To the Editor of the Times:
    With your permission I wish to make a suggestion to the taxpayers of Jackson County. The question with business men is not what will bring the greatest return from the investment tomorrow, but what will bring the greatest return from the investment in the course of a year or a series of years. And, as the suggestion is one that will necessarily involve the outlay of some capital, it will not be out of place to give the subject a careful investigation.
    Every man in the county is interested, more or less, in the general welfare of the whole community, and it is an admitted fact that it would be for the benefit of all parties, the farmer, mechanic, merchant, as well as the stock-raiser, for the county to be rid of the "varmints" that destroy our grain and young stock. The suggestion I have to make is this: Let the people in the different parts of the county, while they are talking about the wagon road to the coast, and other public enterprises, appoint in each neighborhood a prominent person who is interested in the movement, to circulate a petition to the Hon. Count Court of Jackson County praying that it offer a reasonable bounty for the scalps of panthers, bears, wolves, coyotes, wildcats, rabbits, squirrels, etc.
    I know that some will say at once that the taxes are so high now that we cannot afford to offer a bounty at present. But while we admit that the taxes are high and that the bounty would be a drain on the county funds for a year or two, still I hold that it will be a good investment for the taxpayers in the end.
    Now let us see. We have annually destroyed, by the rabbits and squirrels, hundreds of bushels of grain that might become taxable property, and by offering a small bounty as an inducement, the boys, with their traps, deadfalls, etc., would soon destroy the majority of them. While these are destroying the cents, the larger "varmints" that prey upon the young stock are destroying the dollars. In some parts of the county, it is a very difficult thing to raise colts on the public commons on account of the panther, cougar, etc., but if these were destroyed so that we could raise our colts on the range, the taxes on a few good horses would amount to enough to pay the bounty on several scalps, but it is not only the colts that they prey upon, but calves, hogs, sheep and in fact everything that we raise in the stock line suffers more or less.
    Take the hog interest for instance. Today it costs about one-half of the value of the pigs that we raise to pay for the feed and attention that is necessary to raise them so that they will be fit for market, and why is this? Is it on account of the scarcity of feed on the commons? No, by no means but simply because if the sow is left with her young pigs in the woods, the coyotes would catch the pigs, and if they are left in an enclosure the case is but little better, for they or the wildcats will steal into an enclosure and destroy all the young. The same may be said with respect to sheep. As it is now, the sheep men have to watch their flocks all the time, and still, with all their care, occasionally a few will stray off, and then some of them are sure to be caught. But if the sheep could run at large, especially in the winter when the ground is soft and the feed is scarce, and be protected from the ravages of the pests that are prowling over our county, we could raise at least double the amount of sheep and hogs. But as it is, a large amount of the revenue that would come into the county treasury in the shape of taxes is now devoured by these pests. If the County Court would offer a premium for their scalps, as Douglas County as done, young men who have but little to do, or to do with, would hunt them up and by that plan give the hunter lucrative employment, rid the country of a terrible pest and bring money into the county treasury.
    Let us hear from others on this subject, and if we can do no more we can get the citizens of this county to think of some plan for relief.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, January 9, 1880, page 1

    Complaint was filed in the Circuit Court for Jackson County on the 19th day of January, 1880, by Dowell & Neil, attorneys for plaintiff in the case of Augusta Sisson, heir at law of Dr. David Sisson, vs. A. D. Helman, John R. Helman, Mary Jane Helman, M .J. Helman, et al. This is a suit in equity to quiet title to real estate, and involving the title to property in the town of Ashland, valued at not less than $10,000. The complaint sets forth that Dr. David Sisson was owner of and in peaceable possession of a certain block of land in the town of Ashland, the title to which was based on a written contract for a deed for block No. 2 on the original plat of Ashland, given by A. D. Helman to Morris Howell and assigned to Sisson. It relates that Dr. Sisson had erected valuable buildings on said block including a hospital, that while residing on the same on the 5th day of April, 1868, when the plaintiff was only eight days old, he was shot and killed by an assassin, within sixty yards of A. D. Helman's front door, and that soon afterwards, the house in which Sisson was living at the time of his death, and also a house on the Sisson farm near Ashland, were burned by an incendiary who succeeded in burning the contract to Howell. Subsequently, the complaint alleges, the plat of Ashland was stolen from the Recorder's office, and a new plat filed having an additional block and on which block No. 2 (owned by Sisson) was changed to block No. 3, so as to destroy its identity and defraud the plaintiff out of lot No. 6 in said block which had been deeded to her by L. J. C. Duncan, who had purchased at sheriff's sale under an execution against the property of A. D. Helman. The complaint further sets forth that A. D. Helman, one of the defendants, filed a third plat of the town of Ashland on which block No. 2 (claimed by the plaintiff) is not laid down, with intention to defraud plaintiff and entirely destroy all evidence of her title. Plaintiff asks that certain deeds made by A. D. Helman to parties now in possession be declared void, so far as they conflict with her interest in the land, and he be compelled to make her a deed according to the contract made to Howell and assigned to Sisson. If the complaint be true it points to the commission of the blackest deed that was ever done in Jackson County, and if probed the fact would be disclosed that arson, larceny of a public record and forgery were used to cover it up, hide the murderer and rob an infant orphan of her property.--Jacksonville Sentinel.
Albany Register, Albany, Oregon, February 6, 1880, page 1


    The season promises to be the most favorable one the miners of Southern Oregon have experienced in many years The supply of water is ample and promises to continue for some time to come.
    Many sheep are dying in Jackson County, Oregon, from starvation and exposure.
"Pacific Coast Items," Marysville Daily Appeal, Marysville, California, February 13, 1880, page 3


    Cold weather still interferes with mining operations in Southern Oregon.
    Neff's distillery, in Jackson County, has turned out a barrel of tomato brandy.
"Oregon," Vancouver Independent, Vancouver, Washington, February 19, 1880, page 4


    Skinning cattle for their hides promises to be profitable employment in Jackson County.
    The military mail to Fort Klamath is discontinued. Regular United States mail three times a week.
    The school census of Jacksonville district shows 401 children of school age--202 males and 199 females.
"Astoria," Puget Sound Argus, Port Townsend, Washington, March 11, 1880, page 2


    The Crescent City wagon road enterprise is again being agitated with the approach of spring, and the people are inclined to feel more hopeful than ever of its success. It will be of vast advantage to Northern California and Southern Oregon.
"Pacific Coast," Corvallis Gazette, March 19, 1880, page 2


    Among the many natural curiosities of Jackson County, Oregon, [it] is not generally known that there in a floating island. Up in the Siskiyou, lying like a pearl in the great mountain chain, is Squaw Lake, a beautiful sheet of water, now utilized by a mining company as a reservoir. For many years the lake has been a favorite and delightful resort for fishing parties, and contained nearly in its center an island, comprising about one acre of ground, covered with luxuriant grass and a growth of willow and alder. It was never dreamed that the pretty little island was not terra firma, but when the bulkhead across the outlet of the lake dammed up its waters the island rose slowly until it had been elevated fully sixteen feet above its original level. It would be a question for the naturalist rather than the geologist to determine the age of this floating island, as it is evidently made up entirely of decayed vegetation. Perhaps at some remote period the roots of a tree, uptorn by the mountain storms, drifting out into the lake, formed the nucleus from which the island has grown; but it seems singular that it should have remained anchored and unchangeable in its position. The locality is much frequented by picture seekers, who will hereafter notice the increase [in] elevation.
Vancouver Independent, Vancouver, Washington, March 25, 1880, page 1


    The Roseburg Star says that C. C. Manning, U.S. surveyor, arrived in Roseburg last week. This gentleman is to survey the military road between Scottsburg and Camp Stewart near Phoenix, in this county, for the purpose of ascertaining the places where money appropriated for the improvement of the road can be most advantageously expended. The officer in charge of the improvement is also on hand, and we understand that work is to be instituted immediately. From what can be learned the appropriation will doubtless be expended on the Cow Creek and Grave Creek mountains, where it is certainly most needed.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, April 2, 1880, page 3


    The wood piles of Southern Oregon have been completely "burned out" during the sway of the long winter.
    Mrs. Dorcas Fredenburg died last week at Rock Point, Jackson County, aged 81 years. A husband, nine children, 52 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren survive her.
"Southern Oregon," Puget Sound Argus, Port Townsend, Washington, April 22, 1880, page 2


    Now that the freighting season is about to open, the people, especially those directly engaged in shipping to or from the cities, will have their attention directed constantly to the needless outlay for transportation, which has taken from Southern Oregon in the past few years hundreds of thousands of dollars that should have remained here to enrich the country and develop its resources and business. It is estimated that from 2,000 to 2,500 tons of freight are brought into Jackson County alone every year. A good road to Crescent City would enable us to save nearly a cent a pound on all freight from San Francisco; at least, it is safe to count upon a saving of $15 per ton. This saving upon the merchandise that is brought into the country, added to that upon the exports, will amount to somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000 a year, in hard cash--more than twice the sum Jackson County is asked to subscribe toward the building of the wagon road. Fifty thousand dollars distributed among the people of our county every year will make a very perceptible improvement in our prosperity. And it will be distributed; it cannot possibly be appropriated by any individuals or any corporation. What we have to buy from abroad will cost just so much less here, and what we have to sell will be worth just so much more, and the inflexible laws of trade will distribute the saving equitably. When the road is built it will be as though our valley were transported some 200 miles nearer to San Francisco, with our means of communication equally as good as now, for the new route will just eliminate the cost of the freighting over the 200 miles of railroad between us and Portland. This will give us the benefit not only of the saving that we have been figuring upon, but also of the certain increase of the value of property which always follows in any place the improvement of the facilities for commercial intercourse with the trade center of the region. Let everyone who can possibly contribute toward the building of the wagon road consider carefully how much his interests are involved, and then remember that now is the time to take advantage of the opportunity to increase his possessions. "There is a tide in the affairs of men that, taken at its flood, leads on to fortune." The tide of opportunity has set in toward Jackson County. Will our citizens allow it to drift idly by them?
Ashland Tidings, April 30, 1880, page 2


    The merchants of San Francisco have hitherto held much of the trade of that large and rapidly developing region known as Southern Oregon. The United States government is now spending $10,000 on the improvement of the roads from Jacksonville north to Portland, and the natural effect of this will be to give much of the Southern Oregon business to the merchants of the Columbia and the commercial centers of the Northwest. In order to secure for San Francisco merchants advantages at least equal, and probably much better, there has for months been a strong effort made by the people of Southern Oregon, in accord with the people of Del Norte County, to build a wagon road from Waldo to Crescent City. The movement has now taken such a shape that a very little aid and comfort on the part of San Francisco merchants, who are interested in this trade, would ensure its success.
    April 10th there was a public meeting held in Waldo, which is near the southern line of Oregon, and support was pledged by the merchants. Previous to this enthusiastic meetings were held in Del Norte County. April 17th a convention took place in Jacksonville. Committees were present from Jackson, Del Norte and Josephine counties. The report declared that these committees had decided to select the best route from Waldo to Crescent City. They appointed viewers and prepared for a final survey. Each county to bear one-third of this expense. A gentleman was appointed to ask for subscriptions in San Francisco. The cost of the road is estimated at $20,000, of which 30 percent is obtained.
    To show the need of this road the following statements are made by Southern Oregon and Del Norte papers. (1.) The merchants of Josephine County say that if the proposed road is not built they must discontinue freighting from Crescent City, and turn their attention to Portland, the old road being nearly impassable and on a bad route. (2.) The incoming freight of Jackson County is not less than twenty-eight hundred tons annually. These freights, landed at Roseburg, cost $25 per ton, or $70,000 per year. (3.) There is in Jackson and Josephine counties and their tributary valleys an area of 400,000 acres of wheat land, immense ranges of pasturage, rapidly filling up with stock, and a bolt of fine mineral land. Population is crowding in, and the future of the whole region is extremely hopeful. (4.) The length of the road desired is only 36 miles, and every mile lies within the boundaries of California, and will aid to build up Crescent City. The time may come when a railroad will take its place.--Bulletin.
Humboldt Times, Eureka, California, May 4, 1880, page 2


    A band of 700 sheep were sold for $1.10 the head in Jackson County, Oregon, last week.
"Pacific Coast Brevities," Stockton Daily Independent, Stockton, California, May 26, 1880, page 2

Gold Hill News, September 27, 1913, page 1