Rogue River Ranch

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Rogue River Ranch

The Rogue River Ranch is a pioneering farm complex in Curry County in southwest Oregon in the United States . The ranch is located on the north bank of the Rogue River in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest . The original buildings were built by George Billings. The property was later sold to Stanley Anderson, who expanded the ranch and built additional buildings. The Bureau of Land Management bought the ranch in 1970. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places .

history

Archaeological finds show that the Indians of North America inhabited the area around the Rogue River Ranch for more than 9,000 years. Initially, people who spoke Takelma settled in the valley of the Rogue River ; later, Athabaskan- speaking people came to the area. While their languages ​​were different, both groups shared a common way of life based on fishing, hunting and gathering. For thousands of years, the site where the Rogue River Ranch is now was only a seasonal warehouse, eventually creating a permanently inhabited village. The life of the Indians along the Rogue River came to an end when the indigenous people were sent to reservations in northern Oregon in 1856.

Front view of the main house of the Rogue River Ranch

In 1887 Tom Billings made his claims to a piece of land on the north bank of the Rogue River at the mouth of the Mule Creek under the Homestead Act . The following year Tom transferred his claim to his older brother George. The first child of him and his wife Anna, a daughter named Marial, was born in 1894. The settlement on Mule Creek Marial was named after the child's name.

George Billings built a large two-story building in 1903 and founded the Billings Trading Company in Marial . He also ran a guesthouse for travelers and miners. Over time, the trading post became the center of economic and social life for the residents of Marial, who eventually numbered around 100. Billings sold his property called Douglas Bar west of Mule Creek in 1907 to the Red River Mining and Milling Company . The following year he built a barn on what was left of his property , which was later called a tabernacle . Billings made it possible to hold dances and church services in this building. The Red River Mining Company closed in 1912 and Billings repurchased the land west of the creek. He sold it to Stanley Anderson in 1931 for $ 5,000 .

Wrought

The Andersons later bought 130  acres on the opposite bank from the ranch. They extended the main house and built a dwelling house for the manager, a sleeping barrack, the blacksmith's shop , horse armory, wood and storage sheds and a chicken pen. The Andersons demolished most of the old mining facilities on Douglas Bar . The post office opened in 1903 was closed in 1954. Stanley Anderson painted the main house in red in 1956, which is still there today. The Anderson family sold the 200-acre ranch to the United States Federal Government , which gave the Bureau of Land Management responsibility for managing the property as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers program .

The Bureau of Land Management converted the main house into a museum that documents Native American history, the history of local mining , settlement by the Billings family, and the development of the ranch under the Anderson family. The museum is open from May to October.

Because the Rogue River Ranch played an important role in the economic and social development of the area, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 29th. The area of ​​the historic ranch is around 700 acres. There are four contributing and six non-contributing structures on the site .

building

Site map of the historic Rogue River Ranch

Four ranch buildings are open to the public, the armory, the blacksmith's workshop, the tabernacle and a museum in the main building. The caretaker's house, a large yard and several smaller farm buildings are not open to the public.

The main house was built in 1903 and sits on a gentle slope overlooking Mule Creek. The building is a two-story house built in timber frame construction. The construction timber for the construction was hand-sawn from Ponderosa pine at the construction site. The side panels were planed down with tools to a thickness of less than an inch. The window glasses were brought overland from Portland , but the window frames were made on the ranch. The main house does not have an open fireplace, but is heated by a wood-burning stove in the living room.

The so-called tabernacle

The other ranch buildings are also wooden post structures with boarding through overlapping boards. The Bureau of Land Management renovated the armory in 2008. During the reconstruction, rotten frame elements were replaced, which endangered the entire structure.

location

Ranch armory

The Rogue River Ranch National Historic Site is located in the Canon des Rogue River in southern Oregon. The ranch at the mouth of Mule Creek on the north bank of the river is around 127  meters above sea level . The property is isolated and surrounded by the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. The ranch is a significant stop on the whitewater section of the Rogue River, which is designated a National Wild and Scenic River.

The Rogue River Ranch is 67 km south of Glendale ; 24 miles southeast of 24 Powers and 23 miles northeast of Agness, Oregon . The drive from each of these locations takes at least two hours. The nearest city is Grants Pass , around 120 km away. The ranch can also be reached from the Grave Creek Bridge, which is about eight miles north of Galice, by boat on the Rogue River or by hiking the path through its canyon. The route along the river has a length of around 35 km and is completed by boaters in two days, hikers usually take three days. The Bureau of Land Management maintains a campsite at the mouth of the Mule Creek.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Oregon State Office, Bureau of Land Management: Rogue River Ranch. United States Department of Interior, accessed March 21, 2009 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Medford District Office, Bureau of Land Management: Rogue River Ranch National Historic Site. (PDF; 4.9 MB) United States Department of Interior, August 2004, accessed on March 21, 2009 .
  3. ^ A b Lewis A. McArthur, Lewis L. McArthur: Oregon Geographic Names . 7th edition. Oregon Historical Society Press, Portland, Oregon 2003.
  4. ↑ Rogue River Ranch ( English ) In: National Register of Historic Places . www.nationalregisterofhistoricalplaces.com. Retrieved March 21, 2009.
  5. ↑ Rogue River Ranch ( English ) In: Historical Places Database . www.hpdb.org. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 21, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hpdb.org
  6. ↑ Medford District, Bureau of Land Management: Rogue River Ranch Tackhouse Reconstruction, contract solicitation HAQ082042. United States Department of Interior, accessed March 21, 2009 .
  7. ↑ Historic Sites - Rogue River Ranch ( English ) Oregon State Office, Bureau of Land Management, United States Department of Interior. Retrieved March 21, 2009.

Web links

Coordinates: 42 ° 43 '7.1 "  N , 123 ° 52' 53.5"  W.