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Although county lands were open to homesteading from 1862 to 1934, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management still owns more than three million acres, or 62% of the lands within the county boundaries. Facilitated on the national level by the Carey Act[?] of 1894, arid land in Harney County was donated to the state for irrigation and settlement, but all water development efforts failed, and eventually all land claims filed under the reclamation legislation were abandoned or nullified. Malheur Wildlife Refuge[?] was established in 1908 and expanded in 1936. The refuge now includes 159,872 acres. Borax has been mined in the Steens area, and uranium has been found on its south side.
There are 3,036 households out of which 29.40% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.00% are married couples living together, 6.80% have a female householder with no husband present, and 31.00% are non-families. 25.90% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.20% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.45 and the average family size is 2.94.
In the county, the population is spread out with 26.00% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 26.60% from 25 to 44, 26.10% from 45 to 64, and 15.00% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 40 years. For every 100 females there are 102.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 98.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county is $30,957, and the median income for a family is $36,917. Males have a median income of $27,386 versus $21,773 for females. The per capita income for the county is $16,159. 11.80% of the population and 8.60% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 12.70% are under the age of 18 and 13.90% are 65 or older.
Harney county was carved out of the southern two-thirds of Grant County on February 25, 1889. A fierce political battle, with armed night riders who spirited county records from Harney to Burns, ended with Burns as the county seat in 1890. The Malheur River Indian Reservation[?] was created by executive order on March 14, 1871 and the Northern Paiute Indians within the Oregon state boundaries were settled there.
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