The Oregon statesman. (Salem, Or.) 1916-1980, March 28, 1931, Image 19

The Oregon statesman., March 28, 1931, Page 19, Image 19

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Newspaper Page TextOregon City, Ore., March 28, 1851 Salem. Ore., March 28. 1931 Page Nink BATES BUILT IN JEFFERSON His Home in '506 Marked Start of . Town - to 'South of Here Sixteen miles sojath. of Salem, along the east bank of'1 the San tiam river, lies the ltjttle city of Jefferson, -which was built on the Jacob Comer and James R. Bates donation land - claims. In the ear ly 5 0's the town was started." James R. Bates, jrather -of Mrs. Julia Ann ; Vaughn, cleared a tract . et timber and brush and built a nouse, the ; first one In Jefferson. Soon -other settlers came and established homes, and what was once a tract of timber soon became a' thriving' hamlet Owing , to the : fertility of the soil in the surrounding country, the people .were attracted here. In 1859 the old Jefferson Jnsti tute was- built and as the popu lation , of the - city Increased, the building became too small to" ac commodate the school, children, so . the institute building . was wrecked, with . the exception of one wing, which is the postoffice at the nrMtBt tlma. In 1899 a new school nous ' was built and lit ar two mora rooms wre add ed to the building. -j . " Biilie Thurraan was First Espe Agent In 18? a the Southern Pacific depot was built, and Billie Thur maa, a young man 18 years of age,' waa the first operator. Jefferson has a population of about 400. In the city are four churches, two general stores, two garages, - meat - market, high ana grde schools, a manufacturing plant, three barber shops, tele phone exchange, two confection ery and lunch rooms, jewelry store, two harness and shoe re pair shops, a physician, funeral director,- hardware store, four service stations, blacksmith shop, .hotel, " drug store, three - auto camps and r a public library. OLD AND NEW Wi hare demonstrated in the past that Oregon possesses the climate and toil for producing: the very best quality' of flax fiber. Our flax has been- shipped to Ireland and been proved equal to the best raised there. Correspondence S. A. Clarke in 1874. i. I . 1 r H: J. Boock Mr. H. J. Boock and family moved to Salem from Iowa, July Bf A la I Mill &tfflAi4 Aft . M small fruit farm 4 miles south of Salem, near Liberty, operating same for 7 years. Mr. Boock next moTed to Sal em where he was employed with the Peoples' Furniture Co. as clerk. ,,ln 1181 Mr, Boock went into business on his own account opening the Liberty Exchange, a new and used furniture business, located on North Commercial St. Later he moved to larger quart ers at 371 North Commercial St., -where he la , now located. Mr. Boock assures his many friends that they can always depend on a square deal at his store. His stock consist of new and used furatture. garden tools and other twU. t. HISTORY OF SOUTHERN PACIFIC IN WILLAMETTE VALLEY AND WESTERN OREGON" There was' no railroad in the, Willamette Valley until' eighteen j years after The Statesman made Its debut in 1851. In fact there was 'no steam railroad at that time anywhere la-four iter west ern country.! C0TWd jvagoos, winding their wy"oVer "the' ardu ous "Oregon Trail" afforded-the only means of 'travel west from the Mltsoart- across xaoanUim and plains' - into .'ih -v promised land"- of the northwest.. Even the- stage coach, now so roman tically . associated with ; early days of; the (west, had not yet made its appearance as an es tablished agency of transportation.- : 'i'" .' ' In the early -sixties a few- miles of narrow gauge railroad bad been ' built along- the ;. Columbia river for portage purposes around cascades and falls, but Oregon had no railroad of con sequence until Ben Holladay, fa mous In western history as stage coach, steamship and - railroad promoter, took hold of a floun dering enterprise and during 1883-69 built the first unit of the "project that was destined to develop into the system of more than 1400 miles of rail lines now operated in this state by South ern Pacific. , Combating ; winter floods that washed away j bridges and under mined track, Holladay ron in "eleventh hour" struggle to meet the government time limit. The first rail was laid on October 28. 18(9, and on Christmas eve of that year the first twenty-mile section of the old Oregon Central (East aide) line south from East Portland , to Parrot Creek, near the present town of New Era, was ready for operation. Six days later the locomotive "J. B. Stephens" pulled the first excur sion train over the road. This event was hailed with en thusiasm throughout the states The building of a railroad con necting Portland and San Fran cisco had for. almost a decade commanded ta attention of pro gressive cltisens, particularly the settlers In the isolated interior valleys. River boats carried shlpm. its up and down the Wil lamette, but the wagon roads over which farmers hauled their produce "to the shipping points on the river were practically im passable during the rainy months. With twenty miles of the long, looked for railroad now completed it wasconfidently ex pected that three or four years, at the most, would see the entire road In operation. Yet 17 years were to pass j before the "last spike" in the railroad waa driven at Ashland ini December. 1887. connecting Oregon and Califor nia. During the quarter of a cen tury that elapsed from the time the railroad was projected until Its completion, there flashed across the pages' of Oregon's early history some of the West's moat enterprising and colorful personalities. Their struggle to finance the surveying, building and equipping of their rail lines; their efforts to j sway popular fa vor and gain (political recogni tion: and their maneuvering to hold personal j supremacy, com bine to form inspiring chapters in the chain 1 of events that brought about the development of transportation In the great western valleys i of the state. To Simon oj." Elliott, ' Joseph Gaston. Ben Holladay, Henry Vil la rd. Richard Koehler. Wm. Reid. Col. T. Edgerton Hogg and Louis Gerllnger belongs the greatest share of credit for launching and developing the various projects that in later years -ere carried to I completion by E. H. Harrl raan. Collls P. Huntington. Le land Stanford' and Charles Crocker. The latter three men. with Mark Hopkins, founded the Central - Pacific la California (parent organisation of the Southern Pacific) and during 1863-89 built the western link of jthe first transcontinental rail road. I . DuMng 1868-84 Elliott and Oaston made surveys north from Jacksonville to Portland atoj the Celambla river, i Orston's survey ran through Corvallis and Day ton on the west side of the Wil lamette fiver. The Oregon -Cen tral Railroad company, which he Incorporated In November. 1836. was commonly kno.v.n as th3 "west side" company, while the company of the same name In corporated in April, 1867. 'to build along the route surveyed by Elliott through 'Salem and .Al bany on the opposite side of the river, was known as the "east side" company. The latter com pany had Its headquarters in Sa lem. Offices of the rival com pany were in Portland. i'Asso clated with Elliott in the "east side" company were several men prominent In Salem's early his- EARLY PABSRNQRR TRAIN ON O. YOUNQ, PIONEER CONDUCTOR, tory. Including I. R. Moores, J. D. Smith, E. N. Cooke. Sam'l. A. Clarke and John H. Moores.: Qaston'a com pa- received Its support from PortlanB, where its terminus was to be located,! and from farmers on the west side of the valley,, through which region the road would be built. I The "east side" company, with! its terminus in East Portland and line projected along the east 'side of the river, found its staunChest friends In Salem, Albany and Eugene. Both .companies "broke ground" In April. 1868. The "west aiders" staged their event at- the upper end of Fourth street in Portland, near the toot of Marquam hJll. The "east ald ers" began their grading on Old eon Tlbbet's farm, not far from where the railroad shops in Brooklyn are now located. The financial aid and aggres sive leadership brought by Hol laday to the "east side" company won the final victory and - In 1870 the "west side" organisa tion was absorbed by Holladay' new Oregon and California Bail road company. It was under! the name of this latter company that the remainder of the original main line was built through the Willamette, Umpqua and Rogue river valleys, j After having completed the first unit of the road from East Portland to Parrot creel:, win ning the government land grant. Holladay suspended work until the following summer. Early in August of 1870 Chief Engineer Hans Th!el?en had a grade ready beyond Salem. ack laying started In that month and j by September 5 the second twenty mile section was in operation to Waconda (now Gervals). On that day the company published its first time table showing two daily trains, "consisting of pas senger and construction cars," making the forty mile run from East Portland in three hours and ten minutes. New passenger coaches of "ele gant defttgn .with seats uphol stered in crimson velvet ; lush," were placed in service on Sep tember 29, when the road waa opened to the fairgrounds near Salem. Omnibuses and coaches met! the trains and carried pas sengers into Salem. The road was! completed to the Salem de pot ion October 11. during the annual state fair held that month, the railroad was a great attraction. "The toot of a locomotive whistle any hour of the day," stated one news paper, "never falls to start crowds of sightseers towards the tracks. The arrival or departure of a train la watched by hun dreds of people who never, saw that style of 'wagon before.! Trains were operated Into Jef ferson on November 17, 1870, and! on December 8 a special train carried HO '-ivited guewts frora- -ortIand."r Best Pprtland Oregon City and- Salem to Al bany, where. the people celebrat ed the arrival' of the' railroad and paid tribute to Ben Holla day. Regular -passenger- service was - not established, however, until Christmas day. Rainy wea ther halted construction work tor several "weeks and it -was? not until June 25, 1871, that the first! train .was operated toHar risbnrg. When 'the-raUf dad "wai; Jri operation to Eugena on .October 15, 171, a Portland- newspaper atated: .Travel ; between- .P.ort? C. R.7. R.; ABOUT JIT5. MORTON IX WA8 CONDUCTOR ON THIS, TRAIN, land and. Sacramento will now be 158 miles by. rail and about 846 miles by -stage, 'the connection's being made: at Eugene and Red Bluff la California. . The time between railroad terminals has been four and. a half days, but with, the setting In of the rains, it is now, and probably will .re main through the winter, at five days and a half."' Steamer time between: - San Francisco and Portland was then about 84 hours. From Eugene the railroad was placed in operation to Oakland on July 7, 1872;' and' to Rose burg on December 8. Construc tion .stopped there and no fur ther work was-done on the road for more -than eight years. Hol laday bad exhausted his ' funds and was on the verge of bank ruptcy. The crash came in April, 1873, and In the follow ing year Henry Villard and Richard Koehler came from Ger many to take over the enterprise in the interests of the foreign bondholders. In the meantime, construction had been resumed on the "west side" road out of Portland. The first train was operated -to Hills boro on, December 23,. 1871. and on November 3 the following year the road was completed to St. Joseph, town long since abandoned, which had "been es tablished by Holladay on the Yamhill river. There the termi nus remained until January 25, 1880, when the line was com pleted to Corvallis. by way of McMinnville, under Villard'B management. ' The twenty-mile line from Al bany to Lebanon was built be tween July and October, 1830. In the name of the Albany and Lebanon Railroad Co. Another extension from the main line was projected from Salem to SH verton, but was abandoned when the rival narrow gauge ' road built Into the section. In the seven .years after Vil lard assumed directorship he ac complished more than any one man before his time, or possibly since. In the advancement of Ore gon's transportation .interests. His principal activities were with steamships on the pacific coast, Columbia and Willamette rivers, and with railroad building along the Columbia river and- elsewhere In the northwest, as well as car rying on the projects started by Gaston and Elliott south of Port land. The magnitude and auda city of .some of his undertakings startled the financial world. Tet even Villard had limitations and in the end he gave way to' other promoters. - ; Construction of the Oregon and California railroad was . rejumed from Roseburg In June. 1881. Trains were operated to Glendale on May 13.' 18 88; to Grants Pas on December X, 1883; through Med ford to Phoenix on February 2R. 1RR4: and to Ashland on May 4. 1884. It was at this point that VHIard's regime crashed. Ashland ". was the terminal until Southern Pacific acquired control and built the-road over the Siskiyou to a connection with line from Cali fornia. 1 I The final ceremony was staged at the south end of the railroad yard at Ashland on December 17. 1887. Special trains -from the north and south brought delega tions of prominent people from both California and Oregon. During the syears the old Ore gon and California company was building its line south from East Portland, several other railroad' companies made their appearance. Most Important of these was the Oregonian railway, which built a system of narrow gauge lines dur ing 1878-82 totaling 180 miles. The road extended from Portland on the west side of the Willam ette to Sheridan, Dallas and Air lie, and on the east side of the river from Ray's Landing through Woodburn. Sllverton and Browns ville to Coburg. The company was directed by William Reid and fi nanced in its early stages by Scotch capitalists, ie -became a part of Southern Pacific in 1890 and was reconstructed to stand ard gauge during the succeeding three years. :" Col. T. Edgerton Hoggswas an other of the early railroad pro moters. He proposed to make. Taqulna bay the principal sea port of the northwest and the terminus of a ' railroad extending across the state to ax connection with the Union Pacific . or the Central Pacific transcontinental roads. He built a line from Ya qulna through Corvallis and Al bany to Idanha during 1886-89. The enterprise was never a prof itable one and went Into bank ruptcy. It became a part of the Southern Pacific in 1907. Louis Gerllnger built a short line from Dallas to Falls City and Black Rock in 1903-5, which was extended. to Salem in 1909. The J. D. Spreckels interests operated a line froi Marshfleld to Myrtle Point in 1893 and proposed an extension eastward across the state by way of Roseburg to a connection with the Union Pacif ic. E. E. Lytle built from Hllls boro to Tillamook In 1912. These several properties later became a part. of the present Southern Pa cific system In Oregon. The Cooa Bay territory was connected by a line from Eugene built during 1914-18. Trains were first oper ated through to Marshfleld on April 5, 1918. Corvallis was giv en direct connection with Eugene on September 4, 1913, when trains were first operated over an exten sion which had been built from Monroe, terminus of the former Corvallis and Alsea River Railway company. A short line between Cook and Beaverton was opened for traffic In July, 1917. Announcement of the electrifi cation of the Willamette valley branches was made in 1912 and through the agency of the Port land, Eugene and Eastern and the West Side and Newberg branches were equipped ror eiPCine service for which they were ready June 18, 1814. "The Portland, Eugene and Eastern constructed the Can by Molalla line, also the line from Monroe to Eugene, and pur chased the Willamette Falls line. Salem, Albany and Eugene, elty lines; Sheridan and Willamina railroad. Corvallis and Alsea rail road, all of which were turned over to the railroad's Portland di vision for operation In 1914-15. During 19 28 the Southern Pa cific completed one of the largest railroad construction jobs under taken in the west during recent years when the new Cascade lln betwee Black Butte. Cel.. and Eugene, Ore., via Klamath. Falls, was opened for traffic. This line was originally projected by E. II. Harrlman. Construction began at Natron In 1909 and by May 1. 1912. the track was laid to Oak ridge. In July, 1911, work was begun" at Klamath Falls and by September, 1912, the terminal of the road had been extended to Kirk. The world war and litiga tion Involved In the famous Cen tral Pacific unmerger case de layed further cdnstruetion until September, 1928. This new route, which brings Klamath Fails 188 miles nearer to Salem and Port land, and which affords train op erating advantages superior to the line over the Sisklyous, was opened tor traffic on April 17, 1927. Peid Adv. 8. P. Co.