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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 1963)
emories OiSvian Family Early Bay Homesteading Recalled Editor' Note: Mrs. Margaret Foster of 950 Riverside Drive, Rle. !, Junciion City, Ore., re ceived a ropy of a bpmestead story printed in the feature sec tion of the Herald and News. Since she lived on one of the early-day homesteads on the located in Klamath County, it is not surprising that at the begin ning of the second decade of the 20th century there was a spirit of rebirth and progress in the at mosphere of the Klamath County seat of government. Klamath res idents and people coming to the r v.- V.I, farmland north of Merrill, which Itimcs to protect legs from scrv Carleton was operating. ling as the menu for mosquitoes. An acquaintance. Frank More-i Tlie workmen and family land, was interested in the home- adjusted quickly to pioneer life, stead ODLiortunitv. but was desir- There was gaiety and joking all ous of having neighbors with chil- day long. During this period Mar dren for comoanions for his wile garet had an attack of appen- and children. Albert and Dorothy. dicitis and was cared for by her c. ,i., i. i hie cicir in aun' nurse, so mat sue wouia law, Olive Carletun. a nurse in Albany, whom his daughter EDUCATOR John G. Swan came to Klamath County to help organize and become principal of the Klamath County High School. He became superintendent in 1910 and lived near the Presbyterian Church with his wife, Jessie Carleton Swan, and children, Margaret and John. He was also interested in irrigation and ranching and owned ranch interests at Merrill. He filed and lived on a homestead on the west side of Upper Klamath Lake, lived at Merrill and later became principal of the high school in Ashland. west side of Upper Klamath Lake as the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. John G. Swan, she has contributed her memory of those early days. Mrs. Foster, a teacher, has recently been associated with Oregon Slate University In the office while recuperating from an Illness. By MARGARET FOSTER Homesteading, a method of dis tribution of free land to people of the United States for development, was advocated in numerous ses sions of Congress before the Homestead Act of 18(2 was passed by a northern Congress. During the same year the Morrill Act was passed to finance agricultural colleges, and the bill to finance a transcontinental railroad with the aid of grants of land from the public domain was also passed. Other methods of land distribution, including grants to states, purchase under the Pre emption Act and purchase of In dian lands had been developed and continued, so that the dream of free land for the masses of people was often only a dream, since much land open for home- steading was remote from mar kets and undesirable. But by one means and another the land-hungry citizens of the United States and the immi grants attracted to this country by stories of great opportunity spread westward, and the United Stales was a country extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. In 1890 the superintendent of the census announced in a bul letin: "Up to and including 1880 the country had a frontier of settle ment, but at present the unset tled area has been so broken into by isolated bodies of settlement that there can hardly be said to be a frontier line. In the dis cussion of its extent, its west ward movement, etc., it can not therefore, any longer have a place in census reports." As the era of an abundant supply of land from the public domain was drawing to a close . various projects for conserving and developing the remaining lands were being put forth. H. W. Campbell introduced his method of dry farming by leav ing soil fallow for a year. During the T. R. Roosevelt administra tion reclamation projects for irri gating arid land were being de veloped. While popular thought often considers homesteading a method of acquiring land that was pos sible only in the 19th century, it is interesting to note that dur ing the 20 years from 1898 to 1917, 100 million acres of home land was acquired by final entry, an acreage actually 43 per cent larger than that acquired during the preceding 30 years. As a matter of fact, original homestead entries in the Pacific states reached their peak in the period from 1911-15. when claims werefiled for 7.993.700 acres, even though homesteaders are usually thought of as the people who came to the West in the covered wagon days. With the lodge of Edward Har- riman. the railroad magnate who had transformed the Union Pa cific Railroad, dubbed by J. P Morgan as a "streak of rust through the desert." into an ef fluent and great railroad system, region were entranced with various projects of developing land and the possibilities of a larger market by the proposed building of the direct route to the Willamette Valley, the Natron Cut-off being suggested by Harri man interests. Plans for dry farm ing. irrigated (arms and home steading were being promoted. Dry farming experiments were being carried out in the Klamath Basin. The land reclamation ir rigation project sponsored by the federal government under the Newland Act of June 17, 1902. was being developed in the Mer rill area. The Theodore Roosevelt administration was t a k i n g as great an interest in the conserva tion and development of the re maining public domain as anoth er Roosevelt administration was to take later in Hood control and development of water power in the Pacific area. In 1910 acreage in the pine and fir forests northwest of Klamath Falls was opened to a limited number of homesteaders. One ot the residents of Klamath Falls at that time who had a deep interest in land was John G. Swan, who had come to that com munity to organize and be prin cipal of the Klamaih County High School. In 1910 he was county school superintendent and dwelt in a house on the side of the hill not far from the Presbyterian Church, with his wife, .lessie Carleton Swan, and children. Mar garet and John. 2 and 5 years old. He was already interested in the prospects of irrigation and had. w ith his brother-in-law. George Herbert Carleton. invested in Margaret was visiting. He asked if she would come to Klamath County and file on an adjoining homestead to be a companion to his wife. Telephone service in 1910 was a far cry from the mod ern system of today providing for long distance dial service. This telephoned communication re quired the greater part of a day. each segment having to be re laved bv operators from one sla- TION TO THE NEXT THROUG lion tu the next throughout the distance. Both parties to the call were persistent, and the result was that Miss Carleton understood enough of her brother-in-law's conversa tion to pack immediately and make the railroad journey to Klamath Falls with her niece. By this time there was railroad service to that county seat via Weed, Calif. A few years earlier part of the journey had to be by stagecoach from Ashland over Green Springs Mountain. Filing was made on adjoining homesteads at the loot of the east side of Aspen Mountain about a half mile beyond the flat where a number of mountain Btreams drained into Aspen Lake. To the south of Mr. and Mrs. Swan's homestead was the homestead of Mr. ahd Mrs. Moreland, and on the mountainside was that of Bruce Gaddis. Swan had hired a crew of work men to build the two log cabins, which were covered with cedar shakes. A picket fence was built to surround the clearing, to keep possible wild animal visitors out and the children within. The two women were the actual home steaders, and there was adequate income for living expenses. Home steading for the Swan family and Miss Carleton was a way of life, just as rural living is today popu lar with many who derive their livelihood from city employment Swan retained his position a; county school superintendent and traveled by horse-and-buggy on horseback to be with his family during weekends. When Miss Carleton and Mar garet Swan arrived, activities had already commenced on the home steads. Mr. and Mrs. Swan and John were waiting with a large wagon of materials and provisions to take the newcomers immedi atcly to their new home. The trip was only 20 miles, but was not completed before dark. A camp was made for the night beside the lake. That night the children were first introduced to the vowl- ing of coyotes, and crawled deep under the bed covers for security. That sound was to become a fa miliar one during the years of! homesteading and later years om the farm at Merrill. The following day the travelers: arrived at their new homes. where men were busily cutting and peeling trees for the cabin and splitting shakes and pickets. Tents had been creeled for the workmen and for the family. A long table was built lor eating purposes, and cooking was to he done on a kitchen range, at pres ent set up outdoors. Mosquitoes were so obnoxious that tents had to he kept tightly closed at night w ith no candle or lamp light to at tract the insects. Cedar smudges w ere built under the table at meal not be deprived of the pleasure of watching the construction of the log cabins, a bed was made on the door that was lying on the ground awaiting the com pletion of the cabin. Even an illness was a pleasure when such gun. determined tu defend the camp from animal invasion. A tense period followed while the yowling sounded ever nearer. Fi nally it was broken by adult laughter, and tlie children cau tiously pecked nut of the tent. The animal making tie terrifying nuise had appeared and was no more nor less than a small gray housecat. Where it came from and how it got on the side of Aspen Mountain was never determined. This cat lived with tlie lamilv during the homestead epic and later was taken In Klamath Falls KLAMATH FALLS. OKKGON, SUNDAY. AUGUST 11, l3 5 were the cooking quarters, with a called "wild orchids" of Western'stood out in family memories. small kitchen range that was ade--Oregon'. quale for heat. At the other end Margaret was 6 in December, was a bunk bed planned for winter and the question of education was sleeping. Actually it was sel-jfaced. Mrs. Swan, who had been dom used except by visitors, and; an elementary teacher, began tu- 1 V "ffff3"'WMWjyWiF,J I I. ' I on one occasion by Margaret, who became terrified when disturbed during a bath by the visit of a woodrat, which danced on the dishpan hung on the wall back of the cookslove. Adopting once again the ostrich-like procedure ol the night on the flats when she was first introduced to the howl ing of coyotes, she ran across the room and sought refuge under the bed covers of the bunk, re maining there long after t h e adults assured her the woodrat was gone, frightened but not killed by Mrs. Swan, who again used the gun to protect the household. The sleeping porch was screened for protection from mos quitoes and had canvas curtains in winter. Tlie children wore Dr. Denton's and sleeping caps; (lie adults adopted a new innovation, pajamas, and also wore sleep ing caps. The children were often companions of their aunt in tier cabin across the line. Throughout the winters neither adults nor children suffered from olds or other respiratory illness- Later, when the family re turned to Klamath Falls it was evealed that the children had not had an opportunity to build up immunity. When Maigaret en tered public school, she suffered as did Indians from germs com mon in white communities, having recurrent attacks of sore throat. earache and finally mastoiditis. The cellar had a sloping door; that was used by the children in1 winter for a sled slide. On the back side of the cabin from No vember until May was a hugel pile of icy snow, where the snow had been pushed off the roof. This ice-snow bank was the source ot ice for the freezing of the daily dessert. The family had a small ice- cream freezer and made ci ther ice cream or sherbet each day. The cow supplied sufficient milk toring her. Swan brought exam ination copies of books from the county oliice. Margaret learned to read from tlie "Brownie Prim- ;r" and "First Reader," the 'Overall Boys Reader," and the "Sunbonnet Babies Primer," in stead of the regular textbooks. She was taught number combi nations, tlie multiplication table. During the remainder of the winter the landscape was blan keted in snow, which covered the, manzanita and other underbrush. The children skied on it, pulled their sled over the crust, and built tunnels. The adults kept paths between buildings on their homestead and between their homestead and tlie Moreland and Gaddis homesteads, heaping tlie snow high on the sides. Once a friend came with horses and sleigh and took the women and children on a surprise trip to travels rapidly up a mountain, it goes rather slowly down. As Aspen Mountain rose to timber line and was an extinct volcano, the top was strewn with volcanic debris and had little timber. That fact likely saved us. "Our homestead was hidden away from the road and reafned only by a trail. While this fife was raging, we were surprised one morning about 11 o'clock to see 20 weary, smoke-blackened men coming up our trail. Before reaching the cabin, they hailed me and asked for something to . 3' 'rag . , v a ml1 i aw" MiaU'WM - f, m ' niiii'Tniii ,,iiw mttr i SUNDAY JAUNT Back In August, 1908, when this picture was taken, there were no daily buses to take visitors to the rim of Crater Lake. The road was steep and rocky and a hard pull for horses, even with light rigs. These folks, headed for a picnic outing, left to right, were George Robert Carleton, Margaret Swan, Ellen Conrey, Jes sie Swan, Margaret's mother, John G. Swan, Margaret's father, John C. Swan, her brother, and Mr. and Mrs. W. F, Jinnette and son Karl, who still live at Merrill. Note lantern on side of wagon seat. A cousin of Mrs. Margaret Foster, Alfred Carleton, and his family also live near Merrill. and a few Latin words. Miss Carleton taught her to hem and hemstitch. After the first summer the mos quitoes deserted the household for whatever diet they existed on be fore the arrival of the home steaders. At first it was believed that they had unaccountably be come less numerous. However, ON WEDDING DAY Following the death of his wife, Jessie, John G. Swan, educator and farmer, was married to Mrs. Rachel Applegate Goode, a Latin teacher in the Klamath Falls High School, who was the author of "The History of Klamath County," published in 1941. It was publicized with the help of Lindsey Sisemore, editor-in-chief; Harry B. Schultz, managing director, and Howard I. Schuyler, managing editor. This picture was taken of Mr. and Mrs. Swan, Aug. 2, 1942. The children are Nell Louise and Francie Effinger, Mr. Swan's grandchildren. interesting entertainment was at hand. At one lime when the building crew was away, possibly await-i ing additional supplies or help ing to build other cabins, an ex- citing episode occurred. One young man named Joe remained to assist the women and children. Early this particular morning a loud yowling was heard on the side of the mountain, obviously made by an animal approaching ever nearer to the camp. Mrs. Swan and Miss Carleton hurriedly dressed, and Mrs. Swan armed herself with a .shotgun. They instructed the two children to remain in their sleeping lent regardless of w hat happened. Joe joined the two women, but it was Mrs. Swan who retained the shot- when the family moved back to the town. It was the first of the homestead pets, and was later joined hy chickens, a collie-shep herd dog, and a small Jersey cow. The cabins when completed were warm and snug. The chil dren helped "chink" them with moss and mud. Both were cov ered w ith shakes for flirt her protection from the weather. Miss Carlcton's consisted of one room without a porch. The Swan cabin was larger. At first it had one large room a sleeping porch, and a cellar, where provisions were stored. The cellar was important it held provisions sufficient for the entire winters. Later another room was added. At one end of the large room s-ii rvi jr. t- u itmtm a - j Minimi "ir; and cream for eating and rooking purposes, for butter, and for the ice cream. In the summer she, as well as the cat and dog, fol lowed the women and children on their hikes In the lake. A small shed had been built for the cow and a chicken shed for a small flock of chickens, which supplied the household eggs, There was a small heating stove in the chicken shed, so that they could be kepi warm. The children were confined within the fenced area, which in eluded the two cabins, an area for vegetable and flower beds, with the diverted stream wander ing through the area, adding to the scene and supplying water for irrigation of the cultivated areas. At one place a deeper hole was dug to make a watering hole for the horses that brought Swan home on weekends. During the weekdays the women and chil dren had no means of transpor tation except their leel, which they used each day. A path was made tn the More land homestead, and the two fam ilies often visited and shared meals. In the winter skis were used for transportation, small pairs being made for the children. In summer there were excur sions to the flat by the lake, which was ever colored with mea dow flowers, first the yellow but tercups; at one time the purple irises; at another the pink "ele phant-head" flowers, and so on through the summer. Another pop ular path was around toward the north side of the mountain, tn watch the tumbling streams in the forest primeval. Here were mountain flowers, both mountain and tiger lilies, several kinds of wintergrecn, twin-flowers, and the true cream and pink wild or chids I not the Calypsns often Klamath Falls right on top of the crusted snow. Gaddis often left his retreat on the mountainside to visit with the Swan family. It was he who in troduced the children to the popu-l lar children's magazines, "Saint Nicholas" and "Youth's Compan ion." He and the adults of the' Swan family climbed to the top ol Aspen Mountain and found that it had an extinct volcanic cone During the summers other home steaders gathered on Sundays to obtain their mail, which Swan brought from the county scat. Christmas was another happy luihday. Again a feast was pre- i,..',,.! Tim l,M ,nB Annntn Introduction to heavy mountain L jth paper chains and slrands o( popcorn and cranberries. Chil- whenever visitors arrived, the mosquitoes returned to torment them just as they had the crew of workers and the family during the first summer. Selective in their diet and desiring new tid bits? Those mosquitoes certainly were. OUT OF THE DEE? Writer's wife, Carolyn, and chil dren, David and Susan, pose with the 1 4 'A -pound lake trout he took at Odell on his first trip to the lake. The fish, which is almost as big as David, hit a paper thin wobbling spoon called the "Sutton" spoon, trolled be hind flashers at a depth of 100 feet. Other gear included a heavy rod, star-drag reel, wire monel line end a big net. About three ounces of lead was used to get the rig at the proper depth. The fish was taken off Princess Creek, a hotsoot that Carl Friedly, who guides at the lake, directed the writer to. snows came on the first Thanks giving. There had been light snow fall previously, but not enough In be inconvenient or startling. Thanksgiving Eve was a clear, moonlight night, so beautiful that the children were permitted to remain up later than usual and watch for the arrival of their fa ther. The women had a wild goose, shot hy a neighbor, and were engaged in preparing it for dinner on the following day Preparations were almost com plete for a true Thanksgiving din ner. Pies had been baked: cran berry sauce had been cooked Swan did not arrive that evening, probably deciding not to makcl he trip in the dark. The next morning the women and children awakened lo a transformed scene. Everything was blanketed in a heavy coat of snow, so deep that the children could not WHlk in it. The women shoveled paths be tween the cabins and to the cow shed and chicken shed. A mother hen with chicks in a small coop was completely buried, and had In be rescued. It was providential that the dinner had been prepared Hie previous day. for there was not lime for cooking. Finally Swan arrived on a large horse he had obtained from the (arm, not on his smaller rid ing ponv, which was not stout enough to battle the deep snow. He assisted in the shoveling and the care of the chickens and cow It was lamplight when the de licious Thanksgiving dinner was served, a dinner that always drcn as well as adults spent pre vious weeks in preparing Christ mas presents. Christmas morn ings found an array of gifts under the lice. It was in this remote place thai John received his first wind-up automobile, enjoyed as much by Swan as the children. This toy had been brought into the forested homestead by San la Claus in a period when fewl adults, Swan not excepted, owned autus. During the second summer there was a large timber fire on the far side of the mountain. An account of the episode was writ ten by Swan and found among ins papers. It reads as follows: "One summer when we were living on our homestead in the pine forest at the cast base of Aswn Mountain, there was a great fire on the other side of, the mountain. The fire was in a green growth of giant yellow and! sugar pine, and for days a large1 force of men worked night and day trying to curb it. It was in mid-August, and everything was as dry as tinder. II was so close to us that we could hear the ominous roar and swish of the lire as it burned in the resinous tops of the great liecs. Black smoke rolled in clouds over the mountain and completely blacked out the sun. The heat was suffo cating. "We greatly feared that wc would have to abandon our snug log cabin and seek safety in llight. But. while a forest fire eat. They explained that they had left the fire camp the morning before to go to town as they were exhausted from fire fighting, had become lost, slept in the forest all night, and had not had anything to eat since leaving camp. I told them we were not pre pared to feed any such number, but I would call the wife and see what she could do. She told them we were short on food ourselves, but they begged for 'just any thing. Alter thinking a moment, she said, We have a sack of corn meal and plenty of milk. You fellows go to the creek and wash up, and I will make a lot of mush. My sister will make you the best cream biscuits you ever ate. "They let out a shout, washed and combed, and were soon back. Before very long the meal .was reaay, ana a goodly quantity of mush, cream, and biscuits was consumed. After they could eat no more, we explained how to find their way to1 the road, and they left, declaring that it was the best meal they had ever eaten." The second summer Mr. and Mrs. Tilghman Swan, Swan's par ents, who had a homestead nearer Rocky Point, made an extended visit. Grandpa Swan was a Civil War veteran, who had marched through Georgia with Sherman, and he entertained the house hold with his songs and stories of Civil War days, while Grand ma Swan assisted with the house work. Visitors earlier in the sea son included E. F. Carleton and his son, Blonde!, from Salem. Blonde!, now a professor at tlie University of Portland, still re members the ice cream made from the snow pile. Was Ihe household ever dis turbed by wild animals? Noth ing more than woodrats and the persistent howl of coyotes at night. Deer were seen occasionally; once a porcupine was seen by a mountain stream; in autumn when the family picked blue berries, they occasionally saw a bear, as intent on picking blue berries as they were. Friends (Continued on Page 2) Fishing For Mackinaw Can Be Fun As Reporter Discovers At Odell Ry GEORGE ALOTRICO Big Odell Lake, with its H.fiOO surface acres of cold, sky blue water ranging to a depth of about 300 feet, holds one of the biggest most sought after of all sports fish, the formidable mackinaw or lake trout. The lake, a veritable trout factory, has the typical physical characteristics of most macki naw lakes, deep, steep sided, cold and quite olten in a dangerous wind-swept rage. The big boats for rent at the lodges at cither end of the lake are more than match for the waves, how. ever. seldom reached over 23 pounds, however, with the biggest catch es each year usually in Ihe 20 pound bracket. Water temperatures in the area of 45 degrees are favored hy this prize fish and at Odell the ing that the fish ard only down in the coldest water. The average size of Odell macks is about 21 inches, Art Gerlach, area state fish biologist, told this reporter recently. Art has been studying the lake for the last average summer temperature at lew years and knows its charac 30 feet is about 48 degrees. The Icristics and history as well as surface w ater remains near e j anybody. constant HO degrees, while lcm-1 Odell was first stocked in the early 1900 s with dsn that were at the Lewis and Clark Exposi- perature al 100 feet and more drops to 37 degrees and colder. Fishing at Odell should be done at depths of 80 to 100 feet where the water temperature is just right and Ihe forage lish most Whitefish, one of Ihe mack'siahundant. Biologists a the lake favorite foods, are abundant in, found that the whitclish are sol- the lake, as are roach and Vo-jdnm netted below a depth of 80 kanee, second and third in die-jfeet. tary preference. In many lakes, especially Ca nadian, the fish grow as big as 40 pounds with some fish up to Mi pounds caught on rod and reel. Fish caught at Odell have That should give fishermen some indication where tlie macks are found. A great many fisher men, out of habit more than any thing, still fish at depths of 150 lo 200,!eet and deeper, think lion at the Portland World's Fair. About 10,000 were brought from the fair to Odell hy a group of Bend sportsmen. These fish were from Great Lakes stock. Fishing, however, remained me diocrc until 1951 when the first stocking of stale hatchery fish occurred. These fish were from lake Irout eggs shipped from Lac La Ronge, Saskatchewan, and they were held in special rearing ponds at the Klamaih Hatchery until tlicy attained the size of six to eight inches. The yearling lish were marked by the removal of the adipose fin. Although the game department slocked the lake each year since, tlie 1951 stocking has been the most successful according to creel returns. Since the eggs of the 1951 stock ing have been most successtul, the biologist is considering start ing a brood stock irom Lac La Ronge eggs and kecmng them at the Klamaih Hatchery so he can continue stocking with these eggs. August is the best month for fishing and the trout begin to feed heavily in concentrations around ledges and reefs at 80 to 100 foot depths. So if you want to try for a big game fish the time is now, the fish is mackinaw and the lake is Odell. Acrommod.it ions and boat rentals are at either end of the lake. Cascade, Summit Lodge on the west end and Odell Lake Lodge on the east end. Guide Carl Friedly works out ot Cascade Summit.
