USA > Oregon > Douglas County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 69
USA > Oregon > Jackson County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 69
USA > Oregon > Josephine County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 69
USA > Oregon > Coos County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 69
USA > Oregon > Curry County > History of southern Oregon, comprising Jackson, Josephine, Douglas, Curry and Coos counties, comp. from the most authentic sources > Part 69
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Coaledo is located at the head of boat navigation on Beaver slough, five meander- ing miles from the Coquille. The town, as its name may imply, took its rise from coal mines, for William Utter opened the mine which bears his name, situated a mile away, and directly the village of Coaledo became a reality. A great deal of money was expended in the search for coal, and a railway was built for its transportation ; but the prospector failed and Coaledo lost the greater part of its population. It is now nine years since work ceased, and time and fire have made many ravages in the village. It now has a hotel, a saloon and a few residences. A mile and a half away are the ruins of a saw mill built in 1874 by Mr. Dunham. Some logging is done on the isth- mus, as the locality is called, and the lumber is transported to the bay, being taken on the isthmus railway, previously mentioned, to deep water on Isthmus slough, a branch of Coos bay. The northern terminus of this miniature railroad is Utter City, named for the indefatigable coal prospector. Across Isthmus slough from the last mentioned locality are the works of a very extensively but unsuccessfully prospected coal mine, which, like Utter's, broke the fortune of its owner. Further down the slough is Coos City, a place of only prospective importance, and the terminus of the stage road leading to Roseburg. The Aaronville saw mill is located a short distance below Coos City and not far from Marshfield.
Sumner stands at the head of Catching slough, a quiet and diminutive hamlet of no distinguishing peculiarities. North of the slough is the inhabited portion of Coos river valley, a wealthy and important section. The mouth of that river is three miles northeast of Marshfield. The stream is noted for its lumbering, which has been car- ried on for years, until the low lands have been denuded of their trees, and falling into the hands of industrious farmers have been cleared of stumps and brush and converted into fields of the smoothest description. A great deal of the rich bottom land has been dyked to prevent overflow, and its value is much enhanced by the treatment. A part of the valley is highly cultivated, and many valuable farm products are raised, includ- ing vegetables and fruit, for which an abundant market is found at the various settle- ments around the bay.
CHAPTER LXII.
RESOURCES AND BUSINESS.
Derivation of the Name-Incorporation-Coos Bay Bar-Resources Forests-Statistics-Outlets for Business- The Southern Oregon Improvement Company.
The word Coos is judged to be an Indian name, of doubtful signification, which being heard by travelers in the wilds to the west of the Coast Range, was conferred either upon Coos river or bay, and afterward, on the formation of the county, was given to it. The first printed matter which relates to the word, gives it as Cowes' river ; and the name Cowan's river was in use for the same stream. Some have thought that the word was an eastern importation, coming from Coos county, New Hampshire. Until of late years, the spelling of the word was not fixed, and Coose was, perhaps, its most common form. Coos is also regarded as the Indian imitation of coast, which the natives may have attempted to speak. In this connection we may remark that the derivation of the name Coquille, although much has been written and said con- cerning it, admits of no doubt whatever : it is a French word meaning shell or husk- a reasonable enough origin considering, first, that the French-speaking trappers undoubtedly penetrated to the Coquille valley; and, second, that shell-fish of various sorts exist in the ocean near the river's mouth. It may be worthy of remark that the Indian name of the Coquille river was Nes-sa-til-cut.
The act incorporating Coos county became a law on the twenty-second of Deceni- ber, 1853. The boundaries of the new county comprised "all that part of Umpqua and Jackson counties, with the following boundaries, to-wit : Beginning at a point on the ocean eight miles south of the Umpqua river; thence southeast to the dividing ridge between the waters of the Umpqua and Coos and Coquille rivers ; thence along the summit of the divide, to the southwest corner of Douglas county ; thence south to the source of the south fork of the Coquille; thence south to the forty-second parallel ; thence west to the Pacific ocean ; thence north to the place of beginning." Rather more than half of this area was erected into a separate connty three years later, under the name of Curry.
The bar at the mouth of Coos Bay, like that of the Coquille, has always been a serious detriment to navigation, inasmuch as the depth of water is naturally only suffi- cient to admit the smaller class of vessels, such as schooners, coasting steamers, and the like, most of which draw less than ten feet. But the general government appropriated large sums for permanent improvement of the bar, and by extending a jetty into the channel near Rocky Point, the course of the current has been changed, with the most beneficial effects. At present there is a minimum depth of eighteen feet, which is a vast improvement over its former condition.
WALLING-LITH PORTLAND-DR.
LIGHT HOUSE AND LIFE BOAT STATION AT CAPE ARAGO, CoOSCo.
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A large number of casualties, many of them very severe, have occurred at this entrance. The Cohansa, Jackson, Cyclops, Noyo, New World, Fearless (tug), D. M. Hall, Ida Rogers, Gussie Telfair, Charles Devens, Energy, and other vessels, have been wrecked at various times, and several persons and much property lost. The wreck of the schooner Quadratus cost the lives of Mrs. McDonald and her child, and Mr. Simpson, a member of the lumbering firm of A. M. Simpson & Company. When, in 1852, the brig General Lincoln, with a detachment of soldiers from Vancouver, had nearly reached Cape Arago, on her way to Port Orford, she sprung a leak and was beached a mile from the Coos Bay bar, and the troops completed the remainder of their journey on foot. In the early history of the bay there is a recollection of a boat's crew of young men being drowned on the bar while endeavoring to pilot an incoming vessel, said to have been the Cynosure. Dewey, Brooks, Starr, Winters and two others, were the unfortunates. With such a series of fatal accidents, many of which have not been mentioned, it is no wonder that Coos Bay bar is, or rather has been regarded as dangerous. The late improvements have materially decreased the danger at this date, and there is every prospect that the harbor, otherwise an excellent one, will become eminently safe of entrance and exit.
The Coos Bay region and Coos county in general have been justly regarded as possessing unlimited wealth and resources. It is questionable if nature ever concen- trated upon so small a section so many and such various sources of material prosperity. The county, as we have seen, is circumscribed and hemmed in by the Coast Range, which nearly cuts off communication from the east. The area of farming land forms but a small proportion of the total surface, and even this small area is encumbered with woods of the densest description, and therefore the lands are very difficult to clear. But these objections are of small consequence when weighed against the corresponding advantages. The fertility of the soil, the abundance of its productions, the extent and value of the forests, the aids to communication presented by the Coquille river and Coos Bay, the apparently exhaustless beds of coal, and innumerable other resources impossible here to enumerate, outweigh the present difficulties of travel, the super- abundant moisture of the climate and the isolation of the county, by a thousand fold. To dilate upon the manifold resources would require a greater space than we have at command ; and even to barely mention the various products and manufactures which either form articles of trade or soon will do so, would be a work of considerable magnitude. The two industries, the salmon canning trade and the manufacture of lumber, only have reached a condition where it is possible to judge adequately of their future. There seems no sufficient reason why the former should not always continue, with proper management, to be at least as productive as it now is, and with reference to the lumber business, mathematical demonstrations are competent to show how long the lumber supply will continue, and at what date it may be exhausted and that now most important industry brought to an end. Minor occupations, such as procuring match-wood, staves, ship knees, masts and spars, and other articles of the sort, will necessarily be of shorter continuance. At the rate at which the myrtle bottoms are being denuded by their trees in order to clear the land, that timber will, in the not dis- tant future, become a rarity. The forests around the bay, and throughout the county in general, are composed mainly of fir, cedar, myrtle, hemlock, chittim and many less 64
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important, species. The fir predominates largely, and about Coos Bay is found perhaps the finest timber of the sort that exists in the world. The trees of a single acre will often yield 200,000 feet of excellent lumber, of the sort called in California Oregon pine, but what is really fir. There is a considerable quantity of cedar in all parts of the county, but around the bay it is mostly of a different species from the Port Orford variety, which exists there but sparsely, though abundant enough in the southern por- tion of the county. Thousands of acres of myrtle and maple of excellent quality stand upon the low lands about the bay and form a small article of present export, being shipped in the log. The total area of timber on the bay and the streams tribu- tary to it is judged to be 100,000 acres, from which for nearly thirty years vast sup- plies have been drawn, but still greater ones remain.
In 1878 the business men of Coos Bay published some very valuable statistics relating to the productions of that vicinity, whose re-publication will serve to throw light on the resources of the section and the comparative extent to which they have been utilized. From them it is ascertained that the total amount of coal and lumber exported during the years 1871-1878, and including but two-thirds of the latter year, was $2,924,000 ; the entire exports amounting to $167,000. Ship building was repre- sented for the same time by the construction of forty vessels, aggregating 16,350 tons burden. Of these, twenty were built at North Bend, total tonnage 9,955; thirteen at Marshfield, tonnage 5,550; six at Empire City, tonnage 795; and one at Coos river, tonnage fifty. The arrivals and departures of vessels aggregated 1,388, or at the aver- age rate of 180 per year, and their total carrying capacity was 565,550 tons. The report referred to states further : "The quantity of coal that is conveniently accessible from the navigable waters of Coos Bay, is almost incalculable. Within an area of ten miles of the bay there is not less than 75,000 acres of good coal land, which will pro- duce, from the strata generally worked, 450 million tons of coal. This is an estimate of the production of only one seam, while in some parts of this coal field there are known to be as many as six workable veins. The area of lands known to contain coal, but not fully prospected, lying in the vicinity of the bay, may be estimated at 250,000 acres, and at no great distance east, a vein of eleven feet in thickness is reported, said by persons who have tested it to be of a superior quality, suitable for the manufacture of gas, and for use in the foundry or forge. With such improvement of our harbor as is now contemplated, the coal of Coos Bay can successfully compete with any other part of the world. There are five coal mines already opened on the bay, of a total capacity of about 1,800 tons daily. Some of these mines are now suspended on account of the fact that the small class of vessels that carry from Coos Bay cannot compete in the price of freights with the large vessels in which the Puget Sound and foreign coal is carried, but are ready to resume work whenever the market improves, or when the harbor is so improved as to accommodate a larger class of vessels. There are other articles of export besides coal and lumber which are exported regularly from Coos Bay, aggregating many thousand dollars in value. Among these are included lath, broom- handles, pickets, ship-knees, match-wood, staves, hides and fruit. In the production of such fruits as do not require very warm weather to mature them, our climate is unequaled. Though our surplus fruit crop has, in former years, been mainly shipped while fresh, the introduction of evaporators is doing away with the shipment of fresh
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COOS COUNTY.
fruits, and establishing a lucrative business in the export of the dried product of these factories."
At present the Bay is the scene of renewed activity. The ordinary traffic upon this body of water is of no small consequence, and five steamers, the Myrtle, Comet, Wasp, Bertha and Lulu, make regular and frequent trips between the various acces- sible inhabited localities, transporting passengers and merchandize, and towing rafts of logs to the various mills. The outlet for the commerce of the bay is seaward to San Francisco. Communication with the interior takes place by the Roseburg stage route, a considerable amount of travel passing that way. By means of the route along the ocean beach north of the bay, travelers find their way to Gardiner, at the mouth of the Umpqua, and thence by steamer to Scottsburg, and finally by stage to Drain, on the Oregon and California railroad. From Bandon, on the Coquille, a wagon road pro- ceeds south ward along the beach into Curry county. By these means communication is kept up with the outside world, but it is almost unnecessary to say that freight, except to .a very limited extent, does not take these routes. All articles of merchandize except of home manufacture, are brought from San Francisco, which has a monopoly of the trade of the whole region lying west of the Coast Range.
The most important innovation which has taken place in Coos county since its settlement, by Marple, Harris and their associates, is the inauguration of the Southern Improvement Company's works. In 1883 and 1884 this association of capitalists, represented by Captain Besse, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, as president, purchased a large amount of property in Coos county, consisting of 6,680 acres of land lying near the bay, the Warwick-Luse claim to the site of Marshfield, and certain property in Empire City, including a large amount of land fronting on the bay, and the saw mill. The grant of land made to the incorporators of the Coos Bay Wagon Road, so-called, was also purchased. These investments have been made with the ultimate intention of building a railroad from the bay to Roseburg. The enterprise meets with the emphatic approval of the people of Coos, Douglas and Curry counties, who will mainly be ben- efited by it, and work is expected to begin soon. The road is to connect the terminus on the bay with Coquille City, the middle fork of the Coquille, Camas valley, Looking-glass valley and Roseburg. Details of its construction, length, probable cost, etc., are not yet known.
WALLING-LITH- PORTLAND-OR.
SAW MILL AND SHIP YARD OF A. M. SIMPSON & BRO. NORTH BEND, COOS Co.
APPENDIX.
BIOGRAPHICAL BREVITIES.
JACKSON COUNTY.
DR. G. H. AIKEN : was born in the town of Ipswick, N. H., January 6, 1845 ; is one of the leading physicians of Jacksonville ; here he arrived in 1871 ; in 1879 he married Miss Ida Martin of this county. Their only child, True, was born March 15, 1882.
JOSEPH ALNUTT : was born in Clay county, Missouri, 1833 ; he moved to California in 1853 and to Jackson county in 1874 ; Mr. Alnutt follows the occupation of salesman and is thus engaged in Ashland, where he resides with his family ; in October, 1882, he was married to Nattie Mitchell. Chil- dren, Wm. C. and Alva J.
E. K. ANDERSON: lives near Phoenix; is a farmer and miner; was born in Monroe county, Indiana; came to California in 1849; and to this state and county in 1852; was married January 9, 1856, to Elizabeth N. Myer. Children, Laura V., Mary H., George N., Lena, Anna Bell, Dora E. and Sarah E.
FREDERICK BARNEBERG: lives three miles north of Phoe- nix ; is a farmer ; was born at HIesse Cassel, Germany, 1836 ; came to America in 1838 and to this county in 1854 ; he was married January 1, 1860, to Electa Norton, a native of Iowa. Children, Laura A., Samuel P., Daniel H., Ida J., Mary and John.
HIERMAN V. BATCHELLER : resides in Ashland and is a saddler by trade ; he was born in Madison county, N. Y., 1835, and was married in 1864 to Mary A. Fuller, who died soon after their marriage ; Mr. Batcheller is a pioneer of 1854.
GEO. H. BAYLEY : is a native of London; came to mer- ica in 1841 at the age of nine years; he resides six miles east of Ashland and is engaged in farming and stock growing; Mr. Bayley is a pioneer of 1854; came to county in 1871; he was married in 1862 to Julian Johnston. . Children, Hattie and Henry.
JOSHUA BEAUMONT: is a resident of Ashland and a cloth finisher by trade; he is a native of Yorkshire, England; in 1855 he went to California and came to this state in 1857.
MERRITT BELLINGER: came to Oregon in 1830; he is a native of Pennsylvania; born February, 1833; is one of the earliest pioneers of this county, having first arrived in Ore- gon in 1850 and in this county in 1852, finally settling where he now lives, two miles east of Jacksonville; in 1861 married Caroline Ritter. Children, Lucinda, Rachel R., Emma and Eva, twins, John and Francis.
WELBORN BEESON ESQ .: whose residence is on Wagner creek near Talent, was born in Lasalle county, Ill., July 23, 1836, is only son of John and Ann Welborn Beeson of Lincoln- shire, England. At the age of 17 Welhorn came to this state and county in 1853. In 1866 he was married to Mary C. Brophy. Children, Ira E., Welborn J., Jessie E., John D., Fannie E. and Annie M. John Beeson, father of our subject is also a native of Lincolnshire, England. Was a man of some literary ability and somewhat radical in his views.
DAN. L. BENJAMIN: lives at Grant's Pass; is dealer in cigars and tobacco; is also a barber; was born in Stevens county, Illinois, 1854; came to state 1871 and to county ISS4: married Joana Brown September 26, 1875.
JAMES G. BIRDSEY: is one among the first births of Jack- son county, being born April 25, 1854; is a blacksmith by trade and carries on an extensive business in Jacksonville, where he resides; November 15, 1882, married Miss Katie Kuch. Child, Geo. R., born October 23, IS83.
WALLACE G. BISHOP: resides two miles north of Phoenix; is a farmer; was born at Antwerp, N. Y., July 26, 1830; moved to Oregon in 1854; in September, 1859 was married to Miss Nancy Scott, a native of Jefferson county, Iowa. Children, Leonora, Ornan N., Ada J., Ida May, Alexander and Etta.
GEORGE BLACK: lives on Poor Man's creek; is a native of county Down, Ireland; came to Oregon in 1851 and to Jack- son county in 1852; is one of the pioneer miners of this coun- try, which calling he still pursues.
R. L. BLACKWOOD: was born in Chester county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1854; resides nine miles east of Ashland, where he cultivates his farm and raises stock; in 1877 he came to Cali- fornia and in 1879 moved to this county; was married August 13, 1881, to Lillie D. Caldwell. Child, Jesse M., born Sep- tember 17, 1882.
HENRY BLECHER: is a pioneer of Southern Oregon, hav- ing opened one of the finest butcher shops in Jacksonville in 1852; is a native of Siegen, West Phalen, Prussia, and a gen- tleman now nearly retired from active life, living on his farm on Poor Man's creek.
D. P. BRITTAIN: resides on Wagner creek; post-office ad dress, Talent; is a farmer by occupation; was born June 25, 1832, in Putnam county, Indiana; in October, 1853, he emi- grated to Oregon, where he was married April 28, 1859, to Miss M. L. Garrison. Children, Louisa E., Ora A. and Ida B. J. J. BROWN: was born in Douglas county in 1854: is now a resident of Grant's Pass; is a farmer by occupation. Child, Robert E., born April 20, IS75.
HENRY R. BROWN: one of the earliest pioneers of South- ern Oregon; is a farmer and stock grower; was born in Vork- shire, England, in 1829; came to this county in 1852, where he was married in 1860 to Martha Blamsley. Children, Jen- nie C., Mary M., Emogene, II. Lee, Olive and George B; Lee and Olive are now deccased. Mr. Brown has long been a resident of Butte creek and was the founder of Browns- borough.
CHAS. W. BROBACK: has heretofore been farming and stock raising; he is now one of the proprietors of Medford, a new town springing up on the O. & C. R. R., a few miles north of Phoenix; is a Virginian by birth, being born July 14. 1835: came to California in 1852 and to Oregon in 1864: was married December 25. 1859, to Francis .A. Haigh. Chil dren, Fernando W., Water, Charles, Clarence, Ettie and Allic.
E. C. BROOK : lives in Jacksonville: is a jeweler and dealer in watches, clocks, etc .; was born in Hancock, Hills- bourough county, N. II. ; came to state and county in 1864: was married in 1849 to Miss Hannah Porter, since deceased: was again married in 1882 to Mrs. A. Hauck. Children, Annie (deceased), Lizzie, Charles(deceased), Susie and Girtic.
W'M. II. BRUNK: resides in Phoenix; is a clerk; was bom near Louisville, Ky., November 13, IS48; came to California in 1849, and to Oregon in IS51; to this county in 1883.
JAMES D. BUCKLEY: lives on Applegate creek ; isa farmer: came to state and county in 1854; was married June 13. 1871, to Margaret Kiely. Children, Rosa A., John D. James, Francis, Kate M. and Davil. Mr. Buckley is a notis of county Cork, Ireland.
1. W. BURRUSS: resides in Ashland: is a . look - 1: W -
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APPENDIX.
born in Monroe county, Mo., March 30, 1839; came to Ore- gon in 1879, in which year, October 29th, he was married to Miss F. Erb.
GIVEN S. BUTLER: is a merchant in Ashland; was born near Jacksonville, Oregon, January 19, 1854; was married November 2, 1879, to Miss Alice Adeline Barron, daughter of H. F. Barron, Esq., of this county.
WM. BYBEE: one of the largest land owners in Southern Oregon; resides near Jacksonville; was born in Clark county, Ky., 1830; came to Oregon in 1853 and to this county in 1854; was married in November, 1854, to Miss Elizabeth A. Walker. Children, Ryland (deceased), James W., Florence (deceased), Lillie M. (deceased) Effie, Jefferson, (deceased), Frank E., Alexander M., (deceased), Minnie I., Robert L., Minerva M. (deceased).
ROBERT J. CAMERON: lives at Uniontown; is a farmer; was born in Madison county, N. Y., 1831; came to state and county in 1852; was married April 7, 1863, to Esther Le Fever; children, Franklin, Helena, Clara, Anna, Bernice and Warren L.
THEODORIC CAMERON : an early pioneer of this county arrived in 1852, he has since been engaged in the mercantile and mining business; is a native of Madison county, N. Y., and now P. M., at Uniontown, on Applegate creek, where he keeps a general merchandise store.
JOHN CARDWELL: died in Sam's Valley; was a farmer, born in Trealds, Lancashire, Eng .; came to state and county 1860; married Jan., 1856 to Ellen Rouark; children, Annie Catherine (deceased) Ellen, John A., Francis H. Martha (deceased) Jane A., Martha, Edward R., Lawrence R., David S., Eva L.
MAJOR A. CARTER: lives in Ashland; is a painter and paper hanger; was born in Watertown, Wisconsin; came to state and county, 1871; married June 29, 1883, to Mary R. Givan; they have one child, Leman Claude.
J. A. CARTER: lives in Jacksonville; is a painter; was born in Watertown, Jefferson county, Wisconsin; came to state and county in 1864; was married Nov. 27, 1877, to Martha J. Helman; one child, Bradford.
G. W. CATCHING: lives in Grants Pass; is a carpenter; was born in Douglas county, Or , 1855, came to this county 1883; married Oct., 23, 1879, to Lon Webber; one child, Grace, born Jan. II, ISSI.
MILO CATON: lives in Jacksonville; came to this state in 1852, and to this county in 1853; was married November 17, 1847, to Sybil A. Freeman. Children. Edwin B., Jennie O., Emma E., Robert M. and Mary Bell. Mr. Catton participated in the Indian wars of 1853-6, and the late civil war.
DR. J. H. CHITWOOD : lives in Ashland ; is a physician and surgeon; was born in Jefferson county, Ind .; came to this state 1853 and to county 1871 ; married May 28, 1848, to Sarah J. Gaskill ; children, Ella J., Olive Irene, Hampton T., Katie B., Charles G.
WM. CHAMBERS: lives at Central Point; is a farmer ; was born Scotland county, Mo., came to state and county 1852; married Dec. 18, 1862 to Mary A. Wilson; children, John W., Ida M., Florence L., Aaron (deceased), Mary L., Wm. H., Eveline R., Waity A., and Minnie M.
DR. J. A. CHASTAIN : lives in Phoenix; is a physician; was born in Meggs county, East Tenn., April, 1834; came to state in 1875; was married March 1, 1866. to Mary J. King; children, WVm. 1., Charles, George L., Cora, Price, Adah, Ann E., Etta, Claudius and Sarah J.
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