In June 1862, a company of miners from northern California heading east over the Strawberry Mountain Range discovered gold on Whiskey Flat, half a mile south of here, and miners from across the area soon flocked in as the new settlement became known as Canyon City. Historical records say that more than $26 million in gold was taken from Canyon Creek and the nearby mountains during the Gold Rush from 1862 to 1880, and tradition holds that between 1862 and 1864 Canyon City had the largest population of any town in Oregon, with at least 2,500 people. The town had numerous mercantiles, blacksmiths, liveries, a red light district, and a Chinese district, and it became the seat of Grant County in 1864. In the 1870's and 1880's, Canyon City was a main stop along the route from points east to the Dalles, with mules, oxen, and horses pulling heavy freight wagons carrying goods, passengers, emigrants, and gold, and it was also a major stage stop for stagecoach service from Austin Junction to Burns in the 1870's. Fire destroyed much of the early town, including the first courthouse, in 1870; Indian wars raged throughout Grant County in the late 1870's; Chinatown burned in 1885; a severe flash flood destroyed much of the town in 1896; and fires again ravaged the community in 1898 and 1937. Among surviving reminders of the early town are Saint Thomas Episcopal, built in 1876 near the center of town, Sel's Brewery, the yellow former schoolhouse on Rebel Hill where Union loyalists tore down a Confederate flag during the Civil War, and the Old '62 Hall on the south edge of town, long used for dances and community celebrations.