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Donner und Blitzen River

River in Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area, Steens Mountain Wilderness, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Great Basin in OR

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Length

78mi

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On Wikipedia

The Donner und Blitzen River is a river on the eastern Oregon high desert which drains a relatively arid basin, the southern portion of Harney Basin, from roughly 20 to 80 miles (30 to 130 km) south-southeast of Burns including Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Though much of its course is marsh, it offers scenic glaciated canyons, unique ecosystems, and exceptional wild trout fisheries. Named by soldiers of German origin, the Donner und Blitzen River translates as "thunder and lightning". The name brings to mind two of Santa Claus's reindeer, but the river is named for a thunderstorm the soldiers experienced as they crossed the river; dry lightning is an almost daily occurrence in the region during certain times of the year. The Donner und Blitzen River arises as an intermittent stream on…

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River