FIRST STAGE TO YREKA.

TRI-WEEKLY STAGES.

    STAGES TO YREKA.--The California Stage Company will commence running a tri-weekly line between Yreka and this place on Monday next--leaving Yreka on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and leaving Jacksonville on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. See advertisement.

ON and after Monday, March 29th, 1858, the California Stage Company will run a Tri-weekly line of Coaches between Yreka and Jacksonville, leaving Yreka on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and leaving the Union Hotel at Jacksonville on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, connecting with the Company's Coaches at Yreka for the following places:
and all intermediate points.
    Passengers booking their names at the office of the California Stage Company, Yreka Hotel, will be furnished with through tickets for any of the above named places.
March 24, 1858.

UNION HOTEL,
Corner California and 3rd Streets,
JACKSONVILLE, OREGON,
KLIPPEL & WILKINSON,                    
                                            Proprietors.
GENERAL STAGE HOUSE.

JAMES CLUGAGE & JOHN DRUM'S
TRI-WEEKLY STAGE LINE
FROM JACKSONVILLE
TO
Crescent City!

    We understand that it is the intention of the stage company to travel the Applegate road. In that event, subscribers on Applegate and Williams Creek can be furnished with papers regularly.

New Line of Stages.

NORTH.

O. & C. Co.'s stages arrive daily from 1 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.
O. & C. Co.'s stages depart daily from 1 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.

SOUTH.

O. & C. Co.'s stages arrive daily from 1 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.
O. & C. Co.'s stages depart daily from 1 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.

W. S. STONE, Superintendent.

STAGE AGAIN ROBBED.

    The C. & O. Stage Co. has changed to winter time, arriving here from Redding at 2:15 in the afternoon, and leaving for Redding at 6 a.m.; also arriving from Oregon at 4:30 a.m.. and leaving for Oregon at 2:45 in the afternoon.
"Yreka Notes," Ashland Tidings, November 11, 1876, page 3


    STAGE RUNAWAY.--On Sunday night, as the stage was descending the Siskiyou Mountains, the brake failed to hold the wagon and the horses, becoming unmanageable, ran away in spite of the best efforts of Joe Goodwin, the driver. One animal was killed and the stage badly demoralized. Luckily no one was aboard. The driver escaped unhurt.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, January 27, 1877, page 3


    Ed. Caton has taken charge of the Jacksonville stage station.
"Local Brevities," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, January 27, 1877, page 3

    STAGE ACCIDENT.--On Saturday last as Mr. J. D. Hanks was driving the stage down the Siskiyou, one of the horses became fractious and ran off the grade, upsetting the stage. Mr. Hanks was caught under the coach in such a way that he could not extricate himself. He called loudly for help, but he was so far from the toll house that his cries were not heard for some time--not until the dogs attracted attention by barking and running up the road. When at last help came, it was with no little difficulty that he was extricated from his perilous situation, as it was all four men could do to lift the stage, which was bottom side up. Although considerably injured he was able to go on to Rock Point, driving the greater part of the way himself. He writes us from that place under date of Oct. 28 that he is so badly hurt that he cannot hope to be out again for a week or ten days.
Ashland Tidings, November 2, 1877, page 3

    These are the days of heroic stage driving [due to heavy rains] and have proven that Ab. Giddings, Joe Clough, Milo Matthews and the irrepressible Garrett are not the individuals to "throw up the sponge" as long as there is a possibility of making time.
"Local Intelligence," Ashland Tidings, February 1, 1878, page 3


    COMMUNICATION OPEN.--On Sunday last the first stage for nearly a week arrived from the north, since which time regular trips have been made each way, bringing the mails. Handcars are operating between Redding and Tehama at present, but the heavy mails have all been delayed. It may be some time before the railroad south will be in condition again for transportation.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, February 8, 1878, page 3


    Some of the mail from California and the East has been shipped by steamer and is now arriving by stage from the north.
"Brief Mention," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, February 8, 1878, page 3

Stage Robbery.

    Our old friend Jerry Nunan, who was on the stage at the time of the robbery, enjoyed the extreme suspense of seeing the bandits push back his satchel, containing $4,000, while searching for valuables in the front boot, and froze onto a package of beef.
"Local Intelligence," Ashland Tidings, June 21, 1878, page 3

    A sage prophet predicted the stage would be robbed several days previous to the occurrence of that event. He said a certain party were seen in the Siskiyou Mountains, and whenever they visit this section, look out. People think many such transactions are written down in their category, which will be revealed somewhere in the "book of time."
    The highwaymen were traced from the scene where the stage was intercepted to Wagner Gap, and are supposed to be now in the vicinity of this valley, apparently innocent as sheep.
"Jacksonville Items," Ashland Tidings, June 21, 1878, page 3


    THE STAGE ROBBERY.--Postal Agent Steel has returned to Portland and the search for the highwaymen who attacked the stage on the 11th will be discontinued for the present. Several suspicious-looking persons have been subjected to an examination, but no clue has as yet been found. The hunt has been made under difficulties and Mr. Steel's failure to secure the culprits is not surprising.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, June 28, 1878, page 3


    The team attached to the stage going north on the 15th became unmanageable and attempted to run away while going down Roberts Hill, but was checked by one of the wheel horses falling down and the forewheel passing over him, causing his death.
"Brief Mention," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, June 28, 1878, page 3


    STAGE UPSET.--The stage going north on the 17th upset about four miles this side of Roseburg. The tongue of the vehicle had previously been broken near Myrtle Creek and a rail substituted, which was the cause of the accident, as the stage could not be well managed rigged up thus. Several passengers were aboard, but fortunately none were seriously injured. A. Baird was driving at the time, but no blame can be attached to him.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, June 28, 1878, page 3


    Lieut. Geo. S. Hoyle was aboard the stage when it capsized the other day and received some severe injuries, in consequence of which he has been relieved from reporting at Walla Walla and ordered to join his company at Fort Klamath. He passed through town en route yesterday.
"Personal Notes," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, June 28, 1878, page 3

    It is a fact long since demonstrated that everything has two sides to it, the very antipodes of each other. Even a jug has its inside, enshrouded in perpetual darkness, while its outside glitters in radiant light.
    The dangers and hardships we have encountered in other days give back some of our most pleasing reminiscences. We point with pride to the scar on our body that proves how near some terrible accident came to shutting off our supply of oxygen. In fact, the contemplation of these subjects supplies, in the aggregate, far more than an equivalent for the suffering they originally produced.
    The foregoing remarks were suggested on hearing Gen. J. C. Tolman relate the circumstances attending the late stage robbery on the Siskiyou Mountain, of which he was an eyewitness.
    When the General shall have long since passed in his checks, his grandchildren, having learned the story from their parents, will relate, with animated gusto, the incidents of the General's adventure with the two masked highwaymen, on the summit of the Siskiyous.
    We will endeavor to give it as near in the General's own words as our memory serves us.
    We left the Toll House after dark. The stage, containing seven passengers and the driver, was wheeling slowly up the mountain. The evening was quite warm, and five of the passengers were basking in the brilliant rays of the full moon, as it broke its scattered beams through the deep shade of the tall fir trees that, in many places, arched the road. Two of us, however, for want of accommodations outside, were compelled to take seats inside. Among the passengers on the outside was a somewhat garrulous individual from New Jersey, an excellent representative of that class known as lightning rod men in his native state. That is to say, he was a traveling agent for some commercial house. This being his first trip beyond the hail of the farmhouse or city, he was eagerly dilating on the wildness of the surroundings, and seemed vividly to anticipate the astonishment he would produce on the minds of his friends, three thousand miles away, when he should return and relate the adventures of an overland trip from Roseburg to Redding [the gap between the termini of the railroad in 1878].
    Nort Eddings, the driver, read his subject at a glance and determined to entertain his adventurous passenger as only drivers can. He began by calling attention to the dangers of the Siskiyous. He pointed out place after place of historical note. There, some hog drivers were attacked by Indians; here, some packers were murdered near the middle of the present right of way; there the stage was upset, and there it was robbed. "New Jersey" was observed to became painfully silent, with an occasional glance to the right and left. Some minutes had passed when our adventurer, with a forced air of indifference, inquired if there had been any Indian depredations or stage robberies of late years.
    The stage was then just approaching the summit, and the driver assured him that we were near the place where the stage had been robbed in less than one year, and was just pointing to a spot where the act was perpetrated, when a hoarse voice from the spot called out, "Halt!" A glance revealed two double-barreled shotguns glistening in the moonshine, held by two masked ruffians.
    Being on the inside, I did not understand what was the trouble, but supposed it to be a collision with the wagon of some belated teamster, and when the stage stopped, I started to get out, and had succeeded in getting my head and one foot out, when I discovered the cause of our trouble. Something like a violent shock of electricity came up from the ground, entered my toes and passed out at the top of my head. I next found myself back on the seat, trying to detach my watch from my vest, but totally failed to do so. I thrust it in my clothes and trusted that the robbers would not find it. I next threw my money under the seat. On a second thought I took back $20, lest it might be considered too thin to be traveling on the stage without money. My valuables being disposed of, and the electric shock over, I ventured to peep out and see how matters stood. I found everything passing very quietly; driver very accommodating; two veritable robbers of more formidable aspect than any my childish imagination had pictured, while crouching beside my grandfather, on some wintry evening, listening to his stories of Jno. A. Murrell and his confreres. Two double-barreled shotguns pointed recklessly at the trembling passengers on the outside completed the picture.
    From my position, I could observe everything going on. The driver, with lines in one hand, was silently throwing out the mail bags--the express box had already been thrown down.
    When the driver stopped throwing the bags out, the horses started, and the voice of the robber rang out on the dismal scene.
    "Is that all?"
    The driver, in a more affable tone, replied, "That is all."
    One of the robbers, to make sure, set the gun down and mounted the wheel to examine for himself. Right here, I made up my mind never to travel on the stage again, without a revolver. Had I one then, I could have killed both of the robbers. The one on the wheel, I could have touched with a walking stick.
    Soon the welcome orders came from the robbers for us to drive on. We were soon wheeling down the mountain at a good gait, with not a sound to be heard, save the beat of the horses' hoofs and the rattle of the couch over the gravel and corduroy road. Not a word was spoken--not even by our bold adventurer from New Jersey--until several miles had been placed between us and the spot of our discomfiture. The silence was finally broken by our drummer friend, who expressed himself in words of amazement that he, who had been raised away down East in the midst of New Jersey civilization, should actually encounter highway robbers and be compelled to look down a double-barreled shotgun. He congratulated himself, however, on having so civil a lot of traveling companions. "For," said he, "if anyone aboard had been rude enough to have resisted the scoundrels, we would all have been killed."
Ashland Tidings, June 28, 1878, page 1


    J. M. Strauser is again connected with the Oregon and California Stage Company as driver between Rock Point and Levins'. Joe Clough now manipulates the reins between the former place and Cole's.
"Brief Mention," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, July 28, 1878, page 3


    Contracts were last week let for furnishing barley to the different stage stations in this vicinity by Wm. Carll, division agent of the O.&C. Stage Co., as follows:
    Jacksonville, 1,500 bushels, to Alex. Martin; Grave Creek, 2,000 bushels, to G. Karewski; Ammerman's, 1,500 bushels, to Alex. Martin; Grants Pass, 1,500 bushels, to G. Karewski; Mountain House, 1,500 bushels, to Alex. Martin.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, September 25, 1878, page 3


    W. H. Williams and C. C. Huntley, the new and old contractors on the overland mail route, passed through town last Wednesday on their way north, and the former is now engaged in making arrangements for taking charge of the stage line on October 1st. Wm. Carll, division agent, accompanied them to Roseburg, where negotiations are now pending for the transfer of the stock and stages belonging to the old company to the new management.
"Random Jottings," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, September 25, 1878, page 3


    EXTRA SERVICE.--The additional tri-weekly service for the transportation of third-class [mail] matter on the Roseburg and Redding route is now being performed. An extra stage runs from Roseburg to Canyonville three times a week. From the latter place to Yreka the regular stages afford ample accommodations for the carrying of all kinds of mail matter, and from Yreka to Redding the extra stage is again brought into use. This plan is said to work successfully.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, January 10, 1879, page 3


    AN OLD TIMER.--Last week the California and Oregon Stage Co. sold to an Oakland farmer an old stage horse, known as Quimby, and named after the old Portland hotel keeper. This horse helped to pull the first stage on the overland that left Portland, and since then has seen constant service in the traces. He must be at least 27 years of age.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, January 10, 1879, page 3


    STAGE ACCIDENT.--On Wednesday evening last, says the Yreka Journal of the 22nd, Ed. Cawley, of the Scott Valley stage line, stopped his team at a small hill about a mile this side of Callahan's, for the purpose of adjusting the rough lock before going down, the brake being useless during the recent icy and slippery condition of grades in descending. Ed. had fastened the lines to the staff of the brake and unbuckled the apron of the stage, when the team made a start. He caught the lines and kept them in the road until reaching a sharp turn, where the stage slid off the grade, and all piled in a heap. Ed. was severely bruised, but managed to return to Callahan's. The stage was considerably damaged, but the horses escaped without injury, although they could hardly keep their feet on the slippery road. Ed.'s wife started for Callahan's by the stage of the same evening to take care of him until his recovery, which we are pleased to learn will not be far off.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, January 24, 1879, page 3


Democratic Times, Jacksonville, February 14, 1879, page 3


"Brief Mention," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, February 14, 1879, page 3








    The roads are improving to such an extent that the stage company proposes to commence running on fast time on the 1st prox.
    We are informed that some work is being done on the stage road leading into Roseburg and that there is a decided improvement in its condition. The people of Douglas County will work to their best interests if they will repair this thoroughfare to the Josephine County line forthwith.
"Brief Reference," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, June 27, 1879, page 3


    TIME CHANGED.--The stage company commenced running its stages on summer time Sunday, which are making the distance between Roseburg and Redding in fifty-two hours. The stage from the south now arrives in Jacksonville at about 10 o'clock a.m. and then one from the north at half-past two p.m.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, July 4, 1879, page 3


"Brief Reference," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, July 4, 1879, page 3




    The stage stock will be removed to the new Grave Creek station today.
"Brief Reference," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, August 1, 1879, page 3


    Wm. Carll, the genial division agent of the O.&C. Stage Co., was in town this week on his way north. He will take charge of the new stage station at Grave Creek, whither he will remove his family soon.
"Personal Notes," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, August 1, 1879, page 3


    Wm. Carll, division agent of the O. & C. Stage Co., last week gave Jacob Ish the contract for furnishing that company with grain for the coming season. About eight thousand bushels of barley will be required, and Mr. Ish agrees to furnish it for a little less than a cent a pound.
    P. G. Strickland, of Yreka, has gone to Roseburg to act as agent for the O. & C. Stage Co. and Clough and Carll's Coos Bay line. Jesse Davis of Little Shasta has been elected to succeed him as president of the Siskiyou Agricultural Society. We wish him success in his new business.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, August 6, 1879, page 3




    STAGE DELAYED.--The C. & O. stage did not arrive last Monday from the south until six hours after time. The cause was a runaway near Bass' station in which the stage was upset and a general smashup occurred. There were four passengers on board, but no one was seriously hurt.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, September 3, 1879, page 3




    A. Umphlet intends to start a stage line between Crescent City and Waldo as soon as the snow is sufficiently melted on the mountains.
    Stages are now running on fast time. The northbound stage passes through Ashland about 7 a.m., the southbound stage about 4 p.m.
"Local Brevities," Ashland Tidings, June 18, 1880, page 3


    STAGE ROBBED ON THE SISKIYOU.--The southbound stage, Nort Eddings driving, which went through Ashland last Thursday evening, was robbed by highwaymen about half a mile above the toll house in the Siskiyou Mountains. One masked man stepped into the road, presented a gun at the driver and ordered him to stop, and one or two other men were concealed in the brush nearby. As the express box was chained to the boot, the masked robber climbed up into the boot, broke it open and took out the contents. He also took out the letter sacks of the mail and then told Nort to drive on. It is reported that about $1,000 was obtained from the express box and perhaps an equal amount from registered letters. But one passenger was on the stage, a lady who was inside and was not disturbed. The next morning the mail sacks, which had been cut open, were found near the road, and some of the registered letters were not taken, a package sent from Ashland being unopened. The tracks of two or three men were traced some distance from the place of the robbery, when it was evident that the men had taken off their boots and tied rags about their feet to keep from leaving a trail by which they might be followed. The robbery was at the point where the stage was frequently stopped in former times, whence escape is easy through the thick chaparral either toward the coast or the Klamath Lake country.
Ashland Tidings, September 24, 1880, page 3


    Hon. Ben. Simpson, General Postal Agent of Oregon, was in Ashland this week, and visited the scene of the recent stage robbery on the Siskiyous.


    A week ago last Wednesday night as one of the California and Oregon stages was crossing the Siskiyou Mountains, about seven miles from the dividing line of Oregon and California, the driver, Mr. Nort. Eddings, was stopped by a robber, who pointed a gun at him and demanded Wells Fargo & Co.'s treasure box, which contained at the time $1000, and also the mail. Mr. Eddings told him that he could not give him the express box, as it was chained to the stage. He then ordered Mr. Eddings to hold his horses. The robber then went into the brush, and was heard to whisper to someone therein. When he returned from the brush he brought with him an axe, and proceeded to chop the chain away that held the treasure box, and took the mail sacks also. Then he fired his gun into the air, and ordered the driver to proceed on his journey.
    We learn that the sheriff of Jackson County, Mr. Bybee, immediately started in pursuit of the robbers, and has been successful in tracking them to Lakeview. The supposition is that there are three connected with the robbery, although only one was seen by the driver.
    Two or three years ago a stage was robbed very near the same locality.
    This stage robbing is getting very monotonous for the people of Southern Oregon. If the robbers are caught this time a little "hemp diet" would be a mild medicine.
Douglas Independent, Roseburg, September 25, 1880, page 3  See Eddings' 1909 reminiscence, below.


    YREKA, Sept. 17.--The Oregon stage coming south was stopped by a highwayman near the summit of the Siskiyou Mountains, Oregon side, last night about 11 o'clock. The express box [was] broken open without unfastening from the stage; one mail sack was taken off and rifled. There was only one robber, but [they] heard others talking. The amount stolen is unknown.
Grant County News, Canyon City, Oregon, October 2, 1880, page 2


    The Ashland Tidings, in giving an account of the late stage robbery, says: The tracks of two or three men were traced some distance from the place of the robbery, when it was evident that the men had taken off their boots and tied rags about their feet to keep from leaving a trail by which they might be followed. The robbery was at the point where the stage was frequently stopped in former times, whence escape is easy through the thick chaparral either toward the coast or the Klamath Lake country.
Douglas Independent, Roseburg, October 2, 1880, page 4


Ashland Tidings, October 22, 1880, page 2




    A lot of mail matter which at the time of the stage robbery was lost on the Siskiyou Mountains in September was found a few days ago was returned to the postal authorities. Some delayed letters will now reach their destination.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, November 3, 1880, page 3


    CHANGE OF TIME.--On Monday a new timetable went into effect on the O. & C. stage route. The stage from the south now arrives at Jacksonville at 7:30 a.m.; and from the north at 10:30 a.m.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, November 17, 1880, page 3




    A CHANGE.--The O. & C. Stage Company's vehicles will hereafter stop at the New State Hotel, instead of at the Franco-American, as formerly. The new arrangement went into effect on Tuesday morning.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, November 19, 1880, page 3


    TIME CHANGED.--The late storms in the country north of us having made it impossible for the stages to run longer on summer time, the winter schedule was put into effect last Sunday, since when the stage from the south arrives at about six o'clock a.m. and the other about three hours later. When regular time is made, the former will arrive here in time for breakfast and the other for dinner. Several new drivers have been put on the line for this season.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, November 19, 1880, page 3







    Another stage accident occurred near Slate Creek last Sunday night, causing injuries to three stage passengers, but none are considered serious. The cause as usual was on account of the stage being so heavily loaded with mail and passengers, making it top-heavy and upsetting, and it does seem that arrangements could be made by which mails for points north of Portland could be carried by steamer instead of stage. Drivers are not to blame for these accidents, as they do the best possible with the loads they are forced to haul.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, July 22, 1882, page 3


    Stages continue bringing large loads of mail from the south to the exclusion of passengers, etc., that are in waiting along the route. Supt. Hailey has gone to Washington to try and make some other arrangements for carrying the mails for points north of Portland and we earnestly hope that he will be successful.
    The mail from the East to Idaho passes through Yreka and Jacksonville, which is the cause of such heavy mails on the stages. A letter mailed from here to Idaho goes quicker via Ogden, and the matter of sending Idaho mail over the Oregon route looks as though the postal authorities are badly posted, or else the railroad company is trying to make as many miles of mail carrying as possible.--Yreka Journal.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, July 29, 1882, page 3


    An extra stage passed through town last Wednesday loaded with mail for points north of here.
    Wm. Little has gone to the Cole's station, Cal., to take charge of the stage company's stables.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, August 5, 1882, page 3


    Stages are again coming in on time from both directions--the one from the south at 8:30 a.m. and the northern at 3 p.m.
    Congress adjourned this week, and the O. & C. Stage Co. will thus be enabled to make time once more, as the supply of pub. docs. will decrease with the adjournment of that body.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, August 12, 1882, page 3


    STAGE CHANGE.--The O. & C. Stage Co. made a change in their home stations yesterday and hereafter the drives will be from Myrtle Creek to Grave Creek, from Grave Creek to Ammerman's station [above Phoenix] and from Ammerman's station to Yreka. The same number of drivers will be employed on this end of the route, and no other change will be made until the railroad comes farther south.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, August 26, 1882, page 3








    George Engle and Ab. Giddings of Ashland, H. W. Stevenson, M. Van Winkle, H. A. Grigsby, Newt Yocum and George R. Justus of Grants Pass have been here this week attending court as witnesses in the stage robbery cases.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, June 28, 1884, page 3




    ALDEN, of the New York Times, is responsible for many things. There was only one man in the United States besides Alden that knew as much about matters and things as Alden does. That man fell down a shaft in Calaveras Co., Cal., in the winter of '82 and is no more. In a recent effort to tell what he knows about salmon Alden perpetrates the following:
    The recent frightful accident which happened to a stage in Southern Oregon cannot fail to call the attention of the state authorities to the necessity of protecting settlers against the attacks of salmon. The stage in question was crossing Applegate Creek when it was suddenly attacked by a drove of salmon. The stage was instantly overturned, and the hungry fish swarmed over it, while the stage driver, with great presence of mind, cut the traces of his horses and, throwing himself across the off-wheel horse--a powerful animal, formerly the property of Dr. Goodrich, of Olympia--managed to escape. The dispatch which conveys to us this painful story says nothing of the fate of the stage passengers, but, unfortunately, there is every reason to believe that they fell victims to the salmon.
    The Oregon salmon has long been regarded by experienced western hunters as the moat dangerous animal infesting the continent. It is much larger than the salmon of the Atlantic coast, and. unlike the latter, which is a timid and inoffensive fish, it is fearless, aggressive, and cruel. There is scarcely a river in Oregon which is free from salmon, and many of the streams are rendered practically impassable by the numbers and ferocity of the salmon inhabiting them.
    To hunt the Oregon salmon requires iron nerves and great skill in the use of the rifle. The usual practice of the hunter is to hide himself on the bank of a stream and to send in his dog to arouse the salmon from their lair. When the fish come within gunshot the hunter fires, and unless he kills or disables the game at the first shot his chances for life are small. The infuriated fish will, in most eases, turn upon the hunter whose shot has been ineffective. One blow of the salmon's tail almost invariably proves fatal, and if he can once set his teeth in the flesh of the hunter be cannot be shaken off. The only chance of escape is for the hunter to drive his knife into the fish's heart, but such a blow to be effective must be delivered immediately behind the pectoral fin, and it requires the utmost coolness for a man to face the rush of a maddened salmon and wait until he can stab him in the most vulnerable part. Scores of hunters who have successfully fought the grizzly bear have fallen victims to the Oregon salmon and scores of others, crippled and maimed, survive to tell the story of their blood-curding experience while in the very jaws of a monster fish.
    Were the salmon to confine themselves wholly to the water they would be comparatively harmless, for no man would be in danger unless he ventured into a salmon pool. But unlike most of our American fishes, the Oregon salmon is in the habit of leaving the water and wandering through the forest in search of prey. Men, women, and children have often been chased for long distances by salmon on the lonely Oregon roads, and an enormous number of sheep and cattle have been killed and devoured. Two years ago the forest in the neighborhood of East Melville, in Southern Oregon, was infested by a pair of salmon of unusual size and ferocity. Hardly a night passed that some settler did not lose a valuable domestic animal, and no less than five human lives were sacrificed almost within sight of the Methodist meeting house. The people of the town never went out of their houses unarmed, and they lost so much sleep in consequence of the nightly and incessant roaring of the fish that life was really a burden to them. The town authorities offered a reward of $1,000 for the head of either of the two salmon, but no local hunter was bold enough to make the attempt to gain it. These formidable fish were finally killed by a party of hunters, nine in number, who, assisted by a pack of well-trained fish hounds, tracked the fish to their lair in a small pool of stagnant water and shot them with a Gatling gun. Twenty-two bullets were found in the body of the male and seventy-four in that of the female. The former fell dead at the first fire, but the latter, although severely wounded, rushed on the hunters and succeeded in killing one and disabling eight dogs before she was finally conquered.
    In winter, the Oregon salmon, rendered more fearless than ever by want of food, roam over the country in packs and droves of from twenty-five to a thousand fish. No exact statistics as to the annual loss of life by salmon in Oregon are at present accessible, but it is believed that in proportion to its population Oregon loses as many inhabitants yearly by salmon as India loses by tigers.
    The only way in which to meet this great evil is for the state government to offer a reward of, say, $100 for every salmon killed within its borders. Such an offer would cause an instant emigration of thousands of fearless hunters from every state in the Union to Oregon. Some lives would, of course, be lost, but the salmon would soon be practically exterminated, and it would become possible for a stage to pass even Applegate Creek without being attacked and destroyed by salmon.
Morning Astorian, Astoria, Oregon, March 20, 1885, page 2  This article was reprinted in Jacksonville by the Oregon Sentinel on May 30, page 4


    Owing to the railroad company changing time, by running through to Delta, without laying overnight at Redding, the stages will arrive here every morning between 2 and 4 o'clock, making closer connection with Ashland stage. Heretofore the stage arrived about noon, the passengers and mail laying overnight in this place to take stage for Ashland next morning. The time of departure from Yreka for Delta and Ashland will be the same as heretofore, going south after supper, on arrival of stage from Oregon, and going north each morning about 4 o'clock, or as soon as Delta stage arrives. This will make one day's quicker time from San Francisco.--Yreka Journal.
"Local Items," Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, November 28, 1885, page 3


Ashland Tidings, March 19, 1886, page 1


    Overland travel is good, but the hotel men complain that the time schedule of the stages and trains rushes the travelers right through town without allowing them to either eat or sleep in Ashland.
    The stage time from Slate Creek to Ashland will be somewhat faster than published in our last, especially going north. The stages from Slate Creek north will leave the railroad at 8:30 p.m., and reach Yreka at 9:15 a.m. next day, connecting with railroad in Ashland at 7:45 p.m. The stages southward will run on time as in last issue, leaving Ashland at 5 a.m., reaching Yreka at 3:15 p.m., and Slate Creek next morning at 4:30 a.m.--[Journal.
"Brevities," Ashland Tidings, May 14, 1886, page 3


    Thos. Gravenor of Albany, Wisconsin, agent of the Western Stage Co., arrived here the first of the week to take charge of the stage line and mail contract between Ashland and Fort Klamath. On Wednesday he went out over the line to Linkville and the Fort. Mr. Gravenor will make Ashland his home for a year or more.
"Personal," Ashland Tidings, June 26, 1886, page 3


    The C. & O. Stage Co. will run two and possibly three extra six-horse stages over the road from Ashland to Gibson's next Thursday and Friday, to haul the extensive minstrel troupe of 22 performers and other travelers, in excess of what the regular stage takes. The minstrel troupe has also 4,500 lbs. of baggage. The stable keepers of Ashland and Yreka, as well as parties along the road, will furnish the company with extra horses, and from now on extras will be put on whenever there are more passengers than one stage can carry, arrangements having been made to procure the extra horses at short notice by means of telegraph communication, whenever a larger number than the reserves of the company are needed.--[Journal.
"Brevities," Ashland Tidings, July 2, 1886, page 3


    Mr. Gravenor, the resident agent of the Western Stage Co., has stocked the Linkville stage line in good style, and will offer passengers better accommodations than have been maintained heretofore. He has bought the fine passenger coach owned by Martin at Yreka, and will run it through from Ashland to Linkville with four horses every alternate day. It made the first trip out from Ashland yesterday, and will return this evening. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays it will leave Ashland for Linkville, and on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings will leave Linkville for Ashland. The alternate trips will be made with two-horse wagons, as heretofore.
Ashland Tidings, July 9, 1886, page 3


    The first station out on the Linkville stage route now is Soda Springs, where the passengers breakfast going east. The other stations are Naylor's, Parker's and Cooper's.
"Brevities," Ashland Tidings, July 9, 1886, page 3


    The evenings at Sisson's were always cool. An open fire of logs burned in the office, and at midnight the heavy stages, each with its lamps and team of six horses, rolled noisily up to the door with freight and passengers. By November the railroad is expected, and then farewell to the present quiet and novelty. No more will the rumble of the stages be heard, and the well-known  drivers will be forgotten.
    The present gap between the Central Pacific and the Oregon and California [Railroad] is about 100 miles. The stage makes the distance between the hours of 10:30 p.m. one day and 7 p.m. the next, or in about twenty-one hours. Fresh horses are used at intervals of every twelve miles, and there is a two hours' rest at Yreka, where breakfast is eaten. Between Dunsmuir and Shasta the road is badly cut up by construction teams, but beyond is still in excellent condition. By stopping over at Sisson's the journey can be made without fatigue, and the ride by daylight from Yreka over the Siskiyou Range to Ashland is incomparably fine. The road climbs the mountains by winding in zigzag course up their steep slopes, and upon nearing the summit enters a forest of pine, fir and oak. Here the giant trees cover every headland and isolate one from the world around; and again there are extended views in every direction, and one can look far over the tops of the forests to Mount Shasta and into the various valleys that have been followed earlier in the day. I have taken many a stage ride over mountain roads, and am sure that no other one possessed the picturesque features of this over the great natural barriers separating the two Pacific states. Especially beautiful is that portion of the route lying north of the summit. For miles the road is through unbroken forests and by the side of deep ravines, and at frequent intervals there are glimpses of the Rogue River Valley and the low, dimly outlined hills of Oregon. If one is a lover of nature, of what is picturesque, he should take the overland to Oregon before the stages are supplanted by the railroad. He will never be able to see from a Pullman that which is visible from the old box seat; nor will the future guides have the good old stories, tough but interesting, with which the drivers of today help one forget the few discomforts of the journey. They are jovial companions, these master whips, who handle their teams of six horses with such ease and confidence. They know every foot of the road, are familiar with every legend of the country, and can tell offhand the names of all the trees, the history of every mountain camp. They are full of whims and eccentricities; old Smith despises a trunk and Jack Curtis never wants more than two on the seat beside him. But the memories of the men are remarkable. The commissions they are given along the road by farmers and by their wives and daughters would drive most men insane. One wants Jack to get her two pounds of soda at Ashland; another asks him to get two yards of cloth, and still another gives him a verbal message to some friend in town. Every request is remembered, and besides that work the master of the horses must think to ease the off wheeler, for she strained a leg last week, or deal gently with that nigh leader for he did double duty the day before. He knows the name of every horse in every team, and answers more questions in a day than one can suggest in a week. The stages carry the overland mail and accommodate from twelve to fifteen passengers. Ample time is given for meals, and altogether the ride from one railroad to the other is an experience full of most pleasurable excitement.
Edwards Roberts, "Overland to Oregon," Ashland Tidings, October 29, 1886, page 1


    DECLINE OF THE ROAD AGENT.--Road agents get a very poor living nowadays. Stage-robbing is a very impecunious business. "I'm thinking of lecturing to young men, advising them not to enter upon the profession, as there's nothing in it." These were the sage remarks of Special Agent Hume of the Wells, Fargo Express Company, and they were occasioned by reviewing the stage-robbing record of the company for the year 1886. .During that time there were only fifteen robberies of stages on the entire line of the company, which extends through all the western states and territories and includes Mexico. Of these robberies, nine were in California, two in Arizona and one each in Nebraska, Montana, New Mexico and Oregon. Altogether, eleven of the knights of the road engaged in the work in California were captured; nine now have time for repentance in the state prisons and two are awaiting trial. In the nine robberies only $1,025 was secured and of this amount all but $235.31 was recovered by detectives, Special Agents Hume and Thacker. Three of the robberies were on stage lines in Mendocino County, two in Calaveras and one each in San Joaquin, Sierra, Butte and Monterey counties. Besides these there were three unsuccessful attempts to rob stages and eight express offices were robbed. All but $319.71 was recovered of the coin taken from offices. The year's record is much smaller, both in number and losses, than any previous year. The usual average since 1870 has been about thirty robberies a year, and by reason of the road agent the company has lost from that time to the present not quite a million dollars. Of this sum a large proportion was for salaries of guards and special officers, in fourteen years $326,517 being paid for that purpose. Since the incarceration of C. E. Bolton, "Black Bart," in November, 1883, there has been a noticeable diminution in the number of robberies. His term of imprisonment will expire in about a year.--Bulletin.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, February 4, 1887, page 1


    The gap between Ashland, the southern terminus of the Oregon road, and Montague,the northern terminus of the California line, is now less than fifty miles. The company has an immense force at work, and daily the number of laborers are increased. Last Saturday an employment agency here received orders from Sisson, Crocker & Co., to secure all the men, white and Chinese, that were to be had, and send them to the front. Good weather has set in, and there is every probability that the gap will be reduced to ten or twelve miles by the middle of June. This gap will be the summit of the Siskiyous, and stages can make the trip in two hours. The stage ride would be the feature of the journey, and few would hesitate to take it. Except, perhaps, the Yosemite Valley, no better view of the magnificent in nature can be had anywhere on the coast than from the summit of the Siskiyous. One can see the entire Rogue River Valley, the Salmon and Scott mountain ranges, and Mount Shasta, towering nearly three miles high. Whether the company will build an overland road, pending the construction of the numerous tunnels, is not known, but so far as tourists are concerned a ride in Concord coaches is far preferable to a ride through tunnels in a Pullman.
Merced Star, April 7, 1887, page 3


    MONTAGUE.--Montague is the present northern terminus of the California & Oregon railroad, from which point to Ashland is forty-five miles. Sleeping and dining cars are run from San Francisco to this point. The reporter learns from ex-Governor Moody, who came home via this route, that the car service is all that could be desired. The stage route from Montague to Ashland is over the mountains, and although the snow has entirely disappeared from the road bed and vicinity, the road is very lumpy, although rapidly drying up. The forty-five miles staging took eighteen hours of travel, about 2½ miles an hour. In a very short time, unless an April snow comes, which is not anticipated on that route, the distance to be traversed by the stages will be materially reduced, and with better roads the stage ride will be an all-daylight one. Governor Moody found the trip a pleasant one, although the 2½-mile-an-hour stage ride was a trifle tedious.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, April 15, 1887, page 1


    Yesterday the stage terminus of the C.&O.R.R. was moved northward from Hornbrook to Cole's, reducing the staging distance about eight miles of heavy mountain grade.
"Brevities," Ashland Tidings, June 3, 1887, page 3


    Joel Million, who has charge of the stage stock of the C. & O. & I. Stage Co. in Ashland, has kept a close record of the travel on the stage between Ashland and the C.&O.R.R. terminus since the first of March, and from him the following has been learned: On March 1st the terminus was at Gazelle, on the 10th it was moved to Montague. During the month of March 248 passengers were carried on the stages both ways between Ashland and the terminus. During the month of April 401 passengers were carried. May 1st the terminus was moved to Hornbrook, and during May 978 passengers were carried. The number will no doubt reach 1200 to 1500 during the present month.
Ashland Tidings, June 3, 1887, page 3


"Here and There," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, June 17, 1887, page 3


    It is expected that before next week trains over the California & Oregon road, instead of stopping at Cole's, will run ten miles farther into the mountains, right up to the south end of Summit tunnel. Cole's will still remain a dining station, but stages will start from the new station, which is to be called Siskiyou. This extension reduces staging to about thirteen miles, there being a good road the whole distance. The change makes necessary a few trifling alterations in the timetable of the Oregon express, the time of leaving San Francisco and reaching Portland remaining as before. Trains going north will arrive at Cole's at 12:35 p.m., instead of 12:15 and will leave there at 1 p.m., arriving at Siskiyou at 1:45. Ashland will be reached at 5 p.m., instead of 5:40. Going south the train leaves Portland at 4 p.m., reaching Ashland at 9 a.m., Siskiyou at 12:15 a.m., Cole's at 1:25, Sissons at 5:15 p.m., and San Francisco at 7:40 a.m.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, October 7, 1887, page 3




    EDITOR GUARD:--In an item appearing in the Guard of December 31st, copied from the Ashland Tidings, in regard to the first stage and driver thereof across the Siskiyou Mountains, which I think is wrong in date. In 1851-2 there were about twelve stage companies in California running to all parts of the state. In 1853 they held a meeting in Sacramento and joined in a joint stock company under the name of the C.S.C. Co., which was to commence the 1st of January, 1854, with Jas. Beach president, Chas. McCaulin vice president, and Warren Hall general manager. In the summer of 1854 Chas. McCaulin sent his brother and a driver named Little Sam, by way of Portland, with two Concord coaches to take them to Yreka to run coaches between that point and Callahan's ranch, to connect with the Greathouse saddle train that ran from Shasta. In taking them from Oregon City to Aurora Mr. McCaulin was thrown from the box, the wheel running over his head, killing him. Sam had the remains buried and hired another man to help him through. When they got to Yreka Hugh Silicer, a nephew of McCaulin's, took charge of the stock and as superintendent ran a daily stage line to Callahan's and put on a tri-weekly stage across the Siskiyous to Jacksonville with Little Sam as driver, and not Dan Cawley as stated in the Tidings. This was in 1854 and not in 1856 as the Tidings states. In 1855 the president of the company started to New York but was lost with the steamer Yankee Blade, when James Hayworth was elected. In 1856 they stocked the Pit River route from Red Bluff to Yreka, by way of Pit River, McCloud Valley and Shasta Valley. This route was run but four months, when the Pit River Indians compelled them to abandon the line on account of their hostilities. In those days staging was good in California. I have seen twenty stages leave Marysville every day and the same number out of Sacramento, besides what ran out of San Francisco, Stockton and other places in the mountains, carrying twenty passengers to the coach and thirty on the six-horse coaches. In 1860 they obtained a mail contract from Sacramento to Portland for $95,000 per year, which was a small sum for so long a route, especially when they were paid in greenbacks. In 1864 a party from Texas got the mail contract but failed to come to time, when the old company took it for two years at a large price. In 1866 Senator Corbett of Portland got the contract for four years, when Barlow & Sanderson took it and held control I believe, until crowded off by the steam horse.
Ashland Tidings, January 20, 1888, page 2






    The schedule of Ashland and Klamath Falls stage line has been recently changed so that the stage now leaves Ashland at 6 a.m. instead of 1 p.m. and reaches Klamath Falls at 9 p.m. of the same day.
"Pressed Bricks," Valley Record, Ashland, January 11, 1900, page 1


    The severest snow storm for 15 years, at this place, continued its fury for about 48 hours, with telling effect. Snow was drifted 5 feet high most all along the main street, and business suspended three days. All the stage lines were stopped more or less. Some of the lines are now carrying the mail on horseback.
    Knowing from personal experience that several false reports have been widely circulated throughout Southern Oregon about the Ashland-Klamath Falls stage line causes me to warn the traveling public to not be deceived by those who are not doing "as they would be done by." I passed over the line, as a passenger, Jan. 1st, and found their fare to be very reasonable; also the company's drivers are very careful in handling teams so as to avoid accidents while passing over the mountain. The supt., Robert Garrett of Ashland, intends soon to furnish foot-warmers for the comfort and convenience of travelers on this line in midwinter. Stage leaves Ashland each day at 5 o'clock p.m. The line is equipped with first-class stock and coaches.
"Storm in Klamath County," Valley Record, Ashland, January 10, 1901, page 3

Gold Hill News, September 27, 1913, page 1   Contemporary accounts do not mention Black Bart as one of the June 1878 robbers--see above. And Bart worked alone.


Jacksonville Post, December 20, 1913, page 1




    In 1857 the first regular stage company began operations in Oregon, running between Portland and Salem. Two years later a mail stage was put on between Salem and Eugene. Soon it was running between Salem and Jacksonville. In June, 1860, a stage was put on the route between Red Bluffs in California and Oakland in Southern Oregon. At Oakland the California stages made connections with Chase & Co.'s stage which ran from Oakland to Corvallis, where it connected with the Oregon Stage Co.'s stage to Portland. Mr. Martin was made superintendent of mail service, his district being from Sacramento to Portland.
    "Many a time I have ridden right through from Sacramento to Portland, traveling night and day and making the trip in six days," said Mr. Martin. As the distance by stage road was 650 miles, you will see we averaged more than a hundred miles a day. At first the fare was $600 for the trip, but later the fare was reduced. We came through Oroville and Chico and on through Red Bluffs, Shasta and Yreka to Jacksonville and by way of the Rogue River Valley, Umpqua Valley and the Willamette Valley to Portland. During the Salmon River gold excitement we put on eight stages and they were loaded to the guards on every trip. We received $180,000 a year for carrying the mail, so that it was important to see that it reached its destination safely and speedily.
    "We also carried the Wells Fargo treasure chest, and as Jacksonville alone shipped between $25,000,000 and $30,000,000 in gold dust up to the time the stage line was discontinued, you will see there was a rich harvest for highwaymen and road agents. It was my job to see that the mail and treasure should not be taken. There had been a good many holdups when I took hold and I was anxious to put a stop to the holdup industry. Usually two road agents operated together. One held his gun on the express guard and driver while the other secured the treasure box and the registered mail sack. One of my drivers called 'Rattling Jack' made the suggestion that broke up the business. He said to me: 'I have been held up a time or two and I notice the road agents always get the drop on the express guard who is riding on top. Why not let the guard ride on the back seat inside like a passenger and have a dummy guard ride in his place? The robbers will not expect trouble from inside the coach.'
    "I instructed the guard to ride on the back seat and I told Rattling Jack if he was told to halt and stop, and holding the reins with one hand, to use the other hand to put the treasure box on the edge of the boot so the robber could reach up and get it. I told him as soon as he had placed the Wells Fargo box where the robber could get it to at once hold up his hands so as to avert all suspicion of resistance. Rattling Jack was held up shortly afterwards. He stopped at the command 'Halt!' and when told to throw out the treasure box he set it up on edge on the boot and said, 'There it is, help yourself.' The robber stepped over to the side of the stage and reached up to get it when the guard, who was inside on the back seat, let him have it with both barrels from his sawed-off shotgun. It blew a hole clear through the robber. The guard then jumped out on the opposite side and with his six-shooter shot the road agent who was standing at the horses' heads covering the driver and the dummy guard. Shortly afterwards in the same way the guard killed a holdup man near Redding and later got another on Scotts Mountain near Yreka. That put a stop for some time to holding up the stage.
Alexander Martin, quoted by Fred Lockley, "Impressions and Observations of the Journal Man," Oregon Journal, Portland, August 14, 1915, page 4




Jacksonville Post, January 29, 1916, page 1


    George Roberts and wife of Roseburg are in Ashland visiting relatives this week. This is an old stamping ground of Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, and if they follow their inclination they may remain here permanently. Mr. Roberts is probably the oldest living stage driver in the Northwest, having driven a six-horse stage line continuously for 16 years in the early days from Rock Point below Gold Hill to the Barron place southeast of Ashland. This was 40 years ago, and during that entire 16 years there were only 30 days when Mr. Roberts was not holding the reins in the trip through Ashland. He also drove stage for 15 years in California after leaving his Oregon route. Mr. Roberts has many interesting tales to relate of the country about here in the early days, when travel over the Siskiyous was not the comfortable and luxurious trip it now is. During his long term as stage driver Mr. Roberts' hands became drawn and hardened from the continual holding of the reins, until they cannot be straightened out.
"Local and Personal," Ashland Tidings, March 10, 1921, page 4


    Norton Eddings, pioneer stage driver of the California-Oregon stage line, passed away at his home on Pacific Highway one-half mile north of Gold Hill this morning at the age of 72 years. He was born on the Oregon Trail in the Cascade Mountains en route to Oregon by team on October 28, 1852, and in 1879 he was married at Rock Point to Minnie Gall, to which union were born five children, three surviving, Fred N. Eddings, Gold Hill, Floyd L., Grants Pass, and Glenn W., of Roseburg.
    Mr. Eddings served for 20 years as stage driver and is survived by only one of the old California-Oregon drivers; he is George Chase of Yreka, Cal. Deceased drove the greater part of his service between Yreka and Rock Point, Ore. and encountered two holdups, one of which occurred near the scene of the famous Siskiyou tunnel holdup of the Southern Pacific.
    Upon coming to Oregon the family settled on a homestead near Eugene, where after five years they came to Rogue River Valley, where he had spent practically all his life. After the construction of the Southern Pacific railroad he was employed as bridge watcher for seven years near Roseburg, after which he again drove stage from Roseburg to Myrtle Point.
    Mr. Eddings was well known In the vicinity of Gold Hill, where he has resided constantly for the past 26 years and will be greatly missed as one of Oregon's most sturdy pioneers.
    He is also survived by two sisters, Mrs. Rebecca Armpriest and William Carll, both of Jacksonville, and one nephew, M. F. Wright of Portland.
    Funeral services in charge of Conger Funeral Parlors will be held at the late residence Sunday at 10 a.m., after which the body will be taken by auto to Canyonville for interment.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 10, 1925, page 4


    The county court has officially designated the foothills highway from Jacksonville north as the "Old Stage Road."
    This action was taken in answer to a petition signed by every resident on this beautiful and historic thoroughfare.
    For some reason. not altogether clear, this highway had become known, in popular parlance, as the "Millionaire Road,"--perhaps because along its borders some of the most attractive ranch homes in Southern Oregon have been built.
    The property owners regarded this appellation with immediate disfavor. They termed it as both inappropriate and in poor taste. But as the title persisted, a movement was started to have it officially blotted out, and the highway returned to its original name, "The Old Stage Road."
    This has now been done and, needless to say, the people of Jackson County should now designate this thoroughfare by its proper cognomen.
    Incidentally, it would be an excellent idea to have this highway marked with appropriate signs. It was along its rolling surface that the first settlers to the Rogue River Valley came on the regular stage from Roseburg south to Jacksonville, then the metropolis of Southern Oregon. It is the oldest and most picturesque highway in Southern Oregon.
    It now has its proper title. Why not let the visiting tourists and the local motorists know about it?
Medford Mail Tribune, November 2, 1927, page 5


To the Editor:
    I read your editorial on the action of the county court in officially designating the California-Oregon stage road as the "Stage Road," and I am glad to know that it has been so officially designated.
    But there is something additional that should be done by the citizenship of this country to preserve the history of some of the men who were drivers on this "Stage Road."
    George Chase was one of the drivers who took the lines at Cole Station in California and piloted the stage coach over the Siskiyou Mountains and as far north as Rock Point, where it was turned over to Nort Eddings, who drove from there to Canyonville.
    The old stage road crossed Rogue River at Rock Point at the identical spot where the new bridge is, and it seems to me as though this bridge should be named the "George Chase Bridge" and that a bronze tablet should be placed thereon with a little history of the connection that Chase had as a driver of the Oregon-California stage coach.
    There is also a bridge in the canyon very close to the place where Nort Eddings, while driving the stage, was held up and the passengers and the mail robbed; this bridge should be called the "Nort Eddings Bridge" and a bronze tablet placed on this bridge with a little history of Nort Eddings' connection as a driver for the California-Oregon Stage Coach Company.
    Nort Eddings and George Chase were the last of the old stage drivers; Nort Eddings died two or three years ago; George Chase still lives at Yreka, Cal. and regularly visits Jackson County every time a Jackson County fair is held and many people here are acquainted with him.
    As a mark of distinction to these men who piloted these stage coaches over the mountains, this tribute should be paid to them and the Commercial Club of this city should see to it that something of this character is done.
Medford, November 4.
"Communications," Medford Mail Tribune, November 4, 1927, page 13


To the Editor:
    In answer to a communication by Gus Newbury in regard to the county court in officially designating the California and Oregon stage road as the Stage Road, it was headed as a good idea that is all right, I think. He says George Chase drove over the Siskiyous to Rock Point and Nort Eddings took the stage from there to Canyonville. I am the man that took the stage at Rock Point and drove it to Levens station. Galesville was the post office, 40 miles from Rock Point, and George Roberts drove it on to Roseburg to the end of the railroad. The oldest driver on the road then, he drove north, night drive, while a driver we called Colusa Bill drove south to me at 3 o'clock in the morning; then I drove back to Rock Point by noon and Chase drove back to Cole's, while Nort Eddings drove north from Cole's. It took two drivers to each 40 or 50 miles. Ed Calery drove alongside of myself. You see, it took six drivers from Roseburg to Cole's and 100 horses. He said all the old drivers were gone.
    I was born here close where Medford is now, in 1857, and I have been living ever since in March 24th [sic].
    I drowned a six-horse stage team in Cow Creek close to Levens station. The old-timers will remember that.
    Mr. Newbury says Rock Point bridge is in the same spot where it was then. So it is, and it was a toll bridge then, and so was the Gold Hill bridge.
    The road over the Siskiyous was a toll road. The stage company paid $600 a year. He says there is another bridge this side of Canyonville where Nort Eddings was robbed and it ought to be called Eddings bridge. Nort Eddings was robbed on the Siskiyou Mountains about half a mile west of where the DeAutremonts robbed the train, on a steep corduroy pitch. I drove the same team over there a while after he was robbed.
    I can give more information if necessary.
Medford, Nov. 11.
"Communications," Medford Mail Tribune, November 12, 1927, page 5


    From stage coach to airplane! A long, long trail in the minds of the present generation. A shortcut through "memory lane" to Fred Tice, 72, of Medford.
    Mr. Tice, who is one of the few remaining professional stage coach drivers left in the country, enjoyed his first airplane ride over the valley this week, through the courtesy of Harold Sanders, owner of the Sanders Aeronautical School. Piloted by Mr. Sanders, the white-haired pioneer of Jackson County retraced  much of the route he traveled through this county, 50 years ago.  
    No suggestion of nervousness marked the conduct of the ruddy-faced man of 72 as he climbed into a passenger plane for the first time in his life. Rather, there was a gleam of eagerness in his eyes as the motor began to hum and the prospect of actually leaving the earth approached.
    "It's something like being born again--into a new age--and a new life," he observed to his companion on the trip, as the plane lifted from the field and began soaring. Leaning over the side of the ship so as not to miss any of the details of the flight, he traced out with his finger the course over which he drove his six-horse teams half a century ago.
    "There it is--the old stage road. It was nothing but brush in those days--not much of a road to it." And he pointed out the avenue to which Medford pioneer residents point with most pride. "I've watched the old road changing through the years--but I never thought I'd ever see it look like this," he added, with a note of humor as the plane climbed still higher and the road dissolved into a thin fringy thread.
    The earth below became a colorful rug with a predominance of green in its patterns. Square pear orchards tipped with white--triangular patches of green, gold and red--irregular bits of gray and black threads weaving themselves in and out. Here and there a dot of blue and winding its way through the whole beautiful picture, a gleaming band of silver--the Rogue!
    The detail grew less marked, and the colors began to blend and melt into one another as the plane winged its way still higher. The pioneer stage coach driver leaned back in the seat and studied the clouds. Heaven seemed a friendly distance from there--the atmosphere was fine and light, and the sun was a cordial host.
    "I don't think I ever want to go down--unless of course they'd bring back my six-horse team and stage coach," sighed the veteran driver.
    Fred Tice was born near Jacksonville in 1857. He attended the Oak Grove School along with a number of the other well-known older residents of the county. He began driving a team at an early age, and when but 17 years old was considered one of the most adept horsters in the county.
    "It was quite a trick to pick up six lines and drive over some of the tricky passes we had in those days," he said, "and in that day it was a skill to be proud of."
    Mr. Tice was 21 years old when he received the responsible position of stage driver for the Oregon California Stage Company, which ran from Roseburg, Ore., to Redding, Calif. From 10 to 12 drivers covered this stretch of 275 miles, changing teams every 15 miles and using 180 horses on the entire trip; 100 through this state and 80 through the California section.
    The drivers in Oregon were paid $55 a month, room and board, while those south of the border received $50, room and board; the difference being explained by the fact that six-horse teams were necessary here, instead of the four-horse teams used in the southern state. 
    The stage was due in Jacksonville daily northbound 9:30 a.m., and southbound at 2:30 p.m. Jacksonville at that time was the center of mining activity, and gold dust was shipped from the town in large quantities. Medford was a prairie, unborn and unnamed.
    There were two strings of stages going each way to maintain the daily schedule. Carrying express and mail as well as passengers, it was necessary for the stages to arrive on time so as to meet the trains in both the north and south. Nothing was considered unavoidable except high water, and missing the train meant a fine of $600 to the stage company.
    Mr. Tice drove stage from Rock Point to the station on Cow Creek, a distance of 45 miles, for the first two years. With no visible road over which to travel, the feat of handling a six-horse team over the mountains and streams was dangerous and difficult.
    It was in the winter of '78 when the local man encountered a terrific storm near Cow Creek, and found it impossible to control the panic-stricken horses of his coach. After a considerable struggle, in which the team plunged down into the rising water, the driver rescued the express box and barely saved himself from death. The horses were lost, but the wagon weathered the storm and was pulled to the nearest station next day. Fortunately there were no passengers on that coach.
    Among other dangers which lurked along the way in those days were the Indians, holdup men and wild animals. The local man recalls one incident when for a certain distance along an edge of high brush and trees, the horses shied away from the trail over which he guided them.
    Finally annoyed by their actions, he jumped down from the seat and walked along the edge of the brush, looking through it to discover what the animal had sensed. All of a sudden he peered into the face of a large grizzly bear, which had been prowling along through the brush and had stopped simultaneously with the stage coach. Unarmed, the driver returned to his seat and made a hasty getaway with the horses now in a mood for cooperation.
    Although there were frequent Indian attacks in those days, Mr. Tice was spared this misfortune on any of his routes. [I've found NO suggestions that natives ever attacked stage coaches. Fred Tice began his career 22 years after tribes on his route had been removed to a reservation on the Oregon coast.] It was but a few years before this, however, when the Modoc War took place, and the stage driver; then a boy of 15 or 16, was impressed and not a little thrilled over his memory of some of the details. At this time Fort Klamath was an army post, and the pioneer lad was attracted by their colorful activity with the Indians.
    When he was 17 years old he once drove through Fort Klamath, arriving just in time to see the soldiers locking a number of Indians in a corral covering an acre of ground, as the result of their capture after an attack on the white settlers. Women and children were herded into the pen along with their Indian husbands, and guards were stationed around the outside wall.
    These Indians were kept at Fort Klamath for several months, after which they were taken in small groups to distant points and released. During their imprisonment they apparently enjoyed life, the squaws cooking the meals within the acre square.
    In 1880, Mr. Tice was transferred from Rock Point south and drove over the Siskiyous. At that time this was a toll road, the stage company paying $700 a year to go over the mountain. George Chase, now of Yreka, covered the same route as did Mr. Tice.
    In the summer of 1880 another driver, Nort Eddings, was robbed on the mountains, a short distance from where the DeAutremont holdup took place. The stage driver was slowing his team on a steep pass when a group of bandits emerged from the timber, fired some shots past the stage and commanded Eddings to throw down the express box, carrying a large quantity of gold dust from the mines. They then commanded the driver and passengers to get out of the coach, and while they were covered, one of the bandits robbed them of everything they had.
    Mr. Tice was put on the route covered by Eddings, driving the same team, immediately after the robbery. Officials accompanied the driver keeping a sharp lookout for the holdup men in case of a second attempt, but they did not reappear.
    The local man derives a great deal of pleasure in reminiscing over the old days on the stage route--days which he considers the happiest of his life. He remembers, with a smile, that the women generally wanted to sit in the driver's seat, while most of the men passengers seemed contented to sit inside.
    He admits, however, that there was one lovely bit of femininity for whom all the others had to take a back seat when she decided to go on one of her frequent trips through the county to visit friends. This was Martha Dodge. She is now Mrs. Fred Tice of Medford. And when the 72-year-old man, who even now views the world daily from astride a bay-colored horse, decides to take his next airplane ride, Martha Dodge Tice is going with him.



    "After freighting for three or four years [in the late 1880s] I drove stage between Ashland and Linkville and later between Ager, Cal., and Linkville, One night as I was driving the stage from Ager to Linkville, just as I got to the foot of the grade at a place known as Robbers' Roost a man stepped out in the middle of the road and I saw the glint of moonlight on his gun barrel. It was about 10 o'clock at night. Did he say 'Throw up your hands'? No. Stage agents and holdup men never give such a command to a stage driver. Handling four horses, you are in no position to throw up your hands. Your horses might bolt and run away. He said, 'Throw off your mail and express.' I had only one passenger--Mrs. N. S. Buckner, wife of a minister. I threw off the mail and Wells Fargo treasure box and while he stood at the head of my leaders he told me to get my ax, which stage drivers carry in the boot of the stage, and break open the express box. When I had done so he said, 'Now cut open the leather pouch and get me the registered mail.' The stage agent then turned to my passenger, Mrs. Buckner, and said, 'Shell out what you've got.' She was carrying some gold dust. She handed it to him and said, 'My brother, who is now dead, gave me those nuggets and gold dust. I shouldn't think you'd have the heart to take them away from me.' He handed back the buckskin pouch she had given him and said, 'You win. Keep them.'
    "Not long after that I was driving from Linkville to Ager. Jack Buckmaster, who was driving the stage from Ager to Linkville, was held up on the top of the grade. He had only one passenger with him--H. B. Gates of Hillsboro. The holdup man made Buckmaster throw his Wells Fargo express chest and the mail out by the side of the road. He then took what money H. B. Gates, the passenger, had on him and while the stage driver was breaking open the treasure chest the robber said to Gates, 'Make yourself useful; cut open the mail pouch and give me the registered mail.'
    "While this holdup was going on I drove up. The holdup man stepped back a little and covered me with his gun and said to Buckmaster, 'I'm through with you; get to hell out of here.' So Buckmaster and his passenger drove on, while the holdup man took what money I had and made me cut open the pouch so he could get the registered mail. I had no Wells Fargo chest aboard on that trip.
    "The holdup man had no mask on. I thought I recognized him as a man I had seen before, so with an officer I went to Davis, where I found him in a saloon. The officer arrested him and he was tried. He produced as a witness a man who swore that they had slept together in Davis the night of the holdup, so the soft-hearted and soft-headed jury turned him loose on the strength of this alibi. A little later I was held up again at this same place--the head of the grade. The robber took the registered mail. I recognized his voice. He was a man I had met at Ager, but it was his word against mine, so nothing was done with him."
George L. Humphrey, quoted by Fred Lockley, "Impressions and Observations of the Journal Man," Oregon Journal, Portland, January 12, 1932, page 10


    The accompanying reproduction of an early-day poster will recall to many old natives both here and abroad of the fame that once was Jacksonville's.
    It will bring back memories of long, dusty rides over the nearby mountains, of thrilling races with time behind several span of sleek, curried horses and of the always present danger of Indian uprisings and holdups because of the usual cargo of gold bullion.
    Today Jacksonville still has standing its old stage terminal, built of hand-shaped square nails. The last active livery stable and stage terminal, however, operated by George Lewis and later by W. R. Tucker, has been torn down. It stood on the northwest corner of the intersection of California and Fourth streets, where today several backyard mines are flourishing.
    The stage line, which boasted a real Concord stage similar to the one shown on the poster, ran from Jacksonville to Medford, thence back and on to the California line to Blue Ledge mine, which was at its height in the early 1900s. Lewis, who journeyed to Yreka to buy his Concord stage after the railroad had reached that point, operated 22 head of horses and as many as five stages at one time. Even for several years after the Jacksonville railroad was built and operated by George Barnum the stages continued to run in competition with the iron horse, and business to the copper mine was flourishing.
    Lewis, however, possessed a bit of financial wisdom, and when the horseless carriage began to make its appearance in greater numbers than ever, he grasped an opportunity to sell out equipment to W. R. Tucker, who operated the line following the 1907 sale. At the time five stages were kept busy on the all-day route, Jacksonville was at her prime. There was almost no Medford, the courthouse was the scene of bustling activity and the local stores were jammed with customers with heavy pouches of gold dust. Roads were just one big mud hole after another along about this time of year, women wore hoop skirts and circus tent hats, and horsewhips were used on the horses.
    The property which housed the equipment acquired by Tucker was sold to a man named Bailey, and today Clinton Dunnington owns the old livery site and stage terminal corner, which has been reduced to a vacant lot with several mine holes being worked on it. Lewis is bailiff of the circuit court and still resides here.
    Such has been the fate of many pioneer strongholds, and where once this city was the queen of Southern Oregon, it now has taken a back seat in modern activity to the newer Medford, but those who know well the glamorous and historic past of the old town will always regard it as the greatest monument to a colorful and brave pioneer spirit, and the coast's most illustrious mining camp.
    The simple word "Jacksonville" will always hold volumes of life and experience to those who helped make it Oregon's second city, regardless of the present trend of humans and their modes of travel.
    The pioneer stages still come in behind a panting, eager array of horseflesh to those who know and love the old town.
Jacksonville Miner, March 24, 1933, page 4


    Before 1857 there was no line of passenger coaches anywhere in Oregon. One Concord coach owned by Charles Rae was the only stage in the Willamette Valley from 1853 to 1855. A stage line from Portland to Salem was put on the road in 1857, making the journey in one day. In 1859 a mail and passenger coach ran once a week from Salem to Eugene and from Eugene to Jacksonville. Weekly and semi-weekly mails had been carried to the towns on the west side, Hillsboro, Lafayette, Dallas and Corvallis, but the Post Office Department in 1860 ordered this service to be reduced to a bimonthly one, and that the mail should be carried but once a week to Jacksonville and the towns along the way.
    "If Lane keeps on helping us," said the Oregon City Argus, "we shall soon have a monthly mail carried on foot or in a canoe."
    The people were clamoring for a daily mail from Portland to Jacksonville, with no prospect of getting it until the California Stage Company interposed with an offer to the postal department to carry the mail overland daily to Oregon. This company, formed in 1853, a consolidation of the various stage lines in California, began with a $1,000,000 capital, had 750 horses and covered 450 miles of road.
    In June 1860, the California company placed its stock on the road as far as Oakland, Oregon (of course, "old Oakland," not the present Oakland), connecting there with Chase's line to Corvallis, which again connected with the Oregon Stage company's line to Portland. Came the great flood of '61-2, carrying away nearly all the bridges on the line. For many weeks no mails were carried. But, undaunted, business was resumed. The great overland stage days followed. There were several successive owners. Frank Stevens and Louis McLane bought the property in 1866; soon sold it to H. W. Corbett, E. Corbett, Wm. Hall, A. O. Thomas and Jesse D. Carr. It was operated under the name of H. W. Corbett & Co. until 1869, when Carr bought out his partners and operated the lines until 1870, when he sold to the California & Oregon Coast Overland Mail Company.
    This company operated the lines until the early fall of 1885, when the last spike was driven in Southern Oregon on the railroad connecting California with this state. [It was 1887, in December.]
    The last stage for the south left Salem Dec. 7, 1870, taking all horses, wagons, hacks and stages. As the railroad was extended south, until the fall of 1872, successive removals following the front were made, stopping then at Roseburg for 10 years. The front began removals south in the fall of 1882, when the last one went out of Roseburg, accompanied by a brass band. The writer of these lines, being present in a newspaper capacity, wrote up that big news.
Statesman Journal, Salem, January 21, 1934, page 4


    "I drove stage from Grants Pass to Rock Point on Rogue River. In those days the stages had four horses. I was paid $55 a month and keep. I carried the first mail and express taken to Medford. I also drove stage from Kerbyville to Crescent City. No, I never was held up, never was in a runaway; in fact, I never had an accident of any kind during all the years I drove stage."
William Little, quoted by Fred Lockley, "Impressions and Observations of the Journal Man," Oregon Journal, Portland, September 28, 1935, page 4