The Oregon Valley Land Company was a company headed by R. J. Martin of Kansas City, Missouri, with J. H. Borders of Kansas City as secretary and H. C. Shimp of Portland, Oregon, as treasurer. In April 1908, the company purchased 500,000 acres of land in Klamath, Lake, and Harney counties in southeastern Oregon from the Oregon Military Land Grant Company for $2 million. In early 1909, it purchased additional land from the Heryford "70" cattle ranch. In September 1909, the company, which advertised its holdings as valuable agricultural land -- claims that proved to be largely exaggerated or false -- auctioned approximately 14,420 tracts. In 1911, the company's entire interest was transferred to the Goose Lake Valley Irrigation Company. People who had purchased tracts from the Oregon Valley Land Company made up the majority of 4,000 defendants in a 1925 lawsuit that Lake County filed for delinquent taxes. As late as 1968, there were people outside Oregon who still held deeds from the 1909 auctions.

Sources: "Purchase Military Grant," Oregonian, April 25, 1908, page 5; "Passing of '70' Lands Marks Era," Oregonian, March 15, 1909, page 12; "One Land Grant Less in Oregon," Oregonian, September 26, 1909, page 9; "Big Acreage Transferred," Oregonian, November 17, 1911, page 7; "4000 Involved in Suit," Oregonian, January 9, 1925, page 6; "O.V.L.: The Land Auction of 1909," by Leslie Shaw, Lake County Examiner, August 29, 1968, page 1.