Joseph Sherar (November 16, 1833 – February 11, 1908) was a 19th-century wagon road builder who, with his wife, Jane, owned and operated a Deschutes River toll bridge and a nearby stagecoach station and hotel in Wasco County in the U.S. state of Oregon.

The bridge and buildings were slightly downstream of Sherars Falls, the river's lowermost waterfall, and a traditional fishing spot for the native inhabitants of the region.

[1] In 1855, Sherar left New York and traveled to California, where he tried mining, hauling goods by pack animal, and then farming along the Klamath River before moving to Oregon in 1862.

Operating out of The Dalles, Sherar developed a business hauling supplies over primitive trails to mining camps to the southeast.

[4] The waterfall was a traditional fishing site for the Tygh people (Western Sahaptin Indians), who used wooden platforms and dip nets to catch salmon and steelhead migrating upriver.

[5] Sherar, employing local Indian laborers, gradually improved the road for 30 miles (48 km) on either side of the river.