There were 32 interments in the cemeteries near Jacksonville during the year 1875. Of these, six came to their death by violence.
"Home News," The New Northwest, Portland, January 14, 1876, page 5


    SHEEP FARMING IN SOUTHERN OREGON.--Mr. W. Watson, son of the late Mr Hugh Watson of Keillor, writes from Jacksonville, Jackson Co., Oregon State, United States: --"I am now largely in the sheep business in Southern Oregon, wintering in Rogues River Valley, and summering on the Fort Klamath country; by so doing I secure a summer season the year throughout. At this business I expect soon to become rich through proper management. I will probably be home the summer after next to purchase stock for Oregon on my own account. I should like much to get a few good active men back with me. With a little capital they can soon become very wealthy at the sheep business, that is to say if they are industrious, and of good habits. Two men with, say, £500 each can join together, and in five years can be in a very independent position. £500 will not go far in a farm at home, although here it is the foundation of a goodly fortune. In this Southern Oregon we have a most charming climate and beautiful scenery, and before long we will have direct communication by rail with California."
Aberdeen Journal, Aberdeen, Scotland, January 19, 1876, page 5


    W. C. M. [William Cortez Myer], Ashland: Remittance received and paper sent as ordered. Will be glad to hear from the lady named. Mrs. D. will probably not visit Southern Oregon until the roads are vastly improved.
"Answers to Correspondents," The New Northwest, Portland, February 4, 1876, page 2


"Oregon Items," Sacramento Daily Union, February 4, 1876, page 3


    Jackson County produces the largest yield of gold, 4,493 ounces being reported. That county also produces the most corn and raised the largest number of hogs.
"Facts and Curiosities of the Census," Santa Rosa Democrat, Santa Rosa, California, February 9, 1876, page 1


    There is some talk of organizing a company at Jacksonville to start for the Black Hills country in the summer.
    Nearly all the mining claims in Jackson County heretofore worked by Chinese have been jumped by the whites.
    The Jacksonville Times says: "T. G. Reames last week showed us a piece of cinnabar ore from the ledge of the Strong brothers, on Little Applegate, which is among the richest specimens we have yet seen. They have erected a furnace for the reduction of ore, which is ready for use as soon as the weather will permit of operations. It is of brick, and has a capacity of retorting fourteen tons daily. The ledge is ninety feet wide, and should the furnace prove a success, the owners have a big thing in sight."
"Oregon Items," Sacramento Daily Union, February 26, 1876, page 3


    Mr. James Sutton will, at the earliest practicable day, commence the publication of a weekly newspaper at Ashland, to be known as the Ashland Tidings.
The New Northwest, Portland, March 10, 1876, page 2


    W.J.P. [William Jasper Plymale], Jacksonville: Remittance received and credited. The liberty of remitting for the lady is undeniable and to the publisher inestimable. May you long live to enjoy it.
"Answers to Correspondents," The New Northwest, Portland, April 14, 1876, page 2


    A couple of Chinamen, while mining on Jackass, Jackson County, were caught by a cave of dirt, and received injuries from which, we learn, they both died.
    A letter from Jackson County says the farmers are courageously battling against rain and mud in order to get in their crops, and are doing well, considering.
    There has been very little snow at Linkville all winter. Out on the lake there was about a foot of snow, and probably more further north, towards Fort Klamath.
    Latest report from Klamath says the winter has been quite severe, and should the bad weather continue considerable stock will perish, as hay is getting scarce.
    Parties lately from the Fort Lane diggings, Jackson County, report the prospects even better than ever. Pieces of gold weighing $60 and $40, as also smaller ones, have been picked up within the past few days.
    The large nugget picked up in the Fort Lane diggings, Oregon, some time ago, by James McDonough, weighs about twenty-six ounces, but contains some quartz. The value of this handsome specimen is between $300 and $400 in gold.
    A bloodless affray occurred on Butte Creek, Jackson County, last week, between Arthur Pool and William Sutherland, originating over some trivial matter. Words were first the instruments of warfare, and soon came to blows and stones, when Sutherland rushed into his house and procured a pistol, which he fired at Pool, but missed him.
"Oregon Items," Sacramento Daily Union, April 29, 1876, page 2


     The citizens of Jackson County are too far away from the metropolis to join in the Fourth of July festivities that will make merry centennial celebrations here, and so propose to celebrate on their own account. We see by the Sentinel that extensive preparations are being made to make the American eagle, "historical bird," scream lustily on that eventful anniversary.
The New Northwest, Portland, May 5, 1876, page 4


To the Editor of the New Northwest:
    I am pleased to be able to report that the lodges of I.O.G.T. in this part of our state are generally in a very prosperous condition. The one that meets here is one of the finest that it has been my good fortune to visit. The attendance is quite large, and the interest in the literary exercises, conducted under the management of the Lodge, is good indeed.
    At Phoenix I addressed a large and and attentive audience, and, after the lecture, seven of the best citizens made petition to become members of the Lodge there.
    Last night, with the aid of State Deputy Rev. J. S. McCain, I succeeded in again planting the standard of our Order in Jacksonville. Alpha No. 1 was established there nearly eleven years ago, but years since ceased to work for the reclamation of the citizens from intemperate habits, and has been numbered with the lodges that were. But, thanks to the devotion of some old veterans and a few new recruits who are determined in this matter, we have another band that bids fair to do effective service in battling the rum demon.
    F. Kasshafer is W.C.T. of the new Lodge, with Elva E. McCain W.V.T., Dora L. Cardwell P.W.C.T., and John Dollarhide L.D.
    At Canyonville I found Brother E. W. Dixon, Dr. Whittemore, and a host of others making the influence of the Order felt in that locality.
    Stage comes, and I must close.
Ashland, May 5, 1876.
The New Northwest, Portland, May 12, 1876, page 2


    The various committees for the 4th of July celebration for Jackson County, says the Sentinel, met at the courthouse on Saturday to arrange preliminaries for concerted action, but came to a deadlock on the question of grounds. The result was the going to pieces of the whole affair.
"News Items," The New Northwest, Portland, June 23, 1876, page 4


    [A woman, and an ardent friend of woman, handed us a few days since the subjoined statement, which, in accordance with the request of numerous friends, and illustrative of the ungodliness and intolerance of sectarianism, as well as the bigotry of some persons (or parsons) who, with "impious piety," declare themselves called of the Master to do His work, we publish, leaving those who believe that "women should keep silence," as well as those who believe that God, Creator wise, gave women tongues wherewith to sound His praises, to form their own conclusions.--Ed.)
    On the evening of May 30th, I attended a Methodist camp-meeting on the banks of the Rogue River. After preaching was over, "mourners" were called for, and the call was responded to by four or five persons, who knelt, asking prayers. After about an hour had passed I went to the pastor in charge, Rev. J. S. McCain, and asked permission to speak to those who knelt at the altar. He replied, "Say on." I then quoted the thirty-eighth verse of the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, which reads as follows: "Then said Peter unto them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." "Only this, and nothing more," I said, and took my seat. On the evening of June 1st I again attended the meeting, and, by invitation, took a seat inside the altar, participating in the worship of God with true purpose of heart by mingling my voice with others in singing praises to His holy name. After preaching, repeated prayers were offered asking God to come down right now and bless and save these poor sinners who had been persuaded and pulled down into an attitude of supplication at the mourner's bench in the hope to get religion. Two hours passed in prayer and exhortation, and the meeting was dismissed without any manifestation of pardon on the part of seekers. Before leaving the ground, I felt it my duty to speak to a mourning sister who stood near, and, approaching her in love and solicitude, I quoted again the text above referred to. No sooner had the words of Peter fallen from my lips, than Parson McCain rushed up to me, exclaiming, in angry tones, "You hush! This is our meeting, and I won't allow you to interfere! I will have you arrested!" at the same time waving his hand in my face, and gave me a slight push backward. He then mounted the mourner's bench and called for his officer, gesticulating, and threatening to arrest any and every one who should disturb his meeting. The reader will bear in mind that all this occurred after the meeting had been dismissed. If his religion prompts him to have a woman arrested for quoting a verse of Scripture that she considers applicable to the case of those who are seeking the better way, it might perhaps lead him to pull on the end of a rope in order to help hang an innocent man. My reason for making this statement, and asking its publication in the exponent of equal rights is that I have been maligned and misrepresented by this preacher, and wish the people to know the facts in the case.
Jacksonville, June 3, 1876.
    The names of some twelve or fifteen persons attesting the truth of the above statement, we omit for want of space.
The New Northwest, Portland, June 30, 1876, page 2


    There is one peculiarity in which Ashland differs from most other small towns. It has neither church nor saloon; however, whiskey is sold by the bottle and preaching is done in the schoolhouse, and therefore, the people are generally happy.
Ashland Tidings, July 17, 1876


    The oration delivered by Mrs. C. Goodchild on the Fourth at Ashland was, says the Tidings, "an able effort, and received the highest praise by everyone who heard it."
"News Items," The New Northwest, Portland, July 21, 1876, page 3


To the Editor of the New Northwest:
     Situated as we are in a secluded corner of Josephine County, I thought perhaps might write you a few items that would be of interest to the many readers of your valuable paper. Although women are but few here, we find some that have the stamina to openly advocate the right, and are making inroads upon the prejudices of some of the people, that awakens them to think of things that apparently never entered their minds before.
    I am pleased to see the steady and firm progress the Woman Suffrage question is making in the different states and territories, and the consideration it received at the hands of the late national conventions of the two great political parties of the day. It is conclusive evidence that ere the dawn of another Presidential election, our mothers, wives, sisters and daughters will stand side by side with us, and will have an equal voice in the nominating and electing of the persons (not men) who fill the various offices of our country.
    The principal interests of this county are the mines that are being developed in quartz and gravel ranges. There is a company now incorporated that have commenced work on the Great Yank Ledge, and from present prospects, it is destined to become the bonanza of the Pacific Coast. There are many other ledges that prospect well, and will doubtless be valuable in the near future.
    The great gravel range and ditch formerly owned by J. H. Reed, of Portland, is now in the hands of an English company that have expended seventy-five or eighty thousand dollars in bringing in a ditch and putting on machinery. It is paying well, and will do much toward developing the gravel ranges of Southern Oregon. Also the claim of Courtney & Co., on the same range, has yielded well. Though not worked on so large a scale as that of the English company, they have moved a great amount of gravel and opened up an old channel from two to three hundred feet wide that prospects better than anything I have seen in Southern Oregon, and the owners deserve great credit for the energy they have displayed in opening up their mine, and they will undoubtedly be well remunerated, as they have a splendid water right and plenty of good ground to last them for many years.
    The farming in this county is very limited, but crops, so far as they go, look well.
    That the time will soon come when the immense resources of this locality will be made to add to the wealth of enterprising laborers, is the wish of
Galice Creek, July 17, 1876.
The New Northwest, Portland, July 28, 1876, page 2


"Oregon Items," Sacramento Daily Union, August 11, 1876, page 1


    ROBBERS DISAPPOINTED.--The chief of the Bureau of Statistics received, by this morning's mail, several returns from the collector of customs at Puget Sound, enclosed in an envelope which bore marks of rough usage, and contained the following endorsement: "Torn by robbers on Siskiyou Mountain, Jackson County, Oregon, August 10, 1876, 8:30 o'clock p.m." The robbers were, no doubt, in search of facts, not figures.
Evening Star, Washington, D.C., August 21, 1876, page 1


    THE STAGE ROBBERY.--It is now fully confirmed that the highwaymen who robbed the California and Oregon stage on Siskiyou Mountain got a large haul in the mail sacks. It is known that the bag for Yreka contained from $4,000 to $5,000 in gold dust, sent from Kerbyville and Waldo, Oregon, and that the bag from Portland, Oregon, also contained considerable. No trace has yet been found of the robbers, however. The Sheriff of Jackson County and his deputy followed their track west from the stage road for about three miles and found another empty mail sack, when the brush getting so thick they could follow the track no further, they returned to Jacksonville. There are surmises as to who are the robbers; some people think they came from near Kerbyville or Waldo, Oregon, and others think that they live much nearer the locality of the robbery, but of course it is impossible to know who they were or where they came from until they are caught. Wherever they be, they did their job well, and it is doubtful if the law will ever get them in their clutches.--Yreka Journal.
Grass Valley Daily Union, Grass Valley, California, August 24, 1876, page 3


"Oregon Items," Sacramento Daily Union, September 8, 1876, page 1


    Among a number of documents received u few days ago by the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics were several returns from the Collector of Customs at Puget Sound. They were enclosed in an envelope which bore marks of rough usage and contained the following endorsement: "Torn by robbers on Siskiyou Mountain, Jackson County, Oregon, August 10, 1876, at half-past 8 p.m." The envelope was no doubt returned by the disgusted robbers because they were in search of facts not figures.
Puget Sound Dispatch, Seattle, Washington, September 23, 1876, page 2


"Oregon Items," San Diego Union, November 6, 1876, page 7


    H. A. Grigsby was arrested in Jackson County for shooting at his wife last week.
"News Items," The New Northwest, Portland, November 10, 1876, page 6


    The amount of travel overland to San Francisco is increasing. The stages of the California and Oregon stage line leave Roseburg every morning at 6 o'clock, loaded with travelers, principally from Portland.
    Freighting by team to Jacksonville still continues uninterrupted, with roads materially improved. Twenty-one teams were dispatched from the railroad depot at Roseburg last week, and yet there is a hundred wagonloads waiting shipment.
"Home News," The New Northwest, Portland, November 24, 1876, page 3


    There were two hundred and fifty-six barrels of beer manufactured in Jackson County during the year ending June 30, 1876.
"Local Brevities," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, November 30, 1876, page 3


The New Northwest, Portland, December 8, 1876, page 2


    The following closing sentences of an able editorial upon Woman Suffrage, which appeared in the last issue of the Ashland Tidings, we commend to the careful perusal of women who have all the rights they want, and to men who oppose with irrelevant bluster and nonsense the demands of women for the ballot:
    "It is not the mere formality of the ballot that the women want. They want the ballot as a means to protect themselves; they want the ballot as a means to abridge the absolute power of bad men; they want the ballot as a means to repeal all unjust laws against their sex, and they want it as a means to assert the individuality that God has given them. Had man, the present lawmaker, so framed his laws as to grant woman the justice due, she would not today be demanding the ballot. But this could not be. All history in every age of the world, among the most enlightened as well as the most debased races of men, show, without a single exception, that human nature will not accord to a dependent equal or just rights. Then let us profit by the lesson history gives, and elevate woman that we may elevate our race. Let us avail ourselves of an opportunity to avert the calamity that is awaiting some of our daughters, for most assuredly some of them are destined to fall into the clutches of bad men.
The New Northwest, Portland, December 22, 1876, page 2


To the Editor of the New Northwest:
    Although somewhat secluded from society in this southern mining district, we still take a deep interest in the work which your journal--a regular visitor to one of our number--so earnestly advocates.
    Prior to coming here I was a resident of Walla Walla, where I had the pleasure of hearing Mrs. Duniway lecture two years since. I will not say that I was then and there converted to the doctrine she so ably preached, that conversion having long before taken place, but I subscribed for the New Northwest, and have since read it regularly. Besides reading the papers myself, I have sent them around through the camp, and have lectured at home to the old bachelors who abound, until I have had the pleasure of seeing many of their prejudices against equal rights vanish, gradually, it is true, but still vanish. Here, as elsewhere, I am sorry to say that some of our most bitter and unthinking opponents are among members of our own sex, but then we cannot wonder that long years of serfdom will give persons the spirits of slaves. We must wait, nay, we can afford to wait, for a gradual change is sure to be permanent.
    I shall indeed be happy and proud to do all I can to give circulation to the "People's Paper" in this camp and elsewhere, when opportunity offers. It is with me, however, as with hundreds of other women in the land; the cares of a large family, struggles with poverty and want of education prevent myriads of women from aiding as they otherwise would be glad to do in the advancement of just and equal opportunities for their sex. I will, however, do the best that I can. (And who shall say after all that though its results are slow it is not first best?) I will train up my girls and boys to be strong in the doctrines of universal liberty, and use whatever influence I may possess to bring those around me to see and bask in the light of freedom.
    With now and ever best wishes for the cause, and its earnest exponent, the New Northwest, I am respectfully,
Galice Creek, December 16, 1876.
The New Northwest, Portland, December 29, 1876, page 2



Last revised May 31, 2023