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.