Page 13
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Wacky prank heralds JoCo tourism industry
By ROGER BRANDT
Special to IVN
It started as a prank.
Five guys dressed in
gunny sacks, all of them shop
and store owners, showed up
at a Grants Pass Commerce
Club meeting with no appar-
ent objective other than to stir
a few laughs.
Their antics were met
with delight by the audi-
ence, and it was the suc-
cess of their zany stunt that
made them realize that
they had stumbled onto
something that was fun
and, more important, atten-
tion grabbing.
This experience later
would play a role in estab-
lishing Oregon’s best-
known booster club, the
Oregon Cavemen.
The Oregon Cavemen
came into existence in the
early 1920s at an important
turning point in Josephine
County history. Word had
been spreading that the
Southern Pacific Railroad
was planning a new route
that would take the daily
parade of passenger and
freight trains that passed
through Grants Pass and
divert them to the east side
of the Cascade Mountains.
Business owners were
rightfully concerned about
how the loss of railroad traf-
fic might affect the local
economy.
About the same time,
construction began on a new
road between Grants Pass
and Crescent City, Calif.
This provided a link be-
tween Josephine County and
Hwy. 101. So business own-
ers in Grants Pass were well
aware that they would now
be connected to the Red-
wood Region and the tourist
traffic that the tallest trees in
the world attracted from San
Francisco and Portland.
Simultaneous with de-
ment of a tourism economy.
The caveman idea emerged
as part of the effort to get
this tourism economy
started.
And even though it was
a terrific innovation, the
small-town personality of
Josephine County and its
appetite for humor is what
Vintage postcard shows cavemen in Oregon Caves
velopment of the road to the
coast, work began on a road
to Oregon Caves National
Monument, 22 miles east of
Cave Junction, making it
possible for the first time in
history for vehicles to drive
to this nationally significant
feature.
Tourism appeared to be
a rapidly emerging opportu-
nity.
Business owners real-
ized that the economic
losses that might go out with
the railroad could be re-
stored through establish-
made the caveman idea
work as well as it did. It was
a gag put on by fun-loving
community members, who
explained the presence of
cavemen in the style of tall-
tale story-telling reminiscent
of what might have been
heard around camp fires of
logging or mining camps of
Josephine County’s early
history.
The tall-tale style of ex-
plaining why there were
cavemen in Josephine
County was the beauty of
Western Star’s
Annual Spring Fashion Show
their approach to tourism
promotion. It enabled them
to portray themselves as a
sort of harmless, but mischie-
vous, race with no under-
standing of how to properly
behave in today’s society.
Under this guise, they
could do about any zany
thing they wanted, and eve-
ryone was entertained
by the antics and crea-
tivity. It was the gunny
sack stunt with the same
objective of stirring
things up and making
people laugh, but now
being done for the seri-
ous purpose of improv-
ing Josephine County’s
economic future.
The idea worked,
and the Oregon Cave-
men became one of Ore-
gon’s longest standing
and most-memorable
tourism promotion inno-
vations.
The
Josephine
County Historical Soci-
ety, with the Grants Pass
Tourism Advisory Council,
is starting a drive to gather
the early history of the cave-
man story and capture the
spirit of Josephine County at
a time when it was alive
with humor.
The historical society is
scanning photo collections
to create a digital collection
of the cavemen story and
would welcome the oppor-
tunity to scan and return any
photos you may have.
Phone 479-7827 for more
information.
Sunday, March 12
at the Belt Building
Salad Bar at noon
Fashion Show to follow
$6 donation please
St. Patrick of the Forest Catholic Church
invites you to our
16th Annual St. Patrick’s Day
Irish Dinner
Saturday, March 18, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Corned Beef & Cabbage or Irish Stew
includes rolls & dessert
Door Prizes
Children (6-12) $3, Adults $5
Children 5 & younger free with an adult.
407 W. River St. Cave Junction
139 S. Caves Ave. Suite F
(Inside Caves Mall)
592-4117 www.valleysurf.net
Vir us & Spyware
Removal Special
only $50
Internet Special -
2 months internet service only $20
(New sign-ups only)
I.V. Senior Center - 520 E. River St.
Friday & Saturday, April 7 & 8
Member & non-member
vendors welcome
17 tables available for a rental fee
1st come,
1st served
Deadline is Wed.
March 22
Sign-up at the front desk
592-6888
<<MONDAY-FRIDAY<MORNING/AFTERNOON>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
A true friend never
gets in your way unless
you happen to be
going down.
- Arnold H. Glasow -
Additional Listings
Besides the program listings
provided, the following also are
among those available from
Charter Communications.
For information about costs
that might apply, contact the
company.
1-800-338-8838
*12 - QVC
*14 - Better Life TV
*16 - Home Shopping
*23 - Community Bulletins
*25 - Fox News
*26 - C-Span/House of Rep.
*27 - C-Span 2 (Senate)
*28 - ESPN 2
*31 - CNN Headline News
*33 - Fox Sports Northwest
*36 - Country Music TV
*37 - Spike TV
*40 - The History Channel
*41 - The Learning Channel
*42 - Cartoon Network
*43 - Home & Garden TV
*44 - The Weather Channel
6:00
6:30
7:00
7:30
8:00
8:30
9:00
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10:00
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11:30
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1:00
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Mama’s Saved by Saved by Saved by Saved by Dawson’s Creek
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Becker
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Cosby
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the Bell the Bell the Bell the Bell
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by
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Fall Guy
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Improve.
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As the World Turns
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