"Fabulous Opal Whiteley" revisited The Lane County Historical Society

Ethan Newman, President, 2161 University Street, Eugene, OR 97403 Alta Nelson, Membership Secretary, P0 Box 11532, Eugene, OR 97440

Membership in the Lane County Historical Society isopen to anyone interested in and Lane County history. Annual dues: $10.00. To join, send check to the Society, P0 Box 11532, Eugene, OR 97440.

Lane County Historian, VoL 41, Number 1, Spring 1996

Ken Metzler, Editor, 2051 East 26th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97403 (Phone 541/343-4496; e-mail: [email protected]) Janet Burg and Dorothy Corkery, Assistant Editors Lois Barton, Contributing Editor Contents

Footnotes to history 1

A new interest in Fabu1ous Opal Whiteley' 6

The Springfield Millrace: Industry at itsbeginning 22

Cover Sometime this year, the BBC plans to senda crew to Oregon and Lane County to explore the mystery ofa talented schoolgirl who enchanted the literary world in 1920 witha childhooddiary filled with wide-eyed wonder about the woodsy outdoors and the animal world that inhabits that fairyland. Opal Whiteleywas her name"Fabulous Opal Whiteley," according to the titleof one book written about her. The cover photo shows Opal in her early 20s, approximately thesame time her diary was published by The Atlantic Monthly magazine. (Photo courtesy ofSpecial Collections, Library.) Seepage 6for more about Opal Whiteley.

ISSN 0458-7227 Footnotes to history A collectionofvignettes and curiosities about Lane County histoiy, such as: Mini-historiesofthree Skinner Butte artifactstheBig 0, Big E, and the cross on the butte. Also a fond remembranceofCamp Eight near Wendling.

Gimme an "0"! jinx of succeeding eras. Once it disap- Gimme an "E"! peared entirely, presumably at the Here's an historical trivia question thathands of a rival university. When the will stump even the most ardent Uni-wooden 0 reappeared later, it was versity of Oregon alumnus, includingconsigned to scrap lumber and burned those who can tell you the nationalby U.. students who considered it ranking of the Oregon football team fordesecrated at the hands of rivals. any given year (e.g.,l8th in January Its replacement, built of concrete, 1996). What's the national ranking ofcontinued to serve as the scene of in- the University of Oregon "0"? tense if playful disputes between We're talking about the Big 0 on thedevotees of the rival institutions. slope of Skinner Butte facing southSometimes the scenarios went beyond toward Willamette Street in Eugene. playfulness. History records several The Big 0 ranks fourth. Erected inattempts to destroy the structure by 1908, it's the fourth oldest collegiatedynamite. Students in 1958 erected a letter on a hillside. (Older are those oftougher structure, made of steel and the University of California-Berkeley,set on concrete foundation blocks. The 1905; Brigham YoungUniversity, 1906;steel 0 soon succumbed to acetylene and University of Utah, 1907.) Thistorches used to cut it into sections tidbit comes from the research of awhich allowed the vandals to haul it California-Berkeley professor, Jamesaway. The sections reappearedseveral J. Parsons, who wrote a paper titledmonths later and were welded back "Hillside Letters in the Westerntogether. Landscape." The Big 0 is but one of 540 historical The Big 0 was first built of wood, 50items"resources," they're called feet long, by students on their firstassembled under a project recently Junior Weekendproject. Thehistoricalcompleted by the Historic Preservation melodrama that ensued reads like aProgram of the City of Eugene. These novel of intrigue and violence. Theare historical resources discoveredin original 0 endured frequent burningsjust one area, the Whiteaker Neigh- and repaintings in various school col-borhood of Eugene, after two years of ors in accordance with collegiate hi-work. Skinner Butte, as part of this

Spring 1996 Beneath the historic cross atop Skinner Butte in Eugene, University of Oregon students participate in an initiation ritualpainting the Big 0 by the seatsof their pants about 1973. Rugged steel letter replaced earlierones madeofwood and concrete. (Wayne East burn, Register-Guard; courtesyof U.O.Archives.) survey, has provided some of the moreSkinner Butte landmarks is the cross enchanting historical artifacts. at the top. The first cross, according to Besides the Big 0 there's the Bigthe project report, was erected in De- Efor Eugene High School. Re-cember 1936, 24 feet high, colored a searchers believe it was built around"glowing scarlet" by the neon tubing 1915. High school athletes formed thethat outlined it. It was put there by a letterman's "E" Club in 1916 whichChamber of Commerce street decora- served as custodian of the letter. Thetion committee with fImds from Eugene club used it as part of an initiationchurches. A portable structure, the ritualstudents painted the letter bycross was stored most of the year but sliding down its surface on the seats ofemerged at the hilltop each Christmas their pants. and Easter for four years. The legal Some traditions die out, however,question of church-state separation and are reclaimed by wilderness. Theof locating a religious symbol on public Big E currently lies beneath vegeta-propertyapparently did not engage tion that obscures it from view fromthe attention of the populace at the downtown Eugene. time. Perhaps the most infamous of the Next came a wooden cross, the first

2 Lane County Historian of three, lighted each Christmas andgot on the ballot as a charter amend- Easter. Then in 1959 a group of archi-ment in 1970, and voters approved it tects proposed replacing the cross withby a 3-to-i margin. Subsequent legal a 150-foot tall non-sectarian monu-appeals ran all the way to the U.S. ment. The Eugene City Council adoptedSupreme Court. The High Court de- a hands-off policy, and the proposalclined to hear the case, and the cross, died from apparent lack of public in-with its war memorial designation, terest. stands to this day. Interest rose to a high pitch in 1963, however, when a fraternity, Alpha Phi Remembering Wendling Omega, proposed to replace the old and Camp Eight wooden cross with a 51-foot structure"The Conveyor" is a newsletter dedi- of pre-stressed concrete and steel andcated to keeping alive the memory of fitted with inlaid neon lighting. TheWendling, Oregon, a Lane County mill structure was built by Eugene Sandtown that has not existed for half a and Gravel, financed by contributions.century since the mill shut down about The City Council offered informal ap- 1945. The memories of Wending, the proval.But this time church-statemill, and the outlying logging camps, issues reached a high pitch of fervor,reached by rail lines, are as alive as and the fraternity quietly dropped itsever, however. Many of them have project. been recorded by this newsletter, Then on November 28, 1964 thepublished on a sporadic schedule, gen- concrete cross mysteriously appearederally four to six times a year, accord- on the hill. At first no one seemed toing to its editor, Ron Byers of Spring- know how itgotthere. The controversyfield.Here Reva Neet Brandt, who raged anew. It was revealed that thelives in Eugene, offers a memory. ("The cross had been erected through theConveyor," March 1994; reprinted by combined efforts of four local busi-permission.) nesses. The City Council, besieged by letters and calls supporting the cross,My dad, Robert (Bob) Neet, and mom, voted to make it legal with retroactiveRuth Neet, moved to Camp #8 with electrical and building permits. their three children, Ernest, Reva, and In the next ten years, the cross re-Otie, from Myrtle Creek, Oregon mained subject of controversy and le-around 1915. We lived in a tent house, gal maneuvering. Court rulings ulti-one-half wood with a canvas tent top, mately came down on the side ofchurch-one big room with a big cook stove used state separation: The cross was a reli-for cooking and heating. gious symbol and its presence violated My dad was a "donkey doctor," for the City Charter of Eugene. Thedonkey machines used to bring in the courts ordered the cross removed. Butlogs, not for animals. then came a ballot initiative sponsored One ofmy favorite memories ofCamp by Eugene American Legion Post #3 to#8 is about when a friend, Kathryn designate the cross as a"war memorial,"Harrington, came to visit my mom and not a religious symbol. The measurebrought a beautiful ivory-fitted vanity

Spring :1996 traveling case, which we kids really1916 when Ernest startedfirstgrade.- admired. Mom and her friend decidedReva Neet Brandt to go for a walk. Otie, the baby, was down forhis nap. Ernie, four and ahaif, The Chambers- and I, three years of age, decided to Hendricks connection play train with the cook stove, whichEugene lost a significant link with its was cold. We used the oven for thepast on January 6, 1996 with the death baggage compartment and in went theof Mary Brockelbank. She was 102 vanity case. We sat on top of the stoveyears old. As the daughter of Frank to play train. But as kids do, we soonand Ida (Hendricks) Chambers, she grew tired of that game and went off towas the offspring of two of Eugene's find somethingnew to play. Meanwhilemost historically prominent families. dad came home from work, and started Frank Chambers arrived in Eugene afire for supper, and, yep, the beautifulin 1887, and with his brothers started case with all its beautiful fittings gota successflil hardware business. One burnt to a crisp. When mom and hertime he and a partner acquired the friend came home she was so mad sherights to the Eugene Millrace and tried wanted to spank us, but dad wouldn'tto renovate it to develop a self-sup- let her. He said it was her own fault forportingpower project. Buthis plan ran not being at home where she belongedinto opposition from adjacent property with the kids. owners who armed themselves with One of the hazards of being ashotguns and made it clear that they lumberjack's family living at camp waspreferred the Millrace as it was. The transportation, and any emergencypartners sold the Millrace rights to two really made it hard. Mom stepped on aindustrial firms, and Chambers later railroad spike, and itwent clear throughestablished a boat rental business on her foot. They had to take her tothe Millrace. Wendlingon a motorized speeder. Then The Hendricks side of Mary's family there also was the time when mom'swas equally significant historically. appendix burst during the night andMary's maternal grandfather, T. G. they had to take her clear to Eugene onHendricks, arrived in Eugene in 1848, the speeder to Mercy Hospital whichand became a prominent busine ssman was out on 19th Street. When mom andand civic leader. He served on a board dad used to take us kids to Wendlingworking to establish a university in we rode eitherin aboxcar orthe cabooseEugene, now the University of Oregon, where we got to get up in the cupola.which opened in 1876.Landmarks Mom used to get so mad at me 'cause Itoday bear the names of both families, always got sick. such as Chambers Street in West Eu- One of the nice things about campgene, and Hendricks Park in East and a small community was that whenEugene on land donated to the city by there was an emergency or illness inT. G. Hendricks. the families, neighbors always helped Only last summer the infant Mary out by taking care of each others' chil- Chambers appeared on the cover of the dren. We moved down to Wendling inHistorian. It was a ca. 1894 photo of

4 Lane County Historian Mary and her parents, Frank and Ida, The "'Wilkins Sisters," were Lucia in ahorse -drawn buggy in front of theirMoore, Nina McCornack, and Gladys new home on West Ninth Avenue inMcCready, all daughters of Francis Eugene. The house where she grew upMarion Wilkins, an early business- still exists, moved to itspresentlocationman and one-time mayor of Eugene. at 10th and Taylor. The last of the trio of authors, Gladys Ida Chambers died prematurely atMcCready, died in 1990 at age 95. age 34 when Mary was about seven. Frank Chambers eventually remar- Other Society documents ried, this time to Edith Kerns, a sisterSpeaking of best sellers, don't forget of Eugene's legendary Maude Kerns,the other documents the Lane County prominent artist and University ofHistorical Society has available foryour Oregon professor. enjoyment. The documents range from A member of the Lane County165 pages of letters written by Elijah Historical Society, Mary Chambers wasLafayette Bristow, the first settler to born in Eugene February 7, 1893,build a cabin in Lane County, to the 37- graduated from the University of Or-page "Biographa of Adam Zumwalt." egon and attended Radcliffe College.Mr. Zumwalt, not the best of spellers, She earned a master's degree in zool-explains his work thus: "Thar was a ogy from the U. of 0. and worked as agrate many incidents of intrust that medical laboratory technician.Shenever was given in histra. I will give a married William Brockelbank in 1922flew." For a complete price list of the 24 and they had a daughter, Lesliedocuments, write the Lane County Brockelbank, who lives in Eugene. Historical Society, Box 11532, Eugene OR 97440-3732. Our best seller And don't forget the Illustrated About 1,200 copies of The Story of Eu-History of Lane County, Oregon by gene have been sold by the Society as ofAlbert G. Walling, the 1884 classic mid-January, according to Donald T.reprinted in 1993 complete with 48 Smith, treasurer of the Lane Countyillustrations including an early map Historical Society. Society officials areshowingwhat was known of the county pleased with the early success of thismore than 100 years ago. Price is $44 new publication. to Society members or $49.50 to non- The book, written by the "Wilkinsmembers, plus postage (about $3 to $4) Sisters," had been out of print for moreif mailed. than three decades. It was published in reprint form last fall by the Society Correction under an arrangement with the LaneA thousand apologies to Hugh H. County Historical Museum. This sec- Hughes of Bryan, Texas. In last fall's ond version, a paperback selling forHistorian, we ran some verse he'd sent $12.95 at the museum and Lane Countybased on memories of a childhood in bookstores, includes a new 24-pageLane County. Our introduction to his photo supplement composed of photoswork listed an incorrect birth date for from the museum archives. Mr. Hughesit should have read 1936.

Spring 1996 A new-found interest in "Fabulous Opal Whiteley"

She was the literary sensation of the Twenties,an impressionable girl fresh out of the Oregon woods. The debate about her and her childhood diary rages to this day and with renewed vigor. Was she really the daughter of French nobility, kidnapped and exiledto a hopelessly far-away land? Did she writea diary at age six? By Steve McQuiddy Eugene Writer

he saga of Opal Whiteley istwenty-three. Subtitled The Journal of one of the most colorful sto-An Understanding Heart, the book was ries to come out of a colorfulcelebrated as a work of wonder and land. The Pacific Northwest,imagination, ifnot genius. Purportedly Tlong known as the home ofwritten during her sixth and seventh dreamers, geniuses, and eccentrics,gaveyears, it is a record of her trips through us a little girl from a logging camp whothe woods around Cottage Grove, Or- grew up to become one of the mostegon. Opal befriended the animals, notorious literary sensations of the cen-birds, flowers, and trees, giving them turyon the basis of one book that wasfantastic names from classical my- out of print within a year. thology: a dog name Brave Horatius, a It's a story of innocence and wonder,pig named Aphrodite. She professed of a young girl in a young land. It'saher love for all natural things. "I do like story also of loneliness, tragedy, andit, this house we do live in, being at the death, of mental illness and the hardedge of the near woods," she writes in life in rural Oregon at the century'sthe opening pages. "So many little turn. But more than that, it's a story ofpeople do live in the near woods. I do faith, of what we believe and perceive tohave conversations with them." be true. And every time the name of The story behind the diary, though, Opal Whiteley surfaces again, morehas for years overshadowed the book and more people discover what manyitself. Concern and skepticism have have quietly felt for some time: Heremerged over how it was written booka childhood diaryjust mightwith crayon on scraps of torn-up paper. be an American classic. Also when it was writtenskeptics The Story of Opal was first pub-said she made it up when she was 20, lished in 1920, when Opal was nearlynot when she was 6. Most controver-

6 Lane County Historian Opal Whiteley about 1918 wearing a natiue costume. This is one of a portfolio ofphotographs she had taken to kelp her launch a movie career. (Photos courtesyofSpecial Collections, University of Oregon Library.)

Spring1996 7 sial of all was Opal's claim in the bookOpal. Proceeds from book and memo- that she was an adopted childactu-rabilia sales go toward the scholarship ally a French princess. These were farfund. more sensational than her tales ofjoy, Williamson, like many Opal fans, hope, and love in the woods of Oregon.had heard of the diary through the Within months, praise turned to dis-years. But when he learned thatOpal's dain. The remarkable young womancase involved mental illnessschizo- with long, black hair and large, roundphrenia, many agreehe began to re- eyes faced in turn rejection, obscurity,search her story. He explains, "I wanted and finally death in a insaneto give people an idea of what schizo- asylum phrenia is, what mental illness is, us- But she keeps coming back. Inter-ing a person that they had heard of, est in her now is stronger than ever. Awith a story that wasn't scary, that was half dozen versions of her story circu-touching and really human." But one late today, from Seattle to Souththing led to another, and he is now Carolina, from New York to .likely Opal's biggest home-town fan. The complete diary is reprinted; thereAnd judging from the response to the are two biographies, a children's book,Opal Whiteley Weekends, he's not a verse adaptation, at least two musi- alone. "We have all these people com- cals and a traveling one-woman play.ing out just having the best time," The BBC is researching a full-hourWilliamson says. "There will be a few documentary, tentatively scheduled topeople debating about whether she was air in 1997. And yes, there's talk ofarememberingpast lives when she wrote Hollywood movie. the French, or debating about schizo- In Cottage Grove, meanwhile, timephrenia, or the effects of child abuse on has tempered the controversy, but notadult personalityand a couple people dimmed the interest. In 1994, a groupclaim she just made the whole thing headed by South Lane Mental Healthup." counselor Steve Williamson created Exactly what she might have made Opal Park in the Cerro Gordo com-up is still not certain, although author munity overlooking Dorena Lake. OpalBenjamin Hoff clarifies much of the Parkthe natural surroundingsstory in his book, The Singing Creek originally intended for use in treatingWhere the Willows Grow: The Mystical clientsis part of a growing organiza-Nature Diary of Opal Whiteley. Origi- tion that includes the Opal Whiteleynally published in 1986, then reissued Scholarship Fund, which helps "at-risk"by Penguin Books with updates in 1994, high school students attend college.it is a reprint of the diary, framed by Some funds come from occasional "OpalHoff's biography of Opal and extensive Whiteley Weekends." Hosted by thecommentary on his investigation. Bookmine bookstore on Main Street in Hoff, bestknown for The Tao ofPooh, Cottage Grove, the Weekends featurestumbled upon Opal's diary in 1983. bus tours to Opal Park and to land-He was so taken with it that he re- marks mentioned in the diary, alsosearched Opal's story literally to the readings by local actresses portrayingpoint of exhaustion. Digging through

8 Lane County Historian OUT OF DOORS Do you want to know more of the life of the woods and fields? Would you like to find joy in the everyday things around you? Hear this Nature Lecture by Miss Opal Whiteley

Topic Date Place Admission 10 C*nts

Opal gave nature lectures throughout Oregon in 1917, using this poster to promote them.

Spring 1996 Opal (right) with her younger sister Pearl around 1902, before the alleged child substitution took place.

library and newspaper archives, inter-Sentinel in 1915, "and when nearly six viewing hundreds of people in Laneyears of age we moved from near County and elsewhere, encounteringWendling to my grandfather's farm at hundreds more theories and opinions,Walden station, about three miles from he writes that "bit by bit, facts that hadCottage Grove." seemed confused and contradictory at It was here the events of the pub- first began to arrange themselves in alished diary took place, and here that clear pattern, and an extraordinaryOpal said she recorded them. A preco- story began to emerge." cious child who could form words from The oldest of five children, Opala primer at age three, she entered Irene Whiteley was born to CharlesWalden School at five and passed two Edward ("Ed") and Lizzie (Scott)grade levels her first year. But she was Whiteley in Colton, ona dreamer as well, and often enough December 11, 1897. A logging family,paid the price for it. "She was always a the Whiteleys moved as Ed's work de- queer girl," said her grandmother manded. "When nearly five years ofAchsah Scott in 1920. "When she wasn't age we moved to Lane County, Or- chattering or asking questions, or egon," Opal wrote for the Cottage Grove reading or writing, she would be look-

10 Lane County Historian Opal (left) and Pearl as teenagers. This photo was used to disprove Opal's claim that she was adopted by the Whiteley family.

Spring 1996 11 ing at nothing with big eyes, in what some people call a 'brown study,' but what I call inattention and absent- mindedness." Nor would Opal respond to the pun- ishment of the day. "Switching didn't seem to make her any different," her grandmother said. "She would climb up in a big evergreen over the pigpen, and get to studying about something, and drop out of the tree into the mud. Lizzie would spank her or switch her, or if Lizzie wasn't feeling up to it, I would." That evergreen tree Opal climbed might have been one she cited in her diary, named Michael Angelo Sanzio Raphael, "a grand fir tree with an un- derstanding soul." According to the di- ary, Opal would climb onto the barn roof and jump into the tree, nestle in Ed and Lizzie Whiteley around the branches, or "arms," and have one 1900. Opal claimed they were of her conversations. "After I talked not her real parents. with him and listened unto his voice, I slipped down out of his arms. I in-To Opal, all of nature was alive, and all tended to slip into the barn corral, butbeings of the natural world members of I slid off the wrong limb, in the wronga grand chorus of the earth. "Earth- way. I landed in the pigpen, on top ofvoices are glad voices, and earth-songs Aphrodite, the mother pig. She gave acome up from the ground through the peculiar gruntit was not like thoseplants," she writes in the diary, "and in grunts she gives when she is comfort- their flowering, and in the days before able." these days are come, they do tell the With Aphrodite, Brave Horatius theearth-songs to the wind. And the wind shepherd dog, and her other animalin her goings does whisper them to friends, Opal went "on explores"folks to print for other folks, so other through the woods. She seemed tohavefolks do have knowings of earth's songs. a special way with wild creatures. HerWhen I grow up, I am going to write for father said she could tame anything inchildrenand grownups that haven't the forest, and one person who knewgrown up too muchall the earth- Opal said that birds and butterfliessongs I now do hear." would sit in her hand (a story remi- She also felt a scientific approach niscent ofThoreau, who reputedly could was necessary for a complete under- row across Walden Pond and pet thestanding of nature. To that end, Opal wild ducks without disturbing them).gathered thousands of specimens of

12 Lane County Historian plants and rocks and insects, whichery kind of natural thing. The children she studied with a dedication and vo-would bring anythingthey wished. One racity that would later amaze nearlyday a little boy came to the back door of all who met her. the house where I was staying and said Having joined the local chapter ofhe had something for the menagerie. the Junior Christian Endeavor, a reli-'Bring it right in,' I told him. When he gious organization for rural children,deposited his burden on the table a Opal translated her knowledge intowhole hatful of lizards ran over the lectures on the scientific and spiritualtable, much to the consternation of the wonder of nature. Parents would bringother people in the house." their children to hear her speak, and In the diary, Opal is often the source find themselves enchanted as well.of adults' consternation, particularly There was something about the littleher mother'sor "the mamma," as Opal girl, just a teenager, who seemed tocalls her in the book: "By-and-by, when know everything about plants andthe washing part was done, then the animals but spoke of them as if theymamma went to the grandma's house were human. Hoff relates in Theto get some soap. When she went away Singing Creek the words of a womanshe did say she wished she didn't have who had known Opal in Junior En- to bother with carrying water to scrub deavor: "She told stories. I rememberthe floor. She doesn't. While she has one time the lesson was about thebeen gone a good while,! have plenty of Resurrection, and she told us all aboutwater on the floor for her to mop it how, just as a person is buried, a seedwhen she gets back. When she did go is buried, and how from the seed thereaway, she said to me to wring the comes later abeautiful flower, and howclothes out of the wash. There were a death is not really death but beingbornlot of clothes in the washskirts and into a new environment." aprons and shirts and dresses and Another woman who'd attendedclothes that you wear under dresses. Opal's classes said, "On one of ourEvery bit of clothes I took out of the mornings of nature study, we were intubs I carried into the kitchen and the city fairgrounds park, and we wouldsqueezed all the water out on the pledge friendship to a tree by holdingkitchen floor. That makes lots of water up our hands." everywhereunder the cook-table and There were other incidents, under- under the cupboard and under the scoring thehumorin events that adultsstove. Why, there is most enough wa- often forget to see. "When I taught atter to mop the three floors, and then the lumber camps," Opal told The Or-some water would be leftover. I did feel egonian in 1917, "we had what weglad feels because it was so as the called a menagerie, for we studied ev-mamma did want it." Her mother, of

Steve McQuiddy has written on Opal Whiteley for Pacific magazine of the Seattle Times. He continues to research the story, and is always interested in any information concerning her. Write him at 1430 Willamette#200, Eugene, OR 97401.

Spring 1996 13 course, did not want it that wayand This statement was shortly affirmed Opal later reports that on her backsideby officials at the University of Oregon. "I did have many sore feels." In Eugene for the Christian Endeavor The diary is full of such charmingconvention, Opal visited the university talesalmost too charming for theand astounded professors there with cynical reader, says biographer Ben-her knowledge of the natural sciences. jamin Hoff. "People either love OpalorAlthough she hadn't yet completed her they don't seem to have any feeling forhigh school credits, university officials her at all." Some have said that no childunanimously agreed that Opal should could write like that, express herselfbe admitted. "Tutored by nature, a with both innocence and perception.tiny, seventeen-year-old mountain girl, "But I think that those people haveher hair down her back, has opened the forgotten what it was like to bea kid."eyes of the Eugene teaching profession In 1915 Opalnewly elected as stateand left it gasping for breath," an- superintendent oftheJunior Christiannounced the Eugene Daily Guard. Endeavorcame to the attention of"Entrance rules have been cast aside; ElbertBede, editor ofthe Cottage Grovescholarships are proposed." Sentinel. He gave her a rather heady "This experience happens but once introduction in the May 5 edition of hisin ageneration," said Warren D. Smith, paper: "Probably there is no one who ishead ofgeology. "She knows more about not familiar with the Bible story of howgeology than do many students that the child Savior, reared in lowlysur-have graduated from my department." roundings, stood in the temple and But perhaps there was a higher imparted knowledge to the wise men.motive to her scientific knowledge, In some ways the life of little 17-year-wrote librarian Inez Fortt in the May! old Opal Whiteley reminds one of thisJune 1969 Old Oregon, the university's incident in the life of the Savior. Shealumni magazine."It was in a high toohas risenfrom obscure surroundingsschool science class that Opal discov- and in those surroundings has devel-ered the 'universal order' of nature," oped most remarkable knowledge." she said. 'Through that discovery Opal Opal then outlined her plan to teachbegan to adopt a 'universal order' for children across Oregon about God byher own personal affairs, too. She be- explaining to them the plants and trees,gan to plan in minute detail her own rocks and rivers and sea shells. "Mylife, a factor that may help to explain nature study is of much help to me insome later events." my work with the juniors, for I find that Opal entered the uo in the fall of the child's heart readily unfolds to the1916. The Whiteleys now lived in true and the beautiful," she said. "ToSpringfield, and Opal made the daily me all God's out-of-doors is one grandcommute across the . cathedral." She soon became notorious for spend- "She is a product of the Oregon out-ing many of her extra momentsin- doors who knows that outdoors almostcludingthe minutes between classes as well as the One who made it," Bedereading. "Inside of four months she duly concluded. completed reading 10,582 pages of Ii-

14 Lane County Historian The "ranch house where the grandpa does live." No longer owned by the Whiteley family, this residence still stands near Walden, east of Cottage Grove. brary books, a record unsurpassed bythe hippie line of today: that people any other university student," said Themust meet and love one another." Oregonian in April 1917. "Her reading She was ahead of more than the has covered a wide range, includinghippie movement, says Benjamin Hoff. natural sciences, eugenics, biography,"She was New Age before New Age the Bible, art, and homemaking, anever came along." She predated the average of 529 pages a week." environmental movement as welland She was also quite a sight on cam-Hoff believes we've yet to catch up. pus, often seen running after some"Opal related to trees and animals on a butterfly or insect, with her long braidscompletely different level than we're and skirts flying. And one day Mrs.even doing now, so I think she was still Prince Campbell, wife ofthe university50 to 100 years ahead of us." president, came upon Opal kneeling on Already interested in the mind's the ground, looking down and singingpower to influence actual events, Opal a hymn. Mrs. Campbell asked whatattended a series of lectures her first she was doing. "I am singing to one ofyear in college on the "Young Man or God's creatures," Opal replied. And inWoman Too Large for Their Present front of her on the ground was anPlace." The speaker was Jean Morris earthworm. Ellis, and her topics concerned char- "If Opal were on campus today,"acter analysis, brain building, hypno- said a former student in 1969, "shetism, and telepathy. "Our imagination would be the prize hippie of all. Sheis the instrument ofreality," Opal wrote was a walking exponent of 'love,' andin her notebook. "By means of it we are she constantly talked what would bebrought face-to-face with the past, and

Spring 1996 15 by means of it we prophesy the future."precisely Opal's intention. The photos But a double misfortune in earlywere for a portfolio she took to Califor- 1917 could not have been prophesied.nia, hoping to make a name for herself Lizzie Whiteley died in May, after ain the burgeoningmovie industry. "Look prolonged bout with cancer. Her greatfirst for work in films," begins a list of grandfather (on her mother's side) diedher plans for California, followed by the next day. "I do not believe Opal ever"Study at the studio," "See DeMille," quite recovered from the blow," wroteand "Write and see other directors." Inez Fortt in 1969. "She was neverLecturing and nature studies are far- again active in Junior Endeavor or thether down the list. church. She very seldom saw her fam- The movie people, however, were ily." (A reaction that has since beenunimpressed. After six weeks of daily attributed to her worsening schizo-trips to the studios and agencies, Opal phrenia.) admitted defeat. But turning again to Living now in a small house onher lectures, she soon was teaching the Franklin Boulevard in Eugene, Opalchildren of wealthy Californians about turned her attention fully to naturenature. Her lectures became so popu- studies. She supported herself throughlar that Opal saw an opportunity to lectures, chargingaten-centadmission.create the book she'd long dreamed of, Using handbills picturing herself in aand she set about solicitingfunds from white dress, with butterflies perchedthe rich and famous. She raised an onherhead, shoulders, and hands, sheamazing $9,400 on subscription, but advertised topics such as "Nearer tomade so many changes in the book that the Heart of Nature" and 'The Fairy-the printers demanded more money. land Around Us"which she wouldWhen she ran out of cash, the plates later incorporate into a book bearingwere destroyed, and Opal was left with the latter title. "When she was a littlea collection of some ofthe printed sheets. girl, Opal dreamed of someday writingHeartbroken, she then methodically books for children about the inhabitants set about pasting in and labeling of the field and forest," writes Hoff inhundreds of illustrations by hand, The Singing Creek. "As she grew older,working herselfagainto exhaus- the dream became a driving force." tion. But it was her move to Los Angeles Here is where some believe she ac- that brought the next stage into fulltually wrote the diary. Inez Fortt wrote, relief. Before she left Eugene in Feb-"It was at this time, I think, that Opal ruary 1918, Opal had a set of photo-'fell apart'or rather she lived in two graphs taken ofher in various posesworlds, one as an adult and the other as including one in an Indian costumea child again in the woods with her and another playing the violin. Mrs.little companions. Confused and de- Elizabeth Fox De Cou, then dean offeated, dependent on the generosity of women, recalled that watching Opalfriends and acquaintances, Opal prob- on campus with the photographers andably withdrew from the life around props was like watching a movie queenher." As her mind regressed, she direct publicity shotswhich wasthought and wrote as a child, a royal

16 Lane County Historian (Crown Trade Paperbacks, New To learn York, 1995.) Poetry adaptation of parts of the diary. Boulton also pre- more about pared Only Opal, a children's book version (Philomel Books, Putnam, New York 1994). Both in print. Opal Fabulous Opal Whiteleyby Elbert Bede. (Binfords & Mort, Portland, If you're one of the people whom1954.) Compendium of Bede's de- Opal would delight, you'll want tocades of newspaper articles, re- know more. Following is a list ofworked into book form, by the man books and other resources that willusually credited with "discovering" get you started on your way. Opal. Currently in print. The Bookmine, 702 E. Main "Opal Whiteley: A Princess in Street, Cottage Grove. (541) 942-Fairyland" by Inez Fortt. Old Or- 7414. Ongoing display of Opal in-egon, May/June 1969. Article on Opal formation, including books, articles,in the University of Oregon alumni and "Opal's Fairyland," a free self-magazine. Available at the UO guided tour written by SteveKnight Library and in the Opal Williamson. Benjamin Hoff some-Whiteley collection of the Cottage times comes down for the "OpalGrove Public Library. Two related Whiteley Weekends." articles by the same author are at The Singing Creek Where the Wil-the UO library in The Call Number, lows Grow: The Mystical Nature Di-vol. 18, no. 1; and vol. 23, no. 1. ary of Opal Whiteley by Benjamin Special collections at the Univer- Hoff and Opal Whiteley. (Penguinsity of Oregon Knight Library in Books, New York, 1994.) Reprint ofEugene, Cottage Grove Public Li- the diary with Hoff s complete com-brary, Oregon Historical Society in mentary and biography. CurrentlyPortland, and the Oregon State Li- in print. braryin Salem have a fair amount of Opal: the Journal of an Under-material concerning Opal. Some ofit standing Heart by Jane Boulton.is auite fragile, and use is restricted. princess in Fairyland, said Fortt. "Asthe seven-month interval between the she sat and printed, the dream and theend of 1918 and her trip to the East reality fused together, and the child-Coast to find a publisher for The princess and Opal became one." Fai,ylandAround Us." In that time, he Not so, says biographer Hoff, citingsays, she would have had to print a his extensive research presented atquarter million words on the same length in The Singing Creek. "If Opalkind of old paper the original diary was had written her childhood diary in Losprinted on, then tear them up so care- Angeles, it would have been duringfully as to fool everyone who examined

Spring 1996 17 the manuscript at a later date. "All thiswas," said Life magazine, "and may would have had to follow her exhaust-grow up to become a classic." ing work on The FairylandAround Us, The book certainly was unlike any and the collapse of her health causedother. The original manuscript, which by the destruction of its plates." Opal claimed she had kept in a hollow What happened next, though, nolog, was written on a mish-mash of one denies. And the story of how Opal'sbutcher paper, grocery bags, and old diary came to the world's attention isenvelopes. The letters were in colored related in every account of her life: pencil and crayon, left for her by "the Her attempts to get Fairylandfairies" (probably Sadie McKibben and published led Opal to Boston, specifi-the Man Who Wears Grey Neckties cally to the office of Ellery Sedgwick,and is Kind to Mice, both mentioned by editor of The Atlantic Monthly and onename elsewhere in the dairy) and the of the most influential literary figurescapital letters ran together with no of his time. He wasn't excited by thepunctuation, broken only at the edge of book Opal showed him, but he wasthe paper. The stories were charming enchanted by its author. She was "verytales of taking Peter Paul Rubens the young and eager and fluttering, like apig to school, reading poems to William bird in a thicket," he later wrote. Shakespeare the horse, andeven af- He asked her abouther background.ter a switching from "the mamma" for She told him. He was curioushadyet another mistakeOpal's joy at Opal kept a diary? Yes, she had. But itsimply being alive: was torn to bits, ostensibly by ajealous "I sit here on the doorstep, printing sister. Opal, however, had saved thethis on the wrapping paper Sadie pieces in an enormous hat box. "WeMcKibben gave me. ...By the step is telegraphed for them, and they came,Brave Horatius. At my feet is [a wood hundreds, thousands, one might al-rat named] Thomas Chatterton Jupi- most say millions of them," Sedgwickter Zeus. I hear songslullaby songs of wrote in his introduction to the diary.the trees. The back part ofme feels abit "Some few were large as a half-sheet ofsore, but I am happy, listening to the notepaper; more, scarce big enough totwilight music of God's good world. I'm hold a letter of the alphabet." real glad I'm alive." Opal spent the next eight months in To a world weary and disillusioned Boston, at the house of Sedgwick'sfrom its first global war, this was a mother-in-law, piecing together therevelation. But along with the charm- diary like a jigsaw puzzle. It was thening stories, odd phonetic spelling sys- serialized in The Atlantic Monthly,tem and a syntax that read like a literal beginning March 1920. The book cametranslation from another language, out in August, and became an imme-Opal made a further claim: that she diate success. It gave a picture of life aswas in fact not Opal Whiteley, but the seen through the eyes of a child, de- kidnapped daughter of a French clared the New York Times, "eyes thatprinceand she had been substituted have been touched." for the real Opal Whiteley, who had "It will be like no book that everdrowned. Her "Angel Father," she said,

18 Lane County Historian Opal in later life. "She was bright; she had some French in her old age, says rofessor Carlisle Moore who visited her at the Napsbury asylum in the 1960s.

Spring1996 was Henri d'Orléans, of the deposedletter from Nellie Hemenway in Port- royal family, who had died in India inland gives information on nearly 30 1901. Her "Angel Mother" had alsopeople Sedgwick had inquired after. diedin a shipwreck, according toBede in the meantime published the Opal's book introduction. French words,results ofhis investigations in a steady too, and acrostics spelling out the An-stream of articles, picked up by the gel Father's name, were strungnational press (and later reworked into throughout the book. his 1954 book,Fabulous Opal Whiteley). After her true parents died, herThe Christian Science Monitor ran guardians had taken her on a long trip,commentary in August 1920. Publish- Opal wrote. "Then it was they put meers Weekly kept tabs on her. Fred with Mrs. Whiteley. The day they putLockley of the Oregon Daily Journal me with her was a rainy day, and Ipublished an interview with Grand- thought she was a little afraid of them,mother Scott inBookman magazine. By too. She took me on the train and in thethe time the HarvardAduocate chimed stage-coach to the lumber camp. Shein with a parody of Opal's story, "Isette called me Opal Whiteley, the sameLikely," the Whiteley family had left name as that of another girl who wastown and changed their name. Soon the same size as I was wh en her motherenough, the book was out of print, and lost her." Opal out of the country. This "foster-child fantasy"is common While many agree that this part of enough, although mostgrow outofitbythe story is a tragedy, Hoff says it's a adulthood, wrote E. S. Conklin, psy-crime. "At best, her 'exposers' were chology professor at the University ofguilty ofinexcusable bungling. Atworst, Oregon, who studied Opal's case inthey were guilty of deliberate falsifi- 1920. Conklin, through heavy corre-cation of evidence," he writes. "What- spondence with many who knew theever their motives, whatever the ex- Whiteleys, concluded that her fathertent of their awareness, they were re- had a "somewhat difficult personality,sponsible for the defamation ofa highly said to be changeable," and her mothersensitive woman who was incapable of "appeared to be cultured and refined,"defending herself and for the encour- but also "would do strange things."agement and intensification of a trag- Whether Opal inherited or was ad-edy." versely affected by these character Today the mystery, the intrigue of traits, he didn't say. But he was clearlyOpal's saga continues. "The person I satisfied that Opal's claim of adoptionwould really like to have talked to was was a fantasy. SadieMcKibben," saysSteve But the words in the book were realWilliamson "I'm just certain that she enough, as was their effect. Skepticismwas the real-life model for Angel bred charges of fraud, and reportersMother, because she does everything rushed to Cottage Grove. Editors Bedewith Opal that Angel Mother was and Sedgwick launched their own in-supposed to have done." Sadie vestigations, gathering letters and tes-McKibben taught Opal about reading, timony from countless people. One 1920he says. She went on walks with Opal,

20 Lane County Historian taught her songs and told her to namevious that she couldn't take care of the animals. "If! could just prove thatherself." the McKibben family had a library, or Moore visited Opal a dozen times even just a handful of the rightbooks-during a sabbatical in the late sixties in of classical myths and history booksLondon. Opal had a room at Napsbury, that would pretty well prove that a lothe says, and was quite calm. They'd go of that knowledge did come when sheout to the garden, where Moore some- was a child," he says. "But I don't knowtimes took pictures while they talked. for sure what kind of library they had.""She was highly intelligent," he says. With the help of Cottage Grove his-"So clear in her recollections of Eugene torian John Wilson, Williamson hasand the university, and of all the things made some progress. They recentlythat she had done, that she was sort of located Sadie McKibben's unmarked'mad north-northwest.' She was very grave in the Fir Grove Cemetery, andclear about things that were good and supporters and friends have placedthat were verifiable, and reallyalmost proper identification on the graves ofinsane." both Sadie and her husband Frank. He pauses a moment. "I hesitate to (Williamson's article "The Lost Graveuse that word, but I'm certain she was of Sadie McKibben" is available free atnot in possession of the real facts of her the Bookmine.) life." Instead, he says, she went on and Opal, meanwhile, hadn't lost heron about being born in Italy, growing ability to charm and delight the moniedup in France. "She knew she was not set. She was sponsored for a trip tobelieved, and yet she insisted on it." Europe, and spent some time with the Interestingly enough, the Napsbury mother of Henri d'Orléans in France.Hospital staff began in the 1960s to She then secured funds to follow heraddress her as Françoise d'Orléans. claimed father's footsteps through In-They even changed the name in her dia, and lived for a time as a royal guestrecords. oftheMaharana ofUdaipur. The details "All this is queer, decidedly queer," of her years in that country are un- Moore says in a voice both informed availablealthough BBC researchersand perplexed. "You know you've got a are making progress for the documen-mind working which is not like ours." tary mentioned earlier. She had special talents, but then she Opal resurfaced in London in 1948,lacked things as well, he adds. "You starving and surrounded by books in acan't help reading that diary without crumbling tenement. She was declaredbeing enthralled. It's delightful, and a ward of the state and committed toyetyou know there's something Napsbury Hospital at St. Albans. Shemissing. What's missing is reality." wrote letters claiming that she was The author of The Story of Opal died trapped, a prisoner therealthoughat Napsbury Hospital in 1992, at the her doctor said she was free to go when-age of 94. She is buried in Highgate ever she liked, recalls Carlisle Moore,Cemetery, under the name Francoise professor emeritus of English at theMarie de Bourbon-Orleansand Opal University of Oregon. "But it was ob-Whiteley.

Spring 1996 21 The Springfield Millrace: industry at its beginning

The newly opened Millrace Park commemorates the days when the Millrace powered sawmill and flour mill and led to development of a new city. By Philip Farrington

he legacy of the Springfield Millrace is now memorial- ized at Millrace Park, thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Willamalane TPark and Recreation District, the City of Springfield, the National Park Ser- vice, the University of Oregon, and the Springfield Chamber of Commerce. Millrace Park houses display pan-

The beginnings of Springfield's industry. This circa 1884 photo shows the flour mill bustling with daily activity, with the planing mill in the background. In left foreground lies the original long pond. Today's Millrace Park incorporates the location of this pond. (Photos courtesy of the Springfield Museum.) 22 els interpreting the Millrace's impor- map shows the ferry landing in the tance to the community's development,vicinity of South B Street on the Wil- and provides convenient public accesslamette River. to this living legacy.Park develop- A major flood in 1851 may have ment also includes ecological restora- helped plan the course of the Millrace tion of a portion of the Millrace's northby indicating where previous floods bank, and creation of an urban greenhad scoured out a subsidiary channel space that links several other histori-from the Middle Fork of the Willamette cal and recreational assets. back to the main stem. Elias Briggs and his father, Isaac Briggs, who had Millrace History joined his son in 1851, dugthe Millrace using ox teams, shovels, and plows, As a means of providing industrialfollowing more or less the course of the power, the Springfield Millrace wasflood channel. Today the Millrace flows developed in 1852 by Elias Briggs. Thefrom Clearwater Park three and a half founder ofSpringfield, Briggs wasbornmiles to near Island Park. in Kentucky in 1824 and immigrated With the power available from the with his wife Mary via the "southernMillrace, the community began to de- route": Kiamath Lake, over the Cas-velop. Assisted by a $10,000 loan from cades to the Rogue Valley, and northAlbany millers Jeremiah Driggs and from there.Briggs acquired a landThomas Monteith (one of Albany's claim in 1848 and settled in an areafounders), Bris utilized the Millrace watered by a spring. He fenced off histo power a sawmill and a flour mill. water supply and the pasture becameThese mills formed the backbone of known as the "spring field." Springfield's industrial growth for Briggs ran a ferry across the Wil- generations, taking advantage of the lamette River upstream from thearea's product farm and forest re- present mouth of the Millrace. It wassources. one of the better-known pioneer river Not only did the sawmill and flour crossings in Lane County, begun inmill use the Millrace to run their 1847 by William M. Stevens, an earlierwaterwheels, the sawmill also used it arrival in the area. A subsequent platto float and hold logs. Legend has it that logs cut on the Middle Fork valleytrophe, at least until it was replaced by upstream were floated down the rivera larger mill, three storieshigh and and then down the Millrace to thewith a capacity to produce 30,000 board millpond.Timber cut on the Coastfeet of sawn lumber and 5,000 feet of Fork valley were floated down the Coastdressed lumber per day. In 1891 the Fork to the Middle Fork. Because thatmill was purchased by Albert Walker, juncture is downstream from the Mill-who in 1885 became Springfield's first race intake, the logs had to be floatedmayor. on down to what is now Island Park's The Booth-Kelly Lumber Company south parking lot where they werepurchased the sawmill, millpond, and pulled upstream to the mill by pulleysMillrace in 1901. Until that time, the and mule power. original millpond was located atroughly The sawmill was replaced at leastthe site ofMillrace Park, where abridge twice due to fire and the need for im-once spanned the Millrace at Mill proved equipment and technology. InStreet. The bridge carried workers 1865 Briggs sold his property and millliving north of the Millrace to the flour interests to the Springfield Manufac-and saw mills. Later children crossed turing Company, composed ofJudge R.the bridge to reach a skating rink that E. Stratton, J. B. Underwood, and B. J.stood at the west end of South D Street Pengra. Briggs moved to a farm a mileon the river. Logs typically littered the and a half away. The new ownersbanks of the Millrace, prompting this promptly rebuilt the mill, installing1907 rebuke fromtheSpringfieldNews: new equipment, including a pair of"The present condition of the town is double circular saws and a Leffelnot inviting. As one enters the town Thrbinek wheel. At the time the newlyfrom the west the first two blocks that revamped mill was considered the bestare passed are covered with old logs in Lane County. and driftwood that have been washed The rebuilt sawmill burned in 1882,up by an overflow from the Millrace. which was considered a major catas-Then up Mill Street rubbish of all kinds Below: Civic celebration at the Springfield Millrace about 1914. The Millrace was often the scene of such events, from log-rolling competition tobaptisms.

---e;;

c,- rST41..; '* . *t:- !CE is visible, and irregular sidewalks, oldoriginal capacity and expanded yet approaches, signs, etc., confront one onagain in 1882. A fire at the Eugene every side." flour mill in 1892 proved a boon for the In 1902, Booth-Kelly relocated theSpringfield mill. millpond to its current location and Enhanced production proved a erected the largest sawmill in the Wi!-mixed blessing for a time because of lamette Valley, a steam-powered fa-transportation problems. In 1861 the cility capable of daily production ofsteamboat Relief made it to Spring- 150,000 feet of lumber, as contrastedfield, but Springfield was the head of with the 36,000 feet maximum of thenavigation on the Willamette River old water-powered mill. Between 1900only during floods. Without reliable and 19 10 Springfield's population grewriver transportation, markets were from 353 to 2,000, and half the townrelatively inaccessible. When in 1871 worked at the Booth-Kelly mill. TheEugene received the main line of the mill burned in 1911, but was recon-Oregon and California Railroad, structed, and operated until 1964. ASpringfield industry began to feel the modern facility (now owned and oper-marketing pinch, an economic blow ated by Springfield Forest Products)reflected in population statistics.In constructed on the northeast edge of1870 Springfield's population was 649; the millpond superseded the outdatedten years later it was down to 371. Booth-Kelly mill. Springfield finally attained its railroad The Booth-Kelly site was convertedline in 1891, vastly improving its to a shopping center in the 1970s andeconomy. The rail line allowed for early 1980s before it closed. In 1985greater access to markets, and after the Georgia-Pacific Corporation do-the flour mill changed hands and was nated the old mill site and its build-renovated, Springfield's "Snowball" ings, about 75 acres of land, most of thebrand flour became famous through- millpond, and the Millrace to the Cityout the Northwest. of Springfield. The site has now come The site of the flour mill is today full circle, as the city developed the millhome to Borden Company, producer of site as an incubator for small busi-glues for secondary wood processing, nesses, including secondary woodthereby continuing the Millrace's rela- products finns. tionship with industry. An old wooden The flour mill was blessed with agrain warehouse stands on Borden more stable history and operated con-property just north of the Southern- tinuously in its original location for 76Pacific Railroad line on South 2nd years until destroyed by fire in 1930.Street. Thebuilding, circa 1915, serves When it was founded in 1854, the flouras the last remaining structure asso- mill was the largest in Lane County.ciated with the site's former use as a To keep up with the competition, it wasflour mill. expanded in 1871 to three times its Apart from being the genesis of

The author, Philip Farrington, is a planner for the Willamalane Park and Recreation District in Springfield. 26 Lane County Historian sight of black-tailed deer, river otter, nutria, beaver, great blue heron, and other birds and waterfowl. Water quality in the Millrace today is substandard for quality fisheries. But the city is working with private industry, volunteers, and other groups and agencies to improve water quality. Long-range plans include developing wetlands within the millpond area as a natural filtering mechanism, and re- placing non-native vegetation along the banks ofthe millpond with native plants to improve wildlife habitat and water quality. Park development

In 1993, Willamalane acquired prop- University students tackle the erty along the Millrace between the construction of Springfield's new Willamette River and South 2nd Street, Millrace Park. including the Millrace Park site. The site is just upstream from the metro young Springfield's commercial life, thearea's only waterfallwhich drops 12 Millrace also served as a focal point forfeet and a viewpoint developed years social life as well. The waterway servedago by the late architect, John as a place for many baptisms, tug-of-Amundson. war and log-rolling competitions. An To create greater access to and ap- informal park near South 28th Streetpreciation of the Millrace, the City of also once served as home to baseballSpringfield and Willamalane jointly games and as a place where owners ofsecured a $20,000 grant through the crystal sets would come and listen toNational Park Service to develop a early radio broadcasts. kiosk providing information on the Millrace, its history and functions. Current uses of the Millrace Willamalane and the city pledged financial and in-kind assistance to Floods and time have likely altered itsmatch the National Park Service grant. original course, but the Millrace stillCity staff assisted in site clearing, provides water for irrigation, fire pro-grading, and site preparation. tection, industrial use, and replenish- Willamalane staff assisted with irri- ment of ground water supplies. Today,gation, seeded the lawn area, sowed the Millrace also serves as an impor- wildflowers and native riparian grasses tant corridor for wildlife. Visitors toalong the bank, installed lighting in Millrace Park may be treated with thethe kiosk and pergola (arbor), created

Spring 1996 27 an accessibility ramp, and replacedHistoric Commission and KathyJensen some small trees removed by beaver. of the Springfield Museum. As project manager, Willamalane The project culminated in a park recruited the University of Oregon De-dedication ceremony last August 26, sign-Build Studio to assist in site de-completing the cooperative endeavor velopment. The studio consisted of 26on time and on budget. architecture and landscape architec- ture students under the tutelage of The Park's Context Diane Armpriest, adjunct associate professor of architecture, and StanMillrace Park and its historical display Jones, associate professor of landscapepanels provide alinkageto other nearby architecture. points of historical interest. The park With input from the city, Wil-is adjacent to the "white horse" sculp- lamalane, the Springfield Chamber ofture commemorating the centennial of Commerce, and others, Studio partici-Oregon statehood at Springfield's pants designed and constructed thewestern entry. To the north of the park kiosk, the attached pergola, and a plat-stands the relocated Springfield rail- form overlooking the Millrace. road depot.Listed on the National Students designed the gabled kioskRegister of Historic Places, the depot is and pergola to emulate the architec-the last surviving example of a two- tural aspect of the nearby railroad de-story train depot in Oregon and the pot at an appropriate scale.Thesecity's only Queen Anne/Stick style students performed backbreaking sitecommercial structure. The building preparation, actual construction of thenow houses the Springfield Chamber facilities, and installed a gravel walk-of Commerce offices and the Spring- way, making the kiosk and overlookfield visitor information center. accessible to persons with disabilities. To the east of Millrace Park is a A second group of more than 30building currently housing the Dorris architecture students designed andRanch Living History Farm offices and built site furnishings as part of a sepa-the Dorris Ranch store. The park is a rate class. These students created twoshort walk from the Willamette River picnic tables, three park benches, twoand Island Park and from other attrac- garbage receptacles, one of the displaytions such as the Springfield Museum panel housings, and benches in theand the Oregon Trail mural in down- overlook. In a design reference to thetown Springfield. depot, students designed one picnic The development of Millrace Park table that looks like a small-scale train.exemplifies outstanding cooperative Willamalane supervised the designrelationships between various levels of and production of the interpretivegovernment, and between the public panels with the assistance of a designand private sectors. It also served as firm, Funk & Associates. The panelsan educational tool for upcoming de- were developed with input again fromsign professionals, while at the same the city and Chamber of Commerce,time honoring a landscape feature in- and with support from the Springfieldtegral to Springfield's development. 28 Lane County Historian Board of Directors of the Lane County Historical Society

Terms expire 1996:Lucile McKenzie, Alta P. Nelson, Barbara Huntington Pitney, Donald T. Smith, Alfaretta Spores. Terms ex- pire 1997: A. J. Giustina, Orlando J. Hollis, Ken Metzler, Frances Newsom, Karen Olson. Terms expire 1998: Robert H. Cox, John McWade, Ethan L. Newman, Joseph Omlin, Janice Pattison, Of- ficers: Ethan L. Newman, president; A. J. Giustina, vice president; Alfaretta Spores, recording secretary; Donald T. Smith, treasurer.

The Story of Eugene A history of the city's first one hundred years

On Sale at Eugene area bookstores and at the Lane County Historical Museum With 24 pages of historic photographs from the museum archives , * # ,z,

..? $12.95 Published by Lane County Historical &tciety Eugene, Oregon

l.E009 LO8t7lI U I II II I IffiII 111(1 UII OrganizationNon-Profit Lane County Historical Society Eugene, OR 97440 P0 Box 11532 Eugene,U.S. PermitPOSTAGE Oregon No. 658 PAID 0 rwarding & Return Postage Guaran Address Correction Requested 11186 r. 0 220