One For Sorrow (nursery rhyme)

"One for sorrow

Two for joy

Three for a girl

Four for a boy

Five for silver

Six for gold

Seven for a secret, never to be told

Eight for a wish

Nine for a kiss

Ten for a bird you must not miss"  

The above is a traditional English nursery rhyme about magpies.  There are many variations of lyrics, but these I have quoted are the most modern version.

One of the earliest versions, published in about 1840, is:

"One for sorrow,

Two for luck; (or mirth)

Three for a wedding,

Four for death; (or birth)

Five for silver,

Six for gold;

Seven for a secret,

Not to be told;

Eight for heaven,

Nine for [hell]

And ten for the d[evi]l's own sell!"

  

According to superstition, the number of magpies you see determines what kind of luck you will have.   

In the United States, where magpies aren't as common as they are in Britain, crows, bluebirds and jackdaws are sometimes associated with the rhyme.  

In the 1989 film "Signs of Life," the rhyme was used for counting crows.

The band Counting Crows took their name from the "Signs of Life" version, and they use the rhyme in their song "A Murder of One."

We have a family of five crows that spend hours in our backyard every day of the year; I wonder if it is a portent, or if they just like the birdseed I provide?

Library Offer Declined by Grants Pass City Council

In view of the economic problems that the Josephine Community Libraries is currently experiencing in regards to keeping the local libraries open, I found this a very interesting article.  It was published November 14, 1903 in an out of state newspaper.

"DECLINED WITH THANKS

Grant's Pass, Ore., Nov. 13. --- After five months of debate and consideration the council of Grant's Pass has decided to decline the offer of $10,000, made by Andrew Carnegie for a library for the city.  The city council did not approve of certain stipulations attached to the offer of the steel king."

 I haven't been able to discover exactly why the city council turned this offer down, but some of the requirements to receive a Carnegie grant were:

• demonstrate the need for a public library;
• provide the building site;
• annually provide ten percent of the cost of the library's construction to support its operation; and,
• provide free service to all.

1,687 Carnegie libraries were built in the United States between 1888 and 1923.  When the final Carnegie grant was made, nearly half of the 3,500 libraries in the United States were built with Carnegie construction grants.

Image courtesy of Lee Paxton.

 This is a photo of the Carnegie Free Library in Braddock, PA.  It was built in 1888, and was the first Carnegie Library in the United States.

Before there were Carnegie libraries, you could not browse among the stacks of books; you had to ask a librarian to retrieve a book for you!

The Josephine Community Library system is a nonprofit organization.  They do not have any no local or federal tax funding!  Like the Josephine County Historical Society, they rely completely on contributions and volunteers.


As a kid, I spent countless hours at my public library, and I hope that the children (and adults) of Josephine County will always have access to a library!  For more information, please visit the Josephine Community Libraries website.

Karuk Tribe Members Enroll in Redwood Highway Marathon

 The following is an Associated Press release dated June 2, 1927:

"Grants Pass, Ore., --Eight runners of the Karuk tribe of the lower Klamath region are in training here for the longest marathon on record to be run over the Redwood highway from San Francisco to Grants Pass, starting June 14th. 

The runners are under direction of two trainers and are working out daily over paved highways near this city to get used to the type of road to be encountered on their long jaunt.  Camp has been established in the city park.  Tribal names of the runners are Flying Cloud, Mad Bull, Fighting Stag, Rushing Water, Thunder Cloud, Big White Deer, Sweek (Eagle) and Falcon.

The eight will run under the colors of the Oregon cavemen."

The news story fails to mention that this grueling marathon was 480 miles long!  The "Redwood Marathons" were run in 1927 and 1928 to advertise the opening of the Redwood Highway.

The eight Karuk Tribe members were from counties along the Redwood Highway and there were also three Zuni Tribe members from Gallup, New Mexico.

Photo courtesy of  Bob Lee and the Redwood Empire Association.

Johnny Southard (Mad Bull) won the 1927 Redwood Marathon when he crossed the finish line in Grants Pass after seven days, 12 hours and 34 minutes.  The grand prize was $1,000 in gold.  One of the runners from New Mexico was reportedly in his late 50's.  In 1928 there were 29 men who entered the race; Henry Thomas (Flying Cloud) was the winner, and he took home the prize of $5,000.

You can read a full account of these marathons in the book "Golden Memories of the Redwood Empire" at Google books: Redwood Marathons

A Day In A Life Along The Applegate Trail

"Wednesday 29th: Today we only passed over the mountain and camped in the valley below - distance only about 4 1/2 miles. `This night we were sadly visited by savages. They approached and finding they could get no cattle vented their spite at a young lady who had been baking and was then by the fire. They shot 3 arrows at her. Two of them hit her. One passed through the calf of her leg and the other through her arm into her side; we fear she is mortally wounded but hope for the best. Her name is Ann Davis. Four arrows more were found that had been shot at a man on guard. These prowling Indians are as hard to find as the deer." 

This is an excerpt from the diary of Lester Hulin.  He was the pilot for the Oskaloosa Company (Wagon Train), and reached Oregon by using the Applegate Trail in 1847.

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.

Tea to be Grown in Southern Oregon!

This newspaper story was published April 26, 1902.

"Officials of the Southern Pacific company have become convinced that tea can be raised profitably in southern Oregon and today General Freight and Passenger Agent Miller sent a number of tea plants to Grant's Pass, Medford, Ashland and Jacksonville, where the industry will be given a thorough test."

This test of growing tea in Southern Oregon does not seem to have been very fruitful.  Today, small quantities of tea are grown commercially in Oregon, and there are many backyard gardeners that grow their own tea.

Trying to find the results of the exploration of growing tea in Southern Oregon led me to a type of tea made from pine trees, and we have plenty of those!  This particular tea is called "tallstrunt" in Sweden, and is made by steeping young, green pine needles in boiling water.  It is said to be high in vitamins A and C.


If you're interested in making "tallstrunt" tea, click on "Hesson Haus..." below for detailed instructions. 

Hesson Haus: Tallstrunt Tea: "I was in the kitchen makin' some pigs in a blanket for Brandon's 'poker night' [what a wife, eh?] when Lucas asked me if I'd ever had pine s..."

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.