Illinois Valley News, Thursday, September 2, 1937
THE LAST OF THE
CHINESE HERE
Copper,
Waldo Is
I ’
Çfîll Iti
Liltie» situ
by and finally to Grants Pass com
pleted the unsettling of the
neighborhood about Waldo,
to
gether with the falling off of the
production of gold.
,
Even so there is something to
see at Waldo.
store
There is the McElwain
erected in 1863 and next year
will be the Diamond Jubilee of
that event, It is planned to have
a most fitting recognition of that
achievement and to memorialize
in a permanent form the spirit of
the prospecting pioneers.
The character of the Waldo
store building and the nature of
the doors and windows tell a
story that must be known by fu
ture generations. While it served
the purpose of a general store and
vast sums of gold passed through
its portals yet the structure was
builded really to withstand a
siege; and in the basement there
was a room prepared to sustain
the people who then lived under
the possible attack by Indians
who resented the coming of the
white men.
The Mgn with the Inquiring BvwUl A fti
Mind has a fondness for the Chi
nese and asking suestions as is
his wont he came upon stories of
their coming to the Illinois Valley
and mining gold and living ac
ceptably, and leaving behind them
Partial Review of
Mineral
Re
A tourist was all packed up
at their going such remembrances
and ready to take his departure
• ource» of Southwestern Oregon
of their stay as sets the soul sing
from an Auto Court for one of
Compiled by Wm. F. Hayden
ing.
the truly historic spots in souih-
Consulting Mining Engineer
There is a store a rancher tells
ern Oregon when the man with
From the Grants Pass Courier
of the rose bush they planted in
the inquiring mind overheard the
In reviewing the mineral re
another man's yard—a bush that
manager say “there is nothing
sources of southwestern Oregon
bore roses of almost extravagant there now”:—and the 1935 gol
we find that the principal miner
luxuriance and beauty—a bush den jubilee edition of an afternoon
als are gold, with copper and
that an unknowing man cut down paper in a near town reported the
Chromite occupying about equal
when he thought he was merely same thing—“there is nothing
proportions as to magnitude.
trimming it that it might bear there now but a ghost town.”
The non-metallic minerals such
more roses. If we only knew the
And the ghost town this partic-
as lime, marble, silica, etc., are
variety of that beautful rose it ular tourist was inquiring about
more or less abundant, particul
would be a capital idea to secure is Waldo where gold w’as first
arly the lime.
specimens of it for the State Park discovered in Oregon, as the leg
Southwestern Oregon is prom-
which is to be formed out of the end tells in the picturesque phras
hiently known as a gold-producing
former site at Waldo.
ing« of the remembering men
area where many gold
strikes
And once again these Chinese among the former generation of
have been made.
Evidence of
did a good turn by giving a man miners.
many profitable finds has caused
•o
a cork elm—and it is living still.
The tourist should have been in
an influx of miners over the
That might be transplanted or a formed that there is something
years (seeking gold) from all the
MUTUALITY
shoot secured for the environs of well worth while at Waldo for
parts of the country. Whenever
Miners
’
Historical
Mu-
the Waldo
Bill saw Miss Sue at church one
the man with the seeing eye and
a large gold strike is made any
seum.
eve, she was pretty as could be,
the
discerning
spirit.
And
when
where on the face of this old globe
But the best stories of all are the vision which is capturing a but Sue was awful bashful and
of ours the announcement of the
the stories a «laughter of the Va) growing group of the descendants so was Bill, you see. Bill wanted
place of discovery has alway*
ley pioneers told the man with of the early Illnois Valley Oregon much to see her home, but his
drawn hundreds of fortune hunt
the inquiring mind as he sat at pioneers is finally carried out courage ran so loW that he hadn't
era. This was true in the Calif
twilight the other day and heard there will be ever so much more
ornia forties when thousands of
her tell of the little girl with the to see at the site of Sailor’s Dig
men traversed the great mountain
two large dogs her consant cam gings.
and plains, crossed the Rockies
FAIRBANKS-
panions—-and how these great
Waldo was the first county
before transcontinental transpor
dogs would bark at the missing
MORSE
seat of Josephine County and the
tation was made possible, endur
Chinese going and coming from
first session of court was held in
ing untold hardships. The same
PUMPS
their most productive mine — 1856. It was a flourishing town
was true of the discovery of gold
known as ^he Leonard mine up in the most prosperous years of
in the Klondyke This has always
Althouse creek, and the little jjirl the early mining of gold. From
been true. Gobi will always be
so lived with her dogs that she 1855 to 1860 the town maintain
man’s greatest lure.
GASOLINE
barked just like them: and would ed an even population, although
Nature has chosen to deposit her
join in with them as the barked many miners left to stake theii
ENGINES
treasure of gold in out of-the-way
friendly like at the Chinese. And future in the Frazer development
places, many times down deep in
the passing Chinese would smile —their places being taken by the
sons1 mountain mass or in beds of
at both the dogs and the little Chinese.
abandoned water courses filled
BULLOCK
girl for they knew neither meant
The name Waldo was given the
with loam and gravels forced
any harm. And the Chinese too community it. honor of a prom
down by glacial or erosive action
ELECTRIC
passed away with the shifting of inent Californian politician—the
from the mountain reaches, many
the mining to other wheres and first settlers in the vicinity wrong
COMPANY
many ages ago. The mining of
with the draining of the golden ly thnking the town site was in
gold ore (quartz), is comparative
tirants Pass
treasure from the silt settled in California rather than in Oregon
ly new but washing gold from the
the creek bottoms and
washed
Moving
the
county
seat
to
Ker-
earth's beds and from banks of
down from the hills—and the Chi
streams is as ancient as biblical
0
nese were all gone then one day
history, which portrays the fact
in the later years when the little
that the gold in Solomon's tem
girl w’as grown into voung wo-
ple was recovered from placer
manhood a Chinese miner retur-
Grants Pass
gold deposits.
neil for a day to the scenes of his
First, therefore, let us consider
earlier diggings and as he walked
Presents
what constitutes placer mines am1
along the road he saw a young
as to what would be a favorable
COMPLETE SHOWING
woman approaching and he saw
situation in this respect.
in her the little girl grown big
of
Placer mines are the places
and recognizing her and remem-
where gold is obtained by wash
bering her childish
exploit he
ing an alluvial or glacial deposit
barked like a dog and she re
of sand or gravel containing par
called her childhood ami thè Chi
ticularly, or more usually, par
ticles of gold or other minerals. nese: and they met and smilingly
A placer claim is a mining claim renewed the recollections of great
days. He was the last of
located upon gravel or ground
whose mineral contents a re ex- nese seen in what was
Diggings.
traded or mined by use of hy-
The last of the
:
draulicking oi sluicing
of th<
away
smiling.
gravels The deposits consist of
-------------- o—
grave), sand or similar materials
resulting from the crumbling or
Oregon Traffic Accidents
It costs so little you cannot afford to be
erosion of country rock, vein ma
terials, etc, which may contain
without this protection. Could you re
A Series of Weekly Article»
particles of gold of a sizt ami
on the Problem of Highway
place your furniture if lost by fire? Be
value that may be garnered by
Safety — By F.arl Snell, Sec
the use of hydraulic equipment
retary of State.
protected and don’t take chances.
property installed. The mining
of same is that form of mining ir
which the superficious detritu
is washed to obtain the gold or
other valuable minerals.
Right Name
Chrome
♦
Hadley's Cinderella Shop
NEW FALL FASHIONS
Is Your Furniture
INSURED?
L. A. ATHEY
Cave City, Oregon
o
0
BOOSTERS
0
WALL PAPER—PAINTS
KALSOMINE
n of
says
Bob s Paint Shop
The House Of
its gold,
and fruits. hay in the
mow,
Berries in cream ft oui a good
Jersey cow
w hat
ask.
“DUTCH BOY PAINTS"
618 “E" Street, tirants Pass, Oregon
Harn Floyd. Holland, Resident Agent
more per hour, o ne accident in 11
result in death. High -peed and
the grim reaper keep constant
i company
G
Every motorist must to some
SAVINGS... on All Men's Wear
$2.00 “Arrow" Shirts, now
$1.00 Silk Ties, choice
$5 00 Al! Wool Pants, at
$5.00 Mallory Hats, reduced to
$2.50 Genuine Pigskin Gloves, now
-
95 W ool Sweaters, cut to
$1.65
.69
3.95
3.85
1.95
2.95
24.85
22.15
$32.50 “Griffon" Suits, 2 pants, at
$31.50 “Kidgora" Overcoats, choice
(Oregon City Woolen Mills Make)
27.45
$35.00 "Timely" Clothes, reduced to
REDUCTION STOREWIDE!
©
She—Can you gue»» what I want
molt for my birthday’
He—That» easy
It» probably
me
HEATH S MENS STORE
Grants Pass, Oregon
hardly spunk enough to up ami
PIONEER
tell her so; but when she had left i
the church and gone a dozen rods
or ten. Bill's spirits rose and up
Interest
ROGUE RIVER ROOF CO.
612 "H” St.
Phone 220-J
he goes and asks her there and
then,
ROOFS
Liberal Term», 5'
Grant»
Pa»»,
Oregon
They walked along in si-
lence, not a word from either
pate, and they arrived in course
of time up to her father’s gate.
Then Sue spoke in trembling
voice that reached Bill thru the
gloam, “Say, Billie, don’t you
ever tell anyone as how you saw
me home.” Bill was much reliev-
ed and straightw-ay says, “Now
look a here, Miss Sue, don’t you
go for to worry none, for I'm as
'shamed of it as you.”
BYRD
shop : service
T-
“Heelers of Soles”
Next to
Redwoods Hotel
I
PHIL SNORT
0
MINERS...
We Won’t Insure your Whiskers, hut we can
SAVE YOU 25%
On Fire, Theft, Automobile and other types
INSURANCE
♦ ♦
CLARKS' INSURANCE AGENCY
Del Rogue Hotel Bldg.
Grants Pass
Whiskers. • • on the
Bathroom Floor!
HERE’S TO YOUR
MINERS' JUBILEE
♦ ♦
Remember Us for the
PERFECT in HOME FURNISHINGS
♦ ♦
Linkhart & Thielen
(Successors to Powell & Linkhart)
GRANTS PASS, OREGON