Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, February 5, 2003
Page 7
Biscuit timber
legislation to
be introduced
On January 22, Josephine County had a birthday. There was
no big celebration because it has only been 147 years since the
county was formed. But it is still older than the State of Oregon,
which will celebrate a birthday on Feb. 14. It will be 144 years
since the state was created. That means that in 1856, when Jose-
phine County was created, the area was still in territory status.
Josephine was the last county created during the territorial period.
The next county, Baker, which is in eastern Oregon, was formed
in 1862.
To go back to the beginning, Oregon settlers organized a pro-
visional government in 1843 and four counties were formed,
however they were then called districts. The Champoeg District
began where the Pudding River emptied into the Willamette River
and extended south to California and east to the Rocky Moun-
tains. In 1845, the provisional government changed the districts to
counties and Champoeg District became Marion County which
was to honor General Francis Marion, a Revolutionary War hero.
In 1847, the southern part of Marion County was given the
name of Linn County to honor Sen. Lewis Linn from Missouri.
He helped create the Donation Land Act, which gave free land to
settlers. The next step was the creation of the Oregon territory on
Aug. 14, 1848.
Then, the southern part of Linn County and part of Yamhill
County became Lane County which extended west to the coast,
and south to California. This was named to honor Joseph Lane,
the first territorial governor.
Gold was being discovered in southern Oregon, and the gold
fever brought a great population explosion to areas south of the
Willamette Valley. In 1851, Umpqua County, which was later
changed to Douglas County, was formed from Lane County. And
in 1852, Jackson County, which also extended west to the coast,
was formed south of Douglas.
Douglas County was named for Sen. Stephen Douglas who
pushed for Oregon statehood.
Jacksonville and Jackson County were named for President
Andrew Jackson. The coastal part of Jackson County became
Coos County in 1853, named for the Coos Indian tribe. Curry
County on the south end was created in 1855, and named for
George Curry who was territorial governor at the time.
It was the discovery of gold in the Illinois Valley which
caused the influx of miners to Waldo and the south eastern part of
the valley, which was called “Sailor’s Diggings.” This resulted in
Josephine County being formed from the western part of Jackson
County on Jan. 22, 1856.
The name is unique in the state, being the only county named
for a woman.
Josephine Rollins was born in Morgan County, Illinois in
1833. In 1850, she, her father Lloyd, and other family members
joined a wagon train headed for California and gold. At Fort Hall
on the Snake River, they changed their destination to Oregon be-
cause their oxen probably wouldn’t have made it to California.
They spent the winter of 1850-51 in Oregon City and headed
south to California in the spring of 1851. Gold had not yet been
discovered in Jacksonville or Waldo, so the Rollins party was not
searching for gold.
However, on reaching the Rogue River, Indians informed
them of yellow metal to the west and so the Rollins came to the
Illinois Valley. They made the first discovery of gold in the val-
ley, on what they called “Josephine Creek,” named for Lloyd’s
daughter. Stories are recorded that Josephine made pies for the
miners and sold them for a dollar apiece. She was considered the
first white woman to settle in Josephine County.
They did not remain long in the area and by 1853, she was in
Yreka, Calif. She married Julius Ort in 1854, at Colusa, Calif. A
letter she wrote in 1909 from Sonoma, California, is in the ar-
chives of the Oregon Historical Society, and that is the last record
of Josephine Rollins Ort which I have been able to find.
Illinois River Acupuncture
& Chinese Herbs
Large Animal Veterinarian
now available in Illinois Valley!
Dr. Todd Bershad, DVM
is now scheduling
equine and other
large animal appointments
in the Illinois Valley!
For appointments
contact
CROSSROADS
ANIMAL HOSPITAL
592-3222
Interest in the Biscuit Fire
in Southwestern Oregon by
the U.S. Senate and represen-
tatives has spurred the Grants
Pass/Josephine County Cham-
ber of Commerce to request
that immediate legislation be
introduced to harvest salvage-
able burned timber.
Dave Hill, director of
Medford-based Southern Ore-
gon Timber Industries Asso-
ciation, indicated to the cham-
ber’s Government Affairs
committee that, “The salvage
of burned and killed timber
should begin in spring 2003,
before significant value is lost
to decay, disease or insects.
“Siskiyou National Forest
should provide accurate esti-
mates of timber volume lost in
the Biscuit Fire; reforestation
should occur on all burned
acres, not just those classified
as ‘matrix.’
“The public should be
polled as to whether or not
they want lands within the
Kalmiopsis Wilderness left as
is (burned, or should the wil-
derness acres be replanted as
soon as possible).
(From left) DANI SIMPSON, BROOK SULLIVAN, KAYLAH ARNETT, CATHERINE SULLIVAN,
BRENT ROLLINS (standing), ECHO REAGAN, ALICE WEBER AND CLAY SIMPSON.
Equestrian Team trots into new season
By JAN SIMPSON
The Illinois Valley High
School Equestrian Team will
start a new season on Friday-
Sunday, Feb. 14-16.
This mostly new team is
excited about competing, and
would like to invite all Illinois
Valley residents to the Jack-
son County Expo. to cheer
them on during the first meet
of the season.
Most people are in the
dark when they hear about the
“Equestrian Team.” Approxi-
mately 10 years ago, I was
invited to an organizational
meeting in Grants Pass where
some of the parents spoke
about their dream of starting a
sport for riders who could
compete for their schools and
letter in that sport.
I thought it would never
happen on a large scale. Boy
was I wrong.
Over the years, I’ve
watched it grow from a small
regional sport to Oregon High
School Equestrian Teams
(OHSET) making it the fastest
growing high school sport in
the state. There are more than
1,000 riders involved, and we
have three district meets
where riders compete to qual-
Latex gloves no longer used
in preparing food, says DHS
Allergic reactions associ-
ated with latex gloves have
prompted a new state rule that
bans their use among food
service workers, according to
public health officials at the
Oregon Dept. of Human ser-
vices (ODHS).
“This change will protect
the health of Oregonians,”
said Dr. Mel Kohn, state epi-
demiolo gist in ODHS.
“Although the ban isn’t effec-
tive until March, we encour-
age restaurants to switch to
safer gloves as soon as possi-
ble.”
The Oregon Restaurant
Association (ORA) is working
with ODHS to educate restau-
rateurs about the safety rule.
“We did not help create the
rule, but we are helping to get
the word out about it,” said
Mike McCallum, ORA presi-
dent and CEO.
“We have been encourag-
ing restaurants to provide their
employees with alternative
gloves for years, and are
pleased to participate with
ODHS by informing and edu-
cating our members about the
new rule.”
Natural rubber latex
gloves contain proteins that
can cause allergies, according
to Kohn. “Workers who are in
repeated contact with the
gloves are at increased risk of
developing reactions that
range from mild itching and
rash to hives, difficulty in
breathing and sometimes even
death,” he said.
Kohn said that customers
can be at risk of a reaction
related to latex gloves, too.
“People who are sensitive to
latex rubber can have a reac-
tion just by eating food that
has been prepared by an em-
ployee wearing latex gloves,”
he said.
Between 8 percent to 17
percent of workers who are
regularly exposed to pow-
dered latex gloves are sensi-
tive to latex, and between 1
percent and 6 percent of the
general population have latex
allergy, according to Kohn.
The March 1, 2003 imple-
mentation date will give res-
taurant owners and supply
companies time to switch to
safer alternatives, said
McCallum. “Vinyl and polyvi-
nyl chloride gloves are low-
cost solutions. We are inform-
ing and educating employers
and workers in restaurants
across Oregon so they will be
ready when this goes into ef-
fect,” he said.
It is estimated that as
many as half of all food ser-
vice facilities still use latex
rubber gloves. In recent years
there has been an increase in
the use of latex gloves among
food service, janitorial, house-
keeping and child-care indus-
tries. This has been accompa-
nied by an increase in workers
compensation claims related
to latex glove reactions, Kohn
said.
Anyone wanting more
information about latex gloves
and latex allergies can check
the Web at www.ohd. hr.state.
or.us/eoe/derm/latex.htm or
phone (503) 731-4025.
ify for the state meet in May.
This year, the state meet
will be held in Medford.
The I.V. Team has existed
for four years and has sent
riders to state every year.
There are classes for all types
of riders and horses from mini
to draft, including roping,
games, equitation (many disci-
plines), trail, working pairs
and drill.
Oregon is the only state
that has this, although Wash-
ington has sent teams to our
district and state meets. For
more info. Phone Alicia 592-
3515 or Jan at 592-3947.
592-4553
Restaurante
Kids Menu
Regularly $3.95
>> NOW! 99 ¢ <<
Sunday thru Wednesday
Lunch or Dinner - 12 and Under - No Take-Outs
Don’t drink and drive.
The Illinois Valley Golf Course
Joe Crutchfield
Don Clark
Fay & Company
Jewel Fincher
Wayland Fincher
Jim Valentine
Vic’s Welding
Buster Short
Lou Trujillo
Gene Chavez
Chris Chavez
Ken Lewis
Gary Noleroth
Bob Paul
Bob Hurt
Kit Fluck
Marv Ahlers
Arnold Mellow
Terrie McPherson
Jared Kinkade
Max Hull
Timberline KKB
Land Surveying
‘I.V. News’
Down & Out
Sheet Metal
ould like to express appreciation to all
that contributed to the successful
completion of the water pipeline and
pump station from the Illinois River.
Budd Fosmore
Tom & Sandy Morrissey
Pacific Power
Duane Wm. Schultz
Water Resources Dept.
American Title
I.V. Building Supply
Barlow Rock
North Star Industries
Riverside Ready Mix
Also, anyone that we forgot to mention above plus
the many members & players who have supported
Illinois Valley Golf Course throughout the drought years.
Watch for the official dedication
& tournament in the spring!