Murdered Man Surprises His Sister-In-Law

One hundred years ago, the following article appeared in the Grants Pass Daily Courier on September 11, 1911:

"A supposed murdered man walked into a Grants Pass home yesterday and surprised his sister-in-law while the man's brother was seeking the body in the woods of Klamath county.  The surprise happened when A.J. Thompson walked into the home of his brother Edgar L. Thompson.  Thompson was working in Klamath county and a report came that he had been killed by some unknown person."

 

Sixty-four years after surprising his family, Alfred J. Thompson was laid to rest in a Klamath county cemetery.

Mule Postman Loses Contract - Josephine County, Oregon

The following news story appeared in an out-of-state newspaper on September 5, 1947.

"Mule Postman Loses Contract In Remote Area

The lonely existence of the scattered families living in the remote fastness of Siskiyou national forest no longer will be relieved by periodic visits from the mule-driving postman.

The mule-pack postal route between the isolated towns of Illahe and Marial, near Grants Pass, has been terminated by the government because the carrier, who has a monopoly on mules, submitted too high a bid.

Residents of the remote mountain areas served by the mule routes do their shopping through the mail order catalogues and depend upon mule packs for everything--clothing, accordions, rifles, even food according to Fred H. Twohy, railroad mail district superintendent who has spent 10 years traveling the mountain regions to check on his mule postmen.

'One winter not even a horse could get through the heavy snows,' Twohy recalls.  'The residents were shut off from the world, and there was quite a squawk.'

Obliging postmen resorted to sleds to reach the isolated areas, Twohy adds, 'and the first thing people ordered by parcel post was several cases of beer.'

The Marial route was typical of the involved carrier setup required to get mail to secluded areas.  Mail went 34 miles up a river in a flat bottomed river boat from Wedder burn.  Then it was transferred to mule for an additional 16-mile trip.

It was 'kind of expensive,' Twohy admits, costing about $400 a person to keep the route open.  'The stamps don't begin to pay for it,' he adds.

'I have a hard time convincing them back in Washington that these routes are worth the expense,' Twohy says."

Jesse James Remains On Display

The following article appeared in the Morning Oregonian on April 30, 1888. 

"Singular and Unsuccessful Show -- A short time since a fellow turned up in Ashland, from no one knew where, calling himself Dr. Sealy, and opened an exhibition, the chief and only attraction of which was the alleged remains of the notorious desperado Jesse James.  The show did not prove a grand success, and the few who visited it were apparently unable to tell whether the exhibit was the real carcass of the defunct desperado or not.  Wax figure, or whatever it was, it looked like Jesse James, and it bore all the bullet holes which marked the genuine remains of the departed celebrity.  The doctor had a companion who was supposed by some to be Frank James, but who did not seem inclined to exhibit himself.  After doing Ashland the whatever-it-was was boxed up and taken to Grant's Pass, where its exhibition did not pay expenses, so it was again boxed up and sent by express to Roseburg, where at latest accounts it remained uncalled for, the proprietor not having been seen or heard of.  From present indications it seems likely that the next appearance of this Jesse James "what-is-it"  will be at an old-horse sale."

Frank and Jesse James - 1872

 I went in search of the missing Jesse James "what-is-it" in its' last known destination of Roseburg, but the only thing I learned is that there are sure a lot of people named Jesse James!

Black Hand Extortion Letter Received

The following article appeared in several out-of-state newspapers on December 9, 1909:

"Grants Pass, Ore, Dec. 9 --Eastern Black Hand methods have found their way into this quiet valley, if a letter received by Mrs. A. N. Parsons, wife of a local business man, is a genuine threat.

According to this letter, which is undated and unsigned, Mrs. Parsons has until 5 o'clock tomorrow evening to make up her mind whether to deposit $1,000 in a designated place or to have her husband killed, her ten year-old son kidnapped and mutilated, and her home burned.

Mrs. Parsons, who is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, as a result of worry that the letter has caused her, is directed to place $1,000 in $20 gold pieces in a certain spot in Granite Hill cemetery, before the time specified unless she wants all these terrible things to happen to her.

The letter has been turned over to the police and the entire force is now working on the case.  Three deputy sheriffs are kept on guard at the cemetery night and day in order to intercept any prowler who might come around looking for the money.

Parsons and his family came here from Omaha early this year.  Mr. Parsons says he has, so far as he knows, no enemies in Grants Pass or in Omaha."

The term "Black Hand" does not refer to a criminal organization, but is an extortion scheme.  It usually involved sending a letter to an intended victim, foreshadowing  murder, kidnapping, bodily harm or arson.  The letter would demand an explicit amount of money to be left at a precise location.  Often the letter would be decorated with a hangman's noose or smoking gun and signed with a black ink hand print.

This news story didn't say if the threatening letter contained any of these markings.

The conclusion to this story could possibly be found at the Josephine County Historical Society's research library.  Why not pay a visit to them, and see what you can dig up!

The JCHS research library is located at 512 SW Fifth Street, next-door to the historic Schmidt House.  The library is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Governor Releases Man Upon His Word As Security

The following article was published in an out of state newspaper on January 19, 1912.

"Honor bound to return to serve out his life sentence as soon as he had earned money to pay off a debt owed his father-in-law, William Mack is back in the penitentiary after an absence of six months.

Mack is serving a sentence for the slaying of George Carter at Grants Pass.  In order that he might have money enough to defend himself at the trial his father-in-law mortgaged his home.  Governor West learned that Mack's family was in destitute circumstances after his conviction.  Bidding the prisoner to go out and earn enough to pay off the mortgage and provide for his family.  West released Mack with the man's word of honor as security."

I wasn't able to find out what happened to William Mack or his family, or the family of the slain George Carter, but Governor Oswald West's actions are still felt in Oregon today.

 Oswald West was Oregon's 14th Governor; he served from January 11, 1911 until January 12, 1915.  He was responsible for establishing our beach highway law, which keeps the beaches undeveloped and allows motor vehicles to drive the beaches between low and high tides.  This law remains in effect today.  He is also considered responsible for establishing Oregon's highway system.

He worked hard to preserve our natural resources, and during his one term as governor, the Fish and Game commission and the Bureau of Forestry were created. 

Now that I know where Oswald West State Park got its name, I can stop looking for Oswald East State Park.