4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL January 7, 2015
O PINION
Offbeat Oregon History
The Roseburg ‘Champagne Riot’:
Probably not what you’re thinking
BY FINN J.D. JOHN
For the Sentinel
I
t was Christmas Day in 1866.
Offi cially, the Civil War had
been over for a year and a half.
Unoffi cially, though, not every-
body agreed that its outcome set-
tled things ... especially in Doug-
las County, Oregon.
At the time, Douglas County
was like a microcosm of the Unit-
ed States. There was a Republican
majority in the more populous
and powerful northern part of the
state, which had voted itself into
full control of county government,
much to the fury of the resentful,
disenfranchised Dixie-friendly ma-
jority in the south of the state. And
like Washington, D.C., between
the warring North and South, the
county seat at Roseburg was lo-
cated almost directly between the
two regions.
Approval or disapproval of the
outcome of the war, and the sub-
sequent reconstruction program
in the South, split the Roseburg
community right down the middle,
with Southern Democrats bitterly
resentful and Republicans (and
pro-Union Democrats) gloatingly
triumphant.
Douglas County wouldn’t re-
ally be at peace until the following
year, with the outcome of an event
that?’ been described — only part-
ly in jest — as the last battle of the
Civil War. It’s known today as the
“Champagne Riot,” although it
was more a drunken brawl than a
riot, and there was almost certainly
no champagne involved.
The Champagne Riot started out
as a Christmas party — or, rather,
two Christmas parties. Feelings
were so sore in the Roseburg area
that the two sides each threw their
own. The pro-Southern citizens
threw their “Christmas ball” at
Goode’s Mill, near Roseburg; the
Unionists had theirs at the home
of Joseph Champagne, in the tiny
now-long-gone hamlet of French
Settlement, six miles west of
Roseburg.
Everything was fi ne and jolly and
festive until about 3 a.m., when the
pro-Southern party wound its way
to a close, and the dancers and rev-
elers started heading home to bed.
But a small group of them, young
hot-blooded men from old South-
ern families, decided the night was
still young enough for some more
action. They further decided that
the place to go for that action was
Joseph Champagne’s place, where
the damn Yankee sympathizers
were celebrating their recent vic-
tories.
Armed to the teeth and well for-
tifi ed with holiday spirits, these
young troublemakers set out on
horseback for French Settlement,
four miles away.
The primary purpose of the visit
was for one of the fi ve, Solomon
Culver, to settle a score with one
of the Unionists, George Bennett.
Culver’s cousin, John Fitzhugh,
came along, and three of Culver’s
friends — Abe Crow, Bob Forbes
and John Hannon — rounded out
the little war party.
Fitzhugh was a particularly in-
teresting character. Reportedly
a distant relative of Robert E.
Lee, he was a prominent Demo-
cratic leader in Roseburg and the
founder and former publisher of
Roseburg’s fi rst newspaper — the
Roseburg Express, which he
launched in 1860, just before the
Civil War broke out. It didn’t last
long; after the shooting started,
federal authorities went looking
for “copperhead” newspapers and
shutting them down, and the Ex-
press — along with the Albany
Democrat, Corvallis Union, Table
Rock (Jacksonville) Sentinel, Eu-
gene Herald and Portland Daily
News — was suppressed.
What the erstwhile journalist
did after that, for the duration of
the war, isn’t clear. But there’s one
thing we know he didn’t do, and
that’s give up on his pro-Southern
beliefs.
Fitzhugh and his four comrades
arrived at the rival gang’s party
around 4 a.m. Upon their arrival,
they got busy right away. Cul-
ver found Bennett, whipped out
his Dragoon revolver and pistol-
whipped him across the face with
it, breaking his nose.
Then the party’s host, Frank
Barringer, hurried to the scene,
apparently to try to defuse the
situation, and — presumably af-
ter a heated exchange of words,
although the newspapers don’t say
— Fitzhugh pulled a derringer and
shot him through the heart. Bar-
ringer slipped to the fl oor and died
without speaking another word.
Then fi sts, knives and pistols
started fl ashing and fl ying as the
fi ghting became general. The fi d-
dle player, Ash Clayton, set down
his instrument, grabbed a knife and
used it to let some air out of Solo-
mon Colver’s left lung. Abe Crow
took offense to this and, pulling
his revolver, shot Clayton twice
with it (once in the leg, and once
across the scalp) and then slashed
Please see OFFBEAT, Page 7A
Readership survey yields insightful info
about Cottage Grove's news needs
R
ecently, the Cottage
Grove Sentinel asked
its readers to evaluate its work
as the primary news source
for this community.
Two recent editions of
the Sentinel have included a
readership survey consisting
of nine questions aimed at
delivering an insightful look
at how readers access the
newspaper, the other sources
that deliver news that impacts
their lives and their needs and
desires for local news cover-
age — be they needs that the
paper is currently fi lling or, in
some cases, is not.
The Sentinel received 34
online responses to its survey
and three handwritten submis-
sions, and the staff wishes to
extend its most sincere thanks
for comments and suggestions
that were at once informative,
on-topic and polite. Our read-
ers are the only reason we do
what we do, and we appreci-
ate the chance to know how
we may do it better.
We’ve distilled the re-
sponses down to a few short
sentences where possible, to
offer a straightforward and
useful look at things, though
we of course realize that the
opinions of 37 readers do
not a complete picture of our
readership make.
According to the results of
our survey, Cottage Grove
Sentinel readers mostly re-
ceive their paper through an
ongoing subscription. They
are an older crowd, the ma-
jority over age 50 who gen-
erally read the newspaper to
keep up-to-date on communi-
ty happenings, to read about
people they know or follow a
particular issue.
In addition to the Sentinel,
readers also utilize a variety
of sources to get their news
— many also read the Eugene
Register-Guard; watch local
television news broadcasts
and occasionally national
news broadcasts; listen to
local radio and NPR and ac-
cess a wide variety of Internet
news sources. Readers also
provided poignant comments
regarding their news habits;
for instance, one reader noted
that, “no news service is per-
fect, so I use several sources
and try to read between the
lines.” Another shared that
“friends share the type of
news that impacts me the
most.” Many also access in-
formation through Facebook.
Sentinel readers would like
to see more pictures and sto-
ries about interesting locals
in their local newspaper, in
addition to more crime and
court reporting, detailed re-
ports of meetings and opin-
ion from newspaper staff and
community members. More
specifi cally, comments indi-
cate a desire to read a more
in-depth police and fi re ac-
tivities log, know about com-
munity events BEFORE they
happen and read about more
controversial topics. One
commenter noted that, in sit-
uations where the individual
had “fi rst-hand knowledge
of an event, I have found the
Sentinel’s coverage to be a
bit ‘thin’ and sometimes one-
sided,” continuing that “It’s
not anyone’s fault ... you just
need a few more reporters.”
Readers have also stated a
preference for “hard-hitting
news that adheres to the facts,
however unpleasant they may
be.”
We’re not sure how much
the chance to win a raffl e prize
from a local business played
into the decision of many of
our readers to respond, but
for those interested, we'll
be drawing the name of one
lucky winner on Friday.
In many cases, it appears
that the information received
from our survey closely co-
incides with what we’ve al-
ready come to believe about
our work and our readership.
To wit, we’ll attempt to pro-
vide an in-depth response
to many of the facts we’ve
gleaned from the survey. It’s
a process that promises to be
a trifl e wordy, so we’ll pick
up where we left off in next
week’s paper. Thanks again,
and Happy New Year!
Are 'natural' and low-glycemic sweeteners healthful alternatives to sugar?
BY JOEL FUHRMAN, MD
For the Sentinel
A
dded sugars come in
several forms other than
sugar, evaporated cane juice and
high fructose corn syrup. Calo-
rie-containing sweeteners such
as maple syrup, honey, agave
and coconut sugar are marketed
as “natural”
and often
touted as
healthier al-
ternatives to
regular sug-
ar. Is there
any truth
to
these
claims?
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
116 N. Sixth Street · P.O. Box 35 · Cottage Grove, OR 97424
ADMINISTRATION:
JOHN BARTLETT, Regional Publisher
Ext. 212 • cgnews@cgsentinel.com
GARY MANLY, General Manager...................541-942-
3325 Ext. 207 • publisher@cgsentinel.com
SPORTS DEPARTMENT:
MATT HOLLANDER, Sports Editor............541-942-3325
Ext. 204 • sports@cgsentinel.com
ADVERTISING:
ROBIN REISER, Sales Representative.........541-942-
3325 Ext. 203 • robin@cgsentinel.com
PATRIC CARLILE, Sales Representative.........541-942-
3325 Ext. 213 • patric@cgsentinel.com
CUSTOMER SERVICE
CARLA WILLIAMS, Office Manager..........541-942-3325
Ext. 201 • billing@cgsentinel.com
LEGALS......................................................541-942-3325
Ext. 200 • legals@cgsentinel.com
NEWS DEPARTMENT:
JON STINNETT, Editor..............................541-942-3325
GRAPHICS:
RON ANNIS, Graphics Manager
(USP 133880)
The Cottage Grove Sentinel is published every Wednesday in Cottage Grove, Oregon.
Our offices are located at 116 N. Sixth St., P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424.
Subscription Mail Rates in Lane and
Portions of Douglas Counties:
One Year (auto pay):............ $34.50
One Year (manual pay):....... $36.15
One Year (e-edition only):.... $33.55
10 Weeks (auto pay):...........$8.55
10 Weeks (manual pay):......$9.10
Subscription Mail Rates Out of County:
One Year (auto pay):............ $44.25
One Year (manual pay):....... $46.35
One Year (e-edition only):.... $43.00
10 Weeks (auto pay):...........$11.00
10 Weeks (manual pay):......$11.70
In foreign countries, postage extra.
Subscription rates are subject to change upon 30 days’ notice.
Periodicals postage paid at Cottage Grove, Oregon.
Postmaster: Send address changes to P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424.
Local Mail Service:
If you don’t receive your Cottage Grove Sentinel on the Wednesday of publication, please let us know.
Call 541-942-3325 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Advertising ownership:
All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by the Cottage Grove Sentinel become the property of the
Cottage Grove Sentinel and may not be reproduced for any other use without explicit written prior approval.
Copyright Notice:
Entire contents ©2014 Cottage Grove Sentinel.
Similar to sugar, these are
low-nutrient
concentrated
sweeteners; they add substantial
calories to the diet while con-
tributing very little nutritional
value. Maple syrup and honey
elevate blood glucose similarly
to sugar (sucrose), leading to
disease-causing effects in the
body. Agave and coconut sugar
rank lower on the glycemic in-
dex but are still empty calories
and may have other negative
effects. Repeated exposure to
these excessively sweet tastes
dulls the taste buds to the nat-
urally sweet tastes of berries
and other fresh fruits, which
perpetuates cravings for sweets
and can undermine weight loss.
Since some natural sweeteners
undergo fewer processing steps
than sugar, they may retain
some phytochemicals from the
plants they originate from, but
their nutrient-to-calorie ratio is
still very low, and they contain
minimal or no fi ber to slow the
absorption of their sugars. The
negative health effects of added
sugar and high-fructose corn
syrup (HFCS) are well docu-
mented, including increased risk
of weight gain, diabetes, cardio-
vascular disease and cancers.
Agave nectar is marketed as a
low-glycemic sweetener due to
its high fructose content (agave
is approximately 90 percent
fructose). Sucrose is half fruc-
tose and half glucose, made up
of one fructose molecule linked
to one glucose molecule. HFCS
contains 55 percent fructose and
42 percent glucose. All sweet-
eners (and fruits) contain some
combination of glucose, fruc-
tose, and the two bound together
as sucrose. Maple syrup con-
tains about 90 percent sucrose,
so it is very similar to regular
white sugar. Coconut sugar con-
tains 70-80 percent sucrose, and
honey contains 49 percent fruc-
tose and 43 percent glucose.
Fructose and glucose are
broken down differently by
the body. When fructose is ab-
sorbed, it is transported directly
to the liver, where it is broken
down to produce energy. Fruc-
tose itself does not stimulate in-
sulin secretion by the pancreas.
However, much of the fructose
is actually metabolized and con-
verted into glucose in the liver,
so it does raise blood glucose
somewhat (although not as much
as sucrose or glucose). Despite
its low glycemic index, added
fructose in the form of sweeten-
ers still poses health risks. Fruc-
tose stimulates fat production by
the liver, which causes elevated
blood triglycerides, a predictor
of heart disease. Elevated tri-
glycerides have been reported in
human studies after consuming
fructose-sweetened drinks, and
this effect was heightened in the
participants who were insulin-
resistant. Fructose, when used
as a sweetener, also seems to
have effects on hunger and sa-
tiety hormones that may lead to
increased calorie intake in sub-
sequent meals.
When you ingest any caloric
sweetener, you get a mix of dis-
ease-promoting effects: the glu-
cose-elevating effects of added
glucose and the triglyceride-
raising effects of added fructose.
Sweeteners, unlike whole fruits,
are concentrated sugars without
the necessary fi ber to regulate
the entry of glucose into the
bloodstream and fructose to
the liver. All caloric sweeteners
have effects that promote weight
gain, diabetes and heart disease,
regardless of their ratio of glu-
cose to fructose, or what type of
plant they originate from.
Dr. Fuhrman is an author and
board certifi ed family physi-
cian specializing in lifestyle and
nutritional medicine. His new-
est book, The End of Dieting,
debunks the fake “science” of
popular fad diets and offers an
alternative to dieting that leads
to permanent weight loss and
excellent health. Visit his infor-
mative website at DrFuhrman.
com. Submit your questions and
comments about this column
directly to newsquestions@
drfuhrman.com. The full refer-
ence list for this article can be
found at DrFuhrman.com.
Letters to the Editor policy
The Cottage Grove Sentinel receives many letters to the editor. In order to ensure that your letter will be printed, letters must
be under 300 words and submitted by Friday at 5 p.m. Letters must be signed and must include an address, city and phone
number or e-mail address for verifi cation purposes. No anonymous letters will be printed. Letters must be of interest to local
readers.
Personal attacks and name calling in response to letters are uncalled for and unnecessary.
If you would like to submit an opinion piece, Another View must be no longer than 600 words.
To avoid transcription errors, the Sentinel would prefer editorial and news content be sent
electronically via email or electronic media. Hand written submissions will be accepted, but we may need to call to verify
spelling, which could delay the publishing of the submission.