History Tidbits: Charlie Brown Road

If you have spent any time in the Grossman area north of Wallowa you have probably heard of the Charlie Brown Road. No, it is not named after the Charles Schulz cartoon character. Charles Brown had a homestead in the Grossman area and he owned equipment and horses to maintain roads. He built and maintained a road from the Promise Road to the Williams Ranch. Today, the Williams Ranch is the iconic Seldom Seen Ranch. Mr. Brown worked constantly on this road for most of his adult life.

Today, it is a viable road in parts and completely obliterated in other areas. It served in its time to link most of the Grossman homesteads. There was a concentrated effort to abandon it with the Wallowa County Court in the 1990s but the effort failed. The road is on privately owned land today and difficult to access but historical maps show the route quite well.

Written by Marilyn Hulse, July 2024