Early pioneers Jesse and
Lindsay Applegate opened the road to Southern Oregon in 1846. They came to Oregon
on the original Oregon Trail, created a scouting party and set out in June 1846,
blazing a trail through the Willamette Valley and continuing to just south of
Ashland. In August 1846, hundreds of pioneers came to Oregon on the new Applegate
Trail. By 1853, more than 3,500 pioneers took this route, which is followed today
by Interstate 5 and Highway 66.
Historical
Highlights
Water tower
at Hanley Farm
The
charming buildings and gardens of historic Hanley Farm, located in Central Point,
range in age from the 1850s to the 1950s. Operated by the Southern Oregon Historical
Society, visitors can experience the region's history through a variety of unique
and exciting hands-on programs and activities during the first Saturday and Sunday
of each month from June through September. Join in wagon and miniature horse cart
rides, or churn butter and bake bread. Enjoy blacksmithing and weaving demonstrations,
and learn pioneer games and Native American dances.
Jacksonville Cemetery
Jacksonville
Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 4,000 citizens in Southern Oregon's
Rogue Valley. Stroll this wooded hillside and step back to the 1850s. View grave
markers both ornate and humble, and placed across many well-organized sections
such as Roman Catholic and Jewish, African-American and Native American, Odd Fellows
and Masonic. Causes of death trace the violence and danger of 19th Century life
with notes about diphtheria, smallpox, "Indian wars," and even lead poisoning.
Of particular interest are the many examples of Victorian-era "funeral" symbolism,
such as a hand pointing toward the sky, or intricate examples of lodge or official
order insignia.
The Rogue River
"The
happiest lot of any angler would be to live somewhere along the banks of the Rogue
River, most beautiful stream in Oregon."
Zane Grey, from Tales of Fresh-water
Fishing
Author
Zane Grey wasn't the first to discover the abundance of Coho and Chinook salmon
and trout in the Rogue River. But it was his writings in the 1920s that exalted
the river's rugged beauty and bounty of its swift waters, drawing world attention
to the river and the region.
In the 1930s the Rogue saw famous actors of Hollywood's Golden Era - including
Clark Gable, Ginger Rogers, Zane Grey and Herbert Hoover - vacationing and dining
at historic lodges like the Weasku Inn or R Haus.
The film Rooster Cogburn, which starred John Wayne, was filmed in Hellgate Canyon.
Zane Grey found other favorite spots along the North Umpqua River, and from 1932-37
he haunted a particular world-famous fly fishing, salmon, steelhead and trout
area near the historic Mott Bridge.
Get
a