Josephine-Jackson County OR Archives News.....local history tidbits December 31, 1927 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/or/orfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Sally Yarbrough http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00015.html#0003707 August 31, 2008, 1:11 pm "Grants Pass Dailly Courier" December 31, 1927 Bob Elliott a bell boy in a mexican pack train claims he was the first white man through the Illinois vally. In 1846-47 Elliott, with a party of mexican packers, sought out a route from Yreka to Crescent City. Bob Elliott died at Happy Camp Calif. in 1903 Applegate claim that some of his party penetrated the Illinois valley in 1850. The unsurveyed boundry between Oregon and California let settlers vote in both states and pay taxes in neither for many years. In 1859 Hawes struck true copper ore two miles from Waldo. This lead to the discovery of the "Queen of the bronze. In the year 1869 William Chapman an early miner on Althouse creek lived in Kerby and herded 3000 sheep in the vicinity of eight dollar mountian. He was sheriff of Josephine County. The donation land claim law went into effect in 1850. Among the first to take up a claim were William Ross, T.B. and J.R. Reeves, "Gov"Briggs, Alonzo P. Turner, and William mooney. Mooney mountian was named for mooney, who took his claim in 1854, Fort Briggs, built on the Briggs ranch was named for "Gov" George Briggs and Reeves Creek for the Reeves brothers. The first Sucker Creek town , built in 1853 near the mouth of Yeager Creek, was burned October 28, 1855 by the indians. After the indian war was over in 1856, a new town was started on Sucker Creek at the mouth of Vowling Creek (now Bolan Creek). Charles Reinhart, brother of Herman Reinhart, author of "The Golden frontier" had a saloon, bakery and bowling alley in each of these towns. Neither the first or the second town had a name other than Sucker Creek. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/or/josephine/newspapers/localhis352gnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/orfiles/ File size: 2.3 Kb