Discovering Oregon's Pioneer Past

We set out on our first foray of sightseeing near Grants Pass. After setting out with an ambitious plan to drive a route from the "Scenic Byway" brochure, we soon amended the itinerary to explore landmarks closer to town.  We were traveling over the aforementioned hills of I-5 between Grants and Roseburg, headed for Canyonville. "I should take a picture of this terrain," I told Jan, pulling out my compact Nikon.

I got one shot through the windshield before the display read, "Battery exhausted." This otherwise wonderful little Coolpix doesn't make any fanfare about being tired; it just passes out from exhaustion. "No problem," I said blissfully, pulling out my digital SLR. And then, "Oh, no! The camera button was somehow left on! This camera is dead, too!" In between my expressions of chagrin at being so poorly prepared, we quickly discussed the situation and decided not to invest too many precious gallons of diesel in a scenic drive with no camera. Rather than entirely abort our outing, however, we took the next exit to the historic Wolf Creek Inn, an 1800s stagecoach stop that is now operated as an inn/restaurant/museum. As we drove down the exit ramp, I remembered that the Smartphone had a camera. A backup for my backup camera! Only 3.5 MP, but better than nothing, right?

In the parking lot behind the inn, we saw this electric car recharging station, the second one we had seen today. You can tell we're in Oregon!

Inside, we were warmly greeted and encouraged to go look about the fully functioning inn and restaurant, which we gladly did. Here is the former ladies' parlor, now open to both sexes.

There are 2 rooms for dining; here is the first one the visitor comes to. We glanced at the menu; it's expensive, but I'm sure it's wonderful.

The 9 guestrooms are located both downstairs and upstairs. Such notables as Jack London stayed here. Originally there were more rooms, but it was remodeled to modern standards, and bathrooms were added.

The former upstairs ballroom is available for weddings and other special occasions.

We stopped at the general store across the road, established 1888, and bought 2 cookies, then stopped at a gift and wine shop on the way back to the pickup truck.

A little over 3 miles away, on the other side of I-5, we visited Golden, a mining ghost town. There are a handful of buildings remaining from its original glory days,

and the historical society is earnestly working on improving its preservation and educational value. An informative sign says that, unlike other mining towns, this town had 2 churches and no saloons. Thirsty miners had to travel to a neighboring town for that recreation. One church is still standing.

Here is a photo of it in old times. There is no longer any sign of the house you see next to it.

Here are a couple more Golden scenes.

Heading back to Grants Pass, we stopped at Sunny Valley, where this covered bridge, at Grave Creek, is located.

There are many covered bridges in western Oregon, but this is the only one in Josephine County.

Next to the covered bridge is a museum, the Applegate Trail Interpretive Center. This museum tells the story of the Southern route of the Oregon Trail. There are very strict prohibitions about photography at the museum, so I'll have to paint a word picture. The costumed host, adopting a manner of speech reminiscent of the day, escorted us through the first portion of the wonderful displays, filling us in on the background of the Oregon Trail before leaving us in the theater to watch the movie. The movie was unusual in that it showed simultaneously on 3 screens, one ahead of the viewer, one to the right, and one to the left. Usually different scenes were shown on each screen, although occasionally the 3 screens merged to show a single panoramic scene. In the museum, as we entered the different displays, a sound track automatically came on, letting us hear what a cattle drive, the mines, the train that eventually came here, etc., would have sounded like. The aural experience greatly enhanced the visual experience. The displays tell the story of the Applegate Trail in chronological order, and we left with a real appreciation of the Oregon Trail story.

As we drove back to Grants Pass, I was glad our afternoon had turned out the way it had. I'm still embarrassed that I headed out sightseeing with 2 dead cameras, but the cell phone camera didn't do too badly, did it? One of these days I'll probably have to resort to sketching on a scrap of paper, if I don't tend those batteries more faithfully!