USA > Oregon > Douglas County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 56
USA > Oregon > Jackson County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 56
USA > Oregon > Josephine County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 56
USA > Oregon > Coos County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 56
USA > Oregon > Curry County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 56
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DOUGLAS COUNTY.
northward, and this led to the idea that these two great rivers united at some indefinite point in the interior transforming, California into an island. It was so indicated on many maps of the seventeenth century, while others, even as late as the discovery of the Columbia, had marked upon them a large river flowing from a vast distance in the interior and entering the ocean about latitude 43ยบ, which was called Aguilar's river.
The papers of Southern Oregon have several times published a statement to the effect that Spanish history records the discovery and christening of the Umpqua as having occurred in 1732. The substance of the story is, that a Spanish vessel became disabled by severe weather at sea and sought for a port on the coast where it could enter and make needed repairs. The mouth of the Umpqua was observed, and this the vessel entered, ascending to near the site of Scottsburg, where the anchor was made fast and the work of repairing began. Many large trees were cut down, and it is asserted that their decayed stumps were observed by the first settlers, who were informed by the Indians that many long years ago a vessel came up the river and the people on board had beards and white faces, and they cut down these trees. As the stumps at that time were upwards of a hundred years old, they must have been in a tolerably good state of preservation to have attracted the attention of the settlers. The story goes on to say that the Indians called the stream Un-ca, meaning river, and from this sprung the present name.
Careful investigation fails to reveal any authority for the above story, while on the contrary there are many evidences, of a negative character to be sure, which throw dis- eredit upon it. For many years before and after the date mentioned no explorations of the coast were made by Spanish vessels or those of any other nation; yet it is possible that one of the Spanish merchantmen from the East Indias, which usually first reached the coast south of Cape Mendocino, may have been blown out of her course and entered the Umpqua in distress, as stated. If this had been the case, however, and the river named as related, then Spanish charts would thereafter have had indicated upon them the Umpqua river ; but such was not the case, for the only river marked in this region on Spanish maps was the one discovered in 1603, and invariably named Rio de AAguilar. It is difficult to understand upon what authority this story of the discovery and naming of the Umpqua rests, and it may well be doubted until better evidence is produced.
From that time until 1827, the Umpqua appears to have remained unknown. The great Northwest Company and Hudson's Bay Company oocupied the disputed territory of Oregon many years before they explored Southern Oregon. Their busi- ness lay to the east, and north of the Cohnubia. In 1827, Jedediah S. Smith, a partner in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, entered Oregon from California at the head of a party of American trappers. The circumstances attending this expedition have been given at length on pages 118 to 121. The scene of Smith's disaster is located variously as on Umpqua river near the coast, on Smith river, which serves in its title to perpet- uate the event, and on various streams further south. Just where it occurred is uneer- tain. From that time trapping parties of the Hudson's Bay Company roamed through this region and set their traps on its numerous streams. So great was the trade which sprung up with the natives that the great company established a fort on the Umpqua a few years later, which served for many years as the headquarters for the business in this region. The post was called Fort Umpqua, and stood on the bank
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SOUTHERN OREGON.
opposite the mouth of Elk creek. This was the outpost of civilization in Southern Oregon. This post was finally abandoned in 1862 and the site is now an immense grain field. Nothing remains to speak of former days but an aged apple tree, which was bearing fruit when the first settlers arrived.
The first division of Oregon into districts for purposes of election and local gor- ernment, was made July 5, 1843. At that time all of Oregon south of Yamhill river and west of the Willamette, and a supposed line running due south from its head- waters to the California boundary, was designated Yamhill district. All south of the Anchiyoke and east of the Willamette and the supposed line as far as the Rocky mountains, was called Champooick district. By this arrangement Douglas county was cut into two nearly equal parts. The population of these two dis- triets was confined to the region north of the Calapooia mountains, all south of the divide, as well as that vast stretch of unoccupied and almost unknown country lying between the Cascade and Rocky mountains, was tacked on to these districts simply be- cause the boundaries of the territory comprehended them, and it was necessary to include them within the limits of some district. Extensive as they were, and impor- tant as they subsequently became, they were then of no political consequence whatever, and it mattered little to what district they belonged or how they were designated.
On the nineteenth of December, 1845, the territory was again subdivided. Southern Oregon was again cut into two parts by the continuation of a line south from the Willamette, the western portion, or Yamhill district being bounded north by Tuality river and Champoeg district by the Clackamas. Three days later a statute was passed changing the name district to county. On the same day the county of Polk was created from Yamhill, its northern boundary being nearly the same as at present and its southern limit the California line. This was done because of the increased number of settlers in the upper end of Willamette valley. Two years later the popu- lation of that section had so increased that two new counties were created. The act of December 23, 1847, confined Polk to its present limits, and erected all south of Polk and west of the middle fork of the Willamette and its production to the California line, into a new county called Benton. Five days later Champoeg county, the name of which had been changed to Marion, was curtailed, and all south of the Santiam and east of Benton county, clear to the summit of the Rocky mountains, was made the county of Linn. In 1846 a party of fifteen men from the Willamette valley explored the Umpqua region, commanded by Major Thorp. Among them was Philip Peters, who settled on Deer creek in 1851, where he still resides. No immediate settlements followed this exploring tour.
This was the condition of Douglas county when it was first invaded by citizens of the United States in search of a home ; divided in its allegiance between the counties of Linn and Benton, named in honor of those two sturdy giants of the United States senate who had fought so long, so earnestly and so successfully for the rights of our country in Oregon, and occupied only by the representatives of that great English cor- poration which had rendered the battle necessary. It was in June, 1846, that the explorers of the southern emigrant route [see pages 148 and 304] passed through the county, but it was not until the spring of 1848 that the leader of that party, Captain
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42.9
WALLING - LITH -PORTLAND-OR.
EARLY RESIDENCE OF FENDEL SUTHERLIN, BUILT IN 1853. NEAR OAKLAND, DOUGLAS CO.
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DOUGLAS COUNTY.
Levi Scott, left his former home in the Willamette and settled in Scott's valley, on Elk creek, not many miles from the Hudson's Bay Company's post. At the same time his two sons, William and John, settled near by in Yoncalla valley, as did also Robert and Thomas Cowan. The next year Jesse Applegate, J. T. Cooper, John Long and - Jeffery settled in the same neighborhood. Prior to all these settlements was that of Warren N. Goodell, who located a donation claim on the site of the present town of Drain, in the year 1847.
In 1850 travel to and from the California mines increased, and pack trains with loads of goods began to be seen on the trails. The number of settlers materially increased, especially in the upper end of the county, the majority of the newcomers being from the Willamette valley. Captain Scott went down the Umpqua and laid out the town of Scottsburg, as a supplying point for the upper country.
There were accessions also from the south, by way of the sea from San Francisco. The map of Fremont's explorations, which was the one upon which all Americans relied for their information in regard to Pacific coast geography, indicated the Klamath as issuing from Klamath lake, and entering the ocean in the vicinity of Rogue river, the two streams being confounded by the great "Pathfinder." The excitement about the Trinity mines and the discovery of gold on Klamath river and its affluents, couple d with the knowledge gained from dear experience that the Klamath was not navigable, led a number of men to look still further north to the Umpqua as being a river which could be entered, and on the banks of which could be founded a city which would be a base of supplies for the mines of Northern California. These men organized under the name of Winchester, Payne & Co., and dispatched the schooner Samuel Roberts up the coast in command of Captain Coffin, the expedition being in charge of Peter Mackey. They passed the Klamath and came to the mouth of Rogue river, and sup- posing it to be the Umpqua, Mackey landed with two of his party. They were quickly surrounded by Indians, who evinced a hostile intent. The men endeavored to reach their boats with the purpose of returning to the vessel, but the savages interposed, crowded around them and pulled their clothing, buttons, etc., in an exceedingly impo- lite manner. The three men stood back to back in the center of the crowd of savages. partially defending themselves by pushing their insulters away or knocking them off with their revolvers, not daring to shoot for fear of the consequences. Seeing their precarious situation, Captain Coffin moved the vessel closer in shore and discharged a cannon loaded with nails, in such a manner as to have the contents cut through the trees over the heads of the savages. The noise and effect were so novel and terrifying that the Indians fled in a panic to the seclusion of the dense forest. The men then went aboard, and the schooner continued its voyage up the coast. The Umpqua river was reached in due time and safely entered. This was the first American vessel to enter the Umpqua, and possibly the first vessel of any kind, in spite of the traditions about a Spanish ship having done so more than a century before.
After a hasty exploration of the river, the party returned to San Francisco with glowing accounts of the Umpqua, and its adaptability for a port of entry for goods, and travel to the mines of Northern California. Winchester, Payne & Co. immedi- ately fitted out another schooner, the Kate Heath, and dispatched it to the Umpqua with a party of 100 men, headed by Winchester himself, and containing many men
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who have since been closely identified with the development of Southern Oregon, among them being A. C. Gibbs, later governor of the state. The object of the expe- dition was to select suitable town sites at favorable points for the transaction of business, to have them laid off in lots which were to be divided equally among the members of the company, and to ship to San Francisco timber to be used for piling, for which there was then an urgent demand. The Kate Heath sailed in September, and soon entered the mouth of the Umpqua.
As they crossed the bar they were surprised to observe the wreck of a vessel, which had but recently run upon the sands. This was the Bostonian, which had been dispatched around Cape Horn by a Boston merchant named Gardiner. The merchan- dise with which the vessel was loaded was under the charge of George Snelling, a nephew of Gardiner. In endeavoring to enter the river the Bostonian lost the channel and was wrecked upon the bar. By much labor the crew managed to save the bulk of the cargo, and this was taken up the river a few miles and sheltered beneath a canvas covering made from the sails of the stranded ship. The place thus occupied was named Gardiner, in honor of the owner of the ship and goods, and on the same spot now stands the town of Gardiner.
At the entrance of the river, on the north bank, Winchester, Payne & Co. laid out their first town, which was christened Umpqua City. They passed up the stream, finding the shipwrecked Yankees in camp at Gardiner. At the mouth of Smith river a number of men were landed, who began getting out piling timber to be shipped back to San Francisco upon the return of the vessel. The others continued up the river to Scottsburg, where they found Captain Levi Scott already in possession of a town site. They laid out a town adjoining his location and embracing a tract gener- ously donated by him for that purpose. This was the portion of Scottsburg called the " Lower Town," which succumbed to the power of the flood in the winter of 1861-2, and is now a sandy waste. A number of the party went up the stream to Elk creek, and laid out the town of Elkton, while Mr. Winchester secured a fine location still further up the Umpqua, where he founded a town upon which he bestowed his own name.
Winchester and the others then returned to the mouth of Smith river, and the schooner was loaded with piles and spars for her return voyage to San Francisco. Meanwhile harmony had not prevailed in the company. A misunderstanding arose between Mr. Winchester and some of his associates. They refused to sail for a long time, alleging that the bar was too rough to be crossed in safety, and when the schooner finally arrived in San Francisco with her cargo the time of her contract had expired, and Winchester, Payne & Co. became bankrupt. The association dispersed, the town sites were abandoned and the great project came to an inglorious end. The subsequent history of Umpqua City, Gardiner, Scottsburg, Elkton and Winchester will be found on another page.
Mr. A. R. Flint, a hale and hearty old gentleman of seventy-six years, a sur- veyor by profession and the first clerk of Douglas county, still resides in Roseburg. He thus speaks of his advent into the Umpqua region, and his experiences are given as an example of the many. Mr. Flint says : " In September, 1850. I came to Oregon to lay out the town of Winchester, on the North Umpqua river. While there I learned
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DOUGLAS COUNTY.
of the passage of the donation homestead act for Oregon, which induced me eventu- ally to take a claim and consider Oregon as my future home. I returned to San Fran- cisco in the spring of 1851, and came back with my family in the first steamer that came into the Umpqua river. From the steamer we took an open boat to Scottsburg. From here the only means of travel was on horseback, on an Indian trail. On arriv- ing at Winchester we found John Aiken and family, and Thomas Smith, who together owned the ferry at that place. We were informed by them that there was not a house south of that place until we reached Sacramento valley in California. [A mistake, for Yreka and Scott river mines were then in full blast.] We located and built a small house there. While at Winchester I went out to see the location on which Roseburg is now situated. At that time there was an Indian rancheria near the river, on what is now the western part of the city of Roseburg. Mrs. Flint did not at that time have courage enough to locate among the Indians, so we abandoned the idea of taking for our future home the location which we have since made our home for the past twenty- five years."
The increase of settlements along the Umpqua in 1850 led to the establishment of a county government for their benefit the following winter. The county seat of Linn was fixed at Albany, and that of Benton at Marysville, subsequently called Corvallis. These two counties were circumscribed to nearly their present limits on the south, while the region between them and California was apportioned between two new counties called Umpqua and Lane, the latter named in honor of the first governor, whose name appears so often in this volume. Umpqua county's boundary line began on the coast at the southwest corner of Benton, and ran east to the dividing ridge of the Calapooia mountains, followed the ridge to Calapooia creek and down that stream to its mouth, and thence west to the Pacific. All the remainder of Southern Oregon south of Benton and Linn belonged to the county of Lane.
In April, 1851, the governor issued a proclamation designating Jesse Applegate's house in Yoncalla valley, Resin Reed's, Aikin's at Umpqua Ferry, and Scottsville (Scottsburg), as polling places for the election to select officers for the new county. The election was held on the second of June, and resulted in the choice of the following officers : J. W. Drew, representative ; J. W. Huntington, clerk ; HI. Jacquett, sheriff; A. German, treasurer ; A. Pierce, assessor ; B. J. Grubbe, J. N. Hull and William Golden, county commissioners. The total vote was seventy-eight. A. R. Flint received a large number of votes for representative, and Daniel Wells and E. R. Fisk were well supported for clerk.
The condition of that portion of the present county of Douglas is well described in the following extract from a letter to the Statesman, dated at Mt. Yonealla, July 4, 1851. The correspondent says :
"Our county [Umpqua] is organized, the machinery is set up, and it will soon start. We need internal improvements very much, which it is supposed the new machinery will supply, but we ought not to expect too much. The roads leading to Scottsburg are as yet but trails and travelers' descriptions of them are prefaced with horrid oaths and violent imprecation. Elkton has as yet but a political existence, but is named as the site of the county seat. It is opposite Fort Umpqua, on the river. Claims are taken from here to the month of the river. Those east of Scottsburg team
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with luxuriant grass, those below are overhung with luxuriant speculation of their future. As far up as Winchester claims are being improved. Twelve months ago, but two or three claims had been taken on the river ; now they are all taken. Scottsburg or Myrtle City, is at the head of navigation, but below it are many prospective towns, beautifully pictured on paper. There are two ferries on the Umpqua, and a road from Winchester to Scottsburg. Winchester lies on both sides of the Umpqua river about five miles above the forks, and is located upon favorable ground, thickly timbered. General Lane's claim adjoins it on the south. The city plot has been laid out in lots and is fast becoming a mart of trade. The main road to the Canyon passes through Winchester. Major Kearney is now exploring for a road east of this, and Jesse Apple- gate and Levi Scott are with him as guides. They are now near Table Rock on Rogue river."
The year 1851, saw a marked change in the condition of this region. Many families came down from the Willamette valley while numerous emigrants came in direct from the east. Nearly every little valley received from one to half a dozen set- tlements. From the Calapooias to Rogue river could be seen every few miles the smoke ascending from the clay chimney of some pioneer's log cabin. The population became so numerous that a successful effort was made the next winter to secure a sep- arate county government for the region of the Upper Umpqua, and Myrtle, Cow and Canyon creeks. By the act of January 6, 1852, Lane county was deprived of all its territory south of its present limits, by the creation of Douglas county, a concurrent act, though not passed until the twelfth, establishing Jackson county to embrace all south of Douglas and Umpqua counties.
As first created Douglas county's boundaries were as follows: Commencing at the mouth of Calapooia creek ; thence following said creek up its main fork to its source ; thence due east to the summit of the Cascade mountains ; thence running due south to the summit of the dividing ridge separating the waters of Rogue river from the waters of the Umpqua ; thence westerly along the summit of said ridge to the summit of the Coast Range of mountains separating the waters of Coquille and Cones (Coos) rivers from the Umpqua; thence northerly along the summit of said Coast Range to a point where the south line of Umpqua county crosses said range ; thence due east along the south line of Umpqua county to the point of beginning. Election precincts were designated at Resin Reed's in Winchester, at Knott's in the Canyon, and at Roberts' in South Umpqua valley. By the act of the seventeenth of the same month the county seat was located at the town of Winchester.
A clerk and a temporary board of county commissioners were appointed for the purpose of setting the county machinery in motion. The first meeting of the board of county commissioners was held at Winchester on the fourth day of April, 1852. On this occasion F. R. Hill called the body to order and its organization was effected. Lots were drawn to determine the length of term, and J. E. Danford drew the shorter term, his official life expiring after the election to be held two months later, William F. Perry's ending in the following year and Thomas Smith's in 1854. The first days' business of the board consisted mainly in granting licenses for the keeping of "groceries" -some four of which were authorized to transact business at an average rate of $50 per year. F. R. Hill was appointed sheriff of Douglas county, to hold office until the next
WALLING-LITH-PORTLAND-OM.
FARM RESIDENCE OF S.C. TAYLOR, 4 MILES N.E. OF PHOENIX, JACKSON CD.
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DOUGLAS COUNTY.
general election. On the following day the county was divided into precincts, six in number, known as Calapooya, Winchester, Deer Creek, Roseburg, Looking-glass, Myrtle Creek, and Canyonville, precincts. These precincts were empowered to choose one justice of the peace and one constable, with the exception of the last named which was allowed two. In the interim the following named gentlemen were appointed to the justice-ships'. Calapooya, C. Barrett ; Winchester, Henry Evans ; Deer Creek, W. B. Skinner; Looking-glass, H. D. Bryant ; Myrtle Creek, - Burnett ; Canyonville, Messrs. Lockhart and Johnson. The minutes are subscribed by A. R. Flint, first clerk of the county of Douglas. The commissioners as well as the probate court met in a room over William J. Martin's store, in Winchester; and the district court, at its special terms was held in a room over J. E. Walton's store in the same village. The rental paid for each room was $3, per day while the same was in use.
The election held the ensuing June for choosing a full set of county officers, was warmly contested, there being several candidates for every office but that of clerk. Douglas and Umpqua were included in one council district and elected Captain Levi Scott to the council, his opponents being Felix Scott and J. W. Drew. The candidates for the other officers were as follows, the one first named being elected ; representative, E. J. Curtis and W. J. Martin ; probate judge, S. Fitzhue, H. C. Hale, S. B. Briggs, G. S. Chapin and S. Gardiner ; clerk, A. R. Flint ; sheriff, F. R. Hill, D. P. Barnes and F. M. Hill ; (error in ballots) treasurer, George Hannan, G. S. Chapin and Benja- min Grubbe ; assessor, C. W. Smith and Jesse Clayton ; coroner, C. Grover and W. K. Kilborn ; county commissioners, J. C. Danford, W. T. Perry, Thomas Smith, William Riddle, C. C. Reed, and W. H. Riddle. The total vote was 163. At the county elec- tion held a year later the number of ballots cast was increased to 306, or nearly double.
Though Winchester was designated as the county seat and was the largest settle- ment within the limits of the county, it had a strong rival almost from the first. Four miles further up the Umpqua Aaron Rose had laid out the town of Roseburg, and being a wide-awake, energetic man, he began at once to secure for his embryo city the honors and advantages which accrue to a town possessing the distinction of being a county seat. Aided by the rapid increase of settlements to the south of Roseburg, Mr. Rose succeeded finally in securing the passage of the act of December 23, 1853. providing for the submission of the question of a permanent location of the county seat to be held on the second Monday in March, 1854. When the day of battle arrived, Mr. Rose invited the settlers of Looking-glass valley, who aspired to the pos- session of the coveted honor, to accept of his hospitalities. The enjoyment of his generosity so worked upon the feelings of the guests that they went in a body to the polls and voted in favor of Roseburg. The loss of the county seat was a sad blow to Winchester, which was already on the rapid decline as a business point, and a few years later the whole town was moved bodily to Roseburg, including the U. S. land office, which had been established there.
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