USA > Oregon > Douglas County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 68
USA > Oregon > Jackson County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 68
USA > Oregon > Josephine County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 68
USA > Oregon > Coos County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 68
USA > Oregon > Curry County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 68
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Iowa slough enters the Coquille about twelve miles above the bar. Its former name was Dead Man's slough, given on account of the murder of two white men, Venable and Burton, upon its banks in 1854. Five Indians were supposed to have been con- cerned in this act, and three of them being captured, were taken to Randolph and hanged. One of the others was hanged on Battle Rock at Port Orford, as before men- tioned.
Traffic between the Coquille valley and Coos bay is conducted very peculiarly. Travelers may pass between Coquille City and Marshfield by means of a road, difficult and sometimes nearly impassable; or they may take the celebrated Beaver slough route, by which freight is usually brought into the Coquille region. It is a very pecul- iar mode of traveling and somewhat beyond ordinary powers of description. Poets have sung the terrors and trials incident to the Beaver slough passage, and careworn passengers have compared the whole thing to the horrors of the African slave ships. Setting out from Myrtle Point, the traveler is ordinarily compelled to walk about a mile and a half when, Providence permitting, he is taken into a small boat and rowed to the Ceres or the Little Annie, and conveyed to the mouth of Beaver slough, a few miles below Coquille City ; here awaits him a long, double-ended skiff, manned by two oarsmen, whose business it is to pole the boat up the narrow, still and tortuous. ditch- like slough for a few miles, when the traveler gets into a wagon and is transported sev- eral miles further to the far-famed isthmus railway, where, on a car drawn by a dummy engine, he is brought to Isthmus slough at a point where the water is navigable to the bay and he reaches Marshfield, finishing his journey by steamer, after having exper- ienced the delights of travel on foot, in skiffs, by two different steamers, in a mud- wagon and by train, at an expense of a dollar or two and a day's time.
The next place of importance on the Coquille below Beaver slough is Parkersburg, a mill site, located on a bluff on the south bank of the river. The place derives its name from Captain Parker, a prominent individual who has inhabited the county for many years, and who, in company with M. L. Hanscom, built a saw mill at the place named. This mill, after producing a great deal of lumber, was burned, and a new one built to replace it. The present structure is a very imposing one, being situated at a considerable height above the water's edge, and is 120 feet long. It was finished in the fall of 1883 and is provided with the best of machinery, steam propelled, and has an immense capacity. Surrounding it are quite a number of neat cottages, the residences of those who are engaged in or about the mill. This is the station of the tug boat Katie Cook, which is used to tow vessels in and out of the river. A new hotel is being built at Parkersburg, and the place has had a postoffice for some time.
Near Parkersburg is the fish canning establishment of the Coquille Packing Com- pany. This is an important and quite recent enterprise, begun in the spring of 1883 by D. H. Getchell, Frank N. Getchell, E. W. Getchell, J. W. Hume, S. A. Miller and E. R. Hawes, who compose the association, the object being to make use of the enor- mous number of salmon which run in the Coquille. Perfect success crowned their
WALLING-LITH PORTLAND-DR.
BABTIST CHURCH.
ACADEMY.
MARSHFIELD, Coos Co.
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COOS COUNTY.
. efforts, and a business has resulted which employs a hundred men during the salmon season, and is of great consequence to the county. The cannery is first-class in its ap- pointments, being modeled after the Columbia river canning establishments, where the manager, D. IL. Getchell, has had a large experience. The apparatus required was shipped from Portland, Oregon, on a steamer, which on her return voyage carried from the Coquille a cargo of lumber. This voyage is the only one ever made between the Columbia and Coquille by a steamer. A short distance above Parkersburg is Jens Jensen's fishery, where salmon are caught, salted and barreled for export. One or two other stations of this sort exist on the Coquille. 120,000 salmon are reckoned to have been caught in the river in 1883.
The firm of Grube, Pohl and Rink built a saw mill upon the north side of the river, a mile above Parkersburg, in 1867, which was the first mill of importance erected on the Coquille. Captain Tichenor purchased and shipped in 1869 the first cargo of lumber ever taken over the Coquille bar. Mr. Grube now owns the mill, having pur- chased his partners' interests. Several vessels, mostly schooners, have been built at the mill. The mill firm had the misfortune to lose the Cordelia, a steamer commanded by Captain Clemens, a resident of Coquille, which vessel was lost with several persons in January, 1878. The total production of the Grube mill from the beginning until the present time is supposed to have been ten million feet of lumber.
The present village of Randolph stands at the foot of a rather steep bluff a few hundred yards north of the Coquille and two or three miles from the month of that stream. The little river steamers come to the wharves of this small city, making their way np a small but deep slough which furnishes sufficient water for that species of navigation. Randolph has a post office, a store or two, a brewery of very fair beer, and a small number of cosy residences, and contains perhaps 100 inhabitants, whose chief occupation is lumbering and salmon catching. Near town is a Inmber chute leading from the brow of the bluff spoken of and ending at the slough, where the logs, launched from the steep height, come down like a flash of light, and plunge into the waters. The town's name is derived from a preceding town of Randolph, a celebrated mining camp, of which we will speak later.
Bandon is a small village at the month of the river, built upon the bluff to the southward of the entrance. It has a very good location for commerce purposes and will probably keep at least even growth with the Coquille valley, whose principal port of entry it may be. The place was founded and named by George Bennett, who settled it in 1873, bringing from Bandon, in Ireland, his two sons, J. W. and G. A. Bennett, now editors and proprietors of the Coos Bay News, of Marshfield ; and six others, with the intention of forming a colony. When work began upon the jetty at the Coquille bar, Bandon took a forward step in growth, and a portion of the money expended there went directly to build up the place. At present there are three hotels, two stores, a Roman Catholic chapel, wharves, a ferry, and other improvements, Bandon is quite a health resort ; and in truth it would be difficult to find a locality better adapted to the restoration or preservation of exuberant health. The climate, as shown in the meteor- ological tables accompanying this work, is favorable, inasmuch as the annual variation of temperature is a minimum. The sea-breezes renovate the atmosphere and brace np the system; the vicinity abounds with beautiful and grand scenery and numerous objects of
63
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SOUTHERN OREGON.
interest; there is a chalybeate spring near by ; and finally the neighboring woods abound with game, as does the sea with fish.
Like all the rivers of the northwest coast the Coquille has a bar at its mouth, which has been the means of almost entirely preventing vessels from entering. Of late the United States government has undertaken works that, although as yet incom- plete, have materially improved the entrance. Formerly the Coquille ran out to sea through a channel comparatively free from rocks, but giving insufficient depth of water; at a later period the main channel became choked up and diverted to a rocky and tortuons course by which for several years vessels were effectually kept ont. A few years since a survey of the bar was made by Major Bolton, of the U. S. engineers, who recommended that $200,000 be expended in constructing jetties upon the Eads system, whereby the current could be confined to a small portion of the embouchure and its wearing power be so increased as to deepen the channel materially. About $20,000 was expended in accordance with this suggestion, with the most gratifying results. A jetty was built out for several hundred feet, by driving piles and filling interspaces with rocks, and the current has returned to its old channel which has been deepened several feet. At present there is a sufficiency of water to allow small coasting vessels to pass, and no doubt exists that with the expenditure of more money and the proper lengthening of the jetty, the largest deep water ships might enter. Formerly vessels were often detained for weeks, either within the bar or without, but at present detention is rare. Freights and insurance are lower, the saw mills, which furnish the most of the freight have increased their output, and beneficial effect of the government work are apparent in a variety of ways.
CHAPTER LXI.
COOS BAY AND ITS VICINITY.
Description-Character of the Land-Geographical Explorations-Discovery of the Bay-The Coos Bay Com- pany -- The Randolph Mines-The Coal Mines.
The region of Coos Bay lies north of that part described, and is separated from it by a water-shed of low hills running parallel to the Coquille river. The tract sur- rounds Coos bay, which receives a number of rivers, creeks and sloughs which drain the land of the vicinity. The bay is an extremely irregular body of water, perhaps fifty square miles in area, and possessing a number of arms which penetrate the land for a considerable distance and add materially to its area. It is of great value by reason of its navigability, affording easy means of communication between the various points. There is a sufficient depth of water, particularly in the western portions, to float the largest ships; and even the narrow sloughs emptying into it are susceptible of being improved so as to float vessels of considerable size.
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COOS COUNTY.
The character of the land is similar in most respects to that of the Coquille. A very large amount of marsh land is found on the various tributary sloughs and creeks, most of it being covered with a heavy plant growth. A great deal of this land is susceptible of being reclaimed, when it will be enormously productive. Myrtle bot- toms of the ordinary description are common upon the Coos, Millicamas and other streams emptying into the bay, and a great many settlements have been made by enter- prising farmers. There is no lack of fertile soil on which to settle, but the great diffi- culty of clearing these lands is almost insurmountable. If, in addition, they have to be dyked to keep the water from overflowing them, tho cost is much increased, and unlimited labor and expense are incurred. In spite of this the farming community are invariably in a fairly prosperous condition, obtaining satisfactory prices for their products, and realizing high profits.
The world had its first knowledge of the cost of Coos county from the explora- tions of D'Aguilar and Cook, the former having discovered upon the coast a headland, which he named Blanco, because of its color, but whether the headland was Cape Orford or Cape Arago it is impossible now to tell. He also discovered what he took to be the mouth of a large river in the latitude of Coos bay, which was doubtless the bay itself. This he did not enter, but was driven away by stress of weather. Later on came Captain Cook, who named the point of land between the Coquille and the bay Cape Gregory, from the fact of the discovery taking place on the day devoted to that saint. Cape Gregory is now best known by the name of Cape Arago. Captain Cook made no attempt to rediscover D'Aguilar's river, and, in fact, doubted that any such discovery had been made. After him came Vancouver, who likewise passed along the coast without remarking anything except the peculiar features of Cape Gregory. After them came many other navigators, but Coos bay seems never to have achieved men- tion-though its existence probably was known to the Hudson Bay employees at Fort Umpqua-until 1852, when a report concerning it was circulated in the Umpqua val- ley, then receiving its first settlers, and King, a venturesome individual, got up a com- pany to search for it. The explorers set out from Winchester and went by way of Scottsburg to the sea coast and then southward to the bay. They were P. B. Marple, Fitzhugh, Flournoy, Peyton, King and two other whites, with two Indians as guides or interpreters. Their expedition resulted in the discovery of the bay, but how long they remained or how minutely and extensively they examined the region cannot be told. Probably this happened pretty late in the year, for in the following May of 1853 we hear of Marple lecturing publicly in Jacksonville on the beauties and advan- tages of the Coos Bay country, as it was already called, and endeavoring to organize a joint stock company to go there under his lead and take possession of the country. In this he was successful ; and an association of men calling themselves the Coos Bay Company, set out, with the lecturer as guide, for the promised land. It was at a time when, as before mentioned, a perfect fever raged for discovering and settling seaports available for traffic with the mines, and no difficulty was found in securing recruits and selling stock. Marple was to have ten thousand dollars for his services as pilot and for his discovery, providing that it was as represented. The object of the com- pany was to thoroughly explore the region, sound its waters, and locate donation claims and townsites upon available spots, and so gain control of the bay and its tributaries.
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SOUTHERN OREGON.
These objects they carried out as well as their means would allow. These pioneers of Coos county were W. H. Harris, S. R. Belknap, Solomon Bowermaster, A. P. DeCuis, Dr. J. H. Foster, A. P. Gaskell, C. W. Johnson, M. M. Learn, F. G. Lockhart, P. B. Marple, J. A. J. McVay, Joseph McVay, Dr. A. B. Overbeck, Charles Pierce, David Rohrer, H. A. Stark, S. K. Temple, A. H. Thrift and George L. Weeks. They made their way to the head waters of the middle fork of the Coquille, in Camas valley, and followed that stream to its confluence with the main river and then to the ocean and then up the beach to South slough and the site of Empire City. Captain Harris immediately filed a claim to the latter locality as his donation, the first taken in Coos county. Lockhart took a claim at North Bend, and the other members of the com- pany, with outside parties who arrived subsequent to the above named, took the most available claims very quickly. Curtis Noble took the Coos City claim and J. C. Tol- man the Marshfield site.
The first vessel known to have entered the bay was a schooner bound for the mouth of the Umpqua, that through mistake, found herself in the bay instead. This was in 1852. The first vessel to bring a cargo to the bay was the Cynosure, a sailing craft, commanded by Captain Whippy, which arrived in 1853, soon after the opening of the Randolph mines. The mention of these famous diggings calls up a subject of the greatest interest and importance. Before the Coos Bay Company and its members had got fairly settled on their new claims, some half-breed Indians prospecting on the ocean beach just north of the mouth of the Coquille, found abundance of gold in the black sand at the mouth of Whisky run, a very small stream which makes its way into the ocean. They worked these placers somewhat, finding gold in very fine par- ticles, unevenly distributed through the mass of sand, sometimes there being hardly a color ; but at others it was not uncommon to get eight or ten dollars from a pan- ful of dirt. These men sold their claim in the summer of 1853, the purchasers being the Macnamara brothers, who worked it with excellent results. The total yield of this claim is said to have been $100,000. Joe Crowley, one of the origi- nal discoverers of the Randolph mines, made his fortune in them and departed, taking away a mule load of gold. His luck was diversified, however, for he died a pauper. The rumor of these rich mines having spread, innumerable miners flocked to them and began prospecting. The ocean beach was staked off for miles in every direction, and not less than a thousand men were gathered there. Besides these, an indefinite number were prospecting along the shore from Trinidad, in California, to the Umpqua river. A town sprang up at Whisky Run, and speedily became a place of importance, containing saloons, restaurants, stores, lodging houses, tents and cabins in large numbers. The place was named by Dr. Foster and Captain Harris, for the famed Virginian, Randolph of Roanoke. The Coos Bay Company built a trail from Empire City-their chief settlement and capital, as it were-to the mines. The min- ing fever was of great use to Coos bay and its vicinity, since it brought to the attention of the world at large the advantageous situation of the new port. After a few months of active work the mines lost prestige and speedily sank out of sight, to be replaced in the public mind by another sort of mining, and one that was destined to be of far greater consequence than mere gold seeking.
+
1
WALLING-LITH-PORTLAND-OR.
SAW-MILL PROPERTY OF THE COQUILLE MILL AND TUG CO. PARKERSBURG, COOS Co.
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COOS COUNTY.
The first coal discovered was on the Lockhart claim, at North Bend. The seam was eighteen inches in thickness, and was deemed so valuable that the owner refused $40,000 for it. Veins were soon after found near Empire City and at other places, but none of them were immediately worked. The first coal shipped to San Francisco was minedon the Boatman claim, near Coal Bank slough, and brought a price of forty dollars per ton. A previous cargo had been lost with the vessel carrying it, on the Coos Bay bar. In 1855 the mines of Newport and Eastport were opened and during the next year shipments began to take place. These were rival properties, the New- port being owned by Lanagan and Rogers, while the Eastport belonged to Northrup and Symonds, who were succeeded by the Pershbakers, who sold to J. L. Pool, the present proprietor. A. J. Davis, who distinguished himself as one of the town pro- prietors of Marshfield, acting as agent for a San Francisco firm, opened a mine near the mouth of Isthmus slough, in 1856, expending money lavishly to construct a rail- road, storehouses, wharf, etc., before the size of the vein and the quality of the coal were found out. The mine proved unsatisfactory in these respects and was abandoned after an expenditure of full seventy-five thousand dollars. The Hardy mine, opposite North Bend, was opened in later years at even a greater expense, and proved equally valueless. The Henryville mine, opened in 1874, is a still more striking example of the same kind. The Southport mine on the contrary, has proved valuable and lasting, and is still producing coal.
Trade centered originally at Empire City and that place had a speedy, but not long lived growth. The town is about six miles from the bar at the mouth of Coos bay. It now, after thirty years of existence and innumerable perturbations, contains about one hundred buildings, mostly situated upon a beach about twenty-five feet in elevation, but the business portion is built upon the flats, at less height. Its buildings are generally well constructed, and embrace three hotels, four saloons, a drug store, variety store, and two stores of miscellaneous articles, a dilapidated Methodist church, and a school house where thirty pupils receive instruction. In front of the town there are mud flats of considerable extent, which prevent vessels from approaching near the shore, and across these flats some wharves are extended. Cammann's is the longest, and has a railroad track for transporting goods between vessels and the town. Com- merce, mining and lumbering built up Empire City, and the gradual decay of the one and the busy rivalry of Marshfield in the others have been the partial ruin of the place. Luse's large steam saw mill, which cut 20,000 feet of lumber daily, has ceased its work forever. The neighboring coal seams, found on the Marple and Foley claims, have been abandoned long since. Empire City, notwithstanding her decay, still remains the county seat ; and this fact has the most to do with sustaining her existence. Coos Bay being a port of entry, the United States custom house is located at Empire City. In 1857 the Oregon legislature petitioned congress to remove the port of entry from Port Orford to " Kowes Bay," or else to form a new collection district of the latter, which in the fullness of time was done. Empire City has apparently taken a new lease of life in consequence of the operations and investments of the Southern Oregon Improve- ment company, who have purchased a great deal of property in and about the place, including 170 town lots.
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SOUTHERN OREGON.
The promising and important town of Marshfield, the emporium of the Coos Bay country, and the true capital of the region, stands upon the southern shore of the bay, nearly east from Empire City, to which there is access by land and by water, the latter course being twice as long as the former, since the small passenger steamers are com- pelled to follow a course curved like a horse-shoe, whereof Marshfield and Empire occupy the two ends. As before remarked, J. C. Tolman was the first claimant of the town site. He built a log house upon the land, which building is now occupied by M. Malarkey. In order to build up a town Mr. Tolman induced Crosby and Williams to put up a store, which they did, but failed to continue the venture. In 1854 A. J. Davis became possessed of a half interest in the site, and hired to represent his interest, Wilkins Warwick, who was to hold the claim. Warwick entered the land in his own name, but subsequent to an act of congress prohibiting town sites from being held as donation claims, which vitiated the title to the land and was eventually a source of detriment to the place. H. H. Luse, purchasing Warwick's title, got it confirmed at great expense and trouble, and for many years kept the land (160 acres) in litigation. Finally, at his death the Southern Oregon Improvement Company purchased his title and cut the Gordian knot by having the land appraised, and sold it to the uneasy occupants at one-fourth discount. The name had been given the place as early as 1854, either as descriptive of the surrounding country, which is somewhat moist, or in memory of Marshfield, Massachusetts, the home of Daniel Webster. Only a small trading post and a humble inn existed here until 1867, ten years after the time was surveyed into lots. The store was kept by various persons at different times, the best known of them being Charles Pershbaker. The little tavern was kept by "Cap." Hamilton. In 1867 the Marshfield saw mill was built by John Pershbaker, and ship- building was actively begun. The vessels launched here were the tug Escort, the schooners Stayhound, Louisa Morrison, Ivanhoe and Annie Stauffer, and the barkentine Amelia. The firm of Dean, Wilcox and Merchant came into possession of the mill property about 1873 and continued the building of vessels, of which about a dozen have since been launched at the Marshfield yard.
The town has pursued a steady growth in subsequent years, bidding successfully for the trade of the bay, and has attained a population of about 800. There are three large stores of general merchandise, two drug stores, three blacksmith shops, two furni- ture stores, two variety stores, a hardware store, two butcher shops, two millinery stores, three boot and shoe stores, two jewelers, three doctors, a dentist and five lawyers. There are three hotels, a restaurant, two livery stables; also several secret societies-of whom the Masons have a hall of their own, two photographic establishments, eight saloons, a brewery, the Marshfield Academy (the most westerly educational concern of a high order in America), a church now being built, and two newspaper offices complete the list. The Coos Bay News, was established by John M. Siglin, being the first news- paper issued in the county. It is now conducted by the Bennetts, J. W. and G. A. The Coast Mail is also a weekly issue, but of comparatively recent foundation.
The firm of E. B. Dean and company own and conduct a varied business, embrac- ing merchandise, the manufacture of lumber and ship building. The steam saw mill has a capacity of cutting 50,000 feet of lumber, daily, this being the largest in the
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COOS COUNTY.
country. At the yard have been built a large number of vessels, those launched before the year 1879 aggregating 5,500 tons.
Marshfield wears quite an imposing appearance as seen from the water front. The large mill, the bay steamboats lying at the long wharf, the sailing vessels loading there, the active business portion of the town, and the pleasant residences in the back- ground shaded by lofty evergreens, make up a picture which is at once unique and en- livening. There are quite a number of settlements on or near the bay, of importance secondary to the two mentioned. At North Bend the large saw mill and ship yard of A. M. Simpson and brother are located. The senior partner of the firm is the pio- 'neer manufacturer of lumber npon Coos bay, and laid here the foundation of his wealth and influence. Up to the year 1878 twenty-two vessels have been built at the yard with a total tonnage of nearly 10,000. One of these, the ship Western Shore, was the largest craft ever launched on the Pacific ocean. This yard is the most important in the state.
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