Port Orford News
May 21, 2008 • Page 5
A short trip in Curry County might be the trip of a lifetime for some
By Brice Wagner
PON staff writer
This week I am sorry, I failed getting
much out for our paper but tried my
hand at gold panning and didn’t get rich.
Saw the outdoor beauty of Elk River
and Iron Mountain and can’t do it justice
to all of you in description of Elk River
and Iron Mountain as with the wild
flowers in bloom in the high country.
In glassing from Iron Mountain this
week we noticed an unfamiliar structure
to the south east. The Forest Service has
released an area around Lake of the
Woods Lookout which now is clearly
visible from the south Soldier camp area
on Iron Mountain.
A fun site to see on the internet about
local is Lake of the Woods Lookout. The
Forest Service is maintaining the look-
out as a cabin rental in genuine Curry
County splendor. We have been to this
site and the view to the South is awe-
some.
The lookout sits on an eight foot
tower. The building was flown airlifted
by helicopter in 1974. It previously sat
on Barklow Mountain.
This site is a drive up from the Agness
road from Gold Beach. The 3,419 foot
elevation structure was manned during
fireseasons from 1974 to 1996.
The price to rent is $40 per night.
With a maximum group of four. Also
there is sufficient room for a tent, the
article says.
Wow $10 per person what a deal! And
what beauty there is there! Yes we drove
to it via Iron Mountain/Devils Half Acre
the last year it was manned and signed
the quest book for the lady manning the
lookout.
If interested call (877) 444-6777 for
details, (or type in “Lake of the Woods
Lookout” into your favorite search
engine.
How the Port Orford
cedar got its name
... a Second Town to the south and
a railroad to Elk River
A not as famous man as the
Captain impacted the Oregon coast to
this day from 1854.
The mans name is William S.
Windsor who was the mechanical
manager of the first saw mill in Port
Orfrod in 1854.
The mill employed 25 men and in
10 hours put out 500 ft. of lumber. A
plank road was built where necessary
and the cedar lumber was taken to the
beach and loaded on lighters then
taken to a waiting ship.
Cedar lumber brought $125 per
thousand board feet delivered to San
Francisco. Mr Windsor gave the wood
the name Port Orford cedar.
To the south at Hubbards creek
later in history was the Gould Mill in
1875. The mill was surrounded by
vast stands mixed with Port Orford
Cedar.
A narrow guage railroad went from
Hubbards Creek clear to Elk River’s
Forty Place. Hence with this mill a
small town sprang up with 30 houses,
a blacksmith shop, store, warehouse,
and a large millpond. This mill at
Hubbards Creek employed 60 men.
The Joe Ney mill in 1884 was built
on Elk River and it had a narrow
guage tramway (railway) from the
mill, across Garrison Lake on pilings,
and to the dock. The historic building
still stands on Elk River.
Next week — The Trans Pacific
Mill in Port Orford and its Founders
— special reference to Patrick
Masterson’s Port Orford a History
book by the friends of Cape Blanco-
1994 —pages 161 and 162.
The big one didnʼt get away
Contributed photo
The Langlois
Lions would
like to
announce the
winners of the
Van Wormer
fishing derby.
The grand
prize winner
was Anders
Foster whose
fish was 19
1/4" long and
weighed 3 lbs.
7 oz. A special
thank you to
Eric Van
Wormer who
lined up the
boats and
drivers and a
big thank you
to all those
who donated
their boats.
TRIBUNE, from page 1
son Warren Hugh, who was
born in 1896. Amaziah and
Eunice moved to Sixes and
then, in 1912, to Port Orford.
My family were loggers ...
Jamieson explained that, “My
family [the Jamiesons] were
loggers. Amaziah, who home-
steaded up the Sixes River, had
a mill above the Sixes River
Bridge. Some of the lumber that
was used in Hughes House was
from his mill- they floated it
down the river. And that’s even
in the ledger that’s at the
Hughes ranch: where Amaziah
Jamieson had brought supplies
to them. Part of the old mill
(steel remnants) that Amaziah
had is still sticking outside the
river.”
Son Warren followed in
Amaziah’s footsteps and went
into logging.
“The interesting thing about
the Suttons and the Jamiesons is
that, like the Marshes, the
Knapps, and the McKenzies,
they had the spread-out lower
farm lands, and they kept it,”
said Jamieson. “And our family
had the south and the upper
land, and they all pretty much
sold out and moved.”
The Suttons and the
Jamiesons became connected
when Walter’s daughter Alta
and Amaziah’s son Warren met
and married on Sept. 14, 1919.
They had eight children, includ-
ing Vernon Hugh, their oldest,
who was born in 1920, not far
from the site of the present
Christian Center. In 1946 he
married Mary LouEtta Hall.
Like his father and grandfa-
ther, Vernon also went into log-
ging. He and Mary LouEtta
lived in northern California for
approximately ten years, and it
was there that their two chil-
dren, Dixie Lee and Doug were
born. Vernon and Mary LouEtta
returned to Oregon in 1956
when Doug was three years old
and purchased a piece of land
from the original Sutton home-
stead from George Sutton, who
was Curry County Assessor for
38 years. During the 1950s and
1960s, when Doug was growing
up, his great aunt, Edna
Blacklock Jamieson (Fred
Jamieson’s wife) was
Postmistress of Port Orford.
Jamieson married Ruth ...
Jamieson married Ruth
Watson. They have seven chil-
dren and five grandchildren.
From Walter Sutton to
Jamieson’s youngest grand-
child, there are six generations,
with Jamieson in the middle.
Due to the large families of
his ancestors, Jamieson “can’t
turn around without bumping
into a relative.” He has relatives
scattered along the southern
Oregon coast from Coos Bay
and North Bend to Gold Beach
and Brookings; “There are
shirt-tail relations out there
everywhere. If I get too far out
there, I could really confuse the
issue.” Sister Dixie lives in
Reedsport, and his aunt Thelma
Nodine and uncle Dick
Jamieson still live in Port
Orford. Most of the Suttons are
buried in the Port Orford
Cemetery, though “Grama’s
over by us, because she was a
Jamieson.”
Jamieson laments the decline
in the number of families in
Port Orford since he was
younger. He thinks that the gen-
eral “rural depopulization” and
the aging of Port Orford, as
more families move out, are
creating an imbalance in the
community and its economy.
Dixie and Doug’s graduating
classes (1965 and 1971) were
the largest in Pacific High
School’s history, with Doug’s
class having 60 students in it,
and Dixie’s approximately the
same.
“That’s when we (Port
Orford) peaked,” he said. “We
had the Western States going;
the plywood mills were going.
There were a lot of younger
families here.” In contrast,
Jamieson says that his daugh-
ter Karen graduated in a class
of only 18 in 1994.
The story of Jamieson’s
entire family, from Walter and
Amaziah to the present would
take an entire book to cover
thoroughly. Still, in our 45
minutes together, Jamieson
was able to impart not only
some of their history, but some
of Port Orford’s as well. And
recently, in keeping with his
newspaper publisher ancestor’s
example he has begun writing
a column for the Port Orford
News, called “To be
Continued: Notes from Pastor
Doug.”
As proud as he is of Walter’s
role in the history of Port
Orford, I think Walter would
be just as proud of him.
Photos by Carol Berger
The Sutton family is shown above.
Alta Jamieson is shown with a family dog in the above photograph.
PHS, from page 1
Cortney Marie Busso
Justin Patrick Curry●
Eva Lorraine AkinsDigby
Patrica Elizabeth Ellsworth
Ry Lee Fanning
Tiffany Asbarry Fanning
Crystal Ann Hawkins
Scott Allen Hill
Daniel Floyd Keeler
Robyn LeAnne●
Thomas Lee Litterell
Matthew Dennis MacFarlane
Natalie Gail Manning●*
Michael Bratton Maynard
Patrick Nicholas Marsh
Cynthia Marie McGowan●
Samantha Jaea McSharry●
Jessica Marie Odson
Jessica Nichole Ray
Samuel John Redding●
Destiny Bay Spanier
John Richard Swenson●*
Jared Allen Tarr●
Signe Elise Tronson●
◆ Oregon Coast Souveniors ◆ Kites
◆ Cedar Bear Naturals
◆ Tree Free Product Gift Bags, “Green By Design,”
(In 3 Different Sizes)
◆ Greeting Cards ◆ Jewelry ◆ Spun Wool Products
◆ One-Use Cameras ◆ Complete Line of High
Cascade Emu Oil ◆ Gifts for Special Occasions
◆ Many Other Gifts & Other Oregon Products
Sean-Paul Michael Wagner
William George Wayrynen
Storm Anthony Williams
*Certificate of Initial Mastery
●Honor Student
Salutatorian
Natalie Manning is salutatori-
an for the Class of 2008. She
has attended several Oregon
high schools including Cottage
Grove, Roseburg, and now
Pacific High School. She is sen-
ior class president and a mem-
ber of National Honor Society.
Natalie recently received her
Certificate of Initial Mastery
and was named Rotary Student-
of-the-Month for May.
Throughout her life, she has
been involved in athletics. She
has been a team captain for vol-
leyball, soccer, basketball and
track, receiving multiple varsity
letters in each.
Manning also earned All-
League and All-State honors in
basketball, and was named
Player-of-the-Year for the
Skyline League in 2007. Her
record of community volunteer
work includes Camp Fircroft, as
well as middle school basketball
teams and sports camps.
She enjoys theatrical arts, and
has been involved in local pro-
ductions with the theater com-
munity.
Natalie is the daughter of H.
Port Orford Sentior Center
Spaghetti Feed !
5 - 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 24
15th & Jackson, Port Orford
349 Sixth St.
Lots of new
items. Donʼt
forget to bring
your drycleaning in
by 12:30 p.m. Tuesday
541) 332-1177
In order to
conveniently
receive it back
again at 1 p.m. on
the ensuing Tuesday
‘We’ll be serving spaghetti, garlic
bread, salad and ice cream to adults
for $5 and cildren for $3.50. Everyone
in the community is invited!’
Thomas Manning of Roseburg,
and Pamela James of Langlois.
She has two brothers, Warren
and Thomas, and two sisters,
Elizabeth and Jenine.
Valedictorian
John Swenson heads the Class
of 2008 as valedictorian. John
has distinguished himself
through a variety of extracurric-
ular activities and academic
accomplishments during his
four years of high school.
He lettered in both basketball
and soccer, and was named 1st
team all-state and MVP of the
League for soccer in 2007. He
played for Oregon’s Olympic
Development Program soccer
team and recently won the state
championship for U-18's Boys’
Club.
Swenson was elected presi-
dent of the PHS Chapter of
National Honor Society for the
2007-08 school year. He was
named Rotary Student-of-the-
Month for April of 2008, and
has received various awards for
outstanding academic perform-
ance.
He has a record of 106 hours
of community service, and has
earned a Certificate of Initial
Mastery.
While attending and playing
for Oregon State University’s
soccer team next year, he will
major in physical therapy.
John is married to his wife,
Kambria, and has a daughter,
KaiLey Jo.
He is the son of Tom and
Diana Swenson, and has two
brothers, Caleb and Peter, and
two sisters, Rachel and Hannah.
’s
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