110 Years With Josephine - by Jack Sutton

Thank you Gary Swanson for the following book review:

Josephine County history with photos!  I found "110 Years With Josephine" by Jack Sutton to be an enjoyable and informative journey through our county's rich history.

The photo tour from 1856 to 1966 provides a fun glimpse into our colorful and rich past.

This book plus many others are available at the Josephine County Historical Society.  Please come browse the great selection we have in our bookshop, or email us at josephine@historicalsociety.us.

Remember, members of JCHS receive a 10% discount on JCHS-printed publications.

The Stories This Old Tree Could Tell

  

I was at the Josephine County Historical Society's research library, and mentioned to Joan Momsen how much I liked my little almond tree.

 She told me about the almond tree that's on the corner of "A" and 9th Streets.  I just had to go take a look at it, after all, it is said to be about 109 years old!   Just imagine how many people have walked and driven by this tree over all those years.

This tree was here before the first locally owned automobile was purchased in 1904.  It was here when the Commercial Club organized in 1907.  It was here when the post office first began mail delivery in Grants Pass in 1909.  It was here when our first street was paved in 1910.  It was here before Ament Dam, and its' replacement, Savage Rapids Dam were built, and has outlived both of them.

I'd like to listen to the stories this tree could tell; oh, if only it could talk!

Thanks for the inspiration Joan!

 

Can You Define Yourself In Six Words?

Rumor has it that Ernest Hemingway was sitting with some other writers in the Algonquin Hotel in New York, and he bet them that he could write his autobiography in six words.  He came up with this witty sentence: "For Sale:  Baby shoes, never worn."

As a member of the JCHS, I was thinking about how would I describe the Society in six words, and this is what I came up with:

 Collecting, preserving, exhibiting, promoting, interpreting history.

 Take my challenge, define yourself in six words, and enter them in the comment section below.

Without knowing he was participating, Larry King summed up the late Elizabeth Taylor's life as "Everything you can do, she did."

Here are a few more examples I found clever.

"Lazy optimist dies happily of starvation."

"Fourteen years old, story still untold."

"I still make coffee for two."

"Wasn't born a blonde, fixed that."

Grants Pass the Golden Years - by Percy T. Booth

This book is a wonderful collection of photographs and stories about the history of Grants Pass, Oregon.

Richard Booth describes his father's book as follows:  "Percy Booth's book, Grants Pass The Golden Years, is remarkable in two ways; his clear recollection of childhood and adult years in Grants Pass plus, countless hours of research and interviews, and his determined effort to seek out and select a priceless collection of pioneer photographs that appear on the following pages."

The layout of this book makes it a sheer pleasure to read.  As you turn the pages, the left side of the page will contain a photograph made from the original reproduction, with a descriptive sentence below.  On the right side page is an in-depth explanation of the photo and related stories.

Whether you've lived you entire life in Southern Oregon, are new to the area, or are just "passing through," I promise you that you'll thoroughly enjoy this book.

This book plus many others are available at the Josephine County Historical Society.  Please come browse the great selection we have in our bookshop, or email us at josephine@historicalsociety.us.

Limpy Creek Botanical Interpretive Loop Trail

Trek Southern Oregon with the Grants Pass Recreation Department.

 

The second outing for Spring 2011 with the Grants Pass Recreation Office is the Limpy Creek Botanical Interpretive Loop Trail. 

The Limpy Creek Botanical Interpretive Loop Trail takes its name from the creek; which was named after Chief Limpy, who became well known during the Rogue Indian Wars.  His campsite was near to where Limpy Creek flows into the Rogue River.

 

The waterfall is the capstone of this easy, one mile hike.

This photo was taken by Donald Tedrow on February 16th of this year.  He has kindly allowed me to copy it.  Mr. Tedrow knew the man who designed this trail, and many others in our area.  His name was Larry Cosby, and he lived in Grants Pass.  He died in April of 2007 while working on the "Snail Back Trail" near the Illinois River.  This is the way Mr. Tedrow described Mr. Cosby to me:  "Larry was a gentle and kind man who cared deeply about his work and how it interacted with the public."

 

You can read more about the trails that Larry Cosby designed in this Mail Tribune article from February 11, 2011.  Waters Creek Trail offers access for all

Limpy Creek Botanical Interpretive Loop Trail  is in a rich and varied botanical area.  In addition to Doug fir, Madrone, Dogwood and giant mushrooms,

you may see Calypso Orchid,

Scarlet monkey-flower,

or the more common trillium, and

Oregon grape.

I haven't been on this trail yet, but after doing the research for this post, I will definitely add it to my own Spring 2011 hiking schedule. 

The Limpy Creek hike with the Grants Pass Recreation Department, will be taking place on Saturday, April 2nd, 2011.  If you are interesting in participating, you need to register at the Grants Pass Recreation Office.  They are located at the corner of 6th & "G" streets, or you can give them a call at 541 471-6435.

You must provide your own transportation and lunch.  The meeting point is the City Hall Parking Lot, on the corner of "A" & 5th streets; departing at 9:00 a.m.  They also recommend a $5.00 donation.

The remainder of their Spring 2011 itinerary will include:

"Lower" (or maybe "Upper") Table Rock Trail

Rough & Ready Creek Botanical Trail

The Town of Golden & Wolk Creek Inn

Cathedral Hills

Jacksonville Britt Gardens & Forest Trail

Bulletin Boards Go Virtual!

  

I find it impossible to walk past a bulletin board without stopping to read some of the posts, so I just read, with great interest, a blog post by Michael Strong about a virtual worldwide bulletin board called Pinterest.

I've just signed up for a free account on Pinterest, and I hope you will too after reading Michael's post.

Irish Spring - No, not the soap

This year Spring begins on March 20th at 4:21 p.m. PDT.  In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is considered the start of spring.

painting by Henry Charles Bryant

On this day livestock, which have been in shelter all winter, are moved out to pasture where they'll stay until the end of October. 

Painting by Vincent van Gogh

There is an Irish saying that "St. Patrick turns the warm side of the stone uppermost."  Irish farmers use this as their instruction to plant potatoes on St. Patrick's Day.

Locally, the buds on ornamental and fruit trees are popping, so I'll use this as my indication to get to work in my garden!

The Legend of Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is probably one of the most widely recognized saints by people of all religious beliefs.

I had always supposed that he must have been Irish, but I found that he was not.

There are many stories about Saint Patrick, although very few actual facts are known.  He is thought to have lived in the Fourth and Fifth Centuries.

Two genuine letters he wrote are in existence.  From those we know he was from Britain, and that when he was about 16, Irish raiders captured him and took him to Ireland as a slave.  He escaped after six years and returned home.

While back in Britain, he became an ordained bishop and returned to Ireland.  While there, he established churches with adjacent schools.  

Saint Patrick's Day is always observed on March 17, the date of Patrick's death.

It is a myth that he rid Ireland of snakes and rodents, but the legend still endures in verses like this:

There's not a mile in Ireland's isle where the dirty vermin musters;

Where'er he put his dear forefoot he murdered them in clusters.

The toads went hop, the frogs went flog, slap dash into the water. 

And the beasts committed suicide to save themselves from slaughter.

and this one:

  The Wicklow Hills are very high, and so's the Hill of Houth, sir; 

But there's a hill much higher still--ay, higher than them both sir; 

'Twas on the top of this hill Sir Patrick preached the sarmint

That drove the frogs into the bogs and bothered all the varmint.

 Mos of us like to consider ourselves "Irish for a day" on Saint Patrick's Day, so I just had to find out if I had any Irish ancestors.

I had to go back to the 17th Century to find my Irish roots.  My 10th great grandfather, Ellis Fitzgerald Barron was born to Irish parents in Waterford, Ireland in 1607.  He emigrated to the United States somewhere in the 1630's or 1640's, and died October 30, 1676 in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

SPRING!

Geese and their goslings on the Illinois River

It's not yet official, but Spring is near!

The following is the first verse from an aptly named poem by the poet and painter, William Blake.

Spring

Sound the flute!
Now 'tis mute!
Birds delight,
Day and night,
Nightingale,
In the dale,
Lark in sky, -
Merrily,
Merrily, merrily to welcome in the year.

1757 - 1827

 

Top 10 Reasons to Join the Josephine County Historical Society

 

These are my top 10 reasons to join the Josephine County Historical Society.

#10

It's affordable!  $15 for an individual, $25 for a family, $55 for a business, and $100 for a sustaining membership.

#9

Free access to the JCHS Research Library.  It is just overflowing with spellbinding and curious documents!

#8

 10% discount on books and publications printed by the Josephine County Historical Society.

#7

Learn more about the hardy pioneers and fascinating people who settled Josephine County.

#6

Be able to view the many, many photographs of how Grants Pass and the rest of Josephine County looked in the past.

#5

Meet some interesting people, and make new friends.

#4

Subscription to the quarterly newsletter, "The Old-Timer."

#3

Become famous (although not rich) by joining the Living History Players.

#2

Actively participate in JCHS activities by volunteering to help with our fun-filled and informative events.

and the #1 reason

to join the Josephine County Historical Society:

To help us in our mission to collect, preserve, exhibit, promote and interpret local Josephine County history!

 Please come join us and add another 100 reasons to become a member of the Josephine County Historical Society.

Our Membership Form 

 

Ulysses Simpson Grant - Was That Really His Name?

Many of us know that Grants Pass got its' name in 1865 (Grant's Pass) in admiration of General U.S. Grant's victory at Vicksburg in 1863.  But, did you know he was not born "Ulysses S. Grant?"

Our 18th President, Ulysses S. Grant was born the year that Greece declared its' independence from Turkey.  Many Americans were reading books about the history of Greece, and Grant's grandmother Simpson was no exception.  It was she who chose the name Ulysses, after the Greek hero, for her grandson.

U.S. Grant was christened as Hiram Ulysses Grant.  When preparing to leave for West Point, he had his initials monogrammed on his trunk.  It was then he realized that his initials spelled "H.U.G."  He immediately reversed his names to U.H. Grant.

I wonder how much confidence a General with the initials "H.U.G." would have inspired.

At the same time, Congressman Thomas L. Hamer, who secured Grant's appointment to West Point, could not recall his middle name.  He supposed it was Simpson, knowing that was his mother's maiden name,  and sent in his name as Ulysses Simpson Grant.

Having been working on tracing my own family tree, I can easily see how Congressman Hamer could have made this mistake.  One genealogy tip for finding out a lady's maiden name is to look at the first and middle names of her children, since oftentimes one of them will be given her family name.

Trek Southern Oregon - Spring 2011

Did you know that the Grants Pass Recreation Department hosts hiking outings?

 

They've just released their Spring 2011 schedule.

If you're interested in day hiking, staying in shape, searching for history, or enjoying Southern Oregon's magnificent landscapes, you should add these very appealing outings to your schedule.

 The first expedition will be to the Stout Redwood Grove in the Redwood Forest and Whale Watching at Harris Beach State Park, just north of Brookings.   It will be taking place on Saturday, March 19, 2011.

If you are interesting in participating, you need to register at the Grants Pass Recreation Office by March 14th.  They are located at the corner of 6th & "G" streets, or you can give them a call at 541 471-6435.

You must provide your own transportation and lunch.  The meeting point is the City Hall Parking Lot, on the corner of "A" & 5th streets; departing at 8:00 a.m.  They cost for all outings is a recommended $5.00 donation.

Their rest of their Spring itinerary will include:

Limpy Creek Botanical Interpretive Loop Trail

"Lower" (or maybe "Upper") Table Rock Trail

Rough & Ready Creek Botanical Trail

The Town of Golden & Wolk Creek Inn

Cathedral Hills

Jacksonville Britt Gardens & Forest Trail