Sunny Valley, Oregon - Placer, Oregon - LeLand, Oregon
Western Stories - Stories of the Old West by Western Author Kerby Jackson. True and Fictional stories about Wild West gunfighters, Oregon Trail pioneers, famous gunfights, outlaws, indian wars and old west history.
Back to Kerby Jackson Western Fiction Author's Home PageBiography of Kerby Jackson Western Author including links to western stories, western novels, western reviews, western articles and other things old westWestern Stories or Western Fiction by Western Author Kerby JacksonWestern Books by western author Kerby Jackson. Westerns by Kerby JacksonContact Western Author Kerby Jackson about his Western Stories or Western BooksWestern Links Old West Links Ghost Town Links Links to other Western Authors Western Writers and Western Books
Sunny Valley, Oregon
(Placer & Leland)
The grave of Martha Leland Crowley sits on the side of Leland Road near the banks of Grave Creek.
Sunny Valley is a small community located in northern Josephine County, Oregon. Historically, it was the location of two towns,
now lost to history. The first was the community of Leland, named for sixteen year old Martha Leland Crowley who died at this location of typhoid fever in 1846 after her wagon train enroute to the Willamette Valley came to a halt near the banks of what
became known as Grave Creek. Eventually Fort Leland was established nearby to provide a garrison during the Rogue River War in the 1850's. In the 1890's, a second community was later established under the name of Placer along the banks of Grave Creek, some miles upstream of this site.



Leland, Oregon: Like Waldo, Leland also now no longer exists. This community was located on LeLand Road somewhat past the present community of Sunny Valley, Oregon. Though this was originally the site of Fort LeLand during the 1850’s and the surrounding land was patented in 1859 by James Twogood who operated a stage station nearby called Grave Creek House, the small community that grew up in this area was known by a number of names, namely Maloneyville and Altamont.

The town received its first post office in 1884 and served as a supply center for nearby mines, namely that of Criteser and Tast (1/4 mile west of town) which was established in 1878, the Goff Mine that was established a half mile north of town in 1886 and yet another large mine about one mile west of town that was eventually owned by the Lewis Company of Portland. By 1890, a few miles south of Leland, another town also grew up in the form of Placer. Like Leland, that town too no longer exists, both of them going into decline around World War One. By the 1940’s, the name of this area was changed to Sunny Valley. Quite a lot of mining is still done by individual prospectors in this gold rich area, mainly along Grave Creek.

Placer, Oregon:

Grave Creek
Grave Creek

Fort Leland
The third inception of Fort Leland, also known as Grave Creek House.
Courtesy: Oregon State Archives

Covered Wagons at the Applegate Trail Interpretive Center
Covered wagons at Sunny Valley, Oregon
Courtesy: Oregon State Archives

Sunny Valley, Oregon is home to the Applegate Trail Interpretive Center, a museum devoted to preserving
the history of Northern Josephine County and educating people about the little known Applegate Trail. The center is open
ten months of the year. Visit their site here. For details, call toll free: 1-888-411-1846 or write to them at:

Applegate Trail
500 Sunny Valley Loop
Sunny Valley, Oregon 97497

(Sorry, they don't have e-mail)


Get the latest news about Kerby Jackson's western fiction and upcoming western books on his Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/kerbyjackson
 
 

Sign up for Kerby's free mailing list to receive the latest news about his westerns, to read free western stories, learn about the old west, as well as your chance to win free books by Kerby Jackson!
Enter your e-mail address
 

© Kerby Jackson 2007-2008
Site design & SEO Services by AS.

 
Sunny Valley, Oregon - Placer, Oregon - LeLand, Oregon
eXTReMe Tracker