Historical and Current Use of the Middle and Upper Rogue River, Oregon: A Title Navigability Study by Isaac B. Daniel A RESEARCH PAPER submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Report prepared for the Oregon Department of State Lands Contract No. 11250-456 June 2006 Some photos deleted due to copyright restrictions Southern Oregon University Hannon Library, 2006 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the many people who helped me in the research process for this project. Many individuals were extremely helpful in sorting through archives, finding source materials, and adding information useful for this report. A special thanks goes to Carol Samuelson and the staff at the Southern Oregon Historical Society and Jeff LaLande at the Rogue River National Forest. I am also indebted to the many individuals from state and federal agencies who aided the recreation component of this research. Dr. Steve Beckham is also owed thanks for his consultation on Native canoe uses of the river, as is Jeanette Holman at the Department of State Lands for her wonderful encouragement. I also would like to thank my major advisor Geoff Huntington for his help and for keeping me on my toes and to committee member Bo Shelby. Finally, a sincere thank you to Jeff Kroft at the Department of State Lands, who was a wonderful mentor, teacher, and editor throughout this process. All of my wonderful friends in and around the university have been a wonderful influence on this project and my graduate school life. Thank you all for giving me the push I needed to complete this project and for the many good times spent around and away from the office. A special thanks to Rosa, Ryan, the pickers in our band ‘Still on a Hill’, and all the others who provided friendship and distraction. Lastly, thank you to my wonderful family. You have been a fantastic guiding force and have been wonderful at letting me discover my own path in life. I could not be where I am without your love and support. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1. INTRODUCTION, BACKGROUND AND METHODS………… 1 2. ROGUE RIVER GEOGRAPHY…………………………………. 4 3. TOPIC I: NATIVE CANOE USE………………………………… 9 4. TOPIC II: FERRIES, DAMS, AND FISHERIES……………….... 14 4.1. Ferries on the Rogue…………………………………… 15 4.2. Rogue River Dams…………………………………….. 19 4.3. Rogue Fisheries..……………………………………….. 23 5. TOPIC III: LOG DRIVING...……………………………………. 27 6. TOPIC IV: FLOATING THE ROGUE………………………….. 39 6.1. Government-sponsored Surveys………………………… 39 6.2. Floating Mining Equipment…………………………….. 41 7. TOPIC V: RECREATION……………………………………….. 44 7.1. Grave Creek to Grants Pass……………………………… 46 7.2. Grants Pass to Gold Ray Dam…………………………… 49 7.3. Gold Ray Dam to Lost Creek Dam……………………… 51 7.4. Recreation Summary……………………………………. 54 8. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS………………………………. 55 8.1. Summary………………………………………………… 59 9. END NOTES………………………………………………………. 61 10. BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………. 70 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Rogue River Overview Map……………………………………… 5 2. Rogue River Flow and Grade by Mile…………………………… 7 3. Southern Oregon Native Villages………………………………… 9 4. Alameda Mine Floating Bridge…………………………………... 15 5. Massie Ferry……………………………………………..……….. 16 6. Dodge Ferry on the Rogue River.………………………………… 17 7. Approximate Ferry Locations and Date of Construction…………. 18 8. Grants Pass Power Dam………………………………………….. 19 9. Ament Dam………………………………………………………. 20 10. Savage Rapids Dam Fish Ladder, 1921………………………….. 21 11. Approximate Rogue River Dam Locations……………………… 22 12. Fishermen Hauling Catch by Wagon…………………………… 24 13. Rogue River Fishermen………………………………………… 25 14. Approximate Location of Rogue River Commercial Fishery…… 26 15. Gold Ray Dam Timbers………………………………………… 31 16. Log Drivers on the Rogue………………………………………. 32 17. Log Drive in the Rogue River……………………………….…. 34 18. Logs Stored in Big Butte Creek………………………………… 37 19. Approximate Location of Log Drives on the Rogue River and Tributaries……………………………………………… 38 LIST OF FIGURES (CONTINUED) Figure Page 20. Floating Mining Equipment Map……………………………….. 43 21. Sailing on the Rogue……………………………………………. 44 22. Glen Wooldridge in Hellgate Canyon………………………….. 45 23. Hellgate Recreation Area Map…………………………………. 47 24. Drift Boat at Gold Hill Bridge, 1973…………………………… 50 25. Upper Rogue River Recreation Brochures……………………... 52 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Mileage Location Points on the Rogue River……………………. 8 2. Native River Vocabulary……………………..………………….. 11 3. Geographical Distribution of Historical River Uses……………… 57 Introduction, Background, & Methods Southern Oregon has a rich social and environmental history spanning centuries of inhabitance by Natives and Euro-Americans. It encapsulates the landscape of the Pacific Coast Native tribes, the changes in land tenure as Euro- American settlement arrived, the large-scale agricultural and industrial development of Oregon, and the contemporary economic changes to communities. The middle and upper Rogue River have been a central component to this history. This section of the river, being the broadest and most fertile valley in southern Oregon, provided a natural corridor for human mobility, settlement, and communication. The purpose of this report is to address the historical and current use of the middle and upper Rogue River, from Grave Creek, River Mile (RM) 68.5, to Lost Creek Dam, RM 157.5. In addition, this report provides insight into the navigability of Rogue for title purposes. Under the Equal Footing Doctrine of the Oregon Admissions Act, the beds of all navigable waterways in the state were transferred to the State of Oregon from the United States government at the time of statehood. The Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) has been given the duty of investigating Oregon’s waterways and preparing reports on their historic use and condition. The State Land Board (composed of the Governor, State Treasurer, and Secretary of State) makes a navigability decision based on DSL findings and conclusions. If the Board declares a river ‘navigable’, then it was indeed granted to the state and the bed and banks of the river (up to the ordinary high water mark) are in public ownership. The title navigability doctrine in Oregon has been of increasing attention in the last decade, with studies and decisions on the Sandy and John Day Rivers and requests 1 for studies on the North and South Santiam, Umpqua, Trask, and Kilchis Rivers. The test used to determine whether a waterway is navigable for title purposes has been well established. For a waterway to be navigable it must, at the time of statehood, 1. have been used or have been susceptible to use; 2. in its natural and ordinary condition; 3. for trade or travel; 4. by a mode of transportation customary at time of statehood; 5. as a highway of commerce.1 Thus, for Oregon’s rivers to be title navigable (and hence publicly owned), they must, at the time of statehood in 1859 have been used or susceptible to use in their ordinary natural condition, for trade or travel, by customary modes of transportation, as a highway of commerce. The state was petitioned by the Josephine County District Attorney in 1997 to undertake a title navigability study on the Rogue River from RM 68.5 to RM 157.5. DSL was directed by the Land Board to commence the study beginning in 2004. The goal of undertaking the navigability study is to resolve ownership issues along this stretch of river so that the rights and responsibilities of public and private landowners are legally clear. This report aims to assist DSL in addressing elements of the test for navigability. The report is not meant to make a navigability judgment. It is an exploratory evaluation of the historical and current use of the river. Broadly, this report coincides with the ‘trade or travel’ and ‘highway of commerce’ elements of the navigability test. State and federal courts have established a number of acceptable uses that may demonstrate trade or travel and/or highway of commerce elements. Some accepted uses include Native canoe use, recreation, log driving, ferries, and 2 fisheries. These elements, as well as the floating of mining equipment and the erection of water and power dams on the Rogue, will be explored in this report. This study was achieved through thorough searching of secondary and primary source materials. Materials were gathered from a broad range of locations in western and southern Oregon. These included: • Oregon State University library • Department of State Lands files (Corvallis, OR) (Salem, OR) • University of Oregon library & • Jackson and Josephine County special collections (Eugene, OR) clerks’ offices (Grants Pass & • Southern Oregon University Medford, OR) library & special collections • Josephine County Historical (Ashland, OR) Society (Grants Pass, OR) • Oregon State Library & archives • Rogue River National Forest (Salem, OR) archives (Medford, OR) • Southern Oregon Historical • Jackson County public library Society (Medford, OR) (Medford, OR) Large amounts of source materials were gathered for this report. Some source materials were located in DSL files, while many were found in the various locations presented above. Secondary source materials on the general history of the Rogue River valley, Indian wars, log driving, and recreation were consulted to explore source materials of interest. A preliminary navigability study completed in 1979 by James Farnell was reviewed for content and source materials.2 Utilizing his bibliography, over 50 sources were identified for re-researching. The bibliography was also used as a starting