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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2014)
6 Spring 2014 Applegater BACK IN TIME The last of great-great Uncle Si by EvELyN byRNE wILLIAmS wITH JANEEN SATHRE When we left Si McKee in our last nuggets on his person. Not only did he have the gold article (Applegater Winter 2013) he was returning to his mining endeavors in the nuggets, but also he talked about his Smith River country after having spent nuggets and gold dust that he kept in a several years in the Oregon State Prison tin can at his cabin. They advised him to deposit his cache in a safe place, but he for arson. In mid-October 1922, Si visited didn’t “cotton” to banks, and besides, he some relatives living on 25 acres of very kept his small pistol close at hand. Many productive bottomland near Bear Creek at of the old-timers never really trusted banks Tolo, where Fort Lane was located during and often buried their gold somewhere in the Rogue River War. He now owned a a hidden place near their dwellings. Si did, small horse named Nellie and an Australian however, leave a handwritten note giving shepherd named Jiggs. However, when his mining claim to the family living there he came out of the mountains to visit, he at Tolo. One time when uncle Si came to visit, would leave Nellie at Waldo and then ride the “jitney” on into Medford, where it is he had a young man with him that he had assumed he walked to Tolo. The relatives met in Waldo. The family was concerned always enjoyed Si’s visits but were a little when he said that the young man was going concerned about his habit of carrying gold to go home with him to help do some mining. And they were right to be worried a b o u t Si — i n the third week of November they were notified by the authorities that he had been killed (shot?) in his cabin. Some friends had become suspicious when they had not seen him for quite some time A crossing on the Smith River near Uncle Si’s cabin. and contacted the local police. When police arrived at the cabin, they found his emaciated dog, Jiggs, guarding the cabin. In order to go in, they had to shoot him. They also shot the horse, which hadn’t had food for so long he was not savable. They buried the remains of Uncle Si, 78, near his cabin and advised the relatives to visit the claim site and take care of necessities. I was told that my grandfather, Amos McKee, and his son Ernest rode horseback from here on the Upper Applegate to Sourdough. The young man whom Rolland Hubbard in Si’s hand-hewn canoe on the Si had taken with him from Waldo Smith River in August 1913. The Hubbards were was never found, and the general named in the will to inherit the mining claim. opinion was that he killed Si for those nuggets and maybe the can of gold stood looking at the grave site, my mind raced back to when great-great Uncle Si dust, which was never found either. After Si’s death a kind man working had contentedly lived there so many years on the road near the grave felt badly that and I was sad for his tragic death. I was no one had made a marker, so he found also saddened by the fact that his marker Si’s old metal bed frame and made a crude was gone and only some of the bent and fence around the grave from its parts. Then rusty supports of the old fence were there. While still doing research on Uncle as more time went by, another kind soul wanted to give Si a marker with his name Si and his Sourdough claim, I went to on it. The metal marker says McGee instead the Del Norte Museum in Crescent City. of McKee but the relatives appreciated it I was looking for old photos of the early day stagecoaches and drivers. I didn’t find regardless of the wrong name. Years later my husband Clarence and any of Uncle Si, but much to my delight, I I visited the mining claim and the remains saw the old grave “McGee” marker in one of the cabin. The road was so bad that of the glass cases. Evelyn Byrne Williams we needed four-wheel drive, and in some with Janeen Sathre places I got out of the vehicle and walked 541-899-1443 rather than being bounced all over. As I Williams Grange Pancake Breakfast Second Sunday 8:30 to 11 am Bluegrass Jam 11 am to 1 pm March 9, Seed Swap April 13 May 11, Mother’s Day 20100 Williams Highway, Williams • 541-846-6844 • kathybob@oigp.net SOREC FROM PAGE 1 culture created, nurtured and maintained by the ongoing efforts of Extension. It is all about the people. Anytime you stop in at the Extension offices on Hanley Road there are people coming and going, attending classes, asking questions at the plant clinic, bringing in a bug to identify or a plant cutting with questions. People meet and greet and get to know others with similar interests. They participate in volunteer projects together and form groups to help each other accomplish things on their land. From an economic standpoint, approving this service district should be a no-brainer. From a community standpoint, for today and for future generations, it is inconceivable that we would allow such a valuable asset to disappear. Most homeowners will pay less than the cost of lunch per year to keep SOREC alive. I urge you to vote yes on the Jackson County 4-H, Master Gardener and Agricultural Extension Service District on the May 2014 ballot. Encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same. Thanks. Jack Duggan shanachie@hughes.net Ed. Note: Jack Duggan lives on Forest Creek and is a Land Steward volunteer with Extension.
