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COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL MAY 9, 2018 9A Offbeat Oregon History: Deadwood Dick's adventures By Finn JD John For The Sentinel Between the end of the Civil War and the begin- ning of the 20th Century, the most popular form of fi ctional entertainment in America was dime novels. Dime novels were cheap paperback novelettes printed on pulpwood stock and sold for 5 to 15 cents each. They were pure entertainment, with no literary aspirations whatsoever; plots were lurid and melodramatic, characters were clown- ish and overdrawn, and heroes and villains were painted without shades of gray. Basically, they were pulp fi ction before there was anything called pulp fi ction. One of the most famous dime-novel heroes was Deadwood Dick, a roving gambler, gunfi ght- er, and white-hat con artist, very much in the style of television’s “Maverick.” Deadwood Dick was the creation of Edward Lytton Wheeler, a New York native who cooked up the character for his Philadelphia Vaudeville theater and then used him in a series of 35 dime jobs published by the Bea- dle Brothers. Wheeler, of course, didn’t make any trips out to places like Laramie or Cripple Creek or Roseburg to scout locations for his Deadwood Dick stories. So, most of them are geographically ambiguous, and those that do specify real locations contain geographical howlers for the natives to scoff over. But, they were great fun in an era before televi- sion or radio, and nobody complained (much). Now, these old dime novels are hard to come by, and I have not been able to personally inspect all 35 of the Deadwood Dick stories — nor the 100 or so that followed starring our intrepid he- ro’s only son, Deadwood Dick Jr. But in his wan- derings about the American West, Deadwood Dick does seem to have strayed into the Oregon country a few times. DEADWOOD DICK’S BIG DEAL; or, The Gold Brick of Oregon: The fi rst time appears to have been in “Dead- wood Dick’s Big Deal; or, The Gold Brick of Or- egon” (1883). In this one, “Gold Brick” is a nick- name for a gorgeous golden-haired broad who owns a disreputable gambling house, the bank of which Dick undertakes to “break” because he’s recognized the “Gold Brick” as his estranged wife, Calamity Jane, the mother of their 3-year- old son. At the end of the book, having succeeded in this little quest of spousal vengeance, Dick puts a cherry on top of his victory by winning sole cus- tody of Deadwood Dick Jr. in a hand of Euchre. It’s probably safe to say the “heroic narrative” in “Deadwood Dick’s Big Deal” hasn’t aged very well. Although, who knows, it may have provided inspiration for one or two embarrassingly self-in- dulgent feature movies from the “auteur” era made by bitter, freshly-divorced directors. “Te- quila Sunrise” comes to mind. DEADWOOD DICK’S DANGER DUCKS; or, The Owls of Oregon: In “Deadwood Dick’s Danger Ducks; or, The Owls of Oregon,” the next Deadwood Dick story set in the Beaver State, our hero is actually Dead- wood Dick Jr. — he who was, on his previous visit to our state, won by his father at a gambling table and torn from his mother, presumably never to see her again. In spite of that bit of childhood trauma, he seems to have grown up fairly well adjusted, and when we join him at a campfi re near Roseburg he’s a twenty-something “United States Detec- tive” traveling with his two friends, rough-and- ready mountain man Job Johnson and clownish African-American Nicademus Noodle. (At least, he says it’s near Roseburg. But he also says it’s an hour’s ride east of the “famous lava beds.”) Dick is there in not-so-hot pursuit of a murder- er who’s escaped from the state pen in Salem. The trail has gone cold. But, as he’s making plans to turn back, a strange forest girl with a head injury stumbles into their camp; and then two local horsemen join them for the night and, around the campfi re, tell them of a gang of notorious bandits who have seized possession of an island in the middle of a lake “some ten miles down the valley” called Lake Sylvan. There is, of course, a rich mine of gold on the two-acre island, and it’s presided over by a dangerous damsel known to all of the thor- oughly cowed neighbors as “Lady Sylvan.” Ev- eryone who’s tried to swim out to the island has been turned back or killed by the desperados on the island, who call themselves The Owls. (This seems, to modern ears, a weird name for a gang of desperados to affect. Perhaps all the scarier and more gang-like monikers such as “The Bloods” and “The Crips” and “The James-Younger Gang” were already taken and all that were left were the names of Boy Scout patrols?) The next morning, one of the two strange horse- men is dead as a doorknob, pinned to his bedroll with a big Bowie knife, and there’s no sign of the girl. The other horseman — who later turns out to be the murderer — tries to pin it on the strange girl, but Dick doesn’t buy it. His interest piqued, Dick and his friends de- cide to join the locals in investigating the island by swimming out to it disguised as ducks — that is, each of them wearing a dead, unplucked duck, staged with some quick-and-dirty taxidermy to keep its head from fl opping around, so that the island sentries would see not a bunch of invaders swimming ashore, but merely three very tall, stiff, rigidly immobile ducks slowly and silently drift- ing toward the island, their heads and necks gen- tly rocking back and forth with the wave action like the masts of tiny ships. This plan goes just as well as you would ex- pect it to, and all our heroes are promptly captured and subjected to a sort of show trial presided over by the girl with the head injury from Scene One, who turns out to have been Lady Sylvan herself. The murderer whom Dick was pursuing is there as well. In good melodramatic fashion all appears lost, and then virtue emerges triumphant with a little help from the abiding love that’s been burn- ing in the breast of Lady Sylvan since that night by the campfi re when Dick fi xed up her head inju- ry and gave her a blanket. She, it turns out, is a fi gurehead; the Owls are actually a gang of “counterfi tters” who are, appar- ently, stealing gold from various places, bringing it onto the island, and pretending to mine it there. (As a side note, this would not have worked in real life. Assayers in gold country in the late 1800s were surprisingly good at identifying the source of freshly mined gold based on average grain or nugget size and color and nature of impu- rities, and used those abilities fairly regularly to catch careless stagecoach robbers. Had someone tried this stunt, the locals would have known ex- actly what they were doing the minute they fi rst tried to have their “diggings” weighed at the local assayer’s offi ce. But, of course, our Philadelphia author didn’t know that.) In the end, justice is more or less served. Nicademus Noodle, after forcing the murderer to change clothes with him, fi nds $1,000 in the pocket and hits the road with it. The murderer, thinking he’ll restore his fortunes by burgling the bad guy’s house, gets shot and killed, so Dick’s job is done; nonetheless he insists on riding off into the sunset to his next adventure, without bothering to say goodbye to Lady Sylvan, who we never hear of again. All in all, it’s a pretty rough little story, stretched with a lot of unnecessary “business.” And the character of Nicademus Noodle, al- though endowed with resourcefulness and wit, is nonetheless a typical late-1800s African Amer- ican character — that is, an insulting racial ste- reotype brought to life. But overall it’s a fun, fast read, and its descriptions of nonexistent Roseburg scenery and geography surely brought a smile to the face of more than one 1880s Douglas County resident. WHY I TEACH... Worship Directory DRAIN: HOPE U.M.C. 131 W “A” St. Drain, OR 541-315-1617 Pastor: Lura Kidner-Miesen Fellowship & Song: 11:30am Potluck Lunch: 12:00pm Worship: 12:30pm Delight Valley Church of Christ 33087 Saginaw Rd. East 541-942-7711 Pastor: Bob Friend Two Services: 9am - Classic in the Chapel 10:30am - Contemporary in the Auditorium COTTAGE GROVE: 6th & Gibbs Church of Christ 195 N. 6th St. • 541-942-3822 Pastor: Aaron Earlywine Youth & Families Pastor: Seth Bailey Service times: 9am & 10:30am Sunday School: 9am for all ages Christian Education Nursery for pre-k - 3rd Grade www.6thandgibbs.com First Presbyterian Church 3rd and Adams St 541-942-4479 Pastor: Karen Hill Worship: 10:00am Sunday School: 10:00am www.cgpresbynews.com Hope In The Grove 700 E. Gibbs • 401-855-5668 Pastor: Wayne Husk Sunday services: Worship: 9am Coffee Fellowship: 10:15am Bible Study: 10:30am Calvary Baptist Church 77873 S 6th St • 541-942-4290 Pastor: Riley Hendricks Sunday School: 9:45am Worship: 11:00am The Journey: Sunday 5:00pm Praying Thru Life: Wednesday 6:00pm Hope Fellowship United Pentecostal Church Calvary Chapel Cottage Grove 100 S. Gateway Blvd. 1447 Hwy 99 (Village Plaza) 541-942-2061 541-942-6842 Pastor: Dave Bragg Pastor: Jeff Smith Worship: 11:00am Sunday Two Services on Sun: Bible Study: 7:00pm Wednesday 9am & 10:45am www.hopefellowshipupc.com Youth Group Bible Study “FINDING HOPE IN YOUR LIFE” Child Care 10:45am Service Only www.cgcalvary.org Living Faith Assembly 467 S. 10th St. • 541-942-2612 Center for Spiritual Living Worship Services Sundays: 9a & 11a 700 Gibbs Ave. (Community Center) Youth Worship Sundays: 11a (all ages Rev. Bobby Lee welcome) Meets Sunday 3:00 p.m. Mondays: 5:30p (6th-12th grades) cslcottagegrove@gmail.com Non-Denominational Church of Christ Church of Christ 420 Monroe St • 541-942-8565 1041 Pennoyer Ave Sunday Service: 10:30am 541-942-8928 Preacher: Tony Martin Cottage Grove Bible Church Sunday Bible Study:10:00am 1200 East Quincy Avenue Sunday Worship:10:50am & 5:30pm 541-942-4771 www.pennoyeravecoc.com Pastor:Bob Singer Worship 11am Old Time Gospel Fellowship Sunday School:9:45am 103 S. 5th St. • 541-942-4999 AWANA age 3-8th Grade, Pastor: Jim Edwards Wednesdays Sept-May, 6:30pm Sunday Service: 10:00am www.cgbible.org Join in Traditional Christian Worship Cottage Grove Faith Center 33761 Row River Rd. 541-942-4851 Lead Pastor: Kevin Pruett www.cg4.tv Full Childrenʼs Ministry available Service: 10:00am Worship With Us! Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Philip Benizi Catholic Churches 1025 N. 19th St. 541-942-3420 Father: Joseph Hung Nguyen Holy Mass: Tue-Thu: 8:30am; Sat:5:30pm Sun: 10:30am Confession: After daily mass, Sat. 4-5pm or by appointment St. Philip Benizi, Creswell 552 Holbrock Lane 541-895-8686, Sunday: 8:30am St. Andrews Episcopal Church 1301 W. Main • 541-767-9050 Rev. Lawrence Crumb “Church with the fl ags.” Worship: Sunday 10:30am All Welcome Seventh-day Adventist Church 820 South 10th Street 541-942-5213 Pastor: Kevin Miller Bible Study: Saturday, 9:15 am Worship Service: Saturday, 10:40 Mid-week Service: Wednesday, 1:00 Trinity Lutheran Church 6th & Quincy • 541-942-2373 Pastor: James L. Markus Sunday School & Adult Education 9:15am Sunday Worship 10:30 am Comm. Kitchen Free Meal Tue & Thur 5:00pm TLC Groups tlccg.com United Methodist Church 334 Washington • 541-942-3033 Pastor:Lura Kidner-Miesen Worship: 10:30am Comm. Dinner (Adults $5, Kids Free) 1st & 3rd Monday 5-6:00pm umcgrove.org When I graduated from col- lege, I wanted a career in busi- ness. I wanted to make lots of money and drive a BMW. I got a job selling and writing radio advertising for a big radio sta- tion in Portland. After eight months of “dress for success” and meetings with clients I be- came discouraged. I realized that even in my most successful month of sales, all I was real- ly doing was moving money around. I wanted my time and my life to be spent doing some- thing that mattered more than moving money. So, I went back to college for another 18 months and became certifi ed to be an el- ementary teacher. I have taught 1st, 2nd or 3rd grade for 34 years, 32 of them right here in Cottage Grove. Sometimes I am tired or dis- couraged. It is an overwhelming job, because you want to help every single child make lots of progress. Classes can be huge Plant Sale Friday May 11th • 9am – 4pm Saturday May 12th • 9am-4pm American Legion Hall • 826 W. Main Vegetables, Annuals & Perennials RAFFLE Beautiful Hanging Basket Drawing on Saturday Do not need to be present to win All proceeds help animals in our area. and behaviors can be diffi cult. Sometimes sadness from kid’s lives make them uninterested in learning. But every single day I know my time was well spent on the children and families of our town. I am now teaching the children of former students! I have loved spending my days with children. I will always be glad I became a teacher. Debbie Taie Bohemia Elementary School I became a teacher because the most infl uential and supportive people in my life were teachers, either in a school or by nature. When it came time to choose what I wanted to pursue as a ca- reer, I needed to know that my life and my labors would help other people and contribute to the community I live in instead of seeking to profi t. I wanted a life focused on giving rather than taking; in teaching, I have that chance every day. Daniel Henson Kennedy High School Language arts and social studies instructor Local news Local sports Local government Local 24/7 cgsentinel.com “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King “VICTORY” Country Church 913 S. 6th Street • 541-942-5913 Pastor: Barbara Dockery Worship Service: 10:00am Message: “WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES” CRESWELL: Creswell Presbyterian Church 75 S 4th S • 541-895-3419 Rev. Seth Wheeler Adult Sunday School 9:15am Sunday Worship Service 10:30 am website www.creswellpres.org Our Worship Directory is a weekly feature in the newspaper. If your congregation “The people in Lane County deserve more. Our seniors should feel secure in their homes. Our children should be safe at school and our families should have decent opportunities for a hopeful tomorrow.” ~ Tim Laue Tim has BOLD IDEAS for Lane County’s communities. • Increase public safety patrols on our highways and in our neighborhoods. • Hire coordinators in East Lane watersheds to improve rural services. • Demand a fair share because while you pay more and get less every year, RXWRIVWDWHFRUSRUDWLRQVJHWPLOOLRQVLQEHQHƓWVDQGWD[EUHDNV • Provide for affordable healthcare & housing. 7LPKDVVHUYHGDQGGHOLYHUHGLQ/DQH&RXQW\IRUWZHQW\ƓYH\HDUV Ř 1HZSXEOLFVDIHW\IDFLOLWLHVIRUƓUHDPEXODQFHDQG\RXWKVHUYLFHV Ř $QHZOLEUDU\LPSURYHGSDUNVDQGRSHQVSDFHVDQGEHWWHUQHLJKERUKRRGV • Keeping government accountable by protecting vulnerable people and our environment. would like to be a part of this directory, please contact the Cottage Grove Sentinel @ 541-942-3325 • Balancing services during deep cuts including public safety, public health, mental health, human services, youth services, economic development and jobs. Common Decency, Common Sense, Common Ground, Common Good. ELECT TIM LAUE FOR LANE COUNTY COMMISSIONER timlaue.com (541) 600-9722 • votetim@timlaue.com Paid for and authorized by Tim Laue for Commissioner, Lee Gire, Treasurer
