Rogue River Valley, Oregon - Southern Oregon is divided into three main river basins; the Umpqua River, the Rogue River, and the Klamath Basin. The Umpqua meets the Pacific at Reedsport, the Rogue mouth is near Gold Beach, and the Klamath empties at the Redwoods National Park in Northern California. All three rivers have their headwaters in the Cascade Mountains on the slopes of Crater Lake, Oregon's only national park. The Rogue River is a designated National Scenic River, and formed much of the backdrop for the Meryl Streep movie "The River Wild." Jet boat trips and white water rafting are very popular.

Rogue River Valley

Rogue River Valley, Oregon - A beautiful place to visit, a wonderful place to live. Come and find a place to call your own. Southern Oregon is a great place to own a home and grow your family.

Rogue River Valley
Search Travel Guides
Oregon Maps
Oregon History
Pioneer Days
Pioneer Days II
Pioneer Days III
Pioneer Days II
Pioneer Days III
Oregon Cavemen
Touchdown Willie
Ox and Log Wagon
Dry Diggings
July Surprise
Gold Discovery
Decline of Mining
Mercury Mining
More Oregon History

Rogue River Valley - Oregon Travel Guide

Articles from the Historical Society in Josephine County Oregon

Pioneer Days for Southern Oregon
2/3

THE WINTER OF 1853

The Balmy days in Oregon were not void of hardships. In fact, it was far from it. During the winter of 1853 a continuous snow fell over Southern Oregon. For four weeks the frozen fleece fell, and at the end of this time there came a freeze, and the whole region lay buried beneath an icy mantle for two long months. All travel was impeded. Trails were blocked and packers and trains locked in an ice-bound grip. Supplies from Scottsburg, the Willamette Valley and Yreka were snowbound all along the trails. The grub kits of the many miners on the creeks and gulches and in the camps got low.

Those indeed were cold and hungry days for the pioneer seeker for treasure in the Oregon Eldorado. Gold there was in plenty, but it could not buy that which could not be had. Flour sold for $75 a sack, and finally gave out at this price; beans, the miner's never-failing friends, could not be had at $25 a pound; and salt was exchanged for its weight in gold.

But by and by the warm sun of springtime peeped through the clouds, and gladly was hailed the day when the last splotches of white disappeared. Many miners had died of starvation and exposure, while scattered everywhere over the valleys of the Rogue and the Illinois were the carcasses of hundreds of horses and mules.

INDIAN TROUBLES

Following closely upon the hardships of that bleak winter came the outbreaks of the Indians. Angered by the invasion of the whites on their sacred territory, and driven farther and farther back from their accustomed haunts, the Indians at last burst into open revolt, and from 1853 to the summer of 1856, there were continuous skirmishes between the Indian and the whites. It would require a volume to enumerate the hundreds of skirmishes that were waged between the whites and the Indian during the war of 1853-54, and of 1855-56. During these wars there were scores of whites as well as Indians that were dispatched to the great beyond. Continued - Part 3

See the pictures:

Early Placer Gold Mining In Josephine Co.
A very Popular Rocker

Rogue River Valley, Oregon - The Siskiyou Mountains stretch between the Cascade Mountains and the Coast Range at the California border. The entire area is more vertical than most other parts of the state, which leads to numerous waterfalls, lots of whitewater rapids, and some spectacular scenery. Rogue River Valley is outside the main population centers of the state and the area has a very rural flavor. Major industries are tourism, wood products and agriculture. The climate is generally milder and more Mediterranean than North Western Oregon. Average rainfallis about 20 % lower and the temperatures are a bit higher.