Applegater., May 01, 2009, Page 21, Image 21

Applegater Spring 2009 21
BACK IN TIME
Logtown
BY EVELYN BYRNE WILLIAMS WITH JANEEN SATHRE
Each spring some little yellow
roses peak out from a spindly small
bush, now 156 years old, located in a
mediocre spot along Highway 238 between
Jacksonville and Ruch, Oregon. The rose
bush is the only evidence left of the village
of Logtown, a flourishing settlement
comprised of a store, hotel, livery stable,
two meat markets, two blacksmith shops,
three saloons, two Chinese stores, a school
house and a church. Not only was this
the center of a raucous gold-mining area,
but a stage stop for an important supply
road from Crescent City, California to
Jacksonville, Oregon. There are some
very interesting stories that have been
handed down through the descendants
of the miners who first scratched for gold
along the banks of Forest Creek. But for
now, this is the story of the Harrison rose,
originally from England, which we now
call the Logtown Rose.
It is not an outstandingly beautiful
rose, supported on very thorny stems with
tiny leaves. It survives because the deer can’t
stand it and the gophers don’t stay long.
The poor soil and lack of water doesn’t
seem to matter, either. Even an overdose
of spray from the county roadside weed
sprayer didn’t entirely do it in, although
it didn’t look well for a few years. A tree
planted behind the rose has roots now
competing for water and nourishment.
As though that is not enough, the dreaded
star thistle showed up to add to the distress
of the already constant vibration from
traffic. If it survives all of this, I guess it
may outlive most of us.
It is very special to me and my
family because it was planted at Logtown
by my great-grandmother, Maryum Bowen
McKee. She had brought the little rose
across the plains with her from Sullivan
County, Missouri, to the Rogue Valley
in 1853. My great-grandfather, John
McKee, was a blacksmith who invented
an improvement to a miner’s pick, which
he called a “strap-eye pick.” This pick
was in great demand. He built a large log
house in Logtown for Maryum and their
two little children. It was at the front gate
to the yard where the tenderly cared for
yellow rose found its new home.
My great-grandmother had twelve
more children through the years. One died
shortly after birth and a daughter, Martha
Jane, died at age nine. She was buried
behind their house next to the hillside.
(Later moved to the Logtown Cemetery.)
When the gold mining petered out,
my great grandparents moved to Little
Butte Creek near Butte Falls. Many
years later when one of their daughters
and her husband had purchased a new
automobile, they took John and Maryum
(her first ride in a car) to see their old
place. They were heartbroken when they
saw their old log house mostly gone. Only
part of the front portion had remained
standing, and looking out of one of the
window openings was a range cow. Most
of their life had been spent there and now
to find Logtown almost completely gone
was hard to bear. As they were leaving,
Maryum glanced over to a broken-down
gate and there she saw her little rose bush.
Tears filled her eyes as she pointed it out
to her family. “Look, my little rose is still
alive.”
There are a lot of descendants of
this McKee family and they knew where
the little rose was, but nothing was done
to preserve it until the Jacksonville Garden
club encircled it with some protective
white posts during Oregon’s Centennial
year in 1959 and the Applegate Valley
Garden Club planted 60 more Logtown
roses across the front of the Logtown
Cemetery. The Jacksonville Garden
Club had a granite marker made for a
dedication ceremony later that year for
the little rose. The marker was unveiled
by Miss Teri Lee Wolfe, a great-great
granddaughter of John McKee. Two of
John McKee’s remaining children also
attended and were introduced. They were
Mary Thelma Higinbotham and John B.
McKee. (It has been 50 years since that
ceremony. Hard to believe.)
Sad to say, sometime later on an
out-of-control car ran into the granite
marker and it was destroyed. Rocks
were then placed around the rose. The
Applegate Valley Garden Club continued
its care of the rose and the cemetery roses.
In 1983 a member of the club, Myrtle
Krouse, made a new wooden marker
for the logtown rose. It was a beautiful
hand-carved scene of Maryum watering
her little rose. Another ceremony was
held for the nice addition. Three of the
McKee’s remaining grandchildren were
among the attendees; Clara Smith, Pearl
Byrne and Dorothy Hackert. The marker
is still there, but quite weathered and
hard to see through the tree standing just
behind the rose. The rose and location of
the cabin is only a few feet off of Highway
238, almost straight across what is known
as Longnecker Road.
In 1878 John McKee filed and was
granted a 160-acre homestead adjacent to
Above: Logtown marker with Clara McKee Smith, Pearl McKee Byrne, Dorothy McKee Hackert.
the land his cabin was on. The graveyard
where early Logtown miners and settlers
were buried was just inside the south
boundary of this land. Since this was a
government land grant he became the
first “legal” owner of the property. Over
the years several owners of the land had
legal ownership of the cemetery, and all
allowed the continued use as a cemetery.
In 1939 an association was formed to make
improvements and facilitate the continued
use of the cemetery. Landowners Paul E.
and Mildred Pearce and Walter W. and
Edith Bell donated two pieces of land
that had been used since the 1850s as a
cemetery into the keeping of the Logtown
Cemetery Association on October 17,
1940.
To see the Logtown Rose you need
to stop at the cemetery or at the rose
marker on Highway 238 sometime in the
spring. A beautiful gate to the Logtown
Cemetery was made and donated by Carl
Offenbacher in 2008 that has a rendition
of the rose on it. Or you can visit the Ruch
Library where an outstanding wall mural
by Marvin and Lilli Ann Rosenberg graces
the lobby and has the yellow rose in it.
Evelyn Byrne Williams
Above: Maryum Bowen McKee.
Photos from the collection of Evelyn Byrne
Williams. Some information from “Ruch and
the Upper Applegate Valley” by John and
Marguerite Black.
WANTED:
Volunteer Drivers!
Giving up driving, temporarily
or otherwise, is never easy, and it’s
especially challenging when you live in
our rural Applegate Valley. How many
of you know someone who’s needed
transportation support at some time?
There’s something you can do to help.
The Retired Senior Volunteer Program
(RSVP) Call-a-Ride program is seeking
volunteer drivers to transport elders to
medical appointments. Training and
reimbursement are provided. Call 541-
857-7780. You could be helping other
Applegaters and may need such help
yourself sometime! Thanks, neighbors.
Pat Gordon • 541-899-7655
with Janeen Sathre
541-899-1443