes are known
to use the plant in cooking. One
tribe used matted plants on
which to cook juniper cakes to
improve the taste of the cakes.
Another tribe pounded
acorns along with the leaves of
the plant so the plants would
absorb some of the oil from the
acorns.
Where to fi nd: This plant
seems to pop up some years
and disappear other years
depending on weather condi-
tions. I have seen it in thick
tangles near natural ponds in
late spring in the Blue Moun-
tains.
One-day sturgeon season
set on Columbia River
East Oregonian
Fishery managers from Oregon and Wash-
ington have set aside Friday, June 23 as a one-day
sturgeon retention season on the Columbia River
between Bonneville and The Dalles dams,
including adjacent tributaries.
Anglers who haven’t met the annual bag limit
will be allowed to keep one sturgeon with a fork
length of 38-54 inches. Fishing is still prohibited
through July within the sturgeon spawning
sanctuary from The Dalles Dam downstream 1.8
miles to the Port of The Dalles boat ramp.
Meanwhile, sturgeon season will close
Saturday, June 17 from the Wauna power lines
downstream to the mouth of the river due to high-
er-than-expected effort and catch. Recreational
anglers exhausted their harvest quota of 3,000
legal-size sturgeon during the fi rst fi ve days of
the fi shery, according to the Oregon Department
of Fish & Wildlife, with about 12,000 trips
expected.
For more information, visit the ODFW website
at www.dfw.state.or.us.
———
Email editor ttrainor@eastoregonian.com or
call him at 541-969-0835.