Object of the Week

Talk about conspicuous consumption! With feet allowing this dinner bell to rest on the table, those using it wouldn't even have to lift it. Simply and daintily tap the rod, and the bell would chime, summoning servants to the table. Representing Victorian excessiveness and a desire to display wealth, this dinner bell is one of many objects created for a single and specific use. Etched with the initials "M. L. R.", its original owner was Mary Louis Ross, rumored to be the first white girl born in Jacksonville.

Dinner bell, c. 1880
Silver-plated
Manufactured by Reed and Barton of Taunton, MA
Donated by Harold Heldreth
1983.56.4

Lake Creek Community Forum, September 20th, 5:30pm

SOHS invites you to participate in a Community Forum during the Community Potluck at the Lake Creek Historical Society on Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 5:30 p.m.

What do you feel are the most pressing and preoccupying changes that Lake Creek faces today? How far back into the community's roots do these issues reach? Join your neighbors and SOHS for a public forum and workshop to explore these changes. The results of this discussion will form the basis of a community exhibit designed by and for the people of Lake Creek! History: Made by You is a program developed by SOHS designed to involve the community in traveling exhibits. Come be part of the fun while sharing your insights and exchanging ideas. Don't forget to bring a dish!

This stimulating workshop will begin with an engaging discussion of current concerns to identify relevant exhibit topics. Experienced exhibit planner, Alice Parman, will lead the group through the process of discovering the history behind the issues and identifying community resources that can help develop a meaningful exhibit.

While this forum will focus on topics relating to Lake Creek, everyone is welcome to attend!

When: Tuesday, September 20, 2011, 5:30 p.m.

Where: Lake Creek Historical Society at 1739 S. Fork Little Butte Creek Road, Eagle Point, OR 97524

This program was made possible in part by a grant from Oregon Humanities (OH), a statewide nonprofit organization and an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds OH's grant program.

For more information, please contact Amy Drake at amy@sohs.org or (541) 858-1724.

Object of the Week!

We're starting a new feature on our blog! Each week we'll feature an object from our collection and a short description. Let us know what you think!

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This miniature kayak, with its narrow, wooden frame, must have been designed to glide gracefully and quickly through the water. But unlike the traditional double-bladed kayak paddle, this orange oar only has one blade! One of the defining features between a kayak and a canoe is the number of blades on the oar, so why do you think this model would have a paddle with only one blade?

Miniature Kayak

Model

Skin and wood

Donated by Judge and Mrs. Herbert Hanna

1959.14.44.6

Weddings from the Archives - July Newsletter

http//www.sohs.orgThe theme for July's newsletter was historical weddings. Wedding pictures and certificates were made available from the Research Library. The library has 2,897 original marriage certificates. Some are simple handwritten notes while others are very fancy documents written in beautiful script.

One of the weddings featured was that of L. O. Walker and his lovely bride, Millie Pearl Hodges. They were married in Jacksonville, Oregon December 14, 1916. A couple of pages of Millie's diary (called a Daylogue) were copied and transcribed by the membership director, Joanna Loops.

It read as follows:
"Dec. 14-Married to-day at 12 o'clock to L.O. Walker at Jacksonville by Rev. Roft Hutchison, Methodist Minister. Papa took us all to Med and we stopped on our way home at Eva's also. [sic] studio had pictures taken. L.O. and I over to Davidson's this eve-still packing. Letters from Aunt Minnie & Metta.
Letters to Metta, Nora, also a piece of cake to Nora. We got home at 2pm.
Letter to Aunt Minnie.
Wore my blue suit-a bunch of violets. Hattie made the cake. We had dinner about two. Just mama, the girls, and Ralph to the wedding."
Millie had inserted a violet from her wedding bouquet between the pages ... that's a very dry pressed flower. . .
You can view the entire newsletter on our website: www.sohs.org

Wine, Cheese and Dirt - An Archaelogical Presentation

This past Saturday, 75 people enjoyed a fascinating evening of archaelogical research relating to the pivotal moments in the Rogue Indian Wars at Hanley Farm in Central Point, Oregon.
Dr. Paul Baxter and Dr. Brian O'Neill discussed The Harris Cabin Massacre:
the spark that ignited the Rogue Indian Wars and Dr. Mark Tveskov presented a program on The Search for the Battle of Hungry Hill. Archaelogical research is still underway trying to determine the exact location of these two events.
Catering was provided by Mustard Seed Cafe - yummy hors d'oeuvres. Wine was provided by Roxy Ann Winery and Caprice Vineyards - also yummy... I was told ...

Army Builds Wagon Road from Jacksonville to Fort Klamath

by Alice Mullaly

Excitement was high on June 15, 1863, at the Jackson County Courthouse in Jacksonville, Ore. Farmers and business owners from all over Southern Oregon gathered that day to form a new company to build a wagon road across the Cascade Mountains to Central Oregon. Mining was declining in Southern Oregon and new markets were badly needed. The John Day gold fields were just getting started and would provide that market. The meeting was a great success with $800 raised and D. D. Munger [MUNG-gur] hired to manage the location and construction of the road.

But the U.S. Army built the wagon road instead, because Fort Klamath needed supplies from the Rogue Valley. Capt. Sprague and 20 men of Company 1, First Oregon Volunteers, spent the next three years surveying and building a military road across the Cascades a few miles south of Crater Lake that joined the road to Jacksonville.

Renewed prosperity came to Southern Oregon when the military road was finished in 1866. Heavy freight wagons, along with miners, and herds of cattle, sheep and pigs, used the road from Jacksonville to Central Oregon.

Later, better roads replaced the military road, which was abandoned.

Originally written January 26, 2009, for the JPR program, As It Was.

Sources:
Oregon Intelligencer, June 20, 1863; “Discovery and Exploration of Crater Lake: 1853-1885”, Crater Lake National Park Administrative History, http://www.nps.gov/archive/crla/adhi/adhi1a.htm

1906, Three Men Die in Gold Mine Explosion Near Jacksonville

By Dennis M. Powers

A newspaper story in January 1906 called a deadly explosion at the Opp Mine near Jacksonville, Ore., “one of the most serious accidents in the history of Southern Oregon mining.”

Located on Reservoir Road close to Highway 238 and the town of Jacksonville, the Opp Mine ran deep with 12 ledges of golden veins. A nearby 20-stamp mill crushed the ore. Three men lost their lives in the explosion between 5 and 6 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon. The nightshift came on duty and discovered the bodies.

The three miners were working inside a tunnel with a machine drill and had driven 18 holes into the hard rock. One was already loaded with powder. The procedure was to “shoot” all of the holes before leaving a shift, so they had brought in a giant box of powder to load the other holes, setting it down a distance away. It’s not known what caused it, perhaps roof rock crashing down on a dynamite stick, but the powder box exploded.

A coroner’s jury later held that the deaths were accidental and a continued risk in the gold mines.

Written for JPR's series, As It Was.

Sources: “Fatal Explosion at Opp Mine,” January, 1906, Gold Hill News; records and files of the Gold Hill Historical Society. Online: “Jacksonville.” InfoMine Inc.,
http://technology.infomine.com/articles/1/1379/history.mining.oregon/jacksonville.oregon.aspx; “The Opp Mine: Historical Gold Mine.” Loopnet. http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/15834229/685-Jacksonville-Reservior-Road-Jacksonville-OR/