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Jackson
County 1906
Jackson.--Population 13,628;
Jacksonville is the county seat; Jackson County
has 199,183 acres in public reserve, out of a
total area of 1,779,662 acres; of her total
area, 1,282,463 acres have passed from the
government, 8,934 in the last two years, leaving
a total of 298,016 acres unappropriated land, of
which 220,741 acres are surveyed and 77,275
acres unsurveyed; the latter is timber, grazing
and fruit. There is some building stone in the
county of an excellent quality; mining for gold
is extensively followed; asbestos, coal, copper
and quicksilver found in the county; the land is
rolling, mountainous and level; Rogue River
furnishes an excellent water power; the roads
are good; pine and fir timber abound; Rogue
River is used for floating logs and lumber; the
fuel is wood, which brings from $4 to $6 per
cord; wheat is the principal product; there is a
poor house, occupied by fourteen males; the
general health is good; climate fine; mineral
springs with great curative qualities exist in
the county. R. P. Neil, of Ashland, Oregon, cut
seventy tons of alfalfa hay from sixteen acres
of land in Jackson County in July 1904; the
ground is what is known as the black, sticky
land; no irrigation. Jackson County peaches find
a ready sale in New York and Boston; Southern
Pacific railroad passes through the county.
Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor of the State of Oregon 1904-1906, Oregon State Printing Department, page 152 Bright Prospects in Southern Oregon
Unless all indications are deceptive the year 1906 will be one of
unparalleled growth and development in Southern Oregon in general and
Jackson County in particular.From the Medford Mail. Never before has this section attracted so much attention from people of all classes. Miners, orchardmen, lumbermen, all kinds of business men are finding out that the many and varied resources of Southern Oregon offer a field for their energies unsurpassed anywhere. Jackson County is just starting on a steady, upward march toward prosperity, which nothing can stop. Next year will see the mineral-seamed hills to the west and south begin giving up the stored wealth of centuries in greater proportion than ever before. East of us the vast pine and fir forests will begin paying tribute, and in return a stream of wealth will flow into the pockets of the people. A start at least will be made toward the irrigation of the valley, and within a few years after this is accomplished not two, but many blades of grass will grow where none grew before. Orchards, gardens and happy homes will take the place of the waste places, and nowhere on earth will there be a more prosperous vale than that of the Rogue. All this will not come in a day, to be sure, but the start toward it will be made during 1906, and most of us will live to see its realization. Oregon Journal, Portland, January 2, 1906, page 4 D. C. Wilson in Oregon.
The
following is taken from a letter received from our old friend D. C.
Wilson, who will be remembered as one of the early settlers of this
valley. Mr. Wilson left here some two months since and was shortly
afterward followed by his family with the exception of his oldest son,
who remained here. He seems to be highly pleased with his new home.
What he says about that country will no doubt be read with interest.
"Enclosed find a dollar, for which send me The Echo. We like this country very much. Fine winter weather, only a frosty night once in a while. We are in the heart of the famous Rogue River Valley, Medford being five miles east of the county seat, Jacksonville, Jackson County, Oregon. We are on the S.P.R.R. 330 miles south of Portland and about 15 miles north of the California state line. "This is a great fruit country. A Mr. Perkins realized $5.00 per box for pears here, or $7.40 in London. Spitz and yellow Newtown Pippin apples have brought as high as $7.00 in the same market. Mr. Wm. Scheble, a brother to the Schebles of Wenatchee, had two old pear trees in his dooryard that were not sprayed, pruned, cultivated or irrigated, and the fruit from those two trees brought $82.25. Mrs. [sic] Perry, the fruit dealer here, showed me the shipping bills and check stubs, so I know there is no mistake. "Hogs and corn do equally well here. Lots of oak and acorns. In fact, it is said that in the western part of our county wild hogs are becoming quite a nuisance. "Health is generally good, and the people seem quite prosperous. They should be, as there are so many diversified industries from which they can earn a living. Agriculture, horticulture and mining and timber is becoming quite a factor with us as there is a branch railroad line going out from here into the mountains, and big mills are being constructed up near Crater Lake some thirty miles from here." The Leavenworth Echo, Leavenworth, Washington, January 5, 1906, page 1 Reminiscences of a Pioneer
Continued from yesterday.
Many changes undreamed of by us in 1876 have come about. Jacksonville
and Ashland were the two principal trading points in the valley, and
our exports and imports were freighted [by] teams to and from Roseburg
and Crescent city, giving to our county a long and discouraging
drawback to immigration and the development of her many diversified
industries. In 1876 trade and exchange of produce for your many wants
was the prevailing custom. Today everything is done on a cash basis. It
has just taken thirty years to change our complete county. Politically
it has changed from Democratic to Republican, for in 1876, a man's
nomination was equivalent to an election. My first taxes were paid to
Sheriff Manning of this county in 1878. James Birdseye was the first
Republican sheriff elected in the county. I can recall but few of the
business men of Jacksonville in 1876, but we gladly recall few of the
names whose forms are bent and are grey and grizzled with time. Among
them we note J. Nunan, P. Donegan, P. J. Ryan, Mr. DeRoboam, J. R.
Neil, Judge Prim, Judge Colvig, Judge Hanna, Adam Smith. There may be
others that we have overlooked, but not intentionally. Time and space
will not permit us to enumerate the names of the many prominent public
men that have passed over the divide since 1876. It is hard for us to
realize in these days how great a part they played in the settlement
and civilization of our county.
J. G. MARTIN.
Medford Daily Tribune, October 3, 1906, page 2. The October 2 issue, with the first installment of this article, is lost.IN THE FAR WEST
About seven years ago I left my home in sunny Kansas for the Pacific
Northwest. Passing over the fertile rolling prairies, then over the
ranges of Wyoming and Utah, the 45 miles of snow sheds of western Utah
and Nevada, right through the heart of the mountains and alkali
deserts, past the gold diggings of California, passing Cape Horn,
a mountain in the snow, then in 30 minutes descending to the
Sacramento, where oranges and flowers were seen in profusion. This was
the first place I saw where I could think it was for a pleasant home,
after I left Kansas. Onward we went, up the famous Sacramento Valley,
up past Shasta Springs, Mt. Shasta, snow clad, past Black Butte, onward
to the Siskiyou Mountains which divide California from Oregon.Seven Years in Oregon and California by Rev. Brownrigg. Two great engines were at the head of our train of 11 coaches. We pause at Hornbrook siding, where a third engine is sent to push as we attempt the ascent. Now near the top we pass through a long tunnel at slow speed, and in about three minutes as our eyes open it is to behold the beautiful Rogue River Valley of Jackson County, Oregon. We pass through the horseshoe tunnel, then another just below it; we are now right under the railroad over which we passed 10 minutes ago. In about 35 minutes we come to Ashland, the R.R. division, a town of about 4,000, then we get off at a little place called Phoenix, 8 miles below Ashland and now after a stay of nearly seven years, having built two churches, and been employed the last two years by the State Mission Board as missionary pastor and evangelist, we return to evangelize in Eastern Kansas for a short time and to visit our parents. But many will ask the why and wherefore of this writing. It is because of the frequent inquiries about Oregon. Therefore I will endeavor to tell you of some of the chief industries, favored localities, climatical conditions and advantages. While I may not tell nearly all the truth about Oregon, I am sure what I tell will be the truth. Many inquiries are about like this, "What do you think of Oregon?" "Would you advise us to go there?" Answer: That is owing to what you want to do. If you want to raise cattle, hogs, sheep, corn and hay, by all means stay in Kansas; but if you want to raise apples, pears, peaches, prunes and melons or run a market garden, the Rogue River Valley is a great leader in these, with a climate wet in the winter yet not cold, and dry in summer with the thermometer registering from 70 to 90 degrees. If you want to run dairy goto Coos County, on the coast, don't waste your time in the mines, nor trying to become a logger; both are too dangerous to life and in the majority of cases does not pay. The timber industry is great and pays big money, but what is big money with a broken-down system, broken bones and every few days or weeks a few more corpses or life cripples. Land in the Rogue Valley sells from $15 to $300 per acre, for the naked land without fruit trees. A fruit grower shipped a carload of Comice pears to Montreal, Canada, which after paying $1 per box for shipment cleared $5 per box (of about a bushel). I don't know how many boxes of these best pears can be grown on one tree, but I will risk the guess of about five, which means $25 per tree; 60 trees to the acre could be made to bear well, but let us figure 50 which would mean $1,250 per acre for pears in a good season. The chief varieties are Bartlett and Comice. One man made $21 per tree from apples which would mean about $1,050 per acre. I am unable to make any estimate on prunes, almonds or berries. A man in Phoenix made $800 from ¾ of an acre of strawberries and had berries as late as Christmas. I have seen 11 to 13 of these large berries fill a quart cup. Three years ago a man on Bear Creek, a tributary to the Rogue River, bought a garden patch of about 24 acres for $2,400. The first year's crop made about $2,200 and next year about $2,600. Of course all this does not come by evolution, or blind guess, but means much expense in labor and good industrious care and management. The Rogue River Valley is being set out in trees very rapidly, and soon it will not raise hay and grain, only what it needs to consume and to fill its demands. It is no stock country, although some people raise stock. The river abounds in salmon and trout, but this is only enough for the valley, save to say that the valley is from 2 to 15 miles wide and about 35 miles long and has at one point a desert 7 miles wide. High mountains are on each side of the valley. Its soil is varied from black sticky to red clay, black loam and granite soil. The mountains are thickly covered with pine, fir, cedar and oak, manzanita, madrone, and flowers bloom nearly all year as there is not much frost, but this is enough for this locality. The far-famed Willamette Valley is pronounced Will-am-et, is a very beautiful valley with the river of the same name. It grows all the fruits of the former, but not as good a quality; it also grows much hay, and is quite a stock country. The hop industry is carried on extensively, but as they or 95 percent of them are used to make "booze," we feel sorry that something else could not be grown out here as a substitute for these with equal value of profit. Potatoes are extensively and profitably raised here and the cattle and sheep are a source of great profit. The streams here are pure and very cool. The mountains on the east are here and there studded with snow caps, even in the summer. The climate is healthful, but not for people who have lung trouble; this is west of the mountains. Then comes the railroad question. Those valleys are traversed the whole extent by the Southern Pacific, but the Coos Bay district is as yet at a loss for transportation, although the river boats and a short railroad are in operation and ocean steamers ply the coast from San Francisco to Portland. The famous Hood River Valley east of Portland is noted for its fruit but is in my mind not equal to Southern Oregon, notwithstanding its claims. Eastern Oregon is a grazing country with great herds of sheep and cattle, and much snow in the winter. The Columbia River is noted the world over for its abundance of salmon of the finest quality. In closing I will say that I visited northern and west central California. Its best place seems to be near Santa Cruz and Hollister with a much dryer climate than Oregon, but is much more expensive to live and much warmer summers. There we saw persimmons 3 inches in diameter and many splendid young orchards. Your humble servant also went to San Francisco, when her late and great trouble was on, and to say the least it was an appalling sight. We arrived before the fires were all put out. We had in charge $600 worth of relief goods and remained there about a week. During our stay we saved the lives of two men (saved them from being shot). We made a full set of lantern slides of the disaster while we were in the ruined city (100 slides). That great city will hardly be able to regain its former grandeur in 25 years. We were earthquaked while we were there and don't like the sensation it gives any more than we enjoy a cyclone in Kansas. (An earthquake stopped my watch while photographing the ruins.) Last but not least, all those who have good homes in Kansas may congratulate themselves that they have better roads, more elbow room, more opportunities and a splendid country. Don't leave a good place in Kansas to go to any of these places. I could continue and tell you of the great Oregon scenery, Mt. Hood 25,800 feet high, Crater Lake 12 miles long by 6 miles wide, right in the top of the Cascade Mountains, a volcanic crater 1200 feet down to the edge of water. All these have their grandeur, and it is almost indescribable; but a real beautiful rolling prairie with its corn, oats, wheat, cattle, hogs and sheep, even Kansas is not to be sneered at. Yours Fraternally
Garnett Eagle Plaindealer, Garnett, Kansas, December 12, 1906, page 1Evangelist M. BROWNRIGG Last revised October 2, 2024 |
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