8 Brookings-Harbor Pilot T hursday , J anuary
21, 1954
Historical Notes
By MAX BRA INARD
H E R E S E E M S to be a te n
dency, in th ese
days,
to
ch a n g e o r do aw ay w ith the old
p io n eer n am es and adopt new
ones. T his tendency is due to o u r
ig n o ran ce o r lack of in tere st in
th e h isto ry th a t led up to those
nam es. An in stan ce of this kind
is well illu stra te d by the te n
dency to ren am e th e fam ous rock
w hich stan d s facing th e Rogue
riv er n e a r 1he town of W edder-
burn. T h is rock has been talk d
about a g re at deal, of late, on ac
co u n t of its having been selected
as th e ab u tm en t for the n orth
end of the proposed Roosevelt
h ighw ay bridge across the Rogue.
O f late, m any re fe r to it as
“H um e R ock,’’ but it has alw ays
been known as “Jim H unt Rock.“
o r " H u n t R ock" for short. This
nam e d a te s back to th e very first
se ttle m e n t of this section. D uring
th e gold rush of 1853, a m an by
T
th e nam e of Jam es M. H unt cam ?
w ith th e o th e r m iners to th e
Rogu? m ining d istrict. He w as
m ore a g ric u ltu ra lly inclined th a n
th e o th e rs so he located a land
claim w here the tow n of W cdder-
burn now stands. His w as th e
very first laivl claim ta k e n in this
section of the country. “Jim
H unt,” as he w as fam iliarly
known, fenced in a portion of the
flat and raised a large garden,
furnishing v egetables to the m i-j
ners who w ere too busily engaged
in prospecting and m ining for gold
to do any farm ing. Jim H u n t’s im
provem ents, th a t is, his buildings,
and the principal of his im prove
m ents, w ere located n e a r w here
the
W ed d erb u rn
H otel
now
stan d s (below the bridge, MSB»,
W hen th e Indian w a r broke out
on the night of F e b ru a ry 22, 1856,
a dance w as in progress in a lit
tle old building w here th e Gold
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la ir Prices
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LOU B L A N C , Inc.
Across the s tr e e t from th e Post Office in Coos Bay
r ach P acking C om pany’s c a n
nery now stan d s (to w a rd the riv e r
about halfw ay betw een th e S u n set
inn and th e h r dge, M SB). J u s t
before daylight, the news cam e
th at th irty or fo rty people had
been killed around th e T o -to -tu -n a
village, and th a t the Geisel fam ily
had been m urdered. Everyone im-
m d iately fled to th e fort, about
a m ile up th e coast from th e
m outh of th e riv e r and w ith th e
o th ers w ent Jim H unt. H ere they
w ere beseiged by th e Indians, who,
in g re at num bers, occupied th e
bald hills back of the fort. Then,
suddenly, th e Indians disap p eared
and w ere not seen again for tw o
or th re e days. S couts w ere sent
out hut w ere unable to find any
tra c e of them , so fifteen m en vol
u n teered to go to Jim H u n t’s
place for potatoes, as th e food
w as g ettin g low. T he people fo rti
fied th e re had kept a few c a ttle
and horses n ea r th e fort and
am ong them w ere a yoke of oxen.
They hitched th e yoke of oxen to
a sled, and those fifteen m en
(hove down the coast to a noir»t
w here th e Doyle (B e rn a rd M ath
er, MSB) place now stan d s. You
who a re fam iliar w ith the place
will rem em ber a high, roim d
m ound. One m an w as left on th is
m ound as a sentinel. T he o th e r
men w ent fu rth e r down and left
five m en w ith th e team , the o th e r
n :ne going up th e riv er after
food. H alfw ay to th e ir d estin atio n ,
th e Indians flocked down from
’he hills in g re a t • num b ers, from
w here they had been concealed,
and im m ediately killed th e m an
1 ft on th e m ound as sentinel.
T he o th e r five m en saw th a t
they w ere g re a tly ou tn u m b ered
but hoping they w ould be able to
fight th e ir w ay back to th e fo r1,
fled to th e beach! H re th ey m a d ’
a stan d but they could not hold
off th e horde of enem ies who
sw arm ed down on them and killed
every m an.
T h e nine w ho s ta rte d up th e
riv e r decided to fight th e ir w ay
on over the open prairie, in th e
direction of th e fort. T here w ere
several good m ark sm en am ong
* b em so they w ere able to pick
off th e Indian leaders, at som e
distance, and kept them from
crow ding in.
As soon as th e shots w ere h ’a id .
»einforcem ents arriv ed from the
fort. T hus, they fought th e ir wav-
hack to th e fort, carry in g tw o
w ounded m en. one of whom w as
Jim H unt. T he o th e r was M. B
G regory (M averick B. G regory,
M SB), w ho a fte rw a rd becam e
county ju d g e of C u rry county.
Joseph McVay w as also am ong
them . H e a fte rw a rd becam e a
prom inent business m an in this
and Del N o rte county.
(N o te : M averick B. G regory,
sh eriff of this county from 1860-
1S66, is sail! to have had, at one
tim e, a cabin in th e .field n e a r
the m outh of th e next creek south
of E uchre creek, said creek la te r
becom ing
know n
as
“G reg g ’s
('re e k ,” w hich it is today. In la te r
vears, he m oved to th e C hetco,
w here he h o m esteaded th e p re s
ent C arl W hite place, w here th e
n o rth bank C hetco road forks.
He la te r sold th is place to J o h n
son G ardner. It is said the old
m an died on th e C hetco tra il and
his bodv buried n e a r th e m outh
of W ilson creek, th e grave m ark
ed by a stone cairn which ex ists
to this date. He w as born in 1823
and died Ju n e 3. 1880. M SBi.
ed by a stone ca irn w hich ex isted
tie r th e first w hite s e ttle r any
place in this p art of th e county,
and this rock being on his claim ,
it w as n a tu ra l for th e m iners to
call it ’’H unt R ock,” and so it has
been know n for m any, m any
v ta rs , un til recently, when som e
have spoken of it as “ H um e
Rock .”
We. the pioneers of th is county,
look upon th at rock as a sort of
m onum ent to those men w ho
fought th e re and to th e m an who
m ade th e very first location of
I. n J here We reg ard it as an in
dex of o u r ea rly h isto ry and we
•rotest th a t th e n am e should be
d iscarded and nam ed for one who
cam e h ere m any y ea rs later, who
pro sp ered and becam e w ealth y be
cau se th e w ay w as m ade safe for
Ids e n te rp ris s by th e sacrifices
and bloodshed of th e pioneers.
(As recounted by Ered S. Moore,
C u rry C ounty Pioneer, M arch 28,
1927.)
(N o te : T his ten d en cy of r e
placing original n am es has, am ong
o th e r locations been inflict u h .
in th e su b stitu tio n of “Daw son
1 a e i.” for “H a rris E la t.” Even
th ough th e n am e of th e creek
survives and “H a rris P a r k ” been
ah d , “H a rris E la t" has been
know n as such ev er since George
S cott H a rris se ttle d at the m outh
of th e creek in 1897. He w as a
m uch respected, in flu en tial n ativ e
of P e rth , S cotland, who cam e to
C u rry co u n ty a f te r m any y e a rs as
a tra d e r in C en tral A frica. H e
built su b sta n tia l ran ch buildings
a t th e m outh of th e creek, ac
q u ired several hundsed acres, and
had a larg e band of sheep. Access
to m uch of the co astal se ttle rs
to th e n o rth w as across th e F la t,
th e co u n ty road being fa r to th?
n o rth ea st and a tra il connected
th e tw o roads. Bob S w an ’s p lan er
m ill now s tra d d le s th is old tra il
w hich hit th e county road (tra il)
at w hat is now known as the “Old
T hom as P la ce.” th en ow ned by
Asa Grey, MSB.)
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Open Evenings 7 to 9 p.m.
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PHONE
2863
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READY MIX
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m easu re and p ro p e r pro p o rtio n s
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