14
Jacksonville
Queen City of Oregon’s Gold Rush
Romance of the Old West, lingers in
the foothills of southern Oregon where
Jacksonville, queen city of Oregon’g
golden yesterdays,-¿sits in the sun re
membering days that used to be and
at the same time taking an- active part
in the world of today.
The scene of the major gold rush in
the Beaver State §gh 1851, attracting
thousands of miners to gold-filled
claims, Jacksonville*’.was . a pioneer
metropolis which made Oregon history
nearly a century ago.
It all began when James; Cluggage
and J. R. Poole, traveling through! thg
Rogue River valley, did ‘/sbme I casual
prospecting in what is nowdq M K t.a^
Rich Gulch. There they E tru ck gold
nuggets and dust. It wa| not long un-?
til the secret of the gulch became
known and miners converged ari&the
area where “anyone
wash out a
pint cup of gold a day.”
By February 1852 every foot oil the
gulch was staked o u t' in,-; claims and
by March surrounding hills and
gulches became hosts to ever mcreas-
ing numbers of miners. All of this was
in the face of hostile India n B In Feb
ruary the first trading post was opened
in a tent by Appier and Kenny, pack
ers from Yreka, California, over the
Siskiyou mountains.
It was hardly a bazaar. The stock
boasted of only a few tools, some iron,
roughest of rough clothing and jabots,
“black strap” tobacco and a liberal
supply of whiskey. HistorA
iaris; say the
latter was probably worse than the
poorest moonshine during prohibition-
days. There were also small quantities
of flour, salt and limited staples.
The first log cabin came in March,
with finishing lumber whip-sawed in
the canyon at a cost of $250 per thou
sand. From thereon the town boomed
and boomed and problems grew.
Gamblers, courtesans, and 'sharpers’
of every kind, like a fl» |h t, f'lB fce^ ^
the new El Dorado. Saloons multi
p li e d beB hd necessity; monte and
faro games were in full blast. Strains
of music lured the “honest miner” and
led his feet into dangerous places,
where he and:.his trea^ ^ ^ .Ayetr ^ ^ ^ n
parted.
E 9 | | r e was no written law in the
gold rush town. >^But the^ ^ ^ Ba^Bv?
higher, stronger an S morear^w^SwKeii
than written codes — the astern
sity of mutual protection, with the
courage and will to enforce it.
In 1852 the first people’s court was
in action. A minednamed'-Potts was
shot down by - g a m b 1 e r named
Brown. Immediately every claim was
vacated and miners set up • court to
mete out justice to ^ o w n . Thta E a B
was tried on thef.^ ^ ^ o | d righi .-'and
wrong without legal technicalities.
Brown was found guilty, taken to an
oak grove near the present Presbyter
ian church, and h a w S teT b ei^
buri^^B
The winter I of 18 52 - 5 3 brought
severe weather. Snows blocked travel
to and from the gold E n ip as early as
November. Flour at- once rose to a
dollar peh;w « m andbhe^uppf^^vaW
Bonfg|xhatO®lg Tobacco brought a
dollar an ounce but salt was priceless;
worth more than its weight in gold.
Other troubles became /more im-
minent. Indian resentment against en
croaching whites grew
In
18§3 they determined o r B deadly war,
which in its beginnings took the lives
of settlers living at some distance from
Jacksonville. Pickets wereI thrown
about the t w n nightly but; even then
te^SSOn was killed within riffe||rahge
of the business district.
When trouble reached at f l imax and
(Continued on Page 20)