"EIGHT MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE
Sunday, Augusi 3, 1932
Valley
Ire els
ISO
to
North-South Lines
Joined in Ashland
In December, 188 J
Local People Recall
Great Celebration
BY JACK JACKSON
Mail Tribune Staff Writer
It was July, 1863. A few days
earlier Robert E. Lee had been
"defeated in the bloody battle of
Gettysburg and short months
earlier, on the first day of the
year, President Abraham Lin
coln had issued an emancipation
proclamation which had freed
3,000,000 slaves in the South.
But that month in Jackson
ville, 89 years ago, every conver
satipn centered around two sub
jects not connected with the
battle between the states sur
vey and railroad.
The town's two newspapers,
the pro-Union Sentinal and the
Democratic Times, then edited
by the fiery pro-southern Col.
W. G. T'Vault, entered into the
discussion.
Cause of the furor was the ar
rival in town of two parties of
surveyors, one from California
and the other from Salem, for
the purpose of surveying a route
for a railroad to connect Jackson
ville with the major cities of the
Pacific coast.
This was news of the first mag
nitude. Jacksonville had every
thing else schools, churches,
business, mining and farming.
"With a railroad, there was no
limit to what the town, and all
of southern Oregon, could do.
Dispute Arises
Things looked rosy. But not
for long. The two parties, one
headed by George H. Gelden,
chief clerk in the office of the
surveyor general of Oregon, and
the other by Simon G. Elliott",
who had brought his surveyors
north from Marysville, Calif.,
reached a complete disagree
ment as to the party which would
direct the survey northward.
But, southern Oregon was not
to be stalled by a disagreement
among surveyors. Joseph Gaston
of Jacksonville raised funds to
keep the surveyors in the city
through the winter months. The
resDonse was good. The pay
ments were partly in cash, but
for the greater part they were
in wheat and oats and in room
and board for the surveyors
Those contributing included such
well known families as the Han
leys, the Applegates, the Cole
Bians and the Van Dykes.
In the spring of 1864, the sur
vey, headed by a Colonel Barry,
was carried northward through
Canyonville to the Willamette
valley.'
To carry on the business end
of the undertaking, and to pre
sent the railroad proposition to
Congress, the California and
Columbia River Railroad com
pany was incorporated at Jack
sonville in 1863. The line went
out of existence in 1865 without
laying a mile of track.
Jacksonville Headquarters
The California and Oregon
was formally incorporated in
1865 with headquarters in Jack
sonville and in 1866 it was desig
nated to build the California por
tion of a line connecting .the
Central Pacific in California
with the city of Portland. The
contemporary Centennial His
tory of Oregon called formation
of the C and O "a carefully
planned scheme gotten up in
California with not a single Ore
gonian connected with it."
-In the same year, 1866, Joseph
Gaston's Oregon Central Rail
road company was designated
by the Oregon legislature to
build the Oregon portion of the
line. On April 15, 1868, in Port
land, with Col. W. W. Chapman,
one of the founders of Portland
in the audience, Gaston's line
broke ground, only to lose fed
eral aid when a line headed by
Ben Holladay was first to build
20 miles of road, thereby quali
fying for land grant aid. In 1870,
Holladay reorganized his rail
road under the name of "Oregon
and California Railroad company-"
,
The O and C reached. Rose
burg on Dec. 3, 1872 and there
construction halted for nine
years and Holladay went broke
He was forced out by the line's
German investors, who installed
Henrv Villard to look after their
interests. Villard drove the line
south from Roseburg, and it was
under his guidance that Jackson
ville, scene of the strongest ef
forts to back the railroad through
southern Oregon, was bypassed
in favor of Medford.
Line Reaches Ashland
The O and C reached Ashland
on May 4, 1884 and then Villard
fell heir to the lot of so many
other railroad builders and failed
financially. The line was taken
over by the newly formed South
ern Pacific.
As the railroad inched its way
south from Roseburg, southern
Oregonians came into their first
contact with the "big railroad
interests."
R, V. Beall, Central Point, for
whose family Beall lane was:
MAIN AND FRONT STREETS Pictured above is the inter
section of Main and Front streets in Medford during the 1880's.
At left is the first Southern Pacific railroad station and at right
is the Riddle house, then owned by an uncle of R. V. Beall,
FIRST TRAIN TO ASHLAND Shown above is the first
regular passenger train of the Oregon and California railroad to
reach Ashland from Portland in May, 1884. D. McCarthy, the
engineer of the locomotive, is shown with an oil can standing
beside the engine. Directly above him, sitting on the running
named, remembers Rosue valley
reactions to these contacts. A
small boy at the time, Beall re
calls that Holladay was consid
ered to be "an unscrupulous
speculator," while Villard was
almost universally admired as
"a very able man."
As the construction crews ad
vanced into the Rogue valley
Beall was in a position to watch
their every move. The new line
ran about a quarter of a mile
east of his home, even as it does
today, and the mules and horses
used on the construction job
fed in the two large barns
built of hand cut timbers, which
still stand back of the BealJ
home.
One of Beall's most vivid mem
ories of those early railroad days
is of the Chinese construction
crews which camped near his
home. "They were large men,
probably Manchurians," Beall
says, and he adds tnat tney were
scruDulouslv honest.
The Chinese,-whose games of
fan tan and dominoes brought
something new to an area that
had seen almost everything in
the way of gambling, spoke little
or no English, Beall recalls. They
received their orders from trans
lators. Highwaymen Active
The advent of the railroad,
well as elsewhere,
hrousht an end to the profitable
profession of the highwaymen
who preyed on stage coacnes
traversing the sparsely settled
region. But they were not to be
put out of business until the rail
road was completed, as a letter
received recently by Beall tes
tifies.
The leter. from Herbert G
McCarthv. son of one of the
first O&C engineers, quotes a
portion of his mothers aiary,
written while thev were en route
here from the midwest to join
his father. One of the iinai en
tries of the trip came in Janu
ary, 1884.
It tells how, as their stage
made one of the last laps of the
from Grants Pass to Rock
Point, it was held up by armed
robbers. The robbers escaped ana
iur TUrParthv and her son made
the rest of the trip without fur
ther excitement, stopping tor a
while with the Bealls before con
tinuing on to Ashland.
The rails advanced from Cen
tral Point : south, not toward
Jacksonville as originally
planned but toward the tiny
town of Medford, then on to
Phnsniv and on May 4, 1884, it
reached Ashland. Beall was one
of the first passengers on me
first train to make the trip from
Central Point to Phoenix.
Railroad regulations ana time
tahlps were a great deal more
lax in those days than they are
at present., - Beau rememoers
nmornnt occasions on which
Engineer McCarthy stopped his
locomotive at isean crossing im
a few minutes and went over to
tv,c -Reaii home for a glass of
buttermilk or ice tea before con
tinuing his run.,
WhilP the railroad reached
Ashland and started the labor
ious climb up the steep slopes.of
ho siskivnus. the crew working
north from Redding, Calif., was
also making' progress. L.ate m
1887 it became apparent that the
rails from the north and those
from the south would be joined
that year. .
Ashland Chosen
Ashland was chosen to be the
scene of the great event some-
FIRST PASSENGER TRAIN The first
passenger train of the Oregon and California
railroad into the Rogue ' valley after the rail
road was opened for operation early in 1884 is
time in December. The ceremony
was tentatively slated to begm
at 2:30 on the afternoon of Fri
day, December 16. Then, as plans
were nearing completion, they
were delayed by the weather.
The situation was explained in
an editorial in the Dec. 16, 1887
issue of the Jacksonville Demo
cratic Times, which said:
"General Supt. Fillmore of the
Southern Pacific Co. recently
said that rains had so loosened
the earth in the newly laid road
bed of the California Oregon Ry.
that it was impossible to lay the
track. Operations will be sus
pended for several days on that
account. A soaking rain d&
scended four or five days mak
ing the roadbed very "mushy."
It was not raining in northern
California the fore part of the
week and if the . weather con
tinues good the roadbed may be
sufficiently dry to permit of the
laying of track to close the gap
between the two lines. It may be
necessary to postpone the cele
bration of driving the last spike
until after the holidays. This will
be done if the track is not laid
today." '
As it happened, the track was
laid that day. And thus it was
that on Dec. 17, 1887, just 65
years ago this coming winter,
flamboyant old Charlie Crocker,
one of the Pacific Coast's origi-nal-J'Big
Four" of railroading,
stood in the gathering gloom of
the south end of the Ashland
railroad yard and hammered
home a golden spike. The Pacir
ic Coast's first north-south rail
road was complete.
Unlike many places and oc
casions when history silently
slips by unnoticed, only to be
discovered by the searching eye
of later -generations, Ashland, on
that chill, foggy day, was well
aware that, momentarily at
least, the eyes of the nation were
on it.
Town Gaily Decorated
The streets were gaily decor
ated with flags and evergreen
boughs and by early in the day
evervbodv in the area who could
find the time was on the way to
town, by wagon, buggy, horse
back or bv foot. Some of the
luckier ones waited along the
recently completed Oregon and
California railroad line to board
the train for Ashland. Residents
of the valley gathered at points
along the line, probably includ
ing Beall crossing, to take what
for most of them was their first
railroad trip.
Among the southern Oregon
ians who were' at the ceremony
and who remember some of the
happenings are Miss Mollie Britt,
Jacksonville, and Lydia McCall,
Clarence Lane and George Dunn,
all of Ashland. The official repre
sentative of Medford at the cere
Beall lane. Riddle house was later remodeled as the Nash hotel.
The railroad was opened for traffic through Medford Feb. 25,
1884.
board of the engine is his son, H. G. McCarthy, who in 1930
was trainmaster at Dunsmuir. James Porter, fireman, is at the
front of the engine and the man in the cab is thought to be Joe
Marshall, whq was then engine wiper at Ashland and later was
an engineer at Sacramento.
mony was J. D.. Whitman, and
Jacksonville was represented by
Judge P. P. Prim and Charles
Nickell, editor of the Jackson
ville Democratic Times.
Jacksonville could have been
expected to be bitter over having
been bypassed by the railroad
some three years earlier. But in
the Dec. 16, 1887 issue of the
Democratic Times, under the
special heading "Invitation Re
ceived," was an article which
said:
"Although Jacksonville was
left on the outside by the rail
road co., that corporation fully
recognizes the commercial im
portance of the pioneer town and
is always inclined to show it the
same courtesy . that is extended
to any of the others. A cordial
invitation to participate in the
driving of the last spike has been
issued by Manager Koehler of
the Oregon and California Ry
Co. to our neonle. Mar. Koehler
also sent the following dispatch
on Tuesday: 'Inviting the may
or to attend the celebration.
The following is the answer:
'Mayor Nunan being unable to be
present, the editor of the Demo
cratic Times, who is also a
member of the city council will
represent Jacksonville at the
ceremonies'."
Thus, with Jacksonville mak
ing it unanimous, the entire val
ley, as well as most of the lead
ing cities of the coast, was repre
sented at the spike driving cere
mony. Weather Looked Bad
While the day was auspicious
at the scene of the ceremony, the
weather definitely was not.
Those who arrived early shiv
ered under fog laden skies, which
hid the tops of Wagner butte,
Mount Ashland and the Green
springs to the east.
It was not until 10:30 a.m., that
the train arrived from the north,
bearing Gov. Sylvester Pen
noyer, a representative of the
Seattle Board of Trade, numer
ous Oregon state officials and
the mayors of most of the cities
served by the railroad between
Portland and Ashland. As the
train chugged into the Ashland
depot, the fog lifted to show tne
white ridges of the mountains,
gleaming under a heavy fresh
snow. But heavy clouds still
threatened rain.
The ' train carrying Crocker,
other Southern Pacific officials
and representatives of San Fran
cisco civic groups, was not due :
until 3 p.m. so after brief wel
coming ceremonies, the delega
tion from the north sat back in
their plush train to take it easy.
On the far side of the Siski
yous, the San Francisco delega
tion was starting to rim into one
trouble after another. Things
had gone fine until the train
pictured above. The picture was taken on the
site on which the town of Phoenix now stands.
The railroad was opened to that point on Feb.
25, 1884.
reached Hornbrook. From that
point on, soft track and bad
weather made the going slow,
and near the south entrance to
the fabulous 3,070-foot Siskiyou
tunnel the special came to a com
plete halt when a construction
train was derailed, blocking the
tracks.
Despite feverish efforts by the
SP gangs under the urging of
work train Foreman Jack O'Neill
and his assistant Gus Leow, it
took two hours to get the con
struction - train back . on the
tracks.
Meanwhile,, in Ashland, it got
colder and the wind which had
blown down some of the decora
tions increased in velocity. Many
prospective spectators, chilled to
the limit of their endurance, re
fused to await history at the risk
of pneumonia, and went home.
The rest foraged for wood and
built large fires in an effort to
battle off the cold.
To many that day, the arch
over the tracks bearing the
motto "Welcome Oregon & Cali
fornia Linked at Last," only
added irony to what was already
becoming a frustrating wait.
Special Arrives
Darkness was well on its way
when the headlight of the pilot
engine, running ahead of the spe
cial to test the track finally
flashed info the yard. At 4:35
p. m. the special, with Engineer
Jack Clark at the controls, rolled
to a stop just north of the speak
ers' stand. Dignitaries conferred
and it was decided to go ahead
with the ceremonies, despite the
approaching darkness.
Telegraphers made final ad
justments, seeing to it that wires
were fastened to the spike and
the maul so that, as each blow
fell, the circuit would close and,
at stations up and down the line,
telegraph sounders would click
out the driving of the spike, blow
by blow.
Speakers stood on a table on
the speakers' platform, 20 feet
above the ground, to read their
prepared talks by lantern light.
The blessing was invoked by the
Rev. F. F. Strong and Governor
Pennoyer mounted the table por
tentiously to expound on the' glo
ries of the day.
Malice aforethought is not re
corded by history, but it was at
OPEN EVENINGS
o o o
Bush Home Furnishings Co.
Southern Oregon's Furniture Showplace
that moment that Crocker, an
avowed enemy of the Oregon
governor, chose to start driving
the spike. Pennoyer was mo
mentarily forgotten in the rush
to witness the spike driving cere
mony. .
The colorful Crocker, an old
hand at driving golden spikes,
having gained the audience,
played his advantage to the hilt.
The Oakland Tribune's story
of the event, published Dec. 19,
1887, two days after the cere
mony, stated, in part: ". . .
(the spike) . . . was driven at 5:10
o'clock on Saturday afternoon.
At the time mentioned Charles
Crocker held up the same gold
en spike that united the Union
(Pacific) and Central Pacific
roads, and with the same silver
hammer in his hand, he said:
"I hold in my hand the last
spike. (Cries of 'Hold it up!')
With this golden spike I propose
now to unite the rails between
California and Oregon, and I
hope it will be the means of ce
menting the friendship of the
two states, and make them as
one people. (Applause.)"
Spike Finally Driven
Crocker set the spike into the
hole prepared for it, picked up
the maul, set himself and swung
three , times, neatly setting the
spike in the tie. Each time the
maul hit the spike, telegraph in
struments in Portland, Chico,
San Francisco and Eugene
clanged three timesin all. Fire
bells in Portland and Sacramen
to sounded three times and steam
whistles chorused in San Fran
cisco. In Ashland the crowd
cheered and screamed.
Meanwhile, Governor Pen
noyer was still teetering on top
the table, 20 feet in the air, in
almost pitch dark, still waiting
to make his speech. Probably
unnerved by the experience, he
didn't have a great deal to say
when he regained the attention
of the crowd.
There were other speeches, a
poem, the Rev. Mr. Strong gave
the benediction and the crowd
broke up." The whole thing was
over by 6 p. m. As the spectators
left the ceremonies, many of
them dipped into a barrell of
spikes standing by the tracks
and took one home for a souve
nir. Most of these spikes were
gilded and hung on the walls of
Rogue valley homes as mement
os of the great day.
Of all the glowing platitudes
passed out by speakers that day,
the one which seemed destined to
be handed down to posterity was
that by Crocker, who said: "Fel
low citizens, I feel proud that I
am able to get upon as high a
table as I could 40 years ago. I
am 65 years old and it is pretty
hard climbing on top of a
table."
'Dangerous'
Speaking later at a celebra
tion in Portland, Crocker pro
duced the golden spike he had
driven at Ashland and stated:
"It is dangerous to leave it where
it was driven." The spike is now
on display in the Wells Fargo
Bank and Trust company in San
Francisco.
Of the spike driving ceremo
ny, Harvey Scott's Portland Ore
gonian, in part had this to say
in its first story of .the event,
published six days later, just two
days before Christmas:
"The train from Portland ar
rived in Ashland Saturday, Dec.
17, 1887, at 10:30. It consisted
of Pullman cars 'Roseburg' and
'Triumph,' Villard's private car
which had been four years in
building, and a kitchen car. It
was greeted by music by the
Ashland band, under the leader
ship of B. R. Willits. The crowd
numbered 2,000 or more."
Paper's Editorial
Policies Divided
Purcelville, Va. (U.R)
There will be no one-sided ed
itorial opinion in the weekly
Blue Ridge ' Herald during
this presidential campaign.
John Eisenhard and his wife
are co-editors. One . thinks
Dwight D. Eisenhower would
make the best president. The
other favors Gov. Adlai Stev
enson. In editorials of equal prom
inence and space, the paper
has endorsed both candidates.
No one seems to know which
editor is in favor of what can
didate. And the editors are
not telling.
THAT WAS A DRUG
Buffalo, N. Y. (U.R) The
Nestor ians of the fifth century
probably created the most elabo
rate drug prescription of all time,
says Roy Y. Sanders, Jr., vice
president of the Arner Co., drug
firm. Sanders reports the formu
la was known as the "gold anti
dote." It. contained 40 ingredi
ents, including .gold and silver.
Lucky You
T5t Traveler Safety Serric
Lucky you you got away wittf reckless driving
Stevenson Picks Manager
For Presidential Battle
By UNITED PRESS
Latest developments in the
presidential race:
DEMOCRATS
Stevenson Gov. Adlai Stev
enson picked Wilson Wyatt, for
mer mayor of Louisville, Ky.,
and one-time federal housing ex
pediter, as his "personal cam
paign manager" with headquar
ters in Illinois. The Illinois gov
ernor was reported considering
jumping off to an early cam
paign start so voters will have
a chance, to know him.
Sparkman Sen. John J.
Sparkman pledged to "work
wholeheartedly for the Demo
cratic program" but refused to
give "blanket assurance in ad
vance" on every controversial
measure that may arise. The vice
presidential nominee made the
statement in answering quest
Window Kept Unlocked
To Assist Burglars
St. Louis, Mo. (U.R) Harry
Duncan has what he claims is a
sure-fire way to keep burglars
away. After, burglars had ran
sacked his house four times,
breaking windows to get in,
Duncan put a sign on one of
them i which read: "Open for
your convenience." Duncan
keeps the windows unlocked
and hasn't been bothered by in
truders since.
Today only 1.7 per cent of
U.S. national income is spent on
education, compared with 2.5.
per cent in 1940.
TAKE A
LOOK AT
What does the future hold for your family financial dif
ficulty or freedom from worry? We have a savings plan
for your needs
-SAVINGS INSURED f I
UP TO $10,000 JI f
by the Federal Savings & Q
i.oan ins. worp., wasning-
ton, D.C.
Invest by August 11th
Funds invested here by Augu.it 1 1th
will earn dividends from August 1st
Jackson County Federal
SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATION
126 EAST MAIN MEDFORD, ORE.
v Growing with Jackson County Since 1909
by Dick Shaw
ions from Negro Congressman
Adam 1 Clayton Powell (D-NY).
whether he would campaign foi
a compulsory FEPC or an anti
filibuster rule for the senate.
REPUBLICANS
Eisenhower Dwight D. Eis
enhower emphasized he would
be his own "boss" in his presi
dential campaign in which he
expects the "great issue" to be
a sound program for world
peace.
Sen. Everett M. Dirksen o
Illinois, a preconvention support
er of Sen. Robert A. Taft, pledg
ed he would work "with vigor"
for Eisenhower's election.
PLAN RAIN-MAKING
Hartford, Conn. (U.R) A
committee of farmers hoped to
get a rain-making project under
way over the drought-stricken
Connecticut Valley late Satur
day. The bluebottle fly completes
its life cycle in little more than
a week.
SPECTACULAR
Giant Flowering Hardy
HIBISCUS
NOW IN BLOOM
Choice Large Varieties of
New Large Clematis
READY TO PLANT
LEWIS NURSERY
Old Stage Road North of
City Limits of Jacksonville
j i Cu,Bt
Dividend Rate