East of the Oregon Cascades is Shaniko, a tiny oasis of habitation dating from the days of big sheep ranching in the early 1900s... The town lies high on a dry, wind-swept ridge, and is much colder in winter than its moderate 3,400 foot altitude would suggest. ..

Shaniko lies right on Hwy 97, the major north-south highway that runs along the east fringe of the Cascade Range, all the way from the Canadian border through Oregon, and ending at I-5 (Interstate 5) near Mt. Shasta, California......From Shaniko's high plains, one spies in the remote distance, like the memory of a cloud, the 11,245 foot high ice spire of Mt. Hood. At Shaniko, the wind blows and the sun beats down. Water is scarce and only scattered juniper trees grow without the help of irrigation.

The Shaniko Hotel is an painstakingly restored Bed and Breakfast Hotel. "The Shaniko Hotel Beautiful Old-Fashioned Decor in the historic turn of the century "Columbia Southern Hotel." The two-story brick hotel's restoration was funded in 2000-2001 by the resources of Dr Robert B. Pamplin Jr. of Portland ..Dr. Pamplin also owns the 55,000 acre R2 Ranch nearby and is CEO of a major corporation ( R.B. Pamplin Corporation) which owns/runs a great number of major Portland/Willamette Valley businesses and industries. The ranch is a cattle and hay operation, which runs for 22 miles from north to south along highways 97 and 197.