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About The Coquille Valley sentinel. (Coquille, Coos County, Or.) 1921-2003 | View Entire Issue (June 25, 1937)
■» Coos County Nearly Century Old Organised in 1853; Empire First County Seat Until 1875, When Moved to Coquille Coos county was organized December 22, 1853, while Oregon was still a territory. In the Rogue River Indian dialect Coos means “Lake, lagoon, or inland bay.” The name was first mentioned by Lewis and Clark, who spell it Cook-koo-oose, and early day residents always wrote it Coose. In May, 1853, an exploring party under Perry B. Marple left Jacksonville, Oregon, to search for a harbor that would give an outlet for Southern Oregon. They arrived at Coos bay in three days. Empire Settled In 1853 W. H. Harris, one of the party, selected Bandon and Mr. McLain of Marshfield. County Seat Removed to Coquille Empire remained the county seat until April 5, 1899, when, following an election in 1896, it was removed to Coquille, which had been chosen for its central location, be ing almost in the center of the county. The county court at this time comprised L. Harlocker, county judge, with I. T. Weekly and Donald McIntosh commission ers; Edward Rackleff, now living at Canby, Oregon, was county clerk, his deputy be ing Louis H. Hazard, at present living in Coquille; the sheriff was W. W. Gage, rtf CtrHib ’A fl*** w* lion land claim act to one-half section land. This was the first land filed on in Coos county under the land laws of the United States. After'taking claim Captain Harris built a cabin, the first in the county. He laid out and platted eight blocks for a town and chose the name of Empire City. ’ A custom house was established there in 1853 with David Bushness collector. Empire City was the first settlement in the county, and served as county seat until 1899. when the seat of county^ government was re moved to Coquille. r field MarsbfM __ is part of the land claim , Wilkins " "1 ' Warwick _ •• in 2"~, In taken by 1855. 1858 he sold part of his claim to Andrew J. Davis for $3000. In 1887 there were but two buildings, but in that year John Persh- baker started lumber and shipbuilding in dustries. The first locomotive was shipped by boat to Coos bay in December, 1874, to gether with two passenger cars and two freight cars. In 1889 the first newspaper was estab lished, it being a sheet 8 by 9 inches, and called the "Bumblebee.” First County Judge Chas. Pearce was the first county Judge of Coos county, serving under appointment from April 12. 1854, until December 18. 1854. R. S. Belknap was appointed to suc ceed Pearce, the former serving until Sep tember 4. 1855. The first county election was held in the summer of 1855, A. N. Foley being named county fudge. His term was for four years, ending July 8, 1859. The remaining county Judges, serving Coos county from that time up to the pres ent were: -- Samuel 8. Menn. July 4, 1859, to July 4, 1886: Gilbert Hall: D ,T Low^tH Nosier, two terms: Geo. M. Dyer; D. L. Watson, father of James Watson, of Coqui'le, two terms: J. Henry Schroeder, member of the orteina' Baltimore colony, father of W. H. Sctowd*'’. teweler of Coqull’e; L. Har- locker, two terms; John F. Ha'l, two terms: James Watson. C. R. Wade. R. H Mast. D. F. Thompson and Hugh McLain, present incumbent. The five last named are still living. Messrs. Watson, Mast and Thomp son. residents of Coquille, Mr. Wade of Present Court House Built In The first or original court house in Co quille was the present frame structure, two stories and basement, erected in 1898 by H. Snook of Salem at his bid of $12,105. Bids were originally opened in April, 1897, but held in abeyance for nine months because proper plans had not been made for funds with which to build. This delay cost the county close to $500, because the price of material had advanced in the meantime. At the time the structure was erected it was thought that it was being made suf ficiently large to take care ot the county’s needs for many years, but the vision of the most sanguine residents of that day could not foresee what the future had in store for Cpos county. For in 1916, the popula tion of Coos county had so grown and its legal business so increased that it was necessary to erect a new and more modem addition to the frame structure. Even the capacity of jhis addition,'known as the Hall of Records, is fast being overcrowded, and the prediction is freely made that before another ten years have rolled around, that Coos County will need a larger and still more modem structure to house its various departments. Present Comity Official Family Coos county’s official family today, 1937, is as follows: County Judge, Hugh McLain; County Commissioners, Ri H. Lawhorn and T. H. Thompson; county clerk, L. W. Oddy; sheriff, W. F. Howell; treasurer. Chas. Stauff; assessor, J. P. Beyers; super intendent of schools, Mrs. Martha E. Mul key; surveyor, J. N. Gearhart; district at torney, Ben Flaxell; coroner. Dr. Ennis Keizer. The first circuit court judge of this dis trict in 1859 was Obediah B. McFadden, then associate supreme court judge, the three supreme court judges then each pre-* siding over one of the state’s three districts. The present Judges are: James T. Brand, Marshfield; G. F. Skipworth, Eugene, and Carl Wimberly. Roseburg The present legislators, serving in the regular 1937 session, were: Geo. Chaney, Coquille, senator for Coos and Curry coun ties; J. H. McCloskey, Norway, state repre sentative for Coos county: Roy Carter, Gold Beach, joint rerpesentative for Coos and Curry counties Southwestern Oregon has been particu larly endowed by nature with recreational spots for the tourist, vacationist, or for one out for a day's enjoyment. This section offers wonderful facilities for boating, fishing, hiking, swimming, hunting, golf and tennis. Select your favorite outdoor sport and Coos county will furnish it. You can rough it out-of-doors or you can stay at a luxur ious hotel or apartment or tourist cottage. Ocean, lake and river fishing is availa ble for the angler. There is trout fishing in the streams, trolling for salmon in the surf or in the various rivers, deep sea fish ing off the Coquille river or Coos Bay, duck, deer and wild game hunting, which is an answer to a sportsman’s prayer. Rivers and Streams Play Important Part in Lives of People In This Section Many * J. H. Ryan Assistant State Engineer Most of us living on the Pacific Coast think of irrigation projects and hydro-electric developments when we near the term, “Water Resources." Coos and Curry Counties have not yet undertaken any large developments of that nature, and the reason Is quickly evident. Except for the Rogue River, which has its head-waters in the high Cascade and Siskiyou Mountains, all the streams in Coos and Curry counties rise on the western slope of the Coast Range. Although this slope is heavily wood ed, the hills are steep and well broken up by gullies and ravines, which quickly drain away the falling water. The character of the soil is also a factor in this quick run-off, the top layer of loam being gen erally underlaid by n dense clay hardpan which will not retain much moisture. Practically all of the precipitation falls in the form of rain and at once starts on its way to the ocean. Nearly one half of the total precipitation falls during November, December and January, 80 per cent falls during the six months period October 1 to March 30, while the remaining 20 per cent is spread over the period April 1 to September 30. r a result the winter Top—Original frame building, - Coos County Court House, erected in 189$. * Bottom—Modern concrete addition to above building, erected in 1918. COO8 COUNTY COURT AND OFFICIALS, 1196 ] .— , - This view was taken on the old court house steps at Empire, the then county seat, previous to removal of tjie county seat to Coquille. Front row, left to right: Edward Rackleff, county clerk, father of Dave Rackleff, local druggist, now living in Canby, Ore., and L. H. Hazard, deputy county clerk, for many yean and until recently presi dent of the Fint National bank of Coquille. Top row, left to right: Frank Ross, commissioner, then of Coos river; J. Henry Schroeder, county Judge, father of Wm. H. Schroeder, Jeweler, of Coquille, and Taylor Weekly, commissioner, father of Vance Weekly of Coquille, all now deceased. months are characterized by extremely high water in the coastal streams while the summer and early fall finds them at a very low stage. Normal preci pitation for the coastal country varies considerably from north to south along the coast, being 63 inches at Umpqua Lighthouse, 64 inches at North Bend, 69 inches at Port Orford and 75 inches at Gold Beach and Brookings. Irrigation is practiced on a limited scale by in dividual farmers who water small tracts, mostly or chard, garden, or ladino clover plots, and the drain age districts in the vicinity of Marshfield and Co quille have made some use of summer Irrigation. However, the rivers and streams play an im portant part in the life of a great many of the peo ple in these two counties. Coos River and the Mid dle and North Forks of Coquille River are used to float logs down to mills. Rogue River is the only route to Agness and Illahe, commercial fishermen get their living from several of the larger streams, while the recreational value of the streams and fresh-water lakes is hard to estimate in dollars and cents but must be a large sum, when we consider the amounts spent by tourists and fishermen at the many resorts and camps scattered all along the coast. The United States Geological Survey is main taining river gaging stations on the three Forks of Coquille River. The station on the South Fork at Powers has been maintained since September, 1916. Here the maximum discharge was 25,300 cubic feet per second (11,350,000 gallons per min ute) on October 31, 1924, and the minimum 13 cubic feet per second (5,830 gallons per minute) Novem ber 30 to December 3, 1929, and October ,4-13. 1932. The mean flow of this fork for the sixteen years of complete record is 444 cubic feet per second (199.000 gallons per minute). The station at the present lo cation on Middle Fork Coquille near Myrtle Point has been operated since October 1, 1930. The max imum discharge was 23,600 cubic feet per second (10.580,000 gallons per minute) on January 2, 1933, and the minimum one cubic foot per second (449 gallons per minute) on July 16, 17, 1931. The mean flow for the five years of published record is 879 cubic feet per second (304,700 gallons per minute). The six years of published record (1930-1935) for the North Fork Coquille River near Myrtle Point shows a maximum discharge of 10,400 cubic feet rr second (4,670,000 gallons per minute) January 1933, and a minimum flow of 17 cubic feet per second (7,630 gallons wer minute) September 5, 1930. The mean flow for the period is 833 cubic feet per second (373,800 gallons per minute). During each of the past several years the writer has made a trip along the Coast High way from Astoria to California during the low- water period in August and September, measuring all tlie rivers and creeks west of the summit of the coast range that are readily accessible from the roads and highways. As a result of this work we now have a fair idea of the low water flow of some 75 streams in Coos and Curry Counties and as new roads are opened up and improved this work will be extended as fast as possible.