Herald and news., June 09, 1963, Page 23, Image 23

jswtuAM Herald aulto j&aiwisA
KLAMATH FALLS, ORKGON, SUNDAY, Jl'NE , 1963
Pioneer. Pens Besmptive New ferns letter
Orson Stearns Letter Reveals Life In Klamath Basin In Early Days
New Year's Day. 1870, and a
young pioneer, lonely settler in a
new area, pens a letter to a
friend.
That letter today represents an
excellent picture of the first set
tlers of this Basin, and the condi
tions under which they lived.
As Orson Stearns, 27 years old,
sat down to pen this letter, he
could look back on almost three
years during which he had bat
tled the wilderness and estab
lished his home.
When the Civil War ended, regu
lars were moved back to handle
the duties at Fort Klamath, and
Stearns had been sent to the
t
THE GRASS WAS LUSH The untrammeled land that lay east of the mountains
between Ashland, the Rogue River Valley and the hunting grounds of the Klamath and
the Modocs in Southern Oregon, was a challenge to the young Orson Stearns. The
morning sun was gold on the nearby tower hills and water flowed through the mea
dows. The fertile earth waited and with vision, an Illinois-born youth left the Prairie
State and came to Oregon in 1853. His birthplace on Jan. 9, 1843, was near Rockford,
III., in Winnebago County. He left behind, his parents, David Ebenezer and Fidelia S.
Cannon Stearns. On Nov. 7, 1864, he enlisted in Company I First Regiment of
Oregon Volunteers and served as a sergeant at Fort Klamath during the closing months
of the Civil War. This photo, taken in his later years, was provided by Hal Ogle of
Klamath Falls, Klamath County historian. Stearns helped organize and was the first
president of the Pioneer Association in Klamath County. The Orson Stearns Elemen
tary School in Klamath Falls is named in his memory.
S toons Mountains and then to
Jacksonville where he was mus
tered out of service after almost
four years.
But during that stint, he had
come to love the Klamath coun
try and had filed his claim while
still in service. Upon discharge on
July 19. 18B7. he retraced his steps
to this 417-acre area which he
had long coveted, and joinod by a
former comrade in-arms, lewelyn
Colver. he had begun to fashion
his own life, in this now land.
On this day. the first of t h c
new year of 1870, he comments
that several hundred people were
now in the Basin. Six years before
a treaty had been worked out
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1 ,mfi
A LANDMARK In 1936 this was the oldest house standing in Klamath County, built
by O. A. Staarns in 1870 on land on th Kano Road which ht bought from tha stata of
Oregon. Tha frame house originally had four rooms with a porch across the front and
was considered a fine home in pioneer days. The shinqles on the house were made by
hand by Oscar Stearns, a brother of O. A. Many prominent people were guests In
this home end the owners always "kept travel." The original homestead joined thil
i land. Members of the family still live nearby.
with the Indians, and four years
before this an agency had been
established for these Indians on
the other side of the big lake.
Already, the outlines of a small
settlement were beginning to ap
pear on the banks of Link River.
George Nurse and Edgar Overton
had started a small trading ven
ture there and it had begun to
grow.
Wendolen Nus, long considered
the first pioneer to settle in the
Basin, had operated a ferry two
miles dow n the river from George
Nurse's enterprise for several
years after Stearns had arrived,
but later had given it up when
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Nurse started his own ferry at
a narrower spot along the Link
River. !
In the year that had just end
ed for Stearns. 1Vt. a new mad
had been laid out over to the
valley.
While he could not actually sec
their homes. Stearns knew that a
friend. O. T. Brown, was now set
tled over on Spencer Creek, and
not far away Dennis Crawley and
his partner. H. H. Thatcher, had
taken up land.
It may have been any of these
people that Stearns was expecting
for dinner on this New Year s
Day as he notes in his letter, in
closing, what his menu will be
' y'-
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and that he had better start pre
paring it.
As Stearns prophesied in this
letter, it was only two years, 1872,
before , the government granted a
mail route into the area. A man
named Kilgore of Ashland made
weekly trips into the area and
handled the mail task for three
vears.
Unquestionably, the cabin of Or
son Stearns would have been one
of his first stops in the Basin be
cause it would have been located
on his line of march.
This letter represents some of
the earliest actual correspondence
from this area, exclusive of that
Ky '
'
from Fort Klamath, and should
provide interesting reading.
The housewife Stearns mentions
in his letter, joined him after their
marriage in San Francisco on May
17, 1873. She was Margaret Jane
Kiecs, born in Ray County, Mis
souri.
She died on the home ranch on
their 22nd wedding anniversary
On Jan. 10. Ift7, he married
Luella M. Sherman, a native of
Ohio.
Stearns played a big part in
political historv of the area. lie
served as the first justice of the
peace with jurisdiction over Lake
County, then part of Klamath, and
in 18H0 was elected on the
Republican ticket to the State Leg
islature from what was then
Lake County.
He died in Ashland, July 29,
1926, at the age of 83, closing a
long and colorful career.
Briar Springs
Jan. 1, 1870
Kind Friend,
In looking over my old letters
today 1 came across yours of last
April which I had laid away
marked "answered." Now as I
had thought all the time that it
was never answered there is good
reason to believe that it was so
marked through mistake. I will
try to answer some of the ques
tions asked in your letter, but
which you have doubtless forgot
ten were this.
Since I wrote you last, great
The letter written by O. A.
Stearns, and reproduced here,
was taken from the historical
files of Ruth King. H came
from the late Hale Scar
borough, once sports and city
editor of the Herald and News.
There was no reference as to
whom the letter was addressed.
Stearns used the name Link
River for the location of his
homestead which Is used on old
maps, showing course of the
stream from Lake Ewauna to
Keno where it emptied Into the
Klamath River. Today Link
River Is referred to as the mile
long stream connecting Upper
Klamath Lake and Lake
Ewauna.
hanges have taken place in my
father's family. My oldest broth
er Oscar was married a year ago
last Oct. to a Mils Sarah Mi-Man-nus.
Last February I Inst one of the
best of mothers. She died of
smallpox, and was followed ir
eight days by my youngest broth
George. My sister Arminda
was married last June to a man
by the name of Purvis, a tanner
hy trade. They live about ten
miles from my father's where
Mr. Purvis has charge of a tan
nery. I think he is an excellent
man.
My younger brother, Newel, is
on my father's place, and there
is talk of his being married soon.
s for myself, 1 am about sixty
five miles East of my father's on
the margin of the great Klamath
basin country and acrofs (across)
the Cascade range of mountains,
East Rogue Kiver. 1 have been
here nearly two years and a half:
ever since I was mustered out
of the U.S. service. My place was
the second one taken up in this
country and when I came here
the indians were still occupying
the country though it had already
been ceded to the U.S. by treaty
stipulations. lUe Indians were
subsequently removed to the res
ervation about thirty five miles
from here on Sprague River, Wil
Harmon River, I'pper Klamath
I.akc and Klamath Marsh. During
the past year there have also been
collected there several hundred
Snakes i indians i and during the
past week the tribe of Modocks
numbering nearly three hundred.
were removed there from Little
Klamath and M o d o c k lakes.
South, and South East of here.
Soon after taking up my ranch.
took in a partner, a young!
man by the name of Lewellyn
Colver. a former companion in
arms. He stayed with me a year
when growing tired of pioneering
and its lonlinefs. he sold out to
his father who comes out here
two or three times each year but
does not stay long, or do much
in the way of improving his part
of the place when here. Some of
the time I have been a lone, some
of the time had hired help for
company. My castle I built of
hewn logs eight by ten inches in
thkknefs and fourteen by sixteen
feet in length. It fronts toward
the setting sun and has a porch
nn the side with a ground floor.
The apartments are divided into
two. one below stairs and the
other above.
Tile lower apartment has a fire-
place in the North end built of
volcanic rock and mother earth,
large enough to admit a stick
three feet in length. It is about
Ifi inches in depth, has stone an
dirons projecting from the jam
on each side and a large stone
hearth in front. My floor is
of saun lumher which was rafted
Irom the fort down the lake, thir l
ty miles and hauled eight miles,
the distance from the lake here
The hoards are neighter planed
nor jointed but are pot down
rough, leaving a few small cracks.
rit quite large enough to admit a
persons foot between the boards,
hut quite large enough to admit
planty of fresh air. To the right of
my fireplace, and occupying all
the space between it and the wall
on that tide, except a space large
enough to hang my coffeemill,
stands my cupboard. It is six
feet in height, the exact distance
rom the floor to the Ijoicel
above, and is about one foot in
depth, has boards for the side
next the fireplace, and Isecond
relief page one the wall makes
the other side. It has seven
shelves made of split pine boards
resting on elects of the same ma
terial, nailed to the sides. It con
tains a large amount of a variety
of styles, also several wooden
boxes (empty tea chests) and tin
boxes, bottles, tin cans, tim ket
tles, pans of milk 4-c. The lower
shelf contains several black ket
tles and two tin reflectors for
baking.
An empty sugar barrel that is
emptied of its sugar) standing
against the East wall and against
the cupboard contains a part of a
fifty pound sack of flour; the
head of the barrel unlike the ma-!
jority of barrel heads Is on top
of the barrel and has a piece of
wood nailed acrofs the top of it,
projecting about and inch on
eaither side with a scallop cut un
derneath it in the center to admit
of being hold of. This latter
piece of architecture of my own
invention and took about ten min-
tes to complete it. To the right of
the barrel is a shelf about two
feet from the floor, made of
piece of board supiwrted by two
pins underneath driven into holes
bored in the house logs. Upon
this shelf are two buckets with:
water. (I believe in water as a
cleanser ana purifier as well as
being quite good about cooking.)
An oia tasnioneo peweter cup
nangs just above on a nail. About
one third of the distance from
the cupboard to the opposite wall,
about three and one half feet
from the floor is a hole cut
through the walls two and one
half feet long by fourteen inches!
high with an empty flour sack
nauea over tnc outside: this is I
mv East window.
The log forming the window cas
ing is a very nice place to keep
my lamp, two empty cigar boxes
II don't use cigars, though I find
the boxes convenient) containing
thread, beeswax, thimbles, shot
caps, matches, etc., etc. Still near
er the southern wall and just un
der the joice is an empty boot box
nailed with the bottom against the
wall, in this box lopcn at tile
front) are several books, among
them Grecleu's Conflict. "Grant
& Sherman, Their Generals &
Campaigns," "General ljws of
Oregon." "Welles Iawvn." "Da
vis' Algebra," "Parker's Philos
ophy." "Inquire Within." "Guide
to Public Businefs." "Hooker s il
lustrated Nt. Hist ," and the "Ara
bian Nights," the last I have
never read but kept it on hand as
last resort when other reading
matter fails.
On top of the cuboard between
the joice. are about a doizen num
ber of "Harper's Magazine." and
one copy of the Overland Monthly
Justice Docket Iedger, several pa
pers and my portfolio.
Underneath this bookcase is my
bed. a very rude frame work on
four legs, with wooden bedcords,
hay matrafs, several army blan
kets, two or three ancient quilts in
their dotage and two flour sacks
full of wild goose and wild duck
feathers.
Underneath the bed, a boxful of
canned fruits, one to hold dirty
clothes (most of my wardrobe',
one containing my caqenter tools
iwhat few I have), another of
nails, a can of coal nil, a basin
to feed my cat out of and a pair
of overshoes.
Over my bed. on the south wall
of my den and well up towards
my chamtier floor, is another
shelf, similar to my water hui k.-t
shelf, only larger, containing -lean(
woolen, my best (only hat, a
mosquito bar 'not used this time
of year' and several newspapers
that I have read.
From my wardrobe, along the
wall towards the southwest corner
of the shanty on numerous nails
driven, pendant upon them several
articles of wear that never get
a-.hcd. my great coat, liest trou
sers. & etc.
Resting on the floor between the
foot of the bed and the west wall,
is my wooden trunk containing my
jmmunitwn in reserve, many old
letters, new clothes (not many
of the last i and other odds and
ends that somehow or other will
accumulate around a bachelor
ranch, a sugar barrel hall full ot
sugar, molasses keg with a gallon
or tuo of golden syrup in it, a
nail keg with a lot of nails in it
and a pair of moccasins on top of
it; a box containing two partly
I, lied sacks of mH, coarse and
fine, a sat with a few hwms in
it, several small sacks of garden
seeds, two satcs of barly. one of
them nearly empty, tha last
named my hay feed (seed'. Mid
way between the South West cor
ner and the North West corner
stands my door, wide open, behind
it upon a stick stuck in between
tlie logs hangs a pair of spurs:
aoove them by a rope tied round
one of the joice, a part of a slioul-
dcr (Third Relief) of pork is
hanging.
My door is of open work, made
of boards with pieces nailed crofs
wise, and has cracks between the
boards large enough to let the
wind through quite freely; it is
hung with cast iron bolts, has a
wooden catch with a string tied to
it and pafsing through a small
hole above the latch to the out
side and a small piece of wood
tied to the end of the string to
keep it outside the door and handy
to pull on. A staple driven
through the door casing near the
outer edge, with a short chain
with a link at the end fitting the
staple in the door when shut, can
be secured with a padlock and
keep out the curious crowd.
Between the door and the North
West corner of tlie house, and
very near tlie door is another win
dow similar to the first, except
that it reaches down nearer tlie
floor, is nearly three times as
large, and has rough board cas
ing. A narrow place between tlie
casing of the door and tlie win
dow casing has a lew little shelves
where are whet stones, gloves
bottles of oil, and other indispens-
tbles. Underneath the window is a
wash stand almost Use exact coun
terpart of tltc water shelf: an emp
ty sardine box (empty as regards
its former occupants) contains the
soap. To the right of tlie window
hangs a small looking glafs, two
towels and a comb. The corner to
to the left of the fireplace is de
voted to holding my wood.
The wide of the wall above my
woodpile is ornamented with a
powder horn, a saw and a shav
ing knife.
My chamber floor is composed
of split puncheons, four feet ten
inches in length, just the distance
between the center of the center
joice, it extends from the South
End of the house, two thirds of the
way to the North End where it
abruptly terminates leaving the
chamber the very handy reposi
tory of all kinds of traps, ropes,
pack saddles, flour, cans of lard,
old boots, a few tools, my wooden
wash board, and tlie place where
I put my broom when in a state
of repose.
There are two or three places
for guns, made by driving pins
into the joice near tlie North SkIc
of (he house, and one of those
places is occupied hy a large dou
ble barreled shotgun. In t h e
cracks of the wall are sticking
many little things not worthy of
mention, and hanging on nails are
other articles including two house
wives, (so they are called) these
are not the kind of housewives 1
should prefer, but arc very handy
about the house. The outside walls
are ornaments with pegs in places
containing saddle, hamef (hames
and other implements of ranching.
South of the house atxnit twelve
or fi(tren steps is a spring of
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ACROSS THE MARSH BELOW THE HILLS A grand,
ton of Orton Stearnt, Julian Ager of Klamath Falli, points
acron seeded land and paitur now owned by Varn
Howard, pretident of tha Klamath Stockman's Commii
sion Company, to the spot in center of black circle,
whera Orion Stearm located hit first homa after com.
plating military duty at Fort Klamath. Ha was than 24
years old. Tha future farmer, stock raitar and dairyman
located hit cabin about eight milet southwest of present
pure water, not ice cold nor milk
warm, but just about halfway be
tween the two in temperature. To
tlie East and tlie South is a field,
of about 20 acres, containing, be
sides tlie twelve acres of land
plowed, and the eight acres un
plowed, a log stable, with a small
loft containing oats in the sheaf,
a wagon shed on the East Side of
it and a small hay stack just near
lenough to be easily transfered to
the stable loft when required. A
root house built of double walls of
logs and an intervening space of
two feet between the walls filled
with dirt, roofed over with boards
first, straw next and dirt after
wards; the floor of earth about
two feet lower than tlie ground
ttw,y rfttty
7h tjt&a mu
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A PROLIFIC PEN Orson A. Stearns who located his homestead in the Klamath
country in 1867, the second man to settle in the Basin, and the first permanent home
steader, left a graphic record of his life ai a pioneer, written in a legible, Spencerian
hand in pen and ink to friends, relatives and to newspapers, faithfully telling minute
details of his life, first as a young bachelor, and laier as a family man. These two
pages of a letter written to a friend were copied by Horald and News engraver Ernest
Hedlund, and are clear enough to be read with the naked eye. The pages are not con
secutive since the letter was written on both sides of lined paper. The date il Jan. J,
1870, two years before the beginning of the Modoc War. Still a bachelor, Stearhs
wrote of hoping to find a wife.
nulside. in it about twenty bushel:
of potatoes my own raising) and
wo hundred pounds of apples
brought Irom the valley, a plow
and a few other farming tools, an
ild hiy shed empty now, but very
handy for stock to ro under when
storms and a stack of about
twenty tons of hay outside.
Along the river at the East Side
o'. my place are two ricks of hay.
one of twelve tons, another of for-
Link Hiver, so railed is aboutl
wo hundred yards in width here
and about twenty feet in nVpth.
running at the rate of about half
a mile per hour. The place whcre
live is on the west Side of
(the river, it is a valley lying be
(tween the breaks or foothills of
the Cascade Mountains, and slop
ing from them to the lower Klam
f.lh Basin. Tins valley propper is
about twelve miles long and from
lf j ' 1 1 1 .
one fourth of a mile to two miles
wide 1 it is divided into several
small vallics by spurs of the hills
running nearly to the river or
marsh for in some places the riv
er runs out into the basin leav
ing a marsh on either side, but'
it generally bounds the VVest Side
of the marsh.
My ranch is located near the
center of one of the largest small
vatlies where the spurs of the
hills IP.S. Direct to Ashland Mills.
Ore. O.A. Stearns, Fourth Relief)
continue in tlie form of a slight
ly elevated succefsion of knolls
on a continuous lumpy ridge to
the river. These knolls arc ele
vated from the ground on cither
side and from them burst small
tJe rjt
Z. .
tgLp Cljt df-tfO I
springs flowing some upon one sidelbesides the thousands of cattle.
ami some-uixm the other making
the tower land on eaither side
from the hills to the river a nice
greensward. This is my meadow;
in fact my claim is nearly all na
tural meadow, tlip remainder be
ing so situated that the water
could be made to overflow all but
a few acres of it. The upper spring
near where my castle stands is
just where tlie hill ridge termin
ates in a gently sloping lawn fac
ing the river. The hills behind the
house are covered in places with
juniper trees, which makes excel
lent firewood; there is also quite
a heavy growth of sagebrush in
places and through it, as well as
where it does not grow is t h e
most luxunent hunch grafs 1 ever
saw. The flat lands are covered
with a great variety of native
grafses, prominent among which
v . :
Klamath Falls, near Link River. Ha planted hii garden In
in the midst of numerout springs and named nit horn
Briar Springs. Tha location it to tha left of Highway 66
or the Ashland Highway, (traveling west I, beyond tha
Weyerhaeuser plant. Agar, following hit illustrious grand
father, it a surveyor, instructing students at Oregon Tech
nical Inttituta. Orson Staarnt served at one tim with a
government surveying party.
is the rye grafs; this frequently
grows from seven to nine feet
high so that a man riding on
horseback is completely hidden by
it where it is thick upon the
ground.
A fine variety of wild clover
grows abundant near where there
are springs and a native blue joint
is also quite plentiful. There are
no mcaduws of tame grafs yet and
everybody depends upon the na
tural grafs lor grazing and feed
ing all their stock. Some idea of
the grazing qualities of this valley
can be gained by taking into con
sideration the fact that there are
nearly eight hundred head of cat
tle and one hundred horses owned
and kept by persons residing here,
shc,P M m'sc Krazed Dy
droves in pafsing through here.
With all this amount of stock here.
and the grazing in droves in pafs-
ing through, the gials upon the
hills seems nearly as abundant as
ever; and we do not think of feed
ing unlefs the snow falls a -foot
deep over the ground.
Til is valley is hut one among
many in this great basin, and
though the first to commence set
ting up is by no means the only
one that is becomming peopled
with industrious pioneers. I sup-
pose If I want to say that there
urc already more than three htm
fired pwple in this country when
I was the second one, I would not
exagcrate.
We expect to get a postal route
(Continued on Tage 2)
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