Our New Online Bookshop and Much More!

The Josephine County Historical Society is happy to announce our new Online Bookshop and much more!

Over the past several months we have been hard at work creating a new and user-friendly website.  If you haven't had a chance to look at it yet, just click here, and you'll find yourself there.

You can now purchase books that we publish ourselves, as well as the many other publications we offer for sale at our Online Bookshop.  You can pay for the books and other items we offer for sell through Paypal.  You don't even have to have a Paypal account; you can also pay with a debit or credit card without setting up a Paypal account.

Of course, you are welcome to come in and purchase these books at our Bookshop, located in our Research Library at: 512 SW 5th Street in Grants Pass, Oregon.  Our hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

If you don't see a book that you are interested in on our Online Bookshop, just give us a call at (541) 479-7827 or send us an email at josephine@historicalsociety.us.

In addition to purchasing books online, you can also sign up for membership or renew your membership.  We also gratefully accept your contributions online on our Donations page.

While you're visiting our new website, look at our Calendar of Events; download or print a PDF version of our quarterly newsletter, The Old-Timer; check out our Links page, where you'll find Community Links, History and Museum Links, Travel Links, a Cemetery/Grave Locator form, a link to our Blog, and links to Josephine County Hikes.

Our new website also has information and photos on our Living History Players, 

Historic "G" Street, 

a tour of historic homes in North Grants Pass, 

information about the Schmidt House Museum, and more!

So what are you waiting for give our new website a try!

Murder, Mayhem and Mischief in Josephine County - Book Review

Jean Boling's Murder, Mayhem and Mischief in Josephine County is a kaleidoscopic and entertaining collection of newspaper stories published prior to 1932 by the Grants Pass Daily Courier.

The title of this book is absolutely perfect!  When passing by an auto accident or person of questionable character, did your parents ever say; "Look the other way!"

Well, my mother always did; so I found this book a fascinating way of looking vicariously at very real tragedies, accidents, serious crimes, vicious murders, kidnappings, robberies and other transgressions.

 Murder, Mayhem and Mischief is a great way to escape the doldrums of television and take a look at some of Josephine County's more colorful past.

Ms. Boling must have spent countless hours in the Daily Courier's newspaper morgue to come up with this written collage of stories.  If you haven't had a chance to read Murder, Mayhem and Mischief yet, I highly recommend it.

Murder, Mayhem and Mischief in Josephine County can be purchased at the Josephine Historical Society's Bookshop located in the Research Library at 512 K Street, Grants Pass; or at their Online Bookshop.

2011 Graveyard Tour! - Grants Pass, Oregon

The Josephine County Historical Society is pleased to announce our 2011 Graveyard Tour!

Come join us for a step back in time as our Living History Players make "pioneer spirits come alive!"

Our Graveyard Tour takes place at the Oddfellows/Masonic Cemetery in Grants Pass on Saturday, October 22nd at 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM.

Advance tickets are $5.00 each and can be purchased at the JCHS Research Library, located at 515 SW 5th Street, Tuesday through Friday from 10 AM to 4 PM.

Tickets may also be purchased at the gate for $6.00. 

Mark your calendars and come join us for this fun, family event!

Click here to visit our website for more information,

or

download the Graveyard Tour flyer. 

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.

A Good Book

Some great quotes about books:

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers."

 

Charles William Eliot - 21st President of Harvard University

"My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter."

Thomas Helm

"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."

Mark Twain

"You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend."

Paul Sweeney 

"Good books are to the young what the warming sun and refreshing rain of spring are to the seeds which have lain dormant in the frosts of winter."

Horace Mann

 

"It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it."

Oscar Wilde

"The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television."

  Andrew Ross



And, on a lighter note:

"Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it."

P.J. O'Rourke

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.  Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."

Groucho Marx

 

"There's nothing to match curling up with a good book when there's a repair job to be done around the house."

Joe Ryan

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."

Herbert Hoover Pays Us A Visit

On August 31, 1926, it was reported that Herbert Hoover (then Secretary of Commerce) was fishing on the Rogue River.

Before entering the political arena, Herbert Hoover, our 31st President,  was a mining engineer and geologist.  In 1899 he was employed by a London-based mining company.  He worked at several different gold mines in Australia before going to China, where he served as the leading engineer.  

 In 1901 he was made a partner at Bewick, Moreing & Co.  After observing mining operations in New South Wales, he discovered a way to effectively to use the froth flotation process to recover zinc from tailings. 

With this type of background, it makes one wonder if he didn't also do a little gold prospecting while enjoying our magnificent Rogue River!