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Jackson
County 1914
ASHLAND
Ashland is the best residence city on the Pacific Coast, being situated
midway between the dry, hot summers of California and the cold w,et
winters of the Puget Sound country. It is located along the foothills
of the Siskiyou Mountains, a dozen miles north of the California line,
where the palm tree meets the pine. The climate is mild and equable,
having no extremes of any kind. The summer temperature is 67 degrees
and in winter 39. The mercury seldom drops below 25, and zero
temperatures are unknown. The summers and falls are delightful, there
being but one to three weeks of unpleasantly hot weather, the mercury
seldom rising above 90. The altitude is about 2,000 feet and the pure
mountain air very healthful and invigorating.
Jackson
CountyAshland's population in 1910 was 5,020 and in the past two years it has remained practically stationary, there being but one other city in the state with as few empty houses. The best asset of the city, aside from natural advantages, is the character of her people, who are practically all native-born Americans of the best class. It is a religious and educational center, the populace taking especial pride in their schools and churches, there being four of the latter and a dozen of the former. There are no saloons and have been none for many years, the citizens at each election piling up a greater majority for prohibition, which was more than four to one in 1913. Pure mountain water is obtained for the municipal water system from Ashland Creek, which is fed by springs which have their source far up in the Siskiyous. In and around the city there are a number of mineral springs whose waters are unsurpassed: soda, sulfur and lithia, the latter being considered especially valuable. Plans are being perfected to pipe these medicinal waters to the center of the city for the free use of all. A municipal electric plant, which derives its power from a nearby falls on Ashland Creek, supplies cheap lights and power. Ten miles of the best bitulithic pavement make motoring throughout the beautiful streets of the city a delight at all seasons, while more than forty miles of concrete sidewalks promote the pleasures of the pedestrian. A new high school building with seven acres of grounds cost $75,000 and is modern in every respect, offering mental and manual training in accordance with the most advanced educational ideas. There is a fine city library, a branch of the Oakland Polytechnic College and the buildings of the Southern Oregon Normal School. A campaign is being conducted, with good prospects of success, for the reopening of the last named institution. The Ashland Chautauqua, with a commodious auditorium and unexcelled camping facilities, holds a two-weeks session each summer. It is one of the best in the United States and is largely attended. Ashland Park, the pride of the city, begins at the business section and extends for miles up beautiful Ashland Canyon, through whose center flows Ashland Creek, a lovely stream of crystal water pouring over a rocky bed and having its source at Mt. Ashland, thirteen miles away. During the summer season an almost constant stream of people wend their way beside the mossy rocks and evergreen trees of Ashland Canyon, many continuing onward and upward until they reach the summit of Mt. Ashland, which has an altitude of nearly 8,000 feet and is covered with snow the greater part of the year. A good road leads to within three miles of the summit and a good trail, passable on horseback, extends the rest of the way. Two natatoriums, each equipped with large sulfur swimming pools, furnish abundant bathing facilities. The Elks Club, which is the largest between Portland and Sacramento, has a four-story concrete building. The local militia company has a splendid new armory costing nearly $40,000. Ashland has a creamery, canning factory and cooperative fruit association, all of which do a large and profitable business. Ashland is a division point on the main line of the Southern Pacific railroad, being 341 miles from Portland and 441 miles from San Francisco, with roundhouse and repair shops. Four passenger trains make twenty-minute stops here in the daytime, giving passengers a better opportunity to see the country than at any other point m the West outside the large cities. The chief industry of the Ashland country is fruit growing and farming. It is located at the southern end of the famous Rogue River Valley, the world's premier pear district. Apples, peaches, cherries, plums and berries are also produced here to perfection, and command the highest market prices. Apricots, prunes, figs, almonds, English walnuts, sweet cherries, Tokay and other varieties of fine table grapes are also grown. Roses and other flowers are easily grown and bloom profusely, Ashland bemg one of Oregon's celebrated rose cities. The people take great pride in their homes, which they beautify with many rare and handsome trees and shrubs, including fan palms, magnolias, olive and eucalyptus. The Ashland Boulevard is a magnificent thoroughfare, well lighted and paved, having in the center a parkway set to Japanese magnolias. The mountains around Ashland are covered with splendid forests of fir and pine, offering great opportunities for the lumbering industry.
The population of Jackson County at the time of
the 1910 census was 25,756.
RICH SPOT
WORK OF SELF-STEERING MENSince that time it is estimated 5000 people have settled in the county. The leading products of Jackson County are apples and pears, this district having won sweepstakes prize for Spitzenbergs and Yellow Newtowns at the national apple show and at the Canadian international apple show. While two years ago Jackson County was importing eggs, hay and grain, hogs and farm truck of all descriptions, in 1913 three carloads of potatoes, two carloads of onions, two carloads of mixed vegetables, four carloads of baled hay and 300 cases of eggs have been exported. Nine cars of hogs have been shipped from the valley since January, 1912, and it is estimated there are 10,000 hogs in the county where there were less than half that number a year ago. In 1913 the largest fruit crop and the best average fruit prices have been received in the history of the valley. In round numbers 1079 cars of fruit have been shipped out, divided as follows: Apples Pears Peaches Mixed Total Medford . . . . . . . . 391 355 1 9 756 Central Point . . . . 103 35 138 Ashland . . . . . . . . . 35 1 12 17 65 Gold Hill . . . . . . . . 30 30 Phoenix . . . . . . . . . 28 18 46 Talent . . . . . . . . . . . 41 41 Rogue River . . . . . 3 3 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . 631 409 13 26 1079 According to actual returns, deducting freight and commission charges, the fruit crop of 1913 brought $1,000,000 in cash into the valley. During 1913 the new Page Theater ($50,000), and the new Bear Creek bridge adjoining it ($40,000) were built, and the new Bullis electric line has been completed a distance of about two and one-half miles. Total building in the county in 1913 is estimated to amount to $275,000. The new $800,000 cement plant has been started at Gold Hill to supply materials for 50 miles of permanent highway which are to be built from Ashland to Grants Pass in 1914 at a cost of $500,000. Jackson County has 40 schoolhouses, 6840 school children and 200 school teachers. Morning Oregonian, Portland, January 1, 1914, page C4 SISKIYOU, THE HEAD OF CALIFORNIA
By R. H. DeWITT
Last and best. This may have been said of other sections in the past.
It can truthfully be said of Siskiyou County now. Westward the course
of empire has taken its way. From the East the multitudes have come. A
part to Oregon, landing at Portland, and a part to California, landing
at San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento.
Siskiyou News, Yreka, January 15, 1914, page 2From the north they have moved southward, and points in the Rogue River Valley give eloquent evidence of their presence by the substantial increase in land values. From the south, they have moved northward, and the flow of the tide seems to have ended at about Tehama County, with an occasional wave lashing itself into Shasta. Thus it will be seen that Siskiyou, a vast empire in itself, equal in area to the state of Massachusetts, is about the last to feel the onward tread of the homeseeker. With her multitude of resources, she stands at the head of California, bidding welcome to all who would partake of her wonderful opportunities for health, wealth, the pursuit of happiness and the enjoyment of the simple life. Siskiyou is a county of BIG things. She boasts of the most beautiful big mountain on the continent, Mt. Shasta, the biggest saw mill in the world, located at McCloud; the biggest fish hatchery in the West found at Sisson. One of the biggest marble deposits in the country forms Marble Mountain, six thousand feet high, which is a close competitor for a place among the seven wonders of the world. Her valleys are big and verdant. Her big mountains are covered with thick growths of the finest timber, and the hearts of the people are big and beat in harmony and thankfulness for the lavish manner in which nature has endowed them. Her resources are varied and they have not been utilized to anywhere near the limit of their possibilities. MINING.
The history of mining in the county, especially of the days when Bret
Harte was telling his stories and Mark Twain was making the world laugh
with yarns of the "woolly West," reads like a page from the Arabian
Knights. In 1851 gold was discovered on the spot where the town Yreka
now stands. The "diggins" were fabulously rich. The oldest inhabitant
is authority for the statement that Yreka Flats yielded ten millions in
gold; while Greenhorn gravel beds, two miles south, and Hawkinsville,
two miles north, added their further millions.This was the beginning of placer mining in the county, which soon extended to other parts. Humbug, Deadwood, Virginia Bar, Scott Bar, Oak Bar, South Fork, Sawyers Bar, Forks of Salmon and innumerable benches along Scott and Klamath rivers were the scenes of mining excitement, and together they poured forth their millions into the arteries of commerce. Then came the river mining by the wing-dam process and quartz mining with its arrastras and primitive stamp mills--the black powder days. The conclusion of the tenderfoot is invariably that the mines are worked out. Not so. As a striking example of the contrary, the Osgood mine, on the same Yreka Flats, has recently made discoveries that justify the erection of a five-stamp mill and concentrators, and this after a couple of years of systematic development work in underground tunnels, and the Wacker group of claims nearby have shown sufficient promise to keep men employed in almost continuous development at that property. On Greenhorn Creek, previously referred to, after an expenditure of several thousand dollars in prospecting the ground, the Butte Dredging Company have just purchased and paid for 110 acres of land along the creek and will install one of their three modern dredgers upon the property. Worked out? No. Simply the application of modern methods is needed to secure what the surface miners left behind. This is the situation in Yreka Basin and repeats itself in practically all the other mining sections of the county. In the DEADWOOD DISTRICT,
along
McAdams Creek, a gold dredger has been in operation the past three
years, and the returns have been highly profitable. (In passing, the
ground so far utilized for gold dredging purposes is valueless for
other uses, hence the arguments generally applied to this method of
mining do not apply here.) A number of small quartz ledges in this
vicinity utilize the arrastra method of extraction. The veins are small
but rich. Over in theSALMON RIVER
country
there has been much activity. The Black Bear mine, a mine with a
history, formerly owned by Governor John Daggett, is still in
operation. The company now working it recently moved the mill from the
old site to a more convenient point and are preparing to work new
ground. This mine has a record of over three millions to its credit
since 1860, and the present owners expect a repetition of past
performances. The King Solomon mine in the same district recently made
a very rich strike and have a force of men continuously at work. The
Homestake, owned by R. S. Taylor and associates, has, under the
superintendency of John F. Boyle, turned out a large quantity of high
grade, the kind used by jewelers in the manufacture of quartz jewelry,
and they have large quantities of lower grades on the dump. The high
grade referred to went as high as one hundred dollars the pound, and
the low grade will average two hundred dollars the ton. From this
property and the Highland mine nearby the county purchased several
thousand dollars' worth of the best ore for its permanent mineral
exhibit. The Highland closed a very successful season and will resume
operations in the spring. This mine is owned by a company of Hollanders
who purchased it a few years since for $200,000.00. The placers along
the Forks of Salmon show promise of a good season's run and have never
failed yet. DownSCOTT RIVER
the
production will be better than normal this year. This section has
always been noted for its large nuggets and produced one a few months
ago valued at $550.00. Quartz Hill is located here and has produced
nearly two millions and is good for a few millions more. Along portions
of theKLAMATH RIVER
near
Happy Camp there has been much activity. The Siskiyou Mines Co. control
eighteen hundred acres and have three large hydraulics working. Reeves
Davis, who is operating the Och mine and other locations, just closed a
successful run. In this neighborhood the copper deposits of the county
are located. The two best known are the Dakin and Blue Lead properties,
which have been sufficiently developed to place them in the real copper
mine class. Immense bodies of the ore have been blocked out, and all
that is needed to convert them and others into highly profitable
producers is a railroad.HUMBUG.
In early days, miners hearing tales of rich diggings in this section
rushed in and failing a realization of their dreams instanter returned
and pronounced the district a humbug. Later events disclosed their
error, but the name still clings. It has been one of the largest
producing districts of the county--formerly in placers, later in
quartz. The Mono (formerly the Punch Creek) proved conclusively that
the mines in this section go down. It has been big producer and is now
being worked by its lessees, Poor & Joley. A large amount of
development work has been done at the Eliza mine the past three years
and a material volume of ore blocked out. The upper levels of this mine
wars worked .in the '70s and were rich in free-milling ore. That in the
lower levels is base and will probably require some refractory ore
process to extract the values. There is a ten-stamp mill and
concentrators on the property. Thrash & Coalsen have opened up
large ore bodies and have crushed a small quantity with satisfactory
results. The McKinley people have devoted the past year to development
work entirely. Several small ledges with arrastra equipment grind away
in imitation of the "mills of the gods," and when a real awakening
comes in a mining way this section will be one of the first to
benefit--because of its great possibilities.AGRICULTURE.
This industry is carried on principally within the five large valleys
of the county--Scott, Shasta, Butte, Strawberry and Squaw--while many
thousand acres are so employed in numerous small valleys tucked away
among the mountains and lying along the streams in the various canyons.SCOTT VALLEY
is
a veritable paradise about forty miles long and an average of five
miles in width containing about one hundred and fifty thousand acres of
arable land. It is drained and irrigated by Scott River and its
tributaries. Two packing houses and several creameries utilize the
swine and the cream from its numerous dairies. In the valley are
located the towns of Fort Jones, Greenview, Etna and Callahan. Fort
Jones boasts of two banks, a flour mill, large mercantile
establishments, and has to its credit the erection of a brick business
block in the recent past. Greenview is the seat of the largest
creameries in the county. Etna Mills has about 900 population and is
growing. It is the seat of supplies for the Salmon River mining
district, where much of the products of the valley are marketed. One of
the most complete model breweries in the state is located here, noted
for the purity and excellence of its output. A new union high school is
in course of construction.(Concluded next week.)
SISKIYOU, THE HEAD OF CALIFORNIA
By R. H. DeWITT SHASTA VALLEY.
The largest valley in the county contains approximately four hundred
thousand acres, more than half of which is adapted to profitable
farming, dairying and fruit growing. The people of this section are
fully alive to the great possibilities which surround them. The Mt.
Shasta Land & Irrigation Co. recently purchased four thousand acres
of land which they have subdivided. Eleven artesian wells have been
driven with depths of from 15 to 95 feet and flowing from 15 to 100
inches. The sinking of one well does not affect the flow of another,
and it is the intention to sink one hundred wells in all. High-voltage
power is furnished by the California & Oregon Power Co., and the
enterprise shows every promise of deserved success, in which Dr. G. W.
Dwinnell is the moving spirit. The Shasta Valley Irrigation
Association, organized over two years ago for the purpose of getting
sufficient water from Klamath River near the lower Klamath Lake to
irrigate one hundred thousand acres of rich land, has made some
progress. Considerable money has been expended in the work, and it is
confidently believed that federal aid will be accorded. The towns of
Montague, Gazelle and Edgewood are located in this valley.Montague has a growing population of real live wires. Here a flour mill affords a market for the farmers' wheat, and a modern creamery absorbs the cream from the herds. The town recently voted bonds for a water system. Many new buildings have been erected, and prosperity seems to abide with the good people of that busy burg. Edgewood, located at the southern end of the valley, is trading post of importance and supports an exceedingly well-managed creamery. Gazelle is an important shipping and feeding point, and thousands of beef cattle are shipped from here each year. BUTTE VALLEY
has
an area of one hundred thousand acres, entirely enclosed by mountains,
well timbered with sugar and white pine. Some of the finest cattle
ranches in the state are here. The soil is rich, light and sandy in the
southern and eastern part, heavy and loamy in the northern. Alfalfa,
sugar beets, clover, timothy and potatoes bring good crops, and many
cars of the latter were shipped to the markets below this year. Owing
to the high altitude, more than four thousand feet, an agriculture
experiment station is greatly needed that a more scientific basis of
farming can prevail and the products best adapted to its soils and
climate be determined. The federal government stood ready to
appropriate twenty-five thousand dollars for the purpose conditional on
the state of California appropriating ten thousand dollars. A bill was
introduced at the recent session of the legislature, carrying out said
requirement, by Assemblyman W. B. Shearer of this county and passed
both houses. Later an anesthetic was administered and it now sleeps the
sleep of the just and righteous, much to the chagrin of the painstaking
legislator and the great disappointment of his constituents. In the
meantime, they are farming as their fathers used to farm. The towns of
Macdoel and Dorris in Butte Valley are prosperous and gradually growing.STRAWBERRY VALLEY
is
located near the southern end of the county between the Trinity and
Sierra ranges, and rising therefrom. Towering up among the clouds as
though to storm the very heights of heaven is the hoary head of Mt.
Shasta. About sixty thousand acres are here, and most of it is awaiting
development. The soil is exceptionally rich and is of two classes. One
is light and sandy and of a reddish color, the other a coal black loam.
Fruits and berries thrive here, and truck gardening is becoming an
important industry, several carloads of onions, cabbage and potatoes
having been shipped out this season, bringing fancy prices. Great
opportunity is here offered for celery culture, which attains a
perfection of yield and crispness and flavor that carries one way back
to Kalamazoo.Sisson is located in the heart of the valley. Here the celebrated Sisson Tavern is located, and nearby is the big fish hatchery. It is the junction point of the Southern Pacific and McCloud railroads and the base of departure for the hundreds of tourists that each year make the ascent of Mt. Shasta. There are one box and two sash and door factories, and preliminary arrangements for a creamery are under way. SQUAW VALLEY
has
a large acreage suitable to farming and fruit growing. Much of it is
still in forest, the property of the McCloud River Lumber Co., and is
not open to settlement. The town of McCloud is here located, as are the
big mills of the lumber company of the same name. Seventeen hundred men
are on its payrolls, and the annual cut is in the neighborhood of
eighty million feet.LUMBERING
is
one of the big industries of the county. There are upwards of two
million acres of standing timber here and about fifty saw mills in
operation, with an annual cut of two hundred million feet and employing
a large number of men.TOWNS OF THE COUNTY.
The towns of the county not previously mentioned are Weed, Dunsmuir,
Hornbrook, Oak Bar, Scott Bar, Hamburg, Happy Camp, Sawyers Bar and
Yreka.Weed is a highly prosperous lumber town and railroad junction. The population is about 1500, composed largely of workmen and their families connected with the Weed Lumber Co.'s box and sash and door factory which is located here. About 1500 doors are turned out every ten hours. Hornbrook is situated on the main line of the Southern Pacific and is a combination mining and farming town. Two hotels accommodate the traveling public, and a large area draws supplies from the large and well-stocked stores. The little town of Ager is only a short distance to the south and is the gateway to productive farms skirting the Klamath River and to the celebrated Klamath Hot Springs. Oak Bar, Scott Bar, Hamburg, Happy Camp and Sawyers Bar are mining towns enjoying the prosperity that comes from a good season's run. YREKA.
There is only one Yreka in all the world. It is located in the center
of Siskiyou, the head of California. It is the county seat and is on
the line of the great California state highway. Her citizens possess a
high sense of civic enterprise, and many marked improvements have been
made in the past. Cement walks are on all the principal resident
streets, a lasting testament to the activities of the Improvement Club,
and the main business street has just been paved from the Yreka
railroad depot to Gold Street at an expense approximating thirty
thousand dollars. The city council is progressive, and more
improvements are in sight. The Yreka chamber of commerce is an active
body, fully alive to the interests of the town and county. Since the
state highway is assured, a better feeling is noticeable and much
activity looked for in the spring. A new public library is an assured
fact. A Masonic temple is among the possibilities, and the Mount Shasta
Hospital, an institution of proven merit, expects to erect a modern and
commodious hospital building to accommodate its increasing business
from faraway points.In an article of this length it is impossible to do justice to the vast resources of this remarkable county. The story of the apple, the pear, prune and other fruits would be interesting and possibly instructive. The activities of the busy bee in its numerous apiaries must be passed. We can only mention the thirty thousand acres of alfalfa for which the soil is peculiarly adapted, where two crops a year yield three to five tons to the acre on dry land and three crops on irrigated land with from five to ten tons to the acre. The school system can be commended. The numerous summer resorts that abound throughout the county, especially in the renowned Sacramento River Canyon; and the mineral water industry should have mention, where Dunsmuir, known as "the heart of Shasta's Wonderland," reigns supreme and prospers as an up-to-date incorporated city and division point of the great Southern Pacific system. Nor should the scenic beauties of the county be passed without an attempt at description. It requires a vocabulary greater than mine and one far more skilled in the arts of description to do it justice. The artificial charms which form the attractions of great cities and the pleasure haunts of men render one indifferent and blase, and they pall upon the senses. But nature here wears a freshness and glory that can never fade. Worship at her shrine increases a desire for that happiness and contentment which only nature gives and adds to one's capacity for its appreciation. Were the natural beauties of the county transferred to Europe, for instance Switzerland, there would be a first-class automobile road to near the summit of Mt. Shasta; the Salmon River country, with its native wildness undefiled, would be dotted with resorts, and the Klamath from near its source to its exit from the county would swarm with tourists. High up in the mountains are beautiful lakes of clear water, wildflowers, berries, nuts and ferns--a land of delight for the hunter and fisherman. Mule deer, blacktail, bear and numerous smaller animals are plentiful. Quail and doves inhabit the valleys, and on the ponds and lakes abide ducks and geese of all kinds. Steelhead trout, eastern brook and salmon are always here in season for the fisherman. As glorious as has been Siskiyou's past, the future is before it, and no section of our beloved state offers greater opportunity for a life of prosperity, health, peace and contentment. Rogue Valley Folk Are Ones in Thousands. BARRIERS TO PARADISE BEATEN Farmers Go to Opera in Autos and Garbed in Full Dress. GOOD ROADS BIG FACTOR David Swing Rlcker Finds All That Goes to Make Up Most Desirable Communities in Vicinities of Medford and Ashland. BY DAVID SWING RICKER.
MEDFORD, Or., Feb. 25.--(Special.)--Few of us
are self-steering men. We let others steer us.
We sit among the cushions, contented, complacent
or in a quarrel with our desires and our
purposes and let other hands manipulate the
steering gear.
Usually our chauffeur is Circumstance. Sometimes Lack-of-Opportunity or Shortsightedness. Most often it's Poverty. But whatever his name--the name we blame so that we may hold ourselves blameless--we allow him to take us wherever he wants us to go. Most
People Followers.
We surrender our right of
self-command and our privilege to give
direction. We are followers. We accept
leadership. We mark time. Out of 20,000 of us
one of us is able to steer himself. The rest of
us are steered. That's because something is the
matter with most of us.If we have initiative, we lack the ambition to use it. If we have the ambition, we are without the sand. If we have the sand, we haven't the money or the ingenuity to get it. We accept our destiny as we accept our baptism, without protestation, because of the selection of occupation as in the ejection of creed we are hampered by the expectations of our relatives, who won't live to suffer with us the grief that comes with the mistakes they gave to us when they asked us to keep in step with family traditions. Jackson
Folk Self-Steerers.
To the casual reader the
foregoing observations would seem to have little
or nothing to do with the resources, the
fruitfulness or the good roads of Jackson County
and its one best bet--the Rogue. River Valley.
But they have. They have a lot to do with all of
them.It is the self-steering man who has made Jackson County and its unequaled valley. The self-steering man lets nothing stand in his way. He fixes his destination. Then he slashes the bush and clears the path that leads to it. If blades and axes and saws fall him, he uses fire. If fire fails him he uses dollars. He destroys the barriers that stand in his way. He holds the steering wheel in his two hands. Ha has an instinct for self-leadership. He determines what kind of a life pleases him most; then he leads it. He doesn't say he would lead it if he could. He does lead it. He tears down every obstruction. Rouse
Valley Men Impress.
The Rogue River Valley is
crowded with men who ought to have been lawyers
or doctors or politicians or publishers or
bankers or brokers--ought to have been had they
allowed family traditions to direct their lives.
But they concluded to snap their fingers at
ghosts and ancestral memories. Jeer at
tradition, laugh at predestination's grip on
society, tear loose from the harrowing
narrowness and the stifling closeness of the
occupations that had been marked down for them
and go back to the land!That "back to the land" cry we have heard so much of lately has set most of us to thinking. That is the difference between us and the men down here. It set them to doing. Like most of us they dreamed of a bungalow-shelter set down among fruit-giving trees in a valley filled with soft air and sunshine, the rosy glow of exquisite dawns, the glare of richly colored evenings and wind tossed, sun-painted, perfume-exhaling blossoms. Unlike most of us, they got up and did what they dreamed. And they are here--many of the ones in many twenty thousands, the men with the nerve, and the resolution back of the nerve, to steer themselves and to choose the sort of life that pleases them most. Many
States Represented.
One group came from
Chicago, one from Minneapolis, one from the
Dakotas and smaller groups from New York and
other places farther back East.One by one they settled in the Rogue River Valley. They believed they had found Paradise. They still believe it. They are surer now than they were then. And other groups are coming. And they believe they have found Paradise. And they are going to be surer of it tomorrow than they were yesterday. Whether it's self-hypnotism or just a feeling caught out of the air, everyone's got it and whatever else it has done or has not done, the feeling that "here is Paradise" has built up the most contented community I ever have discovered engaged in the occupation of farming or gathered together in a city of 10,000 people. And what have they done--these people who are so cock sure they have found Paradise? They have set about their work as orchardists with an earnestness that has enabled them to produce several world's record yields of pears for the acre. They have gone about the work of producing for the markets with the same quality of zeal that their father and grandfathers went about the work of controlling the markets. Civic
Pride Created.
They have helped to create
the civic pride that has laid 20 miles of
asphalt-paved streets in Medford.They have brought to their little "paradise" the life of the East. They have organized a University Club with more than a hundred members--graduates of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Cornell, from nearly every university of importance in America. They have established a country club with golf links and tennis courts; a drama league with an enthusiastic membership; a splendid theater, a hotel with metropolitan atmosphere and furnishings. And they dance the tango! The other day my wife and I were invited to the Country Club. We found 18 cars standing at the entrance cars--that belonged to the silk-stocking farmers and orchardists of "Paradise." Last night we strolled past a church where they were holding choir practice. There were seven cars standing at the curb. At night at the Medford Theater both sides of the streets are lined with cars, standing two abreast. The farmers of Rogue River Valley come to town with their wives to see the "troupe" at the "opry-house." Evening
Clothes Farmers' Garb.
The University Club gave a
tango dance. The farmers came in evening clothes
and their wives with bared shoulders. In the
farmhouses you do not find embroidered towels
thrown over chair backs, embroidered piano
scarfs or Battenburg! You find Chippendale and
Sheraton, Sheffield and Warsaw and old English
prints. And it is by these impressions that
Medford lets you take its measure.It was late in the afternoon that my wife and I swung into the main street of this miniature metropolis of a miniature empire and made our way to the hotel. As we pushed open the swinging doors and stepped into the hotel office, we got our first impression of Medford. Unconsciously my wife's hands tucked some stray hairs into place and adjusted a hatpin. To get rid of my pack I motioned to a bell boy and allowed my freed arm to drop carelessly over the patch in my khaki coat. I was conscious of my unshaved chin. We slipped away that night to a little cafe down by the railroad tracks and ate our supper behind the shielding curtains of a booth. Thus did we gain our first impression of Medford's atmosphere--an impression that faded like the chilling and unpleasant mists of morning long before the mists themselves next morning surrendered to the sun while we stood on top of Ben Sheldon's hill and found about us a gathering of friendly names. Growing
Instinct Shown.
Off under Wagner's Butte and
the Grizzly Peak, nestled against the skirts of
Roxy Ann, down in the valley, over toward Table
Rock and the foothills of the Coast Range set
down in natural snuggeries or looking out on the
panorama of mountains, budding trees, bending
river and well-kept city from the flattened tops
of gently sloped hills were the shelters of
folks from back home, city folks called to the
country by the charm of an irresistible
landscape or the natural impulse to make things
grow--the impulse that causes the city-reared
child to plant a peach stone or a watermelon
seed and sprinkle the spot with water in the
hope of prevailing upon a tiny tendril to break
through the earth and open a leaf to the sun.Morning Oregonian, Portland, February 26, 1914, page 1 DOLLAR IS LURE TO VALLEY OF ROGUE "Paradise," Made by 76 Kinds of Soil, Yet Proves Lucrative to Settlers. PACIFIC HIGHWAY IS BEST Orchards Are Surrounded with Eastern Culture and One Farmer in Five Owns Automobile and Supports Good Roads. BY DAVID SWING RICKER.
MEDFORD,
Or., Feb. 26--(Special.)--In making
an estimate of the Rogue River
Valley it seems more like taking the
measure of a friend than of the
promises of a community or of
fruit-yielding fields, yet in no
other valley would these city folks
have been able to build their
paradise nor in this valley would
many folks have been able to build
as well or as thoroughly as
they. Money was a prime
requisite to achievement. They had
it. Enterprise and indefatigability
were essential. They had both. Room
in which to build was necessary.
Their paradise shelters 275,000 tillable acres, and the rest of the valley outside of it and along the tributaries of the Rogue River shelters 125,000 more acres. In the Medford district alone there are 3000 acres of full-bearing orchards; 4000 acres of orchards in part bearing; 35,000 acres of orchards between 3 years old and bearing; 30,000 acres of orchards under 3 years of age and 175,000 acres of unplanted orchard lands. Paradise
Is
Extensive.
The
government report on the soil survey
of the Medford area describes the
area as covering 544 square miles or
348,160 acres. Included in these
figures is a large section of the
Applegate Valley lying south and
west of the Rogue River Valley and
separated from the main area by
non-agricultural mountainous tracts.It was over the Rogue River area that I looked that beautiful morning from the top of Ben Sheldon's hill--my first view of Oregon's vast pear-producing region--and it was then that I understood, being inexpert in matters of fruit culture, why tillers of the soil had come from everywhere to the place they call "paradise," to plant the trees from which they expect to pluck their sustenance from now until their grandchildren take up their pruning knives. The government soil report catalogued 76 different kinds of soil in that valley that stretched out beneath me. And that's why they call the valley "paradise." And it's why I called it a little empire. Products
Are
Varied.
The
valley produces now nearly
everything that civilized men and women
use
to eat, and the only things it is
not capable of producing are the
fruits which belong entirely to
tropical climates. Of course pears
are its chief output, and the
average acre yield from pears runs
from $350 to $450, while one acre in
the orchard of C. S. English last
year yielded him a net profit, after
every imaginable expense had been
deducted, of $2000.It was a thousand figures such as these, and it was after Ben Sheldon had driven me over every foot of road in the valley, and I had talked with the farmers, one after another, that I discovered the folly of my conclusion that these men had been drawn to their paradise by the same desire to grow something that impelled the small boy to plant the peach stone. It wasn't the lure of the wide open spaces or the mountains, or the trees, or the smiling fields that had called them from the East. It was a less poetic lure, but one better understood by us who do not know how to prune or spray. It was the lure of the dollar. They would rather trust their trees to yield them 100 percent on their investment than trust the stock exchange or law practice or something else to yield them 5 percent. And they are getting their 100 percent without losing their health getting it, or their happiness. They have surrounded their orchards with their Eastern culture. They're having a good time. They're making money hand over fist. And when they aren't doing anything else, they are reading "How to Prune," "Soil Culture," "When to Spray and How," and secretly laughing at the poor devils back home who are wearing out their brains and their nerves straining over desks and reading ticker tape. All
Believe
in Good Roads.
And
the farmers of Jackson County
believe in good roads--every last
one of them believes in good roads.
They believe in good roads a little
more than they believe in anything
else, except their wives and their
orchards. About every house owner
out of five in Jackson County owns
an automobile. That's one good
reason why they believe in good
roads. Another good reason is that
they appreciate the economic value
of
good roads. And the result of their
strong belief in good roads is that
the private roads that run through
the orchards of Rogue River Valley
are better than 90 percent of the
Pacific Highway from Portland to the
Josephine County line north of
Grants Pass.From Grants Pass to Medford there was not a bad spot on the Pacific Highway. From Medford to Ashland the highway is rock-ballasted and well surfaced. Yet, with their portion of the Pacific Highway considerably above the average maintained by the northern counties of Oregon, the county recently voted a bond issue of $500,000 to build its link of the Pacific Highway from California to Josephine County, and the first spadeful of dirt, commemorating the beginning of this admirable project, was turned a few weeks ago by Samuel Hill, of Seattle, the leading good-roads apostle of the West. Ashland
Also
Is Alive.
Not
all of Jackson County
progressiveness nor all of Jackson
County good road enthusiasm is
crowded into Medford. Twelve miles
south, lying in the valley where the
foothills crowd together and
reaching over some of them back into
the shadows of the Siskiyous, is
Ashland--a little city that might
have been picked up back in New
England and set down out here,
quaint, picturesque and surrounded
by hot springs wherein lies its hope
of a larger and fuller tomorrow; and
lithia springs that soon will be
made to serve its people with free
lithia water at street-corner
fountains.There's a new spirit in Southern Oregon--a spirit that ought to spread over the state--the spirit of cooperation among the neighboring communities. Ben Sheldon, our host while we were in Medford and a Medford booster to the tips of his fingers and the hair on his head and the soles of his shoes, did not want us to leave Jackson County until we had seen Ashland. So he took us over to the neighboring city on the best section of the Pacific Highway now in Oregon, the main thoroughfare between Medford and Ashland, rock ballasted, 68 feet wide and which has been kept in relatively good condition for many years. It joins the asphalted main street of Medford with the asphalted main street of Ashland and passes through the towns of Phoenix and Talent--a trip no "Seeing Jackson County" travelers should fail to take. Historic
Phoenix
Visited.
Phoenix
is a place of more than ordinary
historic interest--the site of a
former Army post, where still stands
the old log headquarters occupied by
Grant and Sheridan during their
campaigns against the Rogue River
and Modoc Indians. [The
writer
is likely referring to Colver
house, which was neither a
headquarters nor occupied by Grant
nor Sheridan, neither of whom
fought against either the Rogues
or the Modocs] About a mile
north of Ashland we passed the
Jackson hot sulphur springs, similar
in chemical constituency to those
that have made Paso Robles, West
Baden and Hot Springs, Ark. world
famous. And as we entered the city
limits of Ashland we passed onto
their longest paved street--a sample
of the type of roadway which is to
be built along the way of the
Pacific Highway the entire length
of
the county.I wondered that first night we passed in the valley of the Rogue River--the night we slipped into the hotel and out of it--why strangers had told us as we crossed over the mountains that we were passing into paradise. And I wondered, too, why those who enter the valley seldom leave it or, if they do leave it, always hurry back. As we are spending our last night in the valley, we no longer wonder. We have felt the lure. It is trying to hold us back. We have analyzed it and we understand it. Spirit
of
Valley Lures.
Majestic
as they are, snow-topped, pine-clad,
purpling the valley's rim, standing
shaggy and silhouetted against a sky
into which the sinking sun has
poured all the colors of the
spectrum, it is not the mountains!
Beautiful as it is in the lowering
evening with lights twinkling here
and there among the tens of
thousands of trees that are not
even
whispering in the still, soft,
fragrant air, it is not the valley.
Nor is it the perfectly built
Medford nor the picturesque Ashland.
It's the spirit of the valley that
has made this paradise! The
open-handed hospitality that does
not drop the stranger's hand as soon
as it has sold him a lot, land or a
bearing orchard, but keeps hold of
his hand, makes him feel at home,
tells him how to prune and how to
spray and how to win in the new
business of being a farmer--that's
what has done it, the valley spirit:
"Don't let us spend as much of our energy trying to get people to come here as we spend trying to make those who come here like it here. Then we won't have to worry about our little paradise. People will come into it." JACKSON
COUNTY.
(Jacksonville, County Seat.)
Jackson County lies in what is known as the
Rogue River Valley in the southwestern part of
the state. It is bounded on the north by
Douglas, on the west by Josephine, on the east
by Klamath counties, and on the south by
California. The population is 27,144 (U.S.
census 1910, 25,756); of these, 89 percent are
United States born; of the foreign 11 percent,
about one-fourth are German; the remaining
three-fourths are made up principally of
Canadians, English, Irish, Scandinavians and
Austrians. The total area of the county is
1,779,662 [acres]. There are 58,066 acres
unappropriated and unreserved, of which 55,826
acres are surveyed and 2,240 acres are
unsurveyed. Of the public lands 4,630 acres
which had been previously taken up as homestead
lands have reverted to the government during the
past three years, which is an indication that
they are not suitable for agricultural purposes.
Of the assessed appropriated land, 128,500 acres
are cultivated and 1,076,601 are uncultivated.
Cultivated land is worth on an average of $68.40
per acre, and uncultivated land $12.30. The
total value of taxable property in the county in
1913 was $37,357,379. The surface is level,
rolling and mountainous. The rock formation in
the western part is pre-Cretaceous; in the
eastern part it is a combination of Cretaceous
and Eocene. The natural forest growth consists
principally of yellow and sugar pine and
fir. Fruit of all kinds, especially peaches,
apples and pears, have been found to grow well
on this soil, which is rich in all the essential
chemicals. It is likely to be a very lasting
soil. Its first need will probably be phosphoric
acid. The soil is black and deep, ranging from
ten inches to several feet. The subsoil is hard
and white. The sugar beet, hemp, onions, sorghum
and strawberries should grow well on this soil.
The soil in the immediate vicinity of the valley
consists of successive alluvial deposits of
different geological periods and is very rich.
Rogue River and its branches furnish excellent
water power for milling purposes. The fuel used
is wood and costs from $4 to $6 per cord. There
are several mineral springs with good curative
qualities in the county. The leading industry is
farming. Lumbering is carried on extensively.
There are 4 planing mills and one saw and
planing mill. Mining is also an important
industry. There are sixteen gold quartz mines
yielding ore valued at $24.15 per ton, a number
of placer mines, 5 asphalt mines, 2 copper mines
yielding 30 percent ore, 1 iron mine; also
quantities of asbestos, quicksilver and building
stone. Among the industrial plants of the county
are found brickyards, breweries, creameries,
cold storages, electric light, flour and feed,
fruit canneries, laundries, machine shops,
printing, soda water and water power. The roads
are in good condition. The climate is mild and
congenial. The mean temperature during the
spring months is 50.5 degrees, summer 61.1
degrees, fall 56.4 degrees, and winter 42.7
degrees. The normal precipitation per season is:
Spring, 6.40 inches; summer, 4.36 inches; fall,
5.70 inches; and winter, 12.46 inches--total
annual, 28.92 inches. A large percent of the
Rogue River Valley has been put under
irrigation.
Sixth Biennial Report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Inspector of Factories and Workshops of the State of Oregon from October 1, 1912 to September 30, 1914, Oregon State Printing Department, 1915, page 123 THE ROGUE RIVER REGION
From Ashland northward to Gold Hill the railroad train will pass through
the famous pear and apple belt of the Rogue River Valley. This highly developed belt extends back from the railroad from two to six miles. These close-in lands, without orchards and suited to the general purpose farmer, can be purchased at from $150 to $250 per acre. If planted in young orchards they sell at from $300 to $600 per acre, the age of trees, location as to railroad facilities and character of soil governing the price. If in bearing orchards, the lands sell at from $600 to $1,000 per acre. Sales have been recorded at from $1,500 to $2,000 per acre, while some orchards are not for sale at all. The reason for these high prices for bearing tracts is that the orchardists are making money. Reports, received by the Oregon Agricultural College from seventy-three apple growers selected at random throughout this district, show an average income of $230.88 per acre. Fifty-three pear growers averaged $335.96 per acre. Soils are somewhat variable in this locality and the frost line should be carefully looked up in locations in which the homeseeker is interested. Just as good lands as these can be had at from five to twenty-five miles back in the rolling hill country at from $10 to $50 per acre. They lie along the numerous small streams that drain the Rogue watershed, and will produce a superior quality of fruit on the benches, while the bottom soils are most desirable for growing clover and alfalfa. Fully 100,000 acres of such lands are adjacent to Ashland and Medford, brush lands and lightly timbered hills. The cost of clearing will average from $12 to $25 per acre after selling the accumulation of wood. These lands are suitable for diversified farming. Dairying is particularly profitable. Eleven miles west of the city of Medford lies Applegate Valley, a narrow but extremely fertile district which is largely devoted to alfalfa growing, dairying and stock growing, with considerable open range available. Improved lands are to be had at from $40 to $100 per acre, the tracts combining bottom lands for alfalfa growing and hillside lands. Unimproved lands may be had at from $20 to $30 per acre. This valley is perhaps more directly reached from Grants Pass, where the country breaks again into open stretches of fertile farming lands. At from eight to twenty miles from Grants Pass are 75,000 acres of bench and foothill lands that can be acquired at from $15 to $40 per acre. They are mostly brush lands that are easily and cheaply cleared. The benches produce tree fruits of high grade, while the bottom and hillside lands combined offer attractive inducements to the dairyman. To the west of Grants Pass are the Illinois and Williams valleys, small in area as compared with the Rogue River Valley, but extremely fruitful of opportunity for the cattleman, the dairyman and the hog raiser. The bottom lands in both these valleys are under cultivation and if bought separately they would cost from $50 to $75 per acre, but purchased in connection with the unimproved bench lands the price would average much lower. A railroad is now projected between Grants Pass and the Pacific Ocean, giving service to the Illinois and Williams valleys. Nine miles of grade are completed. Irrigation will add much to the value of land in the Rogue River Valley. Ample water is available and can be appropriated by the usual procedure under the laws. A number of canals are now constructed from which water may be rented for the dry months of June, July and August. Many farmers provide water for irrigation by pumping, there being a heavy underflow. New settlers find employment by working their teams in the large orchards, $4.50 to $L00 per day being paid for man and team. Near Medford is the Roguelands Irrigation Project of 72,000 acres, where lands with water rights can be purchased at $175 per acre on seven years' time. This will be of interest to those who have had experience in irrigated lands or have convictions as to the value of irrigation in crop production. Oregon for the Settler, Southern Pacific, edition of November 20, 1914, page 14 Last revised March 17, 2025 |
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