MEDFORD MAIL' TRIBTJOT:, MEDFORD, OREGON, M03TDXY, JUNE '4, 1934
PAGE FIVE
4
PfONEERUFEOF
OREGON PEOPLE
WASQU1ET0NE
- Adventurers Move on to Cal
ifornia Sturdy Farmers
and Merchants Build
Foundation of State
By PAUL S, EWING
Student In School of Journalism
University of Oregon.
"All quiet on the western front,"
i a phrase coined almost 60 years later,
would have been an apt description
of struggling Oregon towns 75 years
ago, on the eve of that admission to
the union, the Diamond Jubilee of
which Is celebrated In Medford this
week. Looking back from the
diamond anniversary. It la noted that
the roistering, brawling villages that
marked other Infant states were con
spicuous by their absence In the
Oregon of 1859. The pioneer Oregon
settlers were sturdy farmers and
merchants who were looking for fer
tile lands and permanent homes. The
few drifters and adventurers who
reached the state during this forma
tive period soon moved on to the
more exciting offerings of California,
or paused momentarily at the Jack
sonville mines, leaving the building
of the towns and villages of Oregon
to the more capable hands of the
farmers und loggers.
At Portland, a supposed traveller
would have found a straggling village
of nearly three thousand people
busily engaged In thrusting the rank
wilderness back to make room for
. their homes on the muddy banks of
the Willamette. Portland was the
hub of much bustling: enterprise,
with a few stone buildings scattered
among the falsefront, frame struc
tures that made up the town. One
dally newspaper, the "Portland Dally
News," was to bo established later in
1859 by S. A. English and company,
and the weekly "Oregonlan," on
which Tom Dryer had been sticking
type since It was founded was to be
come a dally the next year.
Old Time Life In Portland
Our traveller would have noticed
the dull thud of horses' hoofs on the
planked streets of the business dis
trict and the lighter thump of
human feet on the high board -side-
Medford's First Postoffice and Today's
Evidencing the profrresi of the past half-century since Medford waa ettablished, Medford has one of the most
modern postoffice building in Oregon. This modern three-story structure Is a far cry since the dayi of 1884
when a struggling vlllajre first came Into existence. Miss Martha DeSouza, In the foreground, Is shown holding
the first postoffice, a cigar box, In which all Incoming mall was placed. The scene of Oregon's Diamond Jubilee,
this week, Medford Is also celebrating Its golden Jubilee. A comptete program has been planned for the week.
walks, built to keep the trailing
gowns of the ladles from becoming
too encrusted with the black, sticky
mud of the townslte. After a day
spent in the saloons, he might cross
the swollen Willamette to the rival
town of East Portland, or he might
stroll out into the early February
rain and slush for a closer view of
the crude frame houses that made
up the residential section. Threading
his way among the mud puddles and
the stumps that dotted the hillsides,
avoiding the narrow alleys that
opened into barnyards behind the
homes, he might have visited the site
of Portland's first really substantial
residence, that of W. S. Ladd, the
banker, which was to be completed
later in the year.
Turning his back upon this latest
sign of permanence and prosperity,
he might make his way through the
early dusk to the river's edge, and
watch big windjammers unloading
their cargoes from San Francisco and
the Hawaiian Islands. If he wished,
he might take passage on one of the
outward-bound boats and be dropped
with the pilot at Astoria, the oldest
town In the state, or he might go up
the river by steamer to The Dalles,
with a population of almost eight
hundred, Hood River with 70 souls,
Des Chutes, with 50, and so on to
Walla Walla and back by wagon-train
to the more thickly settled, east.
A Trip South
Or he might, If his spirit was
strong and his curiosity great, travel
south through the dismal winter
rains for a' closer view of the other
settlements In the new state. Having
made up his mind to go south, he
would have plodded back to his com
fortless hotel, there to await the
morning and consideration of modes
of travel.
Arising the next morning, he would
have found that he could take pas
sage on a river steamer to Salem,
Albany, and Corvallts. However,
wanting to see other towns, he could
still journey on a lumbering stage
coach or travel on horseback. Having
little time to waste, he would have
decided to hire a horse from one of
I Portland's livery stables and set out
on his tour with the least possible
deity.
Going south, he would pass first !
through little Mllwaukie. where 150
settlers made their homes, then
Oregon City, where a population of
690 clustered about the grist mills
and sawmill at the falls. Most of
the flour for1 the state was ground
in these same mills, started by Dr. ;
McLoughlln. Pushing on as swiftly i
as possible over the sloppy roads, he
would have reached HUlsboro after a i
hard day's ride, and found there a !
sedate little trading center for the j
farmers in the vicinity. I
Avoiding the Mud !
TTpon saddling his horse after
spending the night with some hos
pitable settler's family, he would
have retraced his route of the day
before to the west side road, which
skirted the foothills to avoid the
deep mud of the valley, and ridden
on to Whlteson. Inquiry there would
have revealed the fact that he could
spend the night In the log cabin of
almost any farmer if he failed to
reach Dallas before the early night
fall overtook him. However, mounted
on a good American horse used to
the muddy roads, he might have
pushed on through the light drizzle
to Dallas, a town of 450, where a
livery stable and stage station would
take care of his wants for the night.
Calling for his horse in the grey
light of a dismal dawn, he would
have ridden on to quiet Mnrysvllle.
now Corvallla, one of the larpe towns
of the period with a population of
over a tftiousnnd. Butts and King's
Valley, with 400 and 350 people each,
could have received only passing at
tention. Meets Stage In Mud
Another long day, the fourth of his
Journey, would take him through the
bustling little towns of Monroe and
Franklin, into the still smaller village
of Lorane, where lodging for the fifth
night would have been sought. Dur
ing the day, he would have met the
north-bound stagecoach from Cali
fornia, swaying along through the
rain, bouncing wildly on Its leather
springs as It Joust led from one mud
hole to the next.
Travelling on again through ankle-
Oldest Bank Attraction
For Visitors at Jubilee
&MW 1 , , i ,
Established In 1853, the Beckman
bank In Jacksonville, Ore., bears the
reputation of being the oldest bank
In Oregon and will be one of the at
tractions of Oregon's Diamond Jubi
lee celebration In Medford and Jack
sonville this week, observing Oregon's
sexenty-flfth anniversary of state
hood. The Interior of the bank Is much
the same as it was when gold dust
from the nearby hills poured over
the counters 70 years ago, A bench
Shangle Photo,
where customers used to wait Is still
the same, Including the little tacks
which had been placed In the wood
to prevent whlttlers from exercising
their knives. Ancient signs continue
to adorn the walls.
The bank will be open throughout
the week and will be one of the
numerous attractions of jubilee week,
the activities of which Include Med
ford and Ashland In the presentation
of parades, pageants and dozens of
special attractions, filling up every
hour of the seven-day observance.
about two miles apart. Without
having shown any Interest in the
subject, he might have been button
holed and told of the skullduggery
that was going on; that while the
upper town was getting most of the
region's business, the lower village
would most assuredly come into Its
own because vessels could come there
and no further without boing favored
by the tides.
Travel on the Vmpqua
Arising early on the sixth morn
lug of his trip, he might have left
his weary horse In the livery stable
at Scottsburg and boarded a majestic
schooner bound for Umpqua City,
Gardiner and the open sea. After
spending the night at Gardiner, he
might, if luck was with him, take
another boat back up the river to
Scottsburg the next day. After an
other night in a Scottsburg tavern,
he would apaln call for his horse and
make his way back to Drain, then on
south to Oakland, where he would
be made welcome In the log cabins of
the tiny town.
The ninth day of his tour would
take him past Umpqua, through,
Winchester, and into Rose burg, with
a population of B30, where he would
have heard of the Jacksonville gold
mines "gold in the grass-roots, they
say." Riding eagerly on, he would
have forded the Umpqua river and
rain-swollen Cow creek before trot
ting Into Canyonvllle to escape the
cokl night and dry his splattered
clothing before a great pot-bellied
stove.
deep mud, our adventurer would pass
through Drain and turn off on the
uncertain road to Elkton and Scotts
burg, where he would again spend
the night. Elkton, the rustic county
seat of Umpqua county, would hold
little of Interest as compared to
Scottsburg, the scene of much rivalry
during the early months of state
hood. There he would have found
that warring Interests had created
two towns, the upper and lower,
Centenarian Says
Suffrage Mistake
SAN FRANCISCO. (UP) "I'v
seen a sight of changes since I was
born in Maine in 1834," said Mrs.
Laura A. Terry today as she cele
brated her 100th birthday. "Men
have taken to the air like birds;
night has been turned into day:
people talk clear around the world.
Some of these changes are good but
one lent' woman should never have
gotten the vote. They should leave
things like politics and professions
to men."
Keeping
-Pace!
Since it's establishment in 1918 this
company has steadily increased its
facilities and staff and expanded its
operations in line with substantial
Southern Oregon progress.
Timber Products
Company
MEDFORD -OREGON
LUMBER
BOX SHOOK
FUEL
-'' , ...""'"IiIii'iiii I ,
Staff of the Hotel Medford at the service of guests of this long-established and popular hostelry.
upper left, f. o. "Fete" Denson manager of the Hotel Medford.
The HOTEL MEDFORD
Southern Oregon's Leading Hotel
Extends A Cordial Welcome
To Medford and Southern Oregon
Make This Center of Medford's Life Your Headquarters
While in Medford This Week
BO
'ore
, JUNE 3bd TO 9th -193477
Rmtmh?r If yon Kt lnt fmm Tm,r
trlmiU yon Kill Unit llifm it the
lintel MriUord.
Dining Room Service - Medford's
Most Popular Coffee Shop
Price) In our dining room and In our coffee shop are consistently mod
erateservice and quality of foods the BEST everything prepared
EXACTLY as you like it I Dining room and coffee shop open all day.
Finest Foods - Excellent Service - Friendly
Atmosphere
P. G. DENSON MANAGER