Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint, State park and scenic viewpoint in Jefferson and Deschutes Counties, United States.
Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint is a 34-hectare state park on the Crooked River, on the Deschutes–Jefferson county line 9 miles north of Redmond on U.S. Route 97. The developed overlook on the west side of the highway faces a canyon about 100 m deep, crossed by three bridges: the 1910–1911 Oregon Trunk Railway bridge, Conde McCullough's 1926 Crooked River High Bridge, now open to pedestrians, and the 165 m Rex T. Barber Veterans Memorial Bridge of 1997–2000.
The park is named after Peter Skene Ogden, who led a Hudson's Bay Company trapping party into the Crooked River Valley in 1825. The land was transferred to the State of Oregon by the railway company between 1925 and 1930. The canyon's first road, built in 1902, wound down to a wooden bridge at the river's bottom.
The park is named after Peter Skene Ogden, who led a Hudson's Bay Company trapping party into the Crooked River Valley in 1825. A memorial at the viewpoint honors Rex T. Barber, a World War II flying ace from the area; the 1997–2000 bridge below carries his name.
The site has restrooms, picnic tables, and a specialized parking loop designed for trucks and trailers. Access is straightforward, with viewpoints easily reached from the parking area.
The park itself makes no mention of it, but the site was where Jeannace June Freeman was convicted of a murder that made her the first woman sentenced to death in Oregon; she was never executed, and remained the only woman under such a sentence until 2011.
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