Oregon's Rogue River Valley

The Rogue River Valley, as it was in 1890.

Kerby Jackson makes his home in Southern Oregon's Rogue River Valley, which is an area that was made widely famous largely through the writings of Western novelist Zane Grey during the 1920's. Along with other notables of the period like author Jack London, baseball star Babe Ruth, polititian Winston Churchill and movie celebrities Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Clark Gable, Ginger Rogers, Orson Welles and many others, Zane Grey liked to get away from it all in the wild splendor of the Oregon's Rogue Country and wrote several novels from the security of his cabin (which is still existing) that was located in Rogue River Canyon. At least one of his novels, "Rogue River Feud", was set in the area and is believed to have actually been based on a similar event that occured in here. However, Hollywood's fascination with the area did not end with the 20's and 30's, as numerous films and TV Shows were shot in the area, most notable "Rooster Cogburn" (1975) starring John Wayne, "The River Wild" (1994), "Dead Man" (1995) starring Johnny Depp utilized many local locations and many other less known films (including numerous "B" Westerns). Episodes of Route 66, Gunsmoke and other TV serials were also shot nearby.

As its name might indicate, the Rogue River Valley was the last frontier of the Old Oregon Country and although well populated in and around its varying communities, it is still a mostly wild and un-tamed land. One need not stray more than a few miles from most towns to find yourself in dense forests that seem a million miles from nowhere. The valley takes its name from the river of the same name, the Rogue, a small, but fast running river full of white water, which in turn takes its own name from the Indians who lived and ruled here until the 1850's. The predominant two tribes were the Takelma (those living near the river) and the Latgawa (those living in the uplands), who were collectively known under the name of the Rogue Indians due mostly to their rascaly ways. Other tribes, such as the Tututni, who lived near the current site of Gold Beach, Oregon, were also lumped under the collective name of "Rogue Indians". Although the British, French and Russians traversed this area in the early part of the 19th century and the British even established a fort along the Rogue River (the same site later known as Fort Vannoy), these early European visitors to the area actually had little in the way of trouble with the natives except for a few isolated incidents. However, with the coming of American settlers to the area, the worst Indian War in history soon erupted here in the 1850's. Overwhelming numbers of American settlers, as well as troops from Northern California and Oregon's Willamette Valley ultimately leading to the near total genocide of the Takelma, Latgawa and Tututni peoples.

Later on, propelled forward largely by mining (due to our close proximity to California, most of our local gold finds were actually credited to that state, even though the majority of California Gold was actually Oregon Gold), as well as timber, the area quickly attracted numerous newcomers seeking wealth in the latter half of the 19th century. As typically happens, a rather rough element tends to follow in the tracks of such people. Needless to say, although the stories about it are not even well known here locally, the Rogue River Valley's towns had a tendency to be on the rough side and the sort of violence often attributed to places like Tombstone, Dodge City, Abilene, Deadwood and others, was just as prelevant here during those days, including numerous gunfights, stagecoach robberies, train heists and other forms skull duggery. One of my goals as a writer native to Oregon is to help bring our history a little better to light - the good and the bad.

In more recent years, the Rogue River Valley has mainly become a tourist destination. The Rogue River is still there and every season thousands of anglers, boaters and rafters spend their time exploring it. It is a place of great natural history that is still mostly unspoiled and numerous trails traverse the area. And it is a great place of history too, with numerous small frontier era towns. All in all, it is a great place to visit, as the following photo galleries can attest. If you can't pay us a visit, you can still journey to some of these places through my western fiction, as well as get a taste of our local history through my articles.

But remember, we don't call it the "Rogue" for nothing. This is still a wild land, so respect it and be careful out there.

Buncom, Oregon Buncom is the Jackson County's best preserved true ghost town. It consists of three preserved frontier era buildings, as well as the remains of others in the Little Applegate Valley slightly to the south of Jacksonville in Jackson County, Oregon.	Kerby, Oregon Kerbyville was formerly the county seat of Josephine County, Oregon and my father named me for it. Though Kerby is often considered a "ghost town", a few people still live here. Though small, it boasts a fine musuem, several false fronted buildings, the local hanging tree and more.	Jacksonville, Oregon Jacksonville is located a few miles SW of the city of Medford and is the crown jewel of the Rogue River Valley's frontier towns. Like Kerby, it is often considered a ghost town, but it is well populated and is often considered Oregon's finest historical district.
Sunny Valley, Oregon Sunny Valley is actually composed of two frontier era historic sites, the former mining town of Placer, Oregon and Fort Leland. Numerous 19th century buildings in various states of decay are scattered around the area, as well as graves from the Applegate Trail and the Rogue River War. Also has a fine musuem and many old covered wagons lying about.	Golden, Oregon Golden, Oregon is Josephine County's only fully preserved ghost town. First established in 1890, Golden was unique among Western mining towns in that while it had two churches, it had no saloons and thirsty miners were forced to go to the former town of Placer to imbibe in spirits. Golden features four remaining buildings, as well as a small graveyard and is located near Wolf Creek, Oregon.	Galice, Oregon

Hellgate Canyon The Rogue River's Hellgate Canyon is one of the wildest sections of river anywhere in the West. In addition to offering good fishing,  world class rafting and scenic natural views, it is also chock full of history. Abandoned mines, fall down cabins and more traces of the past can be seen in the canyon.

Indian Mary Park Indian Mary Park was originally the homestead of Joe Umpqua and his family. During the 1880's, Joe was involved in a fatal gunfight with his son-in-law Albert Peco on their homestead that resulted in the death of both men. In 1894, the U.S. Government granted the homestead to Joe's daughter Mary as the nation's smallest Indian Reservation in recognition of her father having warned early settlers of a planned massacre by local Indians in October of 1855.