Oregon H i s t o r i c a l S o c ie ty
235 SW M árket S t ’ * '
P o r tla n d , Oregon 97201
DemonilaEaole
VOLUME 42, NUMBER 36
VERNONIA, OREGON
Art Class
To Begin
District 47J
Schools List
679 Students
Registration figures at the schools
in District 47J on the opening day
of classes Monday total 40 students
more than was true on the opening
day of a year ago, District Super­
intendent Joey W. Acaiturri said
late that day.
It is expected, as has been the case
in other years, that enrollment will
rise above Monday’s figures within
a week or so because of late regi­
stration of some students.
Vernonia high school totaled 200
for an increase from opening day last
year of 17. Washington school gain­
ed 19 with 373 youngsters and Lin­
coln gained 1 with 70. At Mist 36
students enrolled for a gain of 3. To­
tal increase in all district schools is
40.
Enrollment by classes at the high
school is: freshmen 52, sophomores
54, juniors 38 and seniors 56.
Democrats to Meet
EAGLE SCOUT GORDON BLACKBURN
Scout Achieves
Rank of Eagle
Gordon Blackburn received the
rank of Eagle Scout, the highest
award in scouting, at special cere­
monies Sunday, August 23, at the 11
a.m. service at the Evangelical Unit­
ed Brethren church. Conferring the
rank, Neighborhood Commissioner
Don Cameron, past Scout Master of
the local troop, reviewed Gordon’s
past and praised the fine leadership
Gordon is showing among his fellow
scouts. Disticrt Executive Arnold
Haak cited a lengthy period since
any Vernonia boy received such an
award.
All boys .eleven years of age and
older, are invited to join scouting
with Troop 201 of Vernonia. New
Scoutmaster Ray Lamping announc­
ed this week that plans for the com­
ing year include an extensive out­
door program with skills being taught
in camping, cooking, axemanship,
knots and lashings, tower building,
mapping, rescue, and many other
phases of scout outdoor life. Lamp­
ing has had scout experience as a
boy and has enjoyed outdoor activi­
ties.
The program this year will be
assisted by Assistant Scoutmaster
Don Jackson and Gordon Blackburn
as instructor. Meetings are Wednes­
day evenings at 7:00 p.m. in the
Scout cabin in the city park.
Instruments Available
Those grade school students who
are interested in beginning band but
who have not already procured their
instruments, may do so tonight,
Thursday, at the grade school be­
tween 4 and 9 p.m., according to
James Fiske, band instructor.
Businesses Close
Business firms here will be closed
Monday of the coming week, Sep­
tember 7, in observance of the Labor
Day holiday.
Hearing on Pollution of River
To Take Place as Scheduled
Following word last week that the from the overburden cut from the
public hearing called for September hillside above the usable shale.
The report also states that: “Low­
10 by the state santiary authority
might be called off, is information er Caster creek, which was once an
that the hearing will be held as excellent spawning and brood ground
scheduled relative to pollution erf for silver salmon, steelhead trout,
and cutthroat trout, has been layer­
Crrior creek and the Nehalem.
Word that the session would take ed with sediment up to several feet
place was received by Bob King, thick in places. Thus, it has been
president of the Vernonia Rod and ruined for fish production.”
In the report is listed a chonology
Gun club, from Glen D. Carter,
aquatic biologist for the sanitary of events relating to the problem as
authority, in a letter dated August far back as February 4, 1961 when a
28.
report of siltation in the Nehalem and
The hearing, as called by the au­ Castor creek was received from the
thority, concerns alleged water pol­ Oregon game commission up to July
lution of the streams by the deposit,
3 of this year when 18 residents of
discharge and seepage of industrial
the Timber-Verncnia area requested
waste from Emipre Lite-Rock plant
a public hearing and legal action to
located near the Sunset highway
overcome the mud problem.
about three miles east of the Timber
junction on the Sunset highway.
An engineering report dated July
Name Omitted
22, 1964 indicates that mud is the
industrial waste which causes the
The listing of the names of teach­
resulting water pollution problem
ers for District 47J schools last week
and that it originates from wash wa­
ter at the crusher, from slop and emitted the name of Mrs. Lucille
slurry of yard drainage, from the Green who will instruct fourth grade
quarry where machinery' moves and students.
Pioneer History Tells Origin oí Rogers Park
Summertime is always picnic time
and when picnic-perfect days come
rarely, as they have the past two
summers, people are even more
eager to take advantage of them
when they do come.
Near Vernonia is one of the most
attractive picnic spots which could
be found and its charm has become
known to people from a distance as
well as to local people. It is Rogers
park, which belongs to the Crown
Zellerbach Corporation which has
developed it and maintains it for
the pleasure of the public, as they do
a number of other parks.
Rogers Park is about six miles
from Vernonia on Pebble Creek.
The road from the highway into the
park turns left at the foot of the
hill on the Pebble Creek loop road.
It is about two miles from the high­
way to the park.
Crown Zellerbach acquired the
property on which the park is lo­
cated in 1945 and the spot was a
natural for the development of a
park. Work of developing it was
started about 1947. The park and
play area includes about two acres.
The level, tree shaded park area lies
between the creek and the hill and
the field for games and ball is more
open and at one end of the camp
area.
October 3 Last
Date for Voters
Registration books will close next
month on October 3 at 8 p.m., an an­
nouncement from County Clerk Roy
A. Nelson earlier this week indicates.
This deadline allows a month for
those who must register to do so in
order to vote November 3 at the
general election.
Qualifications for voters include
the following:
Must be a citizen of the U. S. If
the elector is a naturalized citizen
not previously registered in the
county, he must show his naturaliza­
tion papers:
Must be 21 years of age or older.
If age 21 is reached when registra­
tion is closed, he may register with­
in 30 days preceding the closing of
registration;
Must have resided In the state six
months immediately preceding the
election. Any elector who will com­
plete the residence requirement dur­
ing the close of registration, may reg­
ister within 30 days preceding the
closing of registration
Other requirements pointed out by
Nelson state that an elector must
reregister because of the following
conditions:
Change of residence to another pre­
cinct within the county or to anoth­
er county within the state;
Change of political party;
Change of name by court order or
marriage;
Voters living in the Nehalem val­
ley may register here at the city
hall where Walter Linn is acting as
registrar, and at Mist where Kath­
erine Grimsbo is registrar.
A meeting of the Democratic cen­
tral committee is scheduled for Sep­
tember 8 at 8 p.m. at the West Ore­
gon Electric building.
A new beginners’ art class for
adults and teenagers will start Wed­
nesday evening, September 9, from
7 to 9 p.m., at the art center in the
Clinic building. Elva Goss, who has
been instructing the adult art class
here this summer, will be the in­
structor.
Anyone interested may attend the
session or may call Mrs. W. E. Wil­
son at HA 9-5231 for information.
The class is sponsored by the Ver­
nonia Society of Arts and Crafts.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 3, 1964
Above: Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Rogers.
Photo was taken in 1887 or 1888 dur­
ing the first winter after leaving
their home in Tennessee. Below: Lee
Rogers. Timber route mail carrier.
In developing the park over the
years, Crown Zellerbach has built a
good bridge across the creek to the
park, has piped in drinking water,
built two good fireplaces and 11 pic­
nic tables. There also is a barbe­
cue pit which has somewhat fallen
into disuse since Glen Hawkins
moved to Tillamook. His barbecued
meat served at company picnics
and for visitors on occasion, had a
wide reputation.
At the time the park was first
opened, Nels Rogers, oldest brother
of Lee Rogers, was Oregon State
Forester and had earned for himself
an excellent reputation for the con­
servation programs he instituted. It
so happened that the park was once
a part of the homestead of Mr. and
Mrs. Ralph Rogers, parents of Nel­
son and Lee, so what could be more
natural than to name it Rogers park.
Lee Rogers recalls that his parents
were both born in Tennessee, his
father, Ralph Rogers, in 1848, and his
mother, Lou Anna Franklin in 1864.
They were married at Sulivan’s
Bend, Tennessee October 26, 1884
and while they still lived in Tennes­
see, two daughters, Virgil and Clara,
were born.
In June of 1887, Mr. and Mrs.
Rogers and their two daughters left
Tennessee and came to Denver. He
did carpenter work there for a year,
then in 1888, he and his family moved
to Seattle. He spent a winter there
doing carpenter work, then in 1889,
he came to the Nehalem Valley and
filed on a homestead six miles up
Pebble Creek, where Rogers Pari
now lies.
It was in December of 1889 when
he brought his family here and dur­
ing the winter months, they lived
with Albert Wood, a bachelor, and
kept house for him to pay board.
Mr. Rogers taught the Woods dis­
trict school for the handsome wage
of $40 per month. Albert Wood was
the school clerk.
In the spring of 1890, Mr. and Mrs.
Rogers and the two girls moved to
the homestead and camped while he
hand-split cedar boards for a house.
It was March 26 of 1891 that their
son Nelson was born. While they
lived on the homestead, three other
children were added in due time,
Franklin May 24, 1895; Pearl Sep­
tember 22, 1899 and Lee December
19, 1900. Also, in 1907, their first
grandchild, Harvey Beaver, son of
Virgil, was born there.
Mr. Rogers taught school in the
old log school near where the road
went to the McDonald homestead.
And, Mrs. Rogers acted as postmis­
tress for the post office maintained
in their home and called Anoka
Alex and Minnie Sword, parents of
Robert Sword, carried the mail by
horseback from Vernonia to the
Anoka office three times a week,
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and
the homesteaders in that area came
to the office for their mail. Among
those families were the J. A. McDon­
alds, Otto Siedelman, George Engel-
ke, the Schoonovers, who were
grandparents of Louis Towne, the
THIS HOUSE was the one to which the Rogers fam ily
moved in 1907 when they left the old homestead on
Pebble Creek. It stood where the Vernonia Golf Club
on July 30, 1917.
now stands. It burned to the
Kirkwoods, Hotchkiss, Henry Glahn
and a George Johnson, no relation to
the present George Johnson living
here.
In those days, people really neigh­
bored. They exchanged work to till
their places and harvest crops. When
one family butchered, they divided
with other who “paid back” when
they butchered. Provisions had to
be brought from Buxton and roads
were not good. When a family ran
low, other families shared with them.
Of course, wild game and fish were
abundant and much used by the
early settlers and menus were iong
on meat, potatoes and gravy and
lacked the wide variety and luxury
items of today.
Lee recalls that Christmas was a
community affair when the families
got together. While presents as we
know them today were few, fellow­
ship was of the type that made
Christmas a true observance of the
occasion.
In 1904-5, Mr. Rogers had a knife-
shingle mill. He, Mrs. Rogers and
Nelson worked together to make
shingles to sell in order to get need­
ed supplies.
In 1906, Mr. Rogers was working
for the Columbia Timber Company,
later known as Clark and Wilson, in
the Deer Island area. He had been
bucking wood for the donkey and was
going back to work on the mulli­
gan after the lunch hour when the
brakes failed and the mulligan ran
out of control down the grade. It
collided with a log train and he was
In front of the house are, from left, Mrs. Rogers, sons
Franklin and Lee and daughter Pearl and Mr. Rogers.
The picture was probably taken about 1910.
thrown off and among injuries re­
ceived, he lost his right arm. Elode
McDonald, a young man at the time,
was there when it happened. Also
on the mulligan was Harley Red­
mond, father of Harvey Redmond,
and he was the only one who man­
aged to stay with it until it stopped.
The regular engineer was ill and an
unaccustomed one was at the con­
trols when the accident occurred.
In 1907, the Rogers family moved
from their homestead to the old
Alfred Shannahan homestead on the
Nehalem River, the place that is
now the golf course. In 1917, the
old farm house there burned, and
Mr. and Mrs. Rogers moved into
Vernonia. In 1925 they sold the fann
to Ellis McGraw.
In 1926, Mr. Rogers passed away
here, and she passed away in May
of 1954 at the age of 89. For many
years she had worked as a practi­
cal nurse especially in maternity
cases, with doctors at Buxton and
Vernonia and for a time, she main­
tained a maternity home here at her
residence, now the Norman Hamnett
home.
In recalling the fami’y history,
Lee remembered one incident that
took place on the Pebble Creek
homestead which proves the old ad­
age that boys will be boys. He says
that his brothers Nelson and Frank­
lin had worked several days making
a sled, then hitched it up to two bull
calves which they hoped to break
as oxen. The calves wanted no part
of it and ran away and the sled
lasted only a few minutes.
So, with picnic season weather
still expected well into the fall, per­
haps those who go to Rogers Park
can use their imaginations to think
what life was like there in the early
days when the country was rough
and untamed and families knew the
true meaning of frugality.
A representative of Crown Zeller­
bach reveals problems have arisen
with maintaining the park, due to
vandalism. Tables have been marred
by carving, fireplaces have been
damaged by gunshot and the area
has been littered with debris. When
such a park is provided for the plea­
sure of people without charge by a
public-spirited corporation, it is de­
spicable indeed that a few thought­
less and destruction-bent people
should ruin it for the hundreds who
might enjoy it. It discourages ef­
forts to maintain such an area and
is poor thanks for their efforts.
Persons who used the park during
July found it literally surrounded
with a garden of foxglove. It grows
in great profusion along the road
leading to the park and if one walked
from the park up the bank and fol­
lowed an old road which comes out
on a logging road, they could walk
down it to the road to the camp
through a veritable corridor of the
pink and white blossoms. Nature, in
every way is doing her part to make
the area beautiful. Only thoughtless
people defile it.