FROM THE PRESIDENT ~~~ SOUTHERN ~~~~ HIS10RICAL OREGON 1111 SOC!ElY On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the staff, I extend my sincere thanks -S.IN LI. 19 ~ 6 to members and other supporters for making 1992 such a productive and exciting year SOUTHERN OREGON for the Southern Oregon Historical Society. HISTORICAL SOCIETY Your ongoing commitment to the Society has been a key factor in our many Board of Trustees achievements, some of which include: James Kuntz, Medford, President Marjorie Nichols, Ashland, First Vice -More than 90,000 museum visitors from throughout the natiori--and the President world; Jean Smith, Central Point, Second Vice -More than 10,000 participants in our adult and children's education President program; Cindy Faubion, Gold Hill, Secretary Vern Arnold, Medford, Treasurer - Regional sponsorship of the California/Oregon Columbus Quincentenary Judith Barr, Medford Chautauqua; Anne Billeter, Medford -Production of the award-winning Table Rock Sentinel, Oregon's only Gary Breeden, Medford history magazine; Jon Deason, Medford Edmund Dews, Ashland -Significant archaeological projects on the Illinois River in Josephine Mary Foster, Medford County and at Hyatt Lake in Jackson County, Gerald Latham, Medford shedding new light on the lifestyles of Janie Stewart, Talent southern Oregon's first citizens; Dr. Gary H. Wheeler, Medford Samuel Whitford, Medford -An exciting exhibits program covering a wide variety of subjects, Administrative Staff Samuel J. Wegner, Executive Director ranging from painting (The Art of Regina Brad Linder; Historic Resources Director Dorland Robinson), to textiles (The Joy B. Dunn, Programs Director Handweavers ' Craft: Handmade Textiles, Maureen Smith, Finance Director 1830-1900), to fruit (What a Pear!), to Janice S. Farmer, Development Director Susan Cox-Smith, Membership clowns (Clowning Around: The Life Coordinator/ Development Assistant Story of Vance DeBar "Pinto " Colvig). Stacey Williams, Public In addition to these, with your Relations/ Marketing Coordinator invaluable support we operate five regionally TABLE ROCK SENTINEL significant museums and historic sites; one of the Natalie Brown, Head of Communications finest history research libraries in Oregon, Services Catherine Noah, Editor including nearly 4,000 linear feet of Matt Strieby, Photographer historic documents and photographs; a collection of more than 80,000 artifacts; The Table Rock Sentinel is published bimonthly by the Southern Oregon and a public awareness program which Historical Society as a benefit of member­ brings national attention to our region's ship. Other benefits include ArtiFACTS, a heritage and the growing economic impact monthly newsletter; discounts at the heritage tourism has in Jackson County and Society's History Store; and invitations to programs and special events throughout southern Oregon. None of this would be the year. Administrative and membership possible without you. offices are at the Southern Oregon Next year promises to be another History Center, 106 N. Central Avenue, exciting year for the Society. As the 150th Medford, OR 97501-5926. Current copies of the Sentinel are available for $4.95 anniversary of the Oregon Trail, 1993 will each; back issues are $5.95 each. focus national and international attention on POSTMASTER: Please send Change of the history of Oregon and of southern Oregon. Address (U.S.P.S. Form 3579) to the This will be a perfect opportunity to promote Southern Oregon Historical Society, 106 N. Central Avenue, Medford, OR our regional heritage to new audiences while 97501-5926. we continue to provide a useful understanding Copyright © 1992 Southern Oregon of southern Oregon's history to those who call Historical Society. ISSN #0732-0523. All rights reserved. No part of this publica­ this region home. tion may be reprinted without written per­ Again, thank you for making 1992 mission from the Society. one of the most successful in the Society's CONTRIBUTIONS: Address all forty-six-year history. We look forward to editorial communications to Editor, Table Archaeological dig at Hyatt Lake Rock Sentinel, 106 N. Central Avenue, (top); opening of the Vance DeBar 1993 and your continued support and Medford, OR 97501-5926. We are happy "Pinto" Colvig exhibit at the involvement in the Society's quality programs, to consider queries and contributions. All Children's Museum in Jacksonville projects, and activities. material must be identified with the (middle); Chautauqua program, sender's name and address and will be "Columbus and After," at returned with sufficient postage. Care is taken with contributions, but we are not Hawthorne Park in responsible for damage or loss. The Medford (bottom). James F. Kuntz Society disclaims responsibility for facts Photos by Natali e Brown and Matt Strieby President or opinions expressed in signed contribu­ Southern Oregon Historical Society tions. ........-------IABLE ROCK ___________ VOLUME 12, NUMBER 5 ENTINEL NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1992 p. 2 p. 18 FEATURES 2 Romancing the Rogue: Zane Grey's Fickle Love Affair with the Rogue River by Mary Korbulic Western writer Zane Grey, high on adventure and success, made regular excursions to southern Oregon in the 1920s to fish for steelhead. But the love affair didn't last long. 12 Christmas on the Northwest Frontier by Linda Eckhardt Holidays for the pioneers meant one thing: food. Their diaries reveal that even at the leanest table during the darkest hour, the message of Christmas shone through clearly-be it through a shared slab of bacon or a rare can of peaches. 18 The Good Earth by Paul Richardson Since its inception with the cultivation of wheat to feed hungry miners in the 1850s, commercial agriculture has played a prominent role in Jackson County's economy. Turn­ of-the-century photographs tell its story of hard luck, ingenuity, and worldwide fame. DEPARTMENTS Letter from the President (inside front cover) 21 Life in the Past Lane 22 Reflections on the Past 23 Then and Now 24 From the Collection 24 Table Rock Sentinel Index for 1992 Front cover: Zane Grey writing in front of hi s tent Back cover: Nineteenth-century Christmas postcard, addressed to while camped in southern Oregon. Photo courtesy Loren Grey Glen Simpson of Ashland. Southern Oregon Hi storical Society #14167 '- Zane Grey fishes a stretch of water above his camp on the North Umpqua River (left). Fall scene on the Rogue River, Grey's first love when it came to fishing in southern Oregon (below). Ph ow courtesy Lo ren Grey, color photo by Matt Strieby adventure and success, made regular excur­ and material for his writing. For a time, he sions to southern Oregon to fish for found all on the Rogue. steelhead. He wrote about the trips in lov­ ing detail, sometimes in his cabin at rey discovered the Rogue River Winkle Bar. By the end of the decade, through the serendipity that is the however, Grey spurned the Rogue like a G province of a world traveler. While fickle lover and soon turned his attention fishing off Florida in 1916, another ardent to a more pristine stream, the North fisherman told Grey about the wondrous Umpqua. Rogue River steelhead. Grey recounted in While it lasted Grey's fling with the Tales of Fresh-water Fishing, "He said he Rogue would make present-day tourism could not hold these steeihead-that when promoters quiver with joy. Although word they were hooked they began to leap After catching a about the Rogue already had leaked downstream through the rapids and had to steelhead on the through river guide and pioneer Glen be followed. The big ones all got away. Rogue River, Grey described the ex­ Wooldridge and some of his famous They smashed his tackle. Now this infor­ perience as "wholly clients, and via Joe Wharton (the sporting mation from a noted salmon angier was satisfying." goods store owner and later Grants Pass exceedingly interesting."5 Photo courtesy Loren Grey mayor who wrote magazine articles about the Rogue), no one commanded public attention like Zane Grey. Between 1910 and 1924, a Zane Grey book made the bestseller list every year but one, and at one time in the United States his works ranked only behind the Bible and McGuffey's readers in sales. 1 He was the people's author, read by the masses who gobbled up his eighty-nine novels and numerous stories and articles. Beginning in 1908 and continuing for the next half cen­ tury, with the exceptions of 1954 and 1962, Grey had one to four books published annually. His works have been translated into at least twenty languages and transformed into more than 130 films. 2 "I'm quite sure he was responsible for the popularity of the Rogue River," said Dr. Loren Grey, Zane Grey's youngest and only surviving child. 3 In addition to a novel, Rogue River Feud, Grey penned numerous stories about his Rogue River fishing experiences, including "Where Rolls the Rogue," "Rocky Riffle," "Winkle Bar, 1926," "Loren," "September 8, 1927 ," and "Down River." The latter was a blow-by­ blow account of his first harrowing boat trip down the Rogue in 1925 and provided the background for Rogue River Feud. Grey's trips on the Rogue and his later summer stays at his place on Winkle Bar, fifteen miles below Grave Creek, were not vacations from writing. On the contrary, Grey's life as an author was a vacation by most standards. Few writers in history knew greater wealth, 4 and Grey used his fortune to live out fantasies. He traveled almost constantly, moving around the globe in pursuit of world-class fishing, high adventure, pure outdoor experiences TABLE ROCK SENTINEL NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1992 5 Grey traveled to Oregon that same year to find the river "beautiful beyond com­ pare," but devoid of fish . He missed the steelhead run on a subsequent trip also; but in September 1922 flashing silver darted beneath the river's surface.