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PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 AND 
 
 MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON 
 
 BY 
 
 C. B. Watson 
 
 Copyright January 4, 191M 
 
 By C. b. Watso* 
 
WSJ 
 
 To my daughter, Lilian, and son, Chandler VV., 1 dedicate 
 this little hook. 
 
 I have observed with pleasure the interest that each 
 of you take in the study of nature and have felt that ray 
 own observations of the country where you were born and 
 with which you have, in a measure, become familiar, might 
 not be a matter of indifference to you. 
 
 I therefore present it as a token of my love and esteem 
 and as evidence of my approval of the manner in which 
 each of you are grappling with the problems of life. I am 
 sure that close observation of the material world about you 
 and an application of the lessons you will learn there will be 
 of great assistance to you. 
 
 Affectionately your father, 
 
 C. B. WATSON. 
 
 M658941 
 
TO THE READER: 
 
 I do not present the following pages as, in any sense 
 a scientific discussion of the subjects treated, but as the 
 result of many years of study in which I have taken great 
 pleasure. The country is new and the strenuous business 
 of life does not allow every one to become familiar with all 
 the features of moment that pertain even to a circumscribed 
 area about him. Yet there are very few people who arc 
 not called upon often by friends at a distance for informatioi 
 such as I believe this little volume contains and who, with- 
 out some source to draw from would not be able to give 
 it. 
 
 The work is in no sense fiction as its title might imply 
 to some. The country described was at one time an island 
 A few of the first chapters may seem to some readers as 
 prolix and unnecessarily detailed in the facts presented t( 
 prove the hypothesis. I am sure, however, that a close 
 reading of these will render the remainder of the work 
 more interesting and intelligible. It is a study of nature 
 in some of her most interesting and valuable features. The 
 soil and climate of any country is a matter of first conceri 
 to its residents and to prospective inhabitants. It is no; 
 less important to know the whys and wherefores, and these 
 I have attempted to suggest. 
 
 Nature study is receiving more and more attention a^ 
 we progress along the line of advancing civilization and i 
 profess nothing more than a desire to enlist a closer obser 
 vation and study of it in some essentials that I believ* 
 are neglected. 
 
 Ashland, Oregon, January A. D., 1909. 
 
 C. B. WATSON. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 The Pioneer 9 
 
 Prehistoric Siskiyou Island 17 
 
 Examination and Proof of the Borders of the Island . . 23 
 
 Grizzly Mountain and Mineral Springs 29 
 
 A* View From Grizzly Mountain 38 
 
 Climate and Soil of Rogue River Valley 43 
 
 Scenic Attractions and How to View Them 50 
 
 Particular Examination of the Siskiyous 60 
 
 A Ramble Through and Over the Siskiyous 69 
 
 Continuing the Ramble SO 
 
 From Waldo to Crescent City and Up the Coast to the 
 
 Coquille River 87 
 
 Bandon, the Coquille and Coos Bay Shipwreck and 
 
 Storm 9 7 
 
 The Sea in a Tempest, the Umpqua-River and Valley. . 109 
 
 Lime and Its Uses in Nature I 1 s 
 
 Exploring the Great Caverns 132 
 
 Review and Conclusion; A Day Dream 1 42 
 
The Snow Bank. 
 
 The wind that whistled o'er the ridge 
 
 And gently dropped its soft, white load, 
 Till each rill had a crystal bridge 
 
 And neither peak nor canyon showed, 
 Has passed. 'Tis August's clear, hot day; 
 
 The red sun tells of fall's advance, 
 And every blighting, scorching ray 
 
 Plays tunes that make the hot air dance. 
 
 The peaks are bare, but on each slope, 
 
 Close nestled in the shade below, 
 A thirsty country's only hope 
 
 And parching drought's one deadly foe, 
 With surface calm and cold and white 
 
 And yet a world of power within, 
 Lies one vast mass of living light; 
 
 Some mighty river's origin. 
 
 Rare, dainty trees stand grouped around 
 
 A thousand tiny water-falls. 
 Moss rimmed, fern draped, half under ground 
 
 Far down the slope a brooklet brawls. 
 A tree-fringed park, a grassy glade, 
 
 Deep wooded canyons far below; 
 In such a setting Nature laid 
 
 This priceless gem, this bank of snow. 
 
 C. W. W. 
 
Prehistoric Siskiyou Island and 
 Marble Halls of Oregon. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 THE PIONEER. 
 
 "Nature will be reported. All things are 
 engaged in writing their history. The plant, 
 the pebble, goes attended by its shadow. The 
 rolling rock leaves its scratches on the mountain, 
 the river its channel in the soil; the animal its 
 bones in the stratum; the fern and leaf their 
 modest epitaph in the coal. The falling drop 
 makes its sculpture in the sand or stone. Not 
 a foot steps in the snow, or along the ground, 
 but prints characters more or less lasting, a map 
 of its march. Every act of the man inscribes it- 
 self in the memories of his fellows, and in his 
 own manners and face. The air is full of sounds; 
 the sky of tokens; the ground is all memoranda 
 and signatures, and every object covered over with 
 hints, which speak to the intelligent." — (Emer- 
 son). 
 
 Nature is everywhere striving to be understood. For 
 ages upon ages it has been writing its messages, and work- 
 ing to accomplish a conscious being that could read them. 
 Primeval man took up the task as necessity compelled 
 him. Hunger sent him to the chase, which was his first 
 enterprise. His wants were the sole stimulants, which by 
 degrees aroused sluggish thought to action and gave birth 
 to invention. Accident brought forth discoveries, which 
 in turn were utilized. Each acquisition thus gained, in- 
 creased, strengthened and extended his faculties. The 
 conscious man was developing. His knowledge has been 
 gained by a kindergarten process. If we look about us 
 we wonder at the colossal strides intelligence has taken; 
 but if we look back down the ages and mark the lapse of 
 time since man first appeared and the slow advance he has 
 made, we find that the evolution of conscious intelligence 
 has only kept pace with the evolution of organic matter. 
 
10 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 We boast of the progressiveness of this age and the mastery 
 we have gained over the forces of nature. The ocean has 
 been subdued, in a way, and has been appropriated as the 
 highway of nations. Electricity and steam have been har- 
 nessed and made to bear burdens and messages and 
 to light the footsteps of further conscious progress. From 
 groping after snails and bugs, in search of food, and climb- 
 ing trees to avoid more ferocious animals than himself, 
 man is now engaged in missions of mercy and scanning the 
 heavens with his telescope in his efforts to fathom the 
 mystery of the universe. He looks within and thinks he 
 recognizes a dual quality in himself, and constructs phil- 
 osophies to account for his being; the whence and whither, 
 from which and to which his destiny is leading him. 
 Charged with a nervous impulse he braves arctic regions 
 and dark continents and ferrets out new secrets, which, 
 when reported, arouse his fellows to further conquest. 
 
 New countries peopled with savage men are sought and 
 subdued to the progressive characteristics of the age, and 
 the fittest survive. And yet the pioneer into such regions 
 seems not to have been conscious of the fact that he was 
 but a messenger of that mysterious spirit of progress 
 which moves so strangely in and about him. The spirit 
 of adventure is but nature's leading string for development, 
 and whether it led into untamed wilds or the marts of 
 commerce, 
 
 " He trudged along, unknowing what he sought, 
 And whistled as he went, for want of thought." 
 
 "Westward the star of empire" led the pioneer across 
 the continent to the Pacific coast but yesterday, lured by 
 the promises and promptings of nature. Here she was to 
 open up one of her richest store houses, and in some mys- 
 terious way he was to reap such plethora of wealth as is 
 promised at Oriental fairs. He braved mountains and 
 deserts and was ever on the watch for the savage that 
 haunted his way, lighted ever by the pillar of cloud and 
 fire that burned in his veins the command "Onward," to the 
 verge of the continent and Pacific's surf, where he planted 
 the flag and pronounced the sacred word "Home." 
 
 " God moves in a mysterious way 
 
 His wonders to perform, 
 He plants his footsteps on the sea 
 
 And rides upon the storm." 
 
 One can not well avoid the thought that the time for 
 spreading a higher intelligence had come and these con- 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 11 
 
 scions beings, though unconscious of the purpose, moved 
 by the spirit of the times, were allured to a destiny that has 
 marked an epoch in the world. These mountains and 
 valleys were ripe for exploitation, and the inhabitants were 
 unsuited for the purpose. These pioneers, travel-stained 
 and weary, viewed the land of promise from the mountain 
 tops with mingled feelings of hope and despair. These 
 valleys were fair to look upon, but the full value of the 
 land had not been told to them. It is but little more- than 
 half a century since the first of these adventurers looked 
 upon the Rogue River valley from the high summits of 
 the Cascade mountains, and watched the spots of sunshine 
 and shadow playing hide and seek among the forest clad 
 eminences that afforded a border and decorated frame work 
 about a beautiful picture. The diversified wealth of the 
 land was unknown to them, and immediate, pressing de- 
 mands permitted no time to be devoted to cataloguing the 
 resources of their new home. Indians, sometimes friendly 
 and sometimes hostile, surrounded them and "eternal vigil- 
 ance was the price" they were required to pay for the 
 privilege of occupying the land they had chosen. 
 
 We can easily picture the eagerness with which these 
 adventurers selected their claims and began the operations 
 of home-building. Still they were unconscious of the im- 
 portant part they were playing in the drama of laying the 
 foundation for so important an extension of conscious in- 
 telligence. Here was laid the corner stone by them, for a 
 republic of intelligent growth in all that goes to make up 
 progressive activity. The country was new to them and 
 unknown to the mass of mankind. Since that time the 
 expansive energy of intellect, well directed, has wrung 
 from the wilderness a valuable possession; has added to 
 the wealth of the world untold millions, and aided in de- 
 ciphering many of nature's records that were never before 
 read. Here has been developed a land more varied in its 
 resources than almost any other. Every year has added 
 to the knowledge of its people something new in the value 
 of their acquisition. It is not strange that so vigorous a 
 commonwealth should have been built on so excellent a 
 foundation. These pioneers may well have been consider- 
 ed sturdy yeomen. None but the brave and energetic 
 would have undertaken so arduous a task, and such an- 
 cestry was bound to furnish a worthy posterity. Fifty 
 years is a short time to make such changes in. But that 
 conscious intelligence all over the world was beginning to 
 read the messages that nature had been writing from the 
 
12 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 beginning, and had begun to look for them in the sands 
 of the seashore, the rocks of the mountain side, along the 
 rivulets and rivers, in the forests and the prairies. The 
 mines attracted thousands and the gold enriched many. 
 Hamlets grew to be towns and the towns to be cities. 
 Every indentation of the coast where vessels could safely 
 anchor became a port where cargo was discharged for the 
 interior and pack trails were built to connect them with 
 the valleys and the mines in the mountains. Such activity 
 soon put a quietus upon depredations by the Indians. 
 Though the Pioneer Associations are suffering a rapid de- 
 pletion, yet each annual reunion sees a goodly number of 
 the heroes and heroines of those early days gathered for 
 social banquet and to rehearse their experiences. Indian 
 fights, bear hunts, gold excitements and a review of their 
 trials in crossing the plains became the order of the day, 
 the whole rounded off with resolutions, reading memorials, 
 speech-making and a rich banquet of good things. Now 
 the mountain streams furnish the power and che valleys 
 are lighted with electricity. In the more thickly settled 
 portions many homes are illuminated by turning on the 
 current; neighbors visit by telephone; the arrival of the 
 mails is calculated to the minute, for railroads followed 
 where tne pioneer blazed the way. In the section which 
 will be treated of in this little volume, thousands of acres 
 of apples, peaches, pears, apricots, prunes, cherries, grapes 
 and berries, furnish their products to all the great markets 
 of the country and are even carried to foreign parts. The 
 label "Rogue river," is sufficient to pass the pack without 
 question and at the highest price. The magnificence of 
 Oregon's forests has set the lumbering world crazy and the 
 courts are trying to straighten out the muddle resulting 
 from the excellence and abundance of her products. 
 
 Perpetual snow in the higher mountains contrasts with 
 ?rass perpetually green in the valleys, each in sight of, the 
 other. As we proceed in subsequent chapters the variety 
 and quality of the resources of "Prehistoric Siskiyou Is- 
 land" will be made apparent. The reasons for much that 
 he enjoys, the pioneer has not yet learned, and I shall 
 endeavor to tell some of it to him. The past fifty years 
 have been fast and furious and but little time has been 
 given to the average citizen to learn the whys and where- 
 fores of things that require a little scientific investigation. 
 
 In the matter of climate and soil the country to be 
 treated is almost unique. The climate is not exactly like 
 any other on the coast, and for reasons easily made appar- 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 13 
 
 ent. The soils are equally rare and as easily explained, 
 and the mineral wealth is more varied than in any other 
 region of which I have information. The scenic attrac- 
 tions and healthgiving conditions are not excelled. How 
 fortunate then, were the early settlers in choosing this 
 favored region. Accident and energy, impelled by that 
 spirit that is mysteriously moving the world, are respon- 
 sible for their good fortune. 
 
 It seems that each epoch has had its rise because of 
 some frenzy that like a malady settled upon its chief actors. 
 Immediately preceding the discovery of America, the wealth 
 of the Indies aroused the cupidity of maritime nations and 
 Cohimbus in seeking a more direct route to that Golconda, 
 sailed west and discovered America. The wealth of the 
 new world aroused greater frenzy in the greed for gold, 
 and buccaneering, robbery and wholesale murder followed. 
 This again was followed by the frenzy of conquest and 
 pillage in which Spain and Portugal sowed the seeds of 
 their own ruin, because they took no thought of the future, 
 nor recognized either the principles of judicious commer- 
 cialism nor human rights. Great Britain, with no less of 
 avarice, but with more craftiness and foresight, saved the 
 goose but stole the eggs. The coming of the pilgrims to 
 Plymouth was the result of a religious frenzy and persecu- 
 tion, which was practiced even by the devotees that fled 
 from it. The spirit of conquest has ever been irresistible 
 where the stake seemed worth the candle and is heighten- 
 ed by the spirit of adventure for its own sake. It seems 
 to be a human principle but seldom practiced humanely. 
 The Pilgrims fleeing from persecution, seemed to be only 
 the swampers for a great army of adventurers that follow- 
 ed and overran the American continent. Here, upon the 
 wreck and ruin of many nations that fell before them, they 
 established the Great Republic that has gained the distinc- 
 tion of leading the world on a high moral plane in its 
 governmental policies. In the apparent pursuit of a des- 
 tined purpose, "Westward the star of Empire took its way," 
 only to be temporarily stopped by the shores of the Pacific. 
 With irresistible force, this conscious intelligence has 
 broken down every barrier and overrode every obstacle, 
 alternately dealing in mercy and crime, with prayers and 
 curses, now helping the needy and anon murdering the 
 friendless, but withal, climbing higher in the scale of pro- 
 gress. The fields of conquest by superior people over 
 inferior ones, seems almost exhausted on the old lines, but. 
 new ones are being found. 
 
14 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 The frenzy of today is to be seen in the exercise of the 
 spirit of commercialism along ever-varying lines. The 
 records and messages Nature has written are being read, 
 and through t \e knowledge gained her laws are being 
 better understood and applied. She is giving up her sec- 
 rets and crafty commercialism is making monopolies of 
 them to gratify that same greed for gain that in the past 
 has fostered conquest, pillage and murder. The commer- 
 cial buccaneers of today, like those of Spain and Portugal, 
 are sowing the seeds of their own destruction. Gambling 
 and speculation are the order of the day. The great cities 
 with their .sky-scrapers and vice, allure the adventurers as 
 the candle does the moth, and with the same result, leg- 
 itimate exploitation of the soil is largely neglected and 
 victims to ruthless greed fall before the moving army of 
 vandals as in the days of the Incas and Aztecs. The 
 wealth of the land is drawn to the great cities and much 
 of the best blood of the country is drawn after it, allured 
 by the glitter. The frenzy is fast and furious and the 
 
 corresponding development of the soil and the building 
 up. of country homes are neglected, though garden spots 
 lie untouched, waiting for the malady to pass and the 
 homeseekers to return. The rumblings, are heard all over 
 the land like earth tremors that precede the shock; and 
 the shocks are not altogether lacking. Little more than 
 a year ago the country was in the throes of one that came 
 as mysteriously and unheralded as did the destruction of 
 San Francisco. 
 
 I was at Portland at the time, and what I saw there 
 was a mild attack as compared with that in other com- 
 mercial centers. Commercial Clubs, Boards of Trade, 
 Chambers of Commerce and the newspapers were sending 
 to the world daily statistics of unprecedented growth and 
 prosperity. Strangers thronged the streets and the city 
 was a moving picture show in perpetual performance. Men 
 and women streamed in and out of the banks and spent 
 their money like patriots shedding their blood in war times. 
 The hilarious dance was like that at Belgium's capitol just 
 preceding the battle at Waterloo. Then came a proclama- 
 tion from the Governor and the banks closed with a "dull 
 sickly thud." People looked at each other in startled as- 
 tonishment and tried to read the riddle in each other's 
 faces. Men with deposits were refused at the banks that 
 held their money. The brakes were set so hard that the 
 wheels of trade were flattened by the sudden slide over 
 unyielding rails. Contracts made and not begun, were 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 15 
 
 cancelled, and contractors in the midst of their work were 
 brought face to face with ruin. Workmen, who the day 
 before went whistling to their tasks with well filled pails, 
 stood on the street corners stunned and despondent. The 
 newspapers continued to scout the notion that there was 
 any serious danger, and assured all that the sudden con- 
 gestion would yield in a few days. Weeks rolled on and 
 the holiday proclamation was renewed from day to day. 
 The doors of the courts were closed and the wheels of Jus- 
 tice were stopped. Lawyers discussed the situation in the 
 corridors of the hotels and on the streets and sighed for 
 the fees that were almost at hand when the bolt fell. Men 
 languished in jail and no order could be made to determine 
 their fate. Bargain counters ceased to be alluring and 
 lunch counters increased their business. From every part 
 of the country came the same sound, the dull grinding of 
 machinery, yet in languid motion, but from which most of 
 the power had been withdrawn. In a little while the 
 crash of breaking banks was heard over the land and a 
 feeling of impending calamity commenced like the silent 
 warnings of a storm at midnight. Here was a financial 
 panic at a time of the greatest prosperity. 
 
 If the misused capital had been invested in the legit- 
 imate exploitation and development of such regions as I 
 shall describe in the following pages such a panic would 
 not have occurred. If the thousands thrown out of em- 
 ployment had been more generally engaged in the improve- 
 ment of eligible locations in this broad land that are still 
 unappropriated, the cities where these men were congregat- 
 ed would not have been discussing the problem of feeding 
 the unemployed; so much crime would not be reported in 
 «very daily paper. Many of the present idle men in Ore- 
 gon could yet find eligible, unoccupied spots in the "pre- 
 historic island" which I shall describe in this book. The 
 booming of the cities, it seems to me, is out of proportion 
 to the attention given to the rural districts, upon the devel- 
 opment of which the cities must depend. The country 
 must bear the expense and should be fostered by every en- 
 terprise dependent on it. Instead of fostering and stimu- 
 lating further development of this new and wonderful land, 
 greedy commercialism but emulates the greed of the buc- 
 caneers of old, laying a heavy hand upon it and making it 
 to groan under unjust tribute. 
 
 The mountains and valleys of which I shall speak 
 possess the resources of a veritable kingdom of wealth, but 
 it needs capital for development. Railroads and trolley 
 
16 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 lines are needed and would be made to pay in the develop- 
 ment of a country so rich in material resources, and to ac- 
 commodate the tourists and sight-seers who would flock 
 hither. The section to which I shall direct attention con- 
 tains about ten thousand square miles of territory and 
 about forty thousand people. It would easily support a 
 quarter of a million and add hundreds of millions of dollars 
 to the wealth of the state. Go with me and I will show it 
 to you, and that we may the better understand it we will 
 try to read the records that Nature has written and from 
 which we shall learn the secrets of its climate and soil; its 
 mineral, the wonders of its forests, gardens, orchards and 
 fields, and by no means the least will be its wonderful 
 scenic beauty. 
 
Chapter II. 
 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND. 
 
 "Come forth into the light of things; 
 Let nature be your teacher." 
 
 The late Dr. Condon, Professor of Geology at the Uni- 
 versity of Oregon, in his charming little book entitled "'The 
 Two Islands," has outlined in a very interesting way, the 
 physical growth of the state, using the two islands as a 
 nucleus from which that growth proceeded. He has car- 
 ried us to the various lake and sea beaches and presented 
 the records of the history of that growth through the fos- 
 sils from cretaceous times down to the present. He tells 
 us that in the cretaceous era there was a great island oc- 
 cupying the southwestern part of Oregon and northwestern 
 part of California, to which he has given the name "Sis- 
 kiyou Island," and another occupying the northeastern por- 
 tion of the state which he has designated as "Shoshone 
 Island." The U. S. Geological Department has recorded 
 this "Siskiyou Island" as a cretaceous body and named it 
 "The Klamath Group" of mountains. The geological re- 
 cords contained in the rocks and fossils show that there 
 was a time when it was probable that no land existed above 
 the waters of the ocean, eastward of this island nearer than 
 the foot of the Rocky mountains. To the northeast three 
 hundred mils away, Shoshone Island was an isolated frag- 
 ment of land surrounded by a watery waste and to the 
 southeast rose the "High Sierras" overlooking a sea to the 
 east and west. 
 
 Perhaps the best possible way to attract public atten- 
 tion to such a subject, in this highly commercial age, is to 
 see it from a utilitarian point of view. For instance, the 
 three great seagirt regions named, have been the scenes of 
 the most active and profitable mining in California and 
 Oregon. One having made this observation, if interested 
 either in the study of geology or mining, would naturally 
 seek for some corresponding features in these three sec- 
 tions. First, he would perhaps notice that granite enters 
 largely into the structure of each, and that each is surround- 
 ed by formations entirely different. The Blue mountains 
 (Shoshone Island), are surrounded by the Great Basin, 
 which also lies to the east of the other two. Lapping up 
 against the edges of each of these groups of mountains, lie 
 stratified formations consisting of gravels, shale, sandstone, 
 
18 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 etc. It would be observed also that in many places these 
 beds are auriferous, i.e. gold bearing. The character of 
 the gravels resting against the base of these old islands 
 also shows their sources to be the higher mountains at 
 the base of which they lie. The lapping of the sandstone 
 shows that its bedding was covered with water at the time 
 the sand was deposited, and the marine shells which are 
 the fossils contained in the sandstone, show the water to 
 have been the ocean, or an arm of it. The gravel and con- 
 glomerate upon which the sandstone rests consists of round- 
 ed pebbles, which by their own form suggest that they were 
 made so by stream action as distinguished from beach ac- 
 tion. The beds contain water worn fragments of granite 
 and other rocks peculiar to the portion of the mountain 
 from which they came. If these beds contain granite, 
 and no granite can be found except in the direction of the 
 higher mountains, we would naturally look in that direction 
 for our granite formation. If the gravel also contains gold 
 mixed with the granite, we would for the same reason seek 
 its source in the same direction. It is a pretty well estab- 
 lished fact that broken and eroded gold-bearing quartz 
 ledges constitute the sources from which gold placers have 
 been fed. We therefore trace the indications from an auri- 
 ferous gravel deposit toward its source in the gold-bearing 
 quartz. These observations will apply equally to each of 
 the groups of mountain islands mentioned. These are 
 some of the practical things that attract most men, who 
 Without knowing it, are studying geology. These three 
 sections are so much alike in many essential particulars that 
 men have been led into a study of the phenomena of nature 
 and have not only found the study a seductive pastime, 
 but a gateway to that wider knowledge of things that has 
 changed the whole trend of life and out of adventurers have 
 made philosophers and of paupers have made men of wealth. 
 But we are engaged to study nature at first hand and not 
 to indulge too largely in philosophy. 
 
 Without too much of detail it will be sufficient to sug- 
 gest that geologists who have made the subject a deep study, 
 who have traced shore-lines and studied the fossils and 
 stratified formations, have verified the fact that the Blue 
 mountains ana the Klamath group (i.e. "Siskiyou Island"), 
 were islands and the High Sierras a continent, or a larger 
 island, at a period in the distant past when the waves of the 
 ocean rolled over the spot where Shasta now stands, and 
 washed the foot of the Rocky mountains. Wh^t is known 
 as the "High Sierras", has its northern limit between 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OP OREGON. 19 
 
 Feather river and Pitt river, leaving a broad expanse of 
 water between the Sierras and Scotts mountains, which 
 constitute a part of the Klamath group. This stretch of 
 water is designated by Professor J. S. Diller of the U. S. 
 Geological Service, as Lasson straits and furnished an out- 
 let for the great inland sea that was then being made by 
 the gradual emergence of the Cascade mountains above the 
 surface of the ocean. A careful study of the country, its 
 formation and shore-lines, has enabled the departments of 
 geology of the United States and California, to give us a 
 reasonable idea of the time when the Wooly Bully moun- 
 tains, Scotts mountains, the Siskiyous and Rogue River 
 mountains constituted an island in the upper cretaceous 
 period. 
 
 The term cretaceous means chalky, from creta, "chalk" 
 and refers to that period when the great chalk and lime- 
 stone beds of Europe were being formed at the bottom of 
 the ocean. The tribolite, trigonia and amonite, are forms 
 of shell fish that lived in the ocean of that period, but are 
 now extinct. The shells of these forms are found plenti- 
 fully as fossils along the shore line of the old Siskiyou 
 island and in the chalk beds of Europe. This tells us that 
 here was a great mountain island before a considerable part 
 of Europe was above the sea. Its southern shore-line was 
 near the northern boundary of the present Sacramento 
 valley. Yreka stands at its eastern shoreline, Ashland 
 and Jacksonville in Oregon on its northeastern shore. Its 
 course carries it across the Siskiyou mountains near where 
 the Southern Pacific railroad crosses. Thence its course is 
 irregularly toward the northwest until it reaches the coast 
 north of Coos bay in Oregon. Its southern shoreline from 
 the north end of the Sacramento valley is also, irregularly 
 toward the northwest until it reaches the ocean south of 
 the mouth of the Klamath river. This old shoreline can 
 be easily traced along considerable portions of its length, 
 but is most distinct from near the headwaters of the Sacra- 
 mento river northwardly to Rogue river in Oregon. 
 Throughout this stretch the line is quite plain and easily 
 traced. At the time when the ocean washed a pebbly beach 
 along the shores of this prehistoric island, Ashland butte 
 and other high peaks of the Siskiyous reared their smoking 
 heads high into the air and their flaming summits lit up a 
 broad expanse of shipless sea on either side of them. 
 
 In those primeval days, the leviathan of the deep long 
 since extinct, played in sportive mood where now are beau- 
 tiful valleys with fields, orchards, cities and towns. The 
 
20 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 miner now toiling with pick and shovel uncovers the re- 
 mains of mastodon and mammoth without a thought of the 
 story they tell. He breaks up great slabs of sandstone 
 rich in the fossil shells of species now extinct, without a 
 thought of the information they afford. Shasta valley 
 was then a bay, where, if vessels had existed, safe anchor- 
 age could have been found in a splendid land-locked harbor 
 where the city of Yreka now stands. Ashland, a beautiful 
 city of schools, colleges and churches, with a population of 
 more than five thousand people, stands directly on the 
 shoreline, and every sandstone foundation in it bears the 
 shells of animals that lived in the sea in that far off period 
 long before man came to inhabit the earth. Jacksonville, 
 like Yreka, occupies the site of a land-locked harbor in the 
 old island. The mining fields of northern California and 
 southern Oregon lie within its limits. From Redding in 
 California to Coos bay in Oregon, miners have toiled and 
 sweated in search of the yellow metal, and millions of dol- 
 lars have yielded them reward around the shores and in the 
 interior of this prehistoric home of myriads of animals now 
 extinct. Geologically no country offers more inducement 
 to the student; none is richer in the history it furnishes, 
 nor in the value of this history to the miner, orchardist and 
 farmer. Shasta valley is covered with numerous hum- 
 mocks, which on examination prove to be extinct volcanos. 
 Mt. Shasta is king of the group, and in the upheaval of the 
 Cascade range, it performed a very important part. This 
 old island is seamed and scarred in many places with evi- 
 dence of early volcanic action, and has been broken and 
 scratched by glaciers. The seas that washed it received 
 the deposits brought down by streams and other agencies 
 for long ages. The earlier of these deposits were covered 
 with sand that now constitutes the sandstone lappings and 
 cliffs to be found along its old shoreline. On top of these 
 deposits of sandstone at Yreka, Cottonwood, near Ashland, 
 at Jacksonville, Willow Springs and many other places, rich 
 placer gold mines have been worked with profit for more 
 than fifty years. In each of these places it has been dis- 
 covered from time to time, that underneath the sandstone 
 there are beds of gravel bearing gold and corresponding in 
 richness with the placers directly above and sometimes 
 richer. In every instance it has been found that these 
 sub-deposits correspond in character with those on the sur- 
 face, carrying granite, quartz, porphyry, etc. The forma- 
 tions from whence these old gravels have come are only 
 found in the high mountains in the interior of this old island. 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 21 
 
 It follows that the source of the deposits on the top and un- 
 derneath the sandstone is the same, and only to be found on 
 the landside of the old shoreline. As we leave the shore 
 and proceed away from the island and climb the opposite 
 slops we find stratum after stratum, one above the other, 
 consisting of gravel, shale, clay, great beds of conglomerate, 
 then heavy coarse sandstone, with more shale and clay fol- 
 lowing and the whole capped with basaltic lava from the 
 volcanic outbursts of the Cascade mountains. This is es- 
 pecially true from the southeastern part of the Shasta 
 valley in California, to near Grants Pass in Oregon and is 
 easily traced. 
 
 At Yreka, Cottowood, the summit of the Siskiyou 
 mountains where the Southern Pacific railroad crosses, and 
 at Ashland, Jacksonville and Willow Springs we find the 
 sandstone lapping up on the mountain of -granite, with 
 gold deposits both on top and underneath it imbedded in 
 the gravels that have come from the old mountain. Near 
 the foot of the old island and between it and the Cascades, 
 lie Shasta valley in California and Rogue River valley in 
 Oregon. These valleys border upon the old island and at 
 one time seem to have constituted a shore margin of greater 
 or less extent upon which was grown vegetation, in places 
 sufficient to form considerable beds of coal. The edges of 
 the valleys next to the shoreline, have been- productive of 
 gold placers, in places very rich, while the opposite sides 
 away from the Siskiyous have produced practically none. 
 The great mass of the Siskiyous as they now appear, is of 
 granite, while the Cascades and its spurs are of sedimentary 
 formation capped with basaltic lava. The lower parts of 
 these valleys were originally covered with the same sedi- 
 ments, but have suffered great erosion and in many places 
 the complete loss of sandstone covering, leaving only a 
 feather edge resting against the Siskiyous. Since the ex- 
 pulsion of the sea and the elevation of the Cascades, the 
 erosion of the mountains on both sides of the valleys have 
 furnished a rich sediment coming from the mixed detritus 
 of all ages represented in the wearing away of the shales, 
 clays, conglomerates and basalt upon the one side, and the 
 granite, quartz, porphyry, clay and lime from the other. 
 These sediments mixed as they have been, in Rogue River 
 valley, give to it a varied character of soil almost unique. 
 This feature will be elaborated further on. 
 
 In places where erosion has worn away the basaltic 
 covering in the Cascades there have been discovered some 
 promising gold deposits in a formation similar to that of 
 
22 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 Nevada and the Great Basin. This seems to indicate that 
 the Cascades have arisen through a floor of formation 
 similar to that found east of that range. Such gold de- 
 posits have been found far up Rogue river in quartz forma- 
 tion similar to that at Gold Field. This however gives no 
 promise of paying placers. 
 
Chapter ill. 
 
 FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THE BORDERS OF THE 
 ISLAND. 
 
 " Tax not my sloth that I 
 
 Fold my arms beside the brook; 
 
 Each cloud that floated in the sky 
 Writes a letter in my book." 
 
 The Siskiyou mountains are of great scenic attraction 
 on the line of the Southern Pacific road, and to tourists 
 prove very interesting. From its crossing of the Klamath 
 river in California to the top of these mountains, thence 
 down the northern slope to Ashland in Oregon, it follows 
 near and crosses many times the old shoreline of the island. 
 From the Klamath river its course is up Cottonwood creek, 
 and by a very sinuous roadbed reaches the summit after a 
 climb of more than a thousand feet. The distance from the 
 Klamath river to the summit is about fourteen miles by the 
 wagon road, but much more by the railroad. The Siskiyou 
 mountains lie to the west of the road and are massive and 
 heavily timbered, while to the east are the foothills of the 
 Cascades with but little timber and that of a stunted growth 
 near the road. The road bed for the first ten miles is 
 chiefly over sandstone and gravel with an occasional basaltic 
 ridge to cut through. To the east the hills are grass cov- 
 ered but having little surface water become brown and sere 
 early in the season. To the west vegetation is more proli- 
 fic and the indications of water are fully verified on exam- 
 ination. * The Cottonwood receives all its tributaries (ex- 
 cept wet weather streams) from the Siskiyou mountains, all 
 of which have been prospected and yield gold, being very 
 rich in places. This stream has been mined almost from 
 its source to its mouth and has furnished California with 
 one of its richest gold bearing regions. Above the mouth 
 of the Cottonwood, the Klamath has produced no gold, while 
 below it has been mined to the ocean and is still one of 
 California's richest streams. All of its gold comes from 
 the Siskiyous. The gravels along the foot of the Cascade 
 mountains, so far as prospected are barren of that metal in 
 paying quantities, while at the foot of the Siskiyous both 
 on top and under the sandstone, in many places rich placer 
 mines have been worked and are still being operated with 
 profit. From these observations one would naturally con- 
 
24 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 elude that the Cascade range opposite the Siskiyous is not 
 a profitable section for the prospector, and that the. latter 
 constitute the source of supply for the great mining region 
 of southwestern Oregon and all of that part of California 
 tributary to the Klamath river after it has passed into the 
 old island. One cannot observe that fact without conclud- 
 ing that the newer formation that makes up the Cascade 
 range is very different from the old island, in ways not 
 apparent on the surface, though that is sufficiently dissimtlaf 
 to cause remark by the most casual observer. 
 
 The bed of the railroad at the summit crossing is over 
 four thousand one hundred feet above the sea, yet the tun- 
 nel is largely in sedimentary matter, and about a half mile 
 away and at an altitude of about four thousand feet the old 
 sandstone crops out and is very rich in trilobite, trigonia. 
 amonite and other marine shells belonging to the cretaceous 
 period and proves that again we have our shoreline. To 
 the southeast of this point and near the summit of the 
 mountain, coal of a good quality is found and several tun- 
 nels have been run into it two or three hundred feet. This 
 coal vein dips heavily into the mountain to the east and 
 could only be drained by pumping, hence was abandoned. 
 This is the exact point where the Cascades rising from the 
 ocean, impinged upon the Siskiyous and lifted the shoreline 
 to the elevation above noted. It also tells an eloquent 
 story of a sea margin heavily timbered, having once existed 
 there. Four miles further to the southeast, on the very 
 summit of one of the high spurs of the Cascades, stands 
 Pilot Rock, rising in massive grandeur almost vertical, over 
 six hundred feet above the mountain that forms its base. 
 This is a mass of columnar basalt, and probably was the 
 scene of volcanic action near the close of the period when 
 the shoreline was being lifted to its present position. In 
 fact the railroad "crosses at the exact spot where the Cas- 
 cades and Siskiyous form their junction. From this point, 
 which is Siskiyou station, the tourist on his initial trip 
 north, gets his first impressive view of the Cascade range. 
 P^urther on will be found a chapter devtoed to some of the 
 scenic attractions in the high mountains of the old island, 
 from the lofty summits of which, the Cascades will be view- 
 ed towering in -places into the regions of perpetual snow. 
 From this point to Ashland, a distance of about sixteen 
 miles, we descend two thousand feet, and in our zig zau, 
 course cross the old shoreline, sometimes in the granite and 
 •again running through deep cuts in the sandstone. The 
 road-bed is a wonderful piece of engineering and in its 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 25 
 
 cuts and tunnels furnishes a good opportunity for studying 
 the formation of the old shore. In his trip down the Sis- 
 kiyous to Ashland in Oregon, the traveler gets his first view 
 of the state and his first sight of the famous Rogue river 
 valley. There are very few views on the continent that so 
 charm the visitor with their beauty and impress him with 
 grandeur at the same time as this descent of 2 000 feet. 
 Before taking his farewell view of California and entering 
 the tunnel one mile south of the Siskiyou station, he has 
 noted the shining summit of Shasta towering over fourteen 
 thousand feet into the blue vault, and with a sweep oi 
 vision has marked the lofty summits of Scotts mountains, a 
 part of the old island, serrated and glistening with snow. 
 Mountain billows are spread before him and valleys below 
 him. This summit seems more than a topographic mark- 
 ing between two states; it is the line separating two climates 
 as well; aye! more than that: it is the line separating two 
 great epochs in the history of the physical. growth of a con- 
 tinent. Pilot Rock rises just to the east; the chimney that 
 gave vent to the fumes and flows from Vulcan's workshop 
 far down in the bowels of the earth where were organized 
 the last efforts of nature to expand the American continent. 
 In the political history of the country that for the past few 
 pigmy years men have been making we have heard much ot 
 expansion. How do such efforts compare with those of na- 
 ture that have added hundreds of thousands of square miles 
 of solid land to a continent that was before under the 
 ocean? Taking our last view of California, we plunge 
 into a tunnel almost a mile in length and emerge at Siski- 
 you station four thousand one hundred and twenty-five feet 
 above the sea. No longer is California, Mt. Shasta and 
 Scotts mountains in sight. With our faces to the north 
 we turn to the right and are looking upon the solid phalanx 
 of the great Cascade range, that even here exhibits unmis- 
 takable grandeur. Looking to the north, the beautiful 
 peak of Mt. McLaughlin seems near at hand and shines, 
 like Shasta, in perpetual snow. At our feet a small stream 
 signalizes its commencement of a long journey and plunges 
 to the north. This is Bear creek, a tributary of Rogue 
 river and the beginning of Rogue River valley which was 
 once a wide margin of vegetation and beauty on the shore of 
 the ocean. We commence our descent by a sinuous course, 
 circling the mountain with a narrow band cut about its 
 rugged sides; now through deep cuts, thence across steel 
 bridges more than a hundred feet in the air, from whence 
 two more tracks may be seen below, near enough to throw 
 
26 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 a stone on to them. Prom our flight across the great 
 bridge we delve into a tunnel running to the west and when 
 we emerge our course is to the northeast, then to the east 
 and through another tunnel, which is almost vertically be- 
 low the track we left a few minutes ago. We have turned 
 almost completely around while roaring through a tunnel 
 beneath the surface of the mountain. When we were 
 spinning over the high steel trestle our heads also spun as 
 we gazed into the depths to our right and noticed the track 
 far below us, and now having made the circuit, we still look 
 from the same side of the car but our view is up the moun- 
 tain at the thread-like structure over which we have just 
 passed but which is almost five hundred feet above us. The 
 sight-seer is kept busy, for his attention is called from one 
 side of the car to the other. He is passing through a for- 
 mation of quartz, felspar and mica, a great granite dyke, 
 and a moment more is spinning through cuts in massive 
 sandstone where, if he had time, he could gather the beau- 
 tiful shells that perhaps millions of years ago were endowed 
 with life in the briny deep that covered this identical spot. 
 Again an exclamation calls our attention and a finger points 
 to a beautiful landscape far down the mountain toward 
 which we seem plunging in headlong flight. This is a 
 fragment of Rogue River valley, but ere we have time for 
 an examination our course is changed and we seem to be 
 rushing away from it with equal speed and twist our necks 
 for a last view of so beautiful a picture, when we begin to 
 swing about and are bearing down into the valley with ex- 
 clamations of delight from everyone who has kept the cock- 
 els from his heart and his soul open to things external to 
 himself. And so we go; in and out, through tunnels and 
 cuts, 'mong towering fir trees and through open glades and 
 clumps of oak and madrone, dancing a regular devil's jig as 
 we rush to the accompaniment of steam and whistle, along 
 a winding boulevard trimmed and decorated with manzanita 
 and laurel, maple, alder and ash. Our engine sends up a 
 warning whistle and we slowly wind around a point and 
 come to a stop at a water tank and a station house. This 
 is Steinman, eight miles from Siskiyou station where we 
 emerged from the tunnel and commenced our plunge down- 
 ward, though by the wagon road which we cross here, it is 
 less than a mile and a half. 
 
 We have now descended a thousand feet with but little 
 of advance. It is about twelve miles on to Ashland, but 
 the rugged part of the mountain is behind us and from here 
 on our speed is increased, for great care is observed in des- 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 27 
 
 cending the mountain to this point. In passing I will say 
 that much credit is due to the Southern Pacific Company 
 because of the careful manner in which they operate this 
 part of their road, for serious accidents seldom occur here. 
 The views from almost every part of our descent have been 
 enchanting, not more from the grandeur (for everything 
 in view seems to have been built on n gigantic scale, ex- 
 cept the decorations of shrub and bush, trickling rills and 
 beautiful glades), than for a kind of subdued beauty and 
 charm, which appears like a sentiment of modesty, height- 
 ened by vari-colored flowers, shrubs, and sunshine. Now 
 we proceed, through another tunnel, curving round sharp 
 points, over trestles, through cuts of sandstone and sedi- 
 ment and an occasional point of granite, ever near the old 
 shoreline. The beautiful manzanita with its pink flowers 
 or red berries, that look like little apples — in fact, the name 
 is Spanish for "little apple" — madrone, known here as 
 mountain laurel, attracts attention for the beauty of its 
 bark, splendid foliage and red berries, the oak with its 
 mistletoe and, along the numerous creeks and rivulets we 
 cross, the beautiful alder and ash groves, all add to a gen- 
 eral charm which we pass so rapidly that we have no time 
 to study, only to admire. To our right and just across the 
 narrow, but now widening valley, rises the splendid Cas- 
 cades and one of its giant spurs which reaches out to the 
 west and is known as Grizzly mountain reaching at its high- 
 est point six thousand feet above the sea. That portion 
 of the Cascades and Grizzly mountain in view from the 
 railroad are grass covered, sparsely timbered and only 
 moderately furnished with running water. I will ask the 
 reader to stop off with me at Ashland and take a trip along 
 the sides of Grizzly, where we find the strongest proofs that 
 all of that great mountain was covered with the ocean at a 
 period geologically recent. For eight miles before reach- 
 ing Ashland we have been passing farmhouses, gardens and 
 orchards that show the charm of thrift and prosperity, for 
 we are entering one of the most famous fruit regions in 
 the United States, and one that promises to vie with the 
 world for the championship in apples, peaches, grapes and 
 «», variety of the smaller fruits and berries. 
 
 Further on I will give a chapter on climate and soils 
 which I hope will sufficiently explain the basis of so much 
 favor as nature has bestowed upon this spot. To the "Old 
 Island" will be given a generous part of the credit. 
 
 From Main street in Ashland, the ground declines gent- 
 ly to the northwest for about a mile to the banks of Bear 
 
28 „ PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 creek, which here has its course to the northwest. Cross- 
 ing the creek we commence the. ascent of Grizzly; gently at 
 first and gradually increasing until at eight miles on a 
 straight line we reach the summit of Grizzly peak. \\V 
 will suppose our time to be about the first of June and after 
 making a careful examination of the mountain side up 
 which we have traveled, we will return to this spot and 
 revel in the landscape view, which is not often excelled. 
 On the side of this mountain and in the nearer vicinity of 
 Ashland will be found the best places to study the insular 
 character of the Siskiyous. On the banks of Ashland creek 
 and within the corporate limits of that city are located beds 
 of oyster and other sea shells cemented together and bear- 
 ing the stamp of very old geological records. 
 
 Here then we stand upon a shore that once looked out 
 upon a broad expanse of water to the northwest, north, 
 northeast and east, long before Grizzly, or the Cascade 
 range came above the surface of the ocean. We will not 
 stop at this time to make a mental picture of Ashland as a 
 seaport, but will leave the reader to indulge his imagina- 
 tion at his leisure. It shall be our business to complete 
 the proofs and then draw the picture. Returning now to 
 Bear creek we will again ascend Grizzly and pursue our 
 study as we proceed. 
 
Chapter IV. 
 GRIZZLY MOUNTAIN AND MINERAL SPRINGS. 
 
 "And out of spent and aged things 
 I formed the world anew." 
 
 It will be observed that Bear creek from Siskiyou station 
 for the first few miles of its course flows practically nortn 
 until it joins with Emigrant creek which flows westerly 
 from its source in the Cascades, thence the course is to the 
 northwest to a point about five miles below Ashland, where 
 it turns again to the north for about fifteen miles and 
 empties into Rogue river. This gives a northwest trend 
 to the Bear creek arm of Rogue River valley, in which Ash- 
 land is situated, with Grizzly mountain and the Cascades, 
 to the north, northeast and east and the Siskiyou Island 
 opposite. This arm of the valley from a mere canyon at 
 Steinman station, varies in width from one to three miles. 
 The soil from the Siskiyous to Bear creek is granite and 
 clay, containing a goodly quantity of lime and is excellent 
 fruit, vegetable and berry land, but -not especially proline 
 in its production of the cereals. On the north side of 
 Bear creek the surface soil comes from Grizzly and 
 partake of the character of the older sediments of which 
 the mountain is composed, mixed with adobe from the dis 
 integration of the basaltic lava that has flown from the top 
 of that mountain and the product of mud volcanoes and 
 hot springs that at one time were scattered generously over 
 its sides. This slope of Grizzly mountain, as before sug- 
 gested has little timber, and only a moderate supply of run- 
 ning water, except during the winter and spring, drying up 
 later in the season. While the soil is very strong and fruit- 
 ful in the growth of cereals as. well as fruit, vegetables and 
 berries, it is handicapped for want of water for irrigation 
 With water, which can be conserved by the use of rest 1 
 voire, there are thousands of acres of excellent land along 
 the sides and gulches of Grizzly, which will some time m 
 the future, support a large population of active and indus- 
 trious people. Looking at it from the railroad it appears 
 to be a regular and continuous climb from the bank of Bear 
 creek to the summit. This, however is not so, for upon 
 every turn the explorer runs into little valleys snugly tucked 
 away among the rounded knobs and slopes, and many a 
 "flat", sometimes containing hundreds of acres of splendid 
 
m PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 soil and often a good spring. Clumps of oak and scatter- 
 ing pine and fir give it a park-like appearance in the spring 
 and early summer with many a shady nook and picturesque 
 cove. 
 
 About three hundred feet above Bear creek and a mile 
 from it, is a well that was driven down by the business 
 men of Ashland five years ago in prospecting for oil. They 
 sunk to the depth of one thousand eight hundred and 
 twenty feet and abandoned the undertaking. The top oi 
 the well is practically two thousand feet above sea level 
 and the bottom is, therefore, almost down to the level oi 
 the ocean. In the whole depth the well borers did not 
 get through the sedimentary formation. From top to bot- 
 tom they passed through stratum after stratum of shale, 
 gravel and clay, with occasional indications of coal and lig- 
 nite. These strata were sometimes of considerable thick- 
 ness and sometimes thin, alternating from one to the other, 
 indicating frequent changes of the source from whence 
 these sediments were derived. Passing on up the moun- 
 tain to an elevation of, five hundred feet further, there is 
 an outcrop of lignite which has been prospected for coal. 
 Tunnels run into it from twenty to one hundred feet have, 
 in places, disclosed coal of a good quality and fair in quan- 
 tity, but dipping into the mountain at angles varying from 
 five to twenty degrees. The space between the oil well 
 and the horizon on which the coal is found is filled with 
 clay, shale and gravel. On the top is a very fine quality 
 of clay of unknown thickness rich in fossil leaf impressions. 
 In places a thinly laminated structure of slaty character is 
 found, which on separation of the lamina is seen to be well 
 filled with various kinds of leaf impressions, some of which 
 resemble madrone, willow, sequoia, ferns, swamp growths 
 and a variety of twigs, small branches of willow, alder, ash 
 and grasses. It is evident that this formation consists of 
 a sediment that was deposited after, or during the spring 
 freshets along the margins of shallow lakes or marshy 
 lands. The great regularity of the layers shows also, that 
 the ground containing these lakes and marshes was level 
 and of considerable extent, Though it is now on the side 
 of a mountain sloping upward at an angle from ten to twenty 
 five degrees and dipping into the mountain almost at right 
 angles with its slope. Above these shales and slates comes 
 a heavy mass of conglomerate which exposes a thickness 
 in places of fifty feet, with a talus at the base that may 
 conceal as much more. This conglomerate is composed 
 of rounded pebbles and boulders that give evidence of hav- 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. gl 
 
 ing been eroded by stream action and not by beach action. 
 These boulders are of quartzite, flints, chalcedony, jasper 
 and other metamorphic and aqueous rocks and are unlike 
 anything we find in the old island. They seem to have 
 traveled a long distance and are worn perfectly smooth. 
 Judging from the size of many of the boulders it is evident 
 that if they were borne here by stream action it must have 
 been a very large stream. This boulder bed extends from 
 a point east of Ashland to Eagle Point on Butte creek, a 
 distance of nearly twenty miles. On top of this conglomer- 
 ate rests a coarse sandstone carrying a meager quantity of 
 fossil leaf impressions similar to the lower 1 clays above des- 
 cribed. This sandstone has an apparent depth of a thous- 
 and feet, and in places huge trees of a species of cedar or 
 redwood are lying, end on, on the top of the conglomerate 
 with, in places, two hundred feet of sandstone on top of 
 them. These trees are pertified and seem to have drifted 
 to their last resting place when these conglomerates were 
 covered with shallow water. Still above the sandstone and 
 net less than two thousand feet above the top of the oil 
 well, we find a flow of basaltic lava capping the lower sedi- 
 ments. This gives from the bottom of the oil well to the 
 lava capping a depth of at least four thousand feet of sedi- 
 ment. The top of Grizzly butte, still two thousand feet 
 higher bears unmistakeable evidence of having once 
 been the crater of a volcano. From the summit of the 
 butte the ridge declines to the northwest by west and in 
 many places shows evidence of geologically recent volcanic 
 action. Numerous small craters, spinnacles and beds of 
 lava bear evidence of this fact. In many places along the 
 slope of this ridge are found hummocks that were once 
 mud volcanos and many sites of springs, now extinct, but 
 which show in the petrified wood lying' along the slopes 
 below them, that they were heavily charged with gases 
 that prveail under active volcanic conditions. 
 
 Along the sides of Grizzly ridge and parallel with its 
 axis are three distinct beach lines one above the other, 
 showing that there were at least three distinctively active 
 periods in the elevation of this mountain. One familiar 
 with the present action of the ocean surfs, having observed 
 the manner in which they cut and carve the sandstone with 
 which they come in contact, would recognize its work on 
 these great sandstone cliffs that are cut and carved in the 
 most fantastic manner, columns, minerets, spires, great 
 bowls, pots and natural tunnels and bridges, mark these 
 beach lines. In places even the beach lines have been ob- 
 
32 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 literated by heavy lava flows. This is particularly appar- 
 ent along what is known as the "Dead Indian" road near 
 the junction of the main Cascades and Grizzly ridge. In 
 this vicinity may also be seen some beautiful specimens of 
 an agglomerate, consisting of rounded pebbles gathered in 
 a matrix of lava. These forms came about by a viscid lava 
 flowing down a stream bed where it gathered the water- 
 worn pebbles as it rolled along, like plums in a pudding, 
 finally coming to rest when it had become too stiff to flow 
 further. To the east and southeast of Ashland, along the 
 foot of the Cascades are numerous mineral springs produc- 
 ing copious flows of potable waters of an excellent quality 
 and containing properties highly recommended as medi- 
 cinal. Some of these springs are being utilized, the waters 
 being bottled and shipped in considerable quantities. They 
 are highly palatable and are very largely used in mixing 
 fancy beverages. The "Wagner Springs" particularly, 
 have been used extensively for many years as a summer 
 resort under the general designation of "The Soda 
 Springs." The proprietors of this property have quite 
 an extensive bottling establishment and derive a consider- 
 able revenue from the marketing of the water. These 
 springs are about eleven miles southeast of Ashland, and 
 two miles further up Emigrant creek, the Tolman springs 
 are quite famous as a resort. There is an additional attrac- 
 tion at the Tolman springs in the way of emanations of 
 carbonic acid gas, and other gases combined, which escape 
 not only with the water but also from fissures and cracks 
 in the rocks, in the bed of the stream and about the banks 
 and sides of the canyon. This gas had great renown 
 among the Indians when the whites first made their ap- 
 pearance in the country. The natives termed it "hi-u- 
 skookum medicine" and used it in the treatment of rheu- 
 matism and other afflictions. They dug little depressions 
 where the gas was escaping and spreading fir boughs in 
 the bottom placed the patient in them and attended him 
 carefully until he became unconscious from inhaling the 
 gas, then they removed him and by skillful manipulation 
 and rubbing brought the patient back to life. After a day 
 or two of feeding on teas made from herbs the; gas bath 
 was repeated until the patient recovered from his malady: 
 These springs were improved by General J. C. Tolman, who 
 also erected a hotel and built cottages to be occupied by 
 those who wished to spend a season and take a treatment 
 of water and gas. The General died and the place has gone 
 into decay, not however, until quite a reputation was ac- 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 33 
 
 quired for the springs. It is not safe for one not familiar 
 with the effects to submit himself alone in one of these gas 
 stalls. All are effected alike; unconsciousness steals over 
 the patient or experimenter, in so seductive a way that a 
 delicious repose soothes him and if no one is near to remove 
 him and he has not been warned death will certainly follow. 
 Birds, snakes, squirrels and other small animals and rep- 
 tiles are frequently found lying dead in these places over- 
 come by the gas. Smith's springs, not far away are 
 also of the same character and have been fitted up with 
 "gas bath" attachments. On the south slope of the moun- 
 tain, by the side of the railroad and three miles from the 
 summit crossing of the Siskiyous are situated the "Colestein 
 springs" with bottling establishment and hotel. This is 
 also a noted place of resort, and situated as it is, almost 
 four thousand above the sea in the Siskiyou mountains and 
 directly on the shoreline has become a very popular place 
 for summer outings. Still further down the slope of the 
 Siskiyou mountains to the south, almost directly on the 
 California line, are the "Shattuck" springs of the same 
 character, but unimproved. These springs are also on the 
 old shoreline and about three miles west of Coles station 
 on the S. P. R. R. 
 
 Returning now to a point about four miles east of Ash- 
 land, on Emigrant creek is another cluster of springs that 
 promise to become famous from the strong addition of 
 Lithia contained in the water. These springs have long 
 been known but until recently were owned by people who 
 would do nothing to improve them, nor sell to any one who 
 would do so. They have recently been purchased by Mr. 
 Harry Silver and Mr. C. H. Gillette of Ashland, who are 
 preparing to bring them into beneficial use. The springs 
 and immediate surroundings are very picturesque as will be 
 seen from the illustrations published herewith. Inasmuch 
 as the propoerties of lithium are so well known in medi- 
 cal science, and for the further reason that these springs 
 show by analysis a larger percentage of lithium than almost 
 any of the most famous so called lithia springs in the 
 country I give the analysis recently made, as follows: 
 
 (Parts to a million of water), 
 
 Soluble silicates of Iron and Aluminum. 125 
 
 Carbonate of Lime 977.8 
 
 Carbonate of Magnesium 653.1 
 
 Potassium Chloride . 260.2 
 
 Sodium Chloride , . 3657.5 
 
34 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 Sodium Carbonate : 25 4 3.5 
 
 Lithium Chloride 51.7 
 
 Several clusters of soda springs are found along the Sac- 
 ramento river between Dunsmuir and Mt. Shasta. Tra- 
 velers on the Southern Pacific will not easily forget the 
 "Shasta Springs" where all passenger trains stop ten min- 
 utes to allow passengers to drink soda water from the 
 beautiful fountains prepared by the Company and to enjoy 
 the delightful scenery there which is not surpassed on any 
 other road on the continent. In each instance where they 
 are found it will be seen that they are in the neighborhood 
 of extinct volcanic vents. This will be found to be true 
 in various parts of the world where such springs are com- 
 mon. It will be seen that the waters of these so-called 
 "soda springs" the world over, have been noted from the 
 earliest times for their medicinal properties, and in coun- 
 tries of dense population become places of great resort. 
 All of the springs above noticed are heavily charged with 
 iron, magnesia and sodium chloride, or carbonate, but so 
 far as. I am informed lithium only appears as a trace, except 
 in the springs of which I have given the analysis. These 
 springs are an additional evidence of extinct volcanic action 
 and of heavy bodies of organic matter, such as we find form- 
 ing the mass of Grizzly mountain. 
 
 Within the corporate limits of Ashland, and just out- 
 side but near by, we also find white sulphur springs varying 
 in temperature from seventy to one hundred degrees. 
 These springs have also become popular and are pronounced 
 equal to the White Sulphur springs of Arkansas. One of 
 these springs located in the streets of the city increased its 
 flow, perhaps fifty fold, immediately following the earth- 
 quake at San Francisco in April 1906, and continued so 
 augmented for several days but finally returned to its 
 normal rate. I ought not to omit to mention the presence 
 of cinnabar in the vicinity of these sulphur springs and the 
 evidence found in the deposits from them that they were, 
 at no very distant time in the past hot, and are now steadily 
 cooling. Examination throughout the world shows that 
 the deposit of cinnabar (quicksiver ore), has as a rule been 
 associated with hot sulphur water, and in many places 
 around the shoreline of this old island, we find valuable 
 deposits of that mineral. In places these deposits 
 have been worked with profit. Perhaps there are not many 
 places within a like area, will be found so great a variety 
 of mineral springs, both warm and cold, as will be found 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 35 
 
 in the various corners of Rogue River valley and the adjoin- 
 ing mountains. Many of these springs have medicinal 
 virtue and some are poisonous. 
 
 As above suggested the evidences are unmistakable 
 that along the sides of Grizzly were many vents for the es- 
 cape of lava, mud and hot water, until the fires below were 
 extinguished and by degrees the springs lost their heat and 
 the mud volcanos ceased their action, not however, without 
 leaving a record of the character of the waters discharged, 
 by the petrified wood which is found in abundance. The 
 silicification of the wood shows the waters to have been 
 heavily charged with silica. Near the crossing of the Dead 
 Indian road, a few miles east of Grizzly butte, is a large 
 area of kaolin which is being quite extensively shipped to 
 Portland and used in the manufacture of the wares of the 
 Western Clay Company. It is claimed that this clay is of 
 great commercial value, and dishes which have been manu- 
 factured from it compare favorably with those made from 
 the kaoHn clays of Pennsylvania. The great quantities 
 of various kinds of clay, shale and dolomite; seem to offer 
 inducements for the manufacture of cement, now coming 
 into general use Building stone of a variety and unexcel- 
 led quality promises to become one of the resources of this 
 region. The granite and marble of the old island and the 
 inexhaustible quantity of sandstone along the shoreline only 
 awaits transportation facilities to supply half the continent* 
 Other valuable minerals and metals will be exploited in 
 subsequent chapters. 
 
Chapter V. 
 
 A VIEW FROM GRIZZLY MOUNTAIN. 
 
 * * * * : the tall rock, 
 
 The mountain and the deep and gloomy wood, 
 Their colors and their forms, were then to me 
 An appetite; a feeling and a love, 
 That had no need of a remoter charm, 
 By thought supplied, or any interest 
 Unborrowed from the eye." — ( Wor.iswort-i) . 
 
 Having exploited the shoreline and its adjacent moun- 
 tains from Ashland to the point of junction between the 
 Siskiyous and the Cascades, and called attention to the var- 
 ied formation and natural peculiarities bearing upon proof 
 of the insular character of the Siskiyous in the long ago. 
 wc will return to the summit of Grizzly mountain and revel 
 for a time in the panorama to be obtained from there. 
 
 As remarked, Grizzly butte has an altitude of six thous- 
 and feet. On a direct line it is about eight miles from Ash- 
 land, though to the "tenderfoot," looking from below, it 
 does not appear half that; the climb, however, brings about 
 a disillusion. Our starting point has an altitude of two 
 thousand feet; therefore our climb will be four thousand, 
 -i^e slop? of the mountain faces the south, and in the 
 month of June one is likely to encounter warm weather 
 and the scattering clusters of shade will be greatly appre- 
 ciated. It is a good four hours' climb, but at every halt for 
 breath we are repaid in the view we get. Before we have 
 ascended half the distance we have a fine view of Mt. Shasta 
 which is directly in line with the summit crossing of the 
 S. P. road; the lowest pass of the Siskiyou mountains. 
 
 Having reached the top, a magnificent panorama is 
 in view on every hand. Mt. Shasta towers to a height of 
 14,440 feet, and its glaciers and snow make of it a brilliant 
 spot among the mountains of northern California. To the 
 south and southwest the massive Siskiyous rise from six 
 to more than eight thousand feet and are covered with 
 dense growths of pine and fir. Some of the magnificent 
 forests for which Oregon and northern California are noted 
 the world over, are before us. Beyond the Siskiyous 
 through its lower passes, we see Scotts mountains, also a 
 part of the old island. Dark and imposing, these moun- 
 tains rise into the regions of snow; their sides cut and 
 scarred by deep canyons through which the old island pour- 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 37 
 
 ed its waters into the ocean long before the mountain on 
 which we stand had appeared above the surface. Between 
 us and this old island lies the narrow valley which we have 
 just left and stretching along the old shoreline lies Ashland 
 in plain view. All of the Bear creek arm of the Rogue 
 River valley is just below us sparkling in sunshine and 
 beauty at the foot of the great granite mountains. To 
 the east and northeast are the Cascades with Mt. Mc- 
 Laughlin only forty miles to the northeast rising almost 
 ten thousand feet and clad in perpetual snow. This is one 
 of the most symmetrical and imposing mountains on the 
 Pacific coast. Around its base and stretching away to 
 the south and east lies one of the finest forests on the 
 continent. In places league upon league of this forest 
 seems almost level and unbroken. Here the sugar pine, 
 white pine, Douglas fir, white fir, and many other varieties 
 of conifers hide beautiful lakes, glades and natural parks 
 that to him who has wandered among them, have left 
 memories of delight upon which he may draw with the 
 keenest pleasure for a life time. Beyond McLaughlin, still 
 to the northeast and about seventy miles distant, as the 
 crow flies, are seen the high crags about Crater lake. 
 Looking away to the north and northeast are towering 
 summits as far as the eye can reach aided with the best 
 field glass. Following the slope of the mountain from 
 our feet to the north, it falls away rapidly into the heavily 
 timbered canyon of Antelope creek. Following the line 
 of this stream toward the northwest we see it widening, 
 until at the distance of five or six miles it affords width of 
 valley and farms are seen. A few miles further on it 
 debouches into the main Rogue River valley. Again look- 
 ing from our stand on the summit of Grizzly, toward the 
 north we see another ridge, similar to the one we are on, 
 but not so high. This ridge separates Antelope from 
 Butte creek, which also has its course to the west and emp- 
 ties into Rogue river near the center of the valley. Along 
 Butte creek is a valley larger than the Bear creek arm, 
 which reaches almost to the foot of McLaughlin. Beyond 
 that again comes Rogue river up which one may travel 
 among its farms and orchards for twenty five miles. 
 Though the whole valley, almost, is in view we will first 
 notice the streams that are marked by canyons that have 
 worn their course down the mountains and enter the valley 
 from every direction. Each of these mountains has more 
 or less of a margin of fine land suitable for agriculture and 
 horticulture and it will be found that almost every available 
 
$$ PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 spot has been located and the business of home building 
 begun. A more beautiful prospect than the main body 
 of Rogue River valley presents from our lookout could not 
 well be imagined. Each of the entering streams has more 
 or less of valley margin where homes are made. Up some 
 of these streams the valley extends for miles, affording 
 choice and picturesque homes. These places have the 
 advantage of mountain range for stock that will continue 
 to be a common pasturage . They also usually have the 
 advantage of an abundance of water. The streams are 
 clear and cold and where of moderate size are well supplied 
 with trout. Sucn places also have the advantage of 
 game such as is found here. In traveling through the 
 valley on the railroad or by team over the main highways, 
 these little valleys reaching up into the mountains are not 
 seen, and the stranger gets the idea that the valley is much 
 smaller than it is. Again from our perch on Grizzly we 
 see to the southwest and west a lower range or ridge of the 
 Siskiyous with the main summits in view beyond, suggesting 
 a valley between, but which is out of sight. The sugges- 
 tion of a valley there is not deceptive, for if we were to pass 
 over the ridge we would come into the Applegate ' valley, 
 not so large as Rogue River valley but as favored by nature 
 in every other respect. • Its climate is the same and Its 
 numerous homes indicate the same degree of thrift and 
 happiness. Applegate river is one of the principal tribu- 
 taries of Rogue river and is one of the most beautiful and 
 romantic streams to be found in the Siskiyou mountains. 
 In addition to agriculture, horticulture 'and stoc.kraising. 
 the Applegate country is one of the most important mining 
 regions in the state, -of which more wlil.be said^ in later 
 chapters. Looking still to the west of Applegate* moun- 
 tains, which we must remember are only a part of the Sis- 
 kiyous, we see other ridges with still other ones beyond, 
 which to the initiated, suggests Williams creek, Sucker 
 creek and the Illinois River valleys, all within the old feland 
 and belonging to 'the Siskiyous sytem of valleys. None of 
 these valleys can be seen from the main routes of travel 
 and even their existence is- not suggested to the traveler, 
 unless in conversation with some one familiar with the 
 country, but from our perch on Grizzly, the various* ridges, 
 one beyond the other are sufficiently suggestive to' prompt 
 enquiry. From all of this it will be seen that a very im- 
 perfect knowledge of the extent of the valleys of this part 
 of Oregon is obtained by the traveler who learns nothing 
 except what he can see from the car window. When I 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 89 
 
 come to speak of the climate and .productions of the Old 
 Island, it will be understood that all of the valleys belong 
 in the same category. 
 
 Following the summit of Grizzly ridge toward the west 
 for about four miles brings us to a point from which nearly 
 all parts of the main valley can be seen. We now observe 
 that it has its greatest length from Steinman to a point 
 several miles northwest of Grants Pass; a distance of about 
 seventy miles. At its most westerly point Rogue river 
 enters a very rugged' canyon which continues almost to the 
 ocean. The greatest width of valley is perhaps 2 miles, and 
 a more beautiful country to look upon would be hard to 
 find. The beautiful and romantic little city of Ashland, 
 which has been made the starting point for these observa- 
 tions, is in plain view along the foot of the- Siskiyous. 
 Five miles to the northwest is the village of Talent, situated 
 on the banks of Wagner creek which flows from the Siski- 
 yous and for a distance of five or six miles is being crowded 
 with fruit farms and plenty, yet out of sight from the rail- 
 road. Three miles further on is the village of Phoenix 
 in the midst of farms and orchards. Five miles north of 
 Phoenix is the rapidly growing little city of Medford, prac- 
 tically in the center of the valley and with a wealth of farms 
 and orchards surrounding it. Medford in population ranks 
 next to Ashland and is destined to be the commercial center 
 of the valley. Its growth is rapid and substantial. A 
 
 short line of railroad connects it with Jacksonville to the 
 west and the Crater Lake railroad has its junction with 
 the S. P. road here and now extends northeast to Eagle 
 Point and is intended to open up a fine body of timber to 
 the northeast. Ashland, which is especially noted as a 
 home and school town, and a place of great scenic attrac- 
 tions seems destined to become the Colorado Springs o! 5 
 Oregon. The purity and abundance of its water, the 
 great variety of its mineral springs and noted as the site 
 of one of the State Normal schools, a Chautauqua assembly, 
 which meets yearlj \ beautiful parks, flowers and fruit. 
 Tts water supply comes from Ashland butte, is abundant 
 for all purposes and Is absolutely owned and controlled by 
 the city, making it one of the most favored localities on the 
 coast. The foregoing marks the distinctive features of 
 Ashland, while Medford's distinguishing feature is its 
 central location in the valley and its consequent advantage 
 as a commercial center. There ought not to be any feeling 
 of rivalry between these two growing little cities, for that 
 in which each excels is not a matter of competition between 
 
40 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 them, and yet there seems to be a senseless feeling of 
 rivalry with its usual accompaniments. 
 
 Five miles west of Medford is Jacksonville, the county 
 seat of Jackson county and the oldest town in southern 
 Oregon. Jacksonville was first settled as a mining camp, 
 and for more than fifty years has been one of Oregon's mosi 
 noted mining localities. Until the building of the S. P. 
 railroad Jacksonville was the chief town in souther:) Ore- 
 gon. As I have elsewhere said, it occupies a cove at the 
 foot of the Siskiyou mountains which once formed a land- 
 locked harbor when the old island was surround ec! by the 
 ocean. The site and vicinity of Jacksonville was once very 
 '•'ch in placer gold and millions of dollars in gold dusr. have 
 been bandied there since the first disco /ery about sixty 
 years ago. If we were writing a political history of 
 Oregon it would be necessary to give at least a chapter to 
 Jacksonville. After Medford sprung into existence, and 
 Jacksonville had been left five miles away from the railroad, 
 it was shorn of its laurels as the chief town, but still re- 
 tains an extensive business and is the chief supply point 
 for the mines to the south and west and for the trade of 
 the farmers and orchardists of the Applegate country. 
 There is not a more beautiful location for a town in all the 
 valley and the development of the copper mines south from 
 Jacksonville, in the heart of the Siskiyous, of which men- 
 tion will be made further on, has given to the old town 
 a new impetus. 
 
 Remembering that we are viewing the valley from a 
 point of Grizzly mountain, from which all of these towns 
 are plainly seen, we look north from Medford along the 
 railroad and at the distance of four miles see Central Point 
 another thriving town, perhaps as much entitled to be con- 
 sidered the central town of the valley as its neighbor. 
 This town is also flourishing and exhibits its orchards and 
 farms with as much pride as does Medford. Some of the 
 most noted orchards of the state are just at the outskirts 
 of Central Point. Eleven miles northeast of Central Point is 
 Eagle Point, not on the railroad, but on the banks of 
 Butte creek and located in one of the finest sections of the 
 valley. Eagle Point is at present the terminus of the 
 Medford and Crater Lake railroad. Its position is pic- 
 turesque and is surrounded with fine farms and orchards 
 with an abundance of water for irrigation and other pur- 
 poses. Butte creek affords many excellent sites for power. 
 The stream is one of the largest that enters the valley and 
 comes direct from Mt. McLaughlin. The Butte creek arm 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OP OREGON. 41 
 
 of the valley constitutes an important part of the county 
 and extends up that stream for ten or twelve miles above 
 Eagle Point, is populous and rich. 
 
 Returning now to Central Point and following the 
 railroad five miles further to the north we reach the bank 
 of Rogue river at the new town of Gold Ray. Here a 
 wealthy company has placed a fine concrete dam across 
 the river and constructed a large power plant that furnishes 
 all the valley with electricity. The company has already 
 laid out at least a half million dollars in their project and 
 are planning lines of electric roads that shall bind the whole 
 valley. Electricity is furnished for the operation of mines 
 and machinery in all parts of the valley and surrounding- 
 mountains. Perhaps there is not planned many more ex- 
 tensive electrical plants on the coast, nor with finer pros- 
 pects. The stream is an ideal one for such purposes. 
 Near by is the Table Rocks, one of the points of scenic 
 interest along the line of this "Road of a Thousand Won- 
 ders." These rocks cover a considerable area, several 
 miles in extent. They rise to a height of six or seven 
 hundred feet above the river with a talus slope for the 
 first two or three hundred feet, terminating in vertical 
 cliffs of basaltic lava, the top of which is practically a level 
 plain covered with the usual bush growths of the "region. 
 At the base of the talus is sandstone with indications of 
 coal. To the north of these cliffs and not in view from 
 the road lies Sams valley, really a part of Rogue River 
 valley, and one of its richest sections. It is several miles 
 in extent each way, and as an agricultural, horticultural 
 and dairying region ranks high. ' The railroad from this 
 point on to Grants Pass, about twenty five miles runs dir- 
 ectly along the bank of Rogue river. At about six miles 
 below Gold Ray we cross the river and draw up at Gold Hill, 
 a prosperous and growing town of six or seven hundred 
 people who are very enthusiastic in discussing the future 
 of their little city of which they are justly proud. Mining 
 is extensively carried on in the vicinity, besides which, 
 Sams valley and meadows a few miles to the northeast, 
 are supplied at Gold Hill and from there do their shipping. 
 From this point to Grants Pass the valley is narrow and 
 most of the available spots are occupied by farmers, miners 
 and fruit growers. As we go spinning down the north 
 bank of the river we notice streams coming in from the 
 mountains on both sides bordered with ranches, running 
 back into the mountains and everywhere we see mining 
 operations and do not need to be told that in this occupa- 
 
42 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 tion many of the farmers busy themselves during that 
 season of the year when thp streams are full. Nine miles 
 west of Gold Hill we pass Woodville, another prosperous 
 village. Here the lumber yards tell us of mills in the 
 mountains; hop drying houses, fruit dryers and milk cans 
 show diversified industry. Extensive mining is done in 
 the vicinity, and the indications show that we are yet along 
 the shoreline of the old island. Nine miles further brings 
 us to Grants Pass, the county seat of Josephine county. 
 This is a very thriving little city of about four thousand 
 inhabitants. It is the principal town of the county and 
 does a large business. It lies on both banks of the river 
 and has a large area of the valley tributary to it. Being 
 the only place of any note in the county it has the trade 
 of a very large area. This particular section is becoming 
 noted for the cultivation of grapes as well as the other 
 products for which southern Oregon is famous. Williams 
 Creek valley, Althouse, Sucker creek and the Illinois vallies 
 are all within tUe limits of Josephine county and the old 
 island. It has also the largest mining interests of any of 
 the towns of southern Oregon. From Grants Pass the 
 railroad bears off to the north through the mountains and 
 leaves Rogue River valley. We will therefore, not follow 
 it further, as we are dealing with the pre-historic Siskiyou 
 island and will have more to say about it later on. It will 
 be remembered that we commenced this view from one of 
 the western points of Grizzly mountain, from which we 
 were able to see all except that which I have described 
 after leaving Gold Hill. 
 
Chapter VI. 
 
 THE CLIMATE AND SOIL OF ROGUE RIVER VALLEY. 
 
 "I hold that we have a very imperfect know- 
 ledge of the works of nature till we view them as 
 the works of God — not only as the works of mech- 
 anism but works of intelligence, not only as under 
 laws, but under a Lawgivtr, wise and good." — 
 (James McCnsh.) 
 
 The climate of Rogue River valley is in all essential 
 respects identical with all other valleys that belong to the 
 northern slope of Siskiyou island. This slope, however, 
 differs from that of any other portion of the Pacific coast. 
 Any good map of California and Oregon will show that the 
 Sierra Nevada and Coast Range of mountains in California, 
 are practically parallel with each other and are separated 
 by two great central valleys of that state, i.e., the San 
 Joaquin and Sacramento; that at the northern end of the 
 Sacramento valley a great cluster of mountains fills the 
 space from the Sierra Nevada westerly to the ocean and 
 extends far up into Oregon, and that in the last named 
 state the same great cluster fills the space between the 
 Cascades and the ocean until you reach a point almost west 
 of the southern end of the Willamette valley which separ- 
 ates the Cascades from the Coast Range. This great 
 cluster constitutes the Old Island with which we are deal- 
 ing and has its greatest length north by a few points west 
 and is over two hundred miles long, and in its greatest 
 width is nearly ninety miles. The state line between 
 California and Oregon divides the Old Island, about equally 
 between these states. When we come to consider this 
 island as a great cluster of mountains before the Cascades 
 or Coast range came above the water, and that when they 
 did rise the Cascades closed upon the Siskiyous at an al- 
 titude of more than four thousand feet and that the Coast 
 range abutted upon the island at its northern and southern 
 extremity on a line with its western shore, we will readily 
 understand that it became a great watershed, throwing 
 the waters south toward the Sacramento and north toward 
 Rogue river and the Umpqua. In passing from San Francisco 
 to Portland, the summit of the Siskiyous is the highest 
 point. Shasta valley in California lies to the east of the 
 Old Island and has an altitude of about three thousand 
 feet or more, with the high snowy Scotts mountains to 
 
44 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 the south and equally lofty Siskiyou mountains to the north 
 and west, and Mt. Shasta with its perpetual snow and gla- 
 ciers on its southeastern border, we can easily understand 
 that its climate is rendered more rigorous thereby. Rogue 
 River valley ranges in altitude from one thousand to two 
 thousand five hundred feet above the ocean, and while it 
 is also surrounded by high mountains, yet with its lower al- 
 titude and the absence of such mountains as Shasta to 
 directly affect it, it is apparent that its climate is much 
 modified. The average rainfall for the past twenty-four 
 years in Rogue River valley has been a little less than 
 twenty inches, and snow seldom falls to a greater depth 
 than two or three inches nor remains on the ground more 
 than a few hours. A sleigh or cutter would be a curiosity 
 about farm yards, and water pipes often remain uncovered 
 throughout the winter without freezing. There are times 
 when the thermometer falls below freezing point, but for it 
 to reach zero is a very rare occurrence. Roses often bloom 
 in the open air until Christmas and in sheltered places still 
 later. Strawberries fresh from the vines are a usual luxury 
 for Thanksgiving and fruit trees frequently bloom in Feb- 
 ruary. Outside pasture for stock is green the winter 
 through and range stock seldom require any feeding. I " 
 am now writing in the middle of January, 1908, and up 
 to the present time there has been no more than a simple 
 suggestion of freezing this winter and the mountain sides 
 look green and spring-like. Up to this time there has not 
 been snow enough up to an altitude of twenty-five hundred 
 feet to suggest a whitening of the ground, though tin 
 higher mountains are covered with a generous supply. 
 In a few places about the valley, figs, oranges and lemons 
 grow and sometimes mature, though they are not consider- 
 ed as more than ornamental. It is the home of the peach, 
 apple, pear, apricot and prune, and as fine melons as can be 
 found in any country are produced here in great abundance 
 and shipped to less favored places by the car load. The 
 apples and pears are unexcelled and horticulture is becom- 
 ing the chief industry. Apples and pears are shipped to 
 the great markets of this country and foreign parts and the 
 highest prices ever paid in the markets of New York for 
 such fruits have been paid for Rogue River shipments. 
 
 Irrigation is not extensively resorted to, but where 
 it is desired the mountains furnish an abundance of water. 
 During the summer months the skies are warm and sunny, 
 with occasional showers sometimes torrential in character. 
 This will be easily understood when we consider the high 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 45 
 
 mountains as great condensers of moisture. The rarity of 
 the atmosphere in the neighborhood of their summits pro- 
 duces draughts of colder, and consequently heavier air, which, 
 displacing the warmer, lighter currents of the valley carry 
 down moisture, that having condensed in the cooler air 
 above is now expanded to the form of vapor, mist and rain, 
 gently or violently according to the degree of the meteor- 
 ological changes that take place. These currents of air 
 cooled and directed by high mountain ranges, and supplied 
 by nearby ocean currents are subjected to a variableness 
 of conditions that must prevail in such an environment. 
 
 The great diversity of the climate found on the Pacific 
 coast is plainly due to the Japan current and the trend and 
 height of the mountain ranges. The usual trend of such 
 ranges on the American continent, is northerly and south- 
 erly parallel with each other. The warmer a current of 
 air, the higher it will fly. Cool it and it will drop lower. 
 The higher it goes, the cooler and dryer the atmosphere 
 and the greater is the tendency toward condensation and 
 consequent precipitation. If the currents of air through 
 which the moisture falls are cold enough snow or hail will 
 result, otherwise it will be rain. The Japan current of the 
 Pacific ocean coursing southerly, parallel with the coast, 
 bears water warmer than the main mass causing vapor to 
 rise from its surface. The heavier, because colder, air 
 from the mountains inland naturally drops toward the 
 ocean, where the water is warmer and the atmospheric 
 vapor is consequently lighter. This vapor is lifted above 
 the heavier air which settles to the surface and displaces 
 it. The vapor so lifted rises to atmospheric currents that 
 are running landward and are borne inland and dropped 
 as snow on the high mountains and as rain in the valleys. 
 The Coast range in Oregon and Washington, while 
 high enough to condense a great deal of the moisture being 
 borne inland, only lightens the heavily burdened clouds and 
 enables them to rise higher, just like dropping ballast from 
 a balloon enables the aeronaut to go higher and fly 
 further. The great width of the Columbia river enables 
 vast volumes of these moisture laden clouds and fogs to 
 pass inland until the Cascade range interposes its mass 
 and height, and the clouds so laden are turned aside into 
 the valleys on either hand and, effected by the cold breezes 
 from the mountains, copious rains result. The Coast 
 
 range not rising high enough to be impassable for the bulk 
 of the heavily laden clouds, furnishes a way in its lower 
 passes where they fly over and reinforce the volumes sent 
 
46 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 up the Columbia. The Willamette valley is, therefore, 
 bountifully supplied, and the residue sent across the Cas- 
 cades to eastern Oregon, or southerly across the Calapooia 
 mountains to the Umpqua valley, where they are reinforced 
 by a goodly supply sent inland through the pass furnished 
 by the Umpqua river directly from the ocean. Still other 
 ranges and spurs of mountains lie between the Umpqua 
 and Rogue River valleys, over which not a very great sur- 
 plus passes after supplying the Willamette and Umpqua, 
 leaving Rogue river to other sources of supply. It is true 
 that Rogue river also flows directly into the ocean, but for 
 fifty miles of its lower course it passes through a deep and 
 narrow gorge upon each side of which the mountains rise 
 to a great height. Threfore Rogue river does not furnish 
 passage for any great quantity of moisture laden clouds 
 from the ocean, and that coming inland over the high Sis- 
 kiyous is very largely precipitated as snow on the mountains. 
 This insures an abundance of water to be furnished by the 
 streams in the summer for irrigation and other purposes 
 and relieves us from the annoyance of continued rains in 
 the winter time. It will be seen that Rogue River valley, 
 in fact all the valleys lying on the north slope of the Sis- 
 kiyou island, have a different environment from the other 
 valleys of the coast. It is far enough inland to be shut 
 off from some of the annoyance of extreme humidity, high 
 enough and so environed with snowy mountains as to be 
 releived from extreme heat and drought so characteristic of 
 southern California, and with sufficient influence from al- 
 titude and ocean currents to take it out of the category 
 of "cold" climates. The valleys on the north slope of the 
 Old Island have, therefore an unique climate, and easily 
 explainable from the natural conditions environing it — 
 conditions that were marked out by the architect of the 
 Universe while yet the Pacific ocean covered a great deal 
 of the continent and Europe was still largely under the 
 sea. 
 
 We are yet to consider the soils which to a great extent 
 determine the wealth and value of southwestern Oregon. 
 From what has already been said the reader will- remember 
 that the mass of the Siskiyou mountains is largely of gran- 
 ite. Hence we will see that granite very generally enters 
 into the soils of the valleys, especially on that side of 
 the valley directly bordering on the Siskiyou mountains. 
 On the other side, that bordering on the Cascades and the 
 spurs of that range, we will find the soils to be very differ- 
 ent. Considerable space has been used in describing 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 47 
 
 Grizzly mountain and its formation, for the reason that it 
 may be taken as a type of the Cascade formation. We 
 have seen that there is at least four thousand feet of sedi- 
 ment forming this mountain and that it is capped with 
 basaltic lava, and that there are many extinct volcanos and 
 mud springs on its sides. This is not only true of Grizzly 
 but of other spurs and ridges of the Cascades. The dis- 
 integration of the shale, sandstone, clay, gravel, etc., would 
 of course produce soils consistent with the character of mat- 
 erial being used. The disintegration of basaltic lava, and 
 the mud from volcanic springs produce a "doby" soil, 
 very strong and productive but sticky and disagreeable to 
 work or travel over when it is wet. From the Siskiyou 
 side comes granite, clay and lime which, when mixed near 
 the center of the valley, with the soils coming from the 
 Cascades forms a combination very difficult to beat. 
 
 Remembering that over two thousand feet of the sedi- 
 mentary formation of Grizzly is above the top of the oil 
 well, and almost as much more between the top and bottom 
 of the well, we will realize that an immense amount of that 
 which was raised out of the ocean where it had been 
 deposited, has been washed away and that the present 
 surface of the valley lies more than a thousand feet below 
 the great boulder beds described in an earlier chapter. 
 Lying between Medford and Eagle Point is a broad level 
 tract of country, many miles in extent, which is called the 
 "desert," because it is covered with washed pebbles and 
 boulders. This so-called "desert" lies along the Cascade 
 side of the valley, and a few miles up the slope of the 
 mountain will be seen here and there the exposed boulder 
 cliffs with the sandstone resting on top. ' Elsewhere we 
 have examined and described this sandstone and the re- 
 cords of sea action on the cliffs and the fossil remains 
 contained in them. Miles and miles of these sandstones 
 have been eroded and washed away by the natural wear of 
 the sea against the mountain. The softer materials were 
 carried away by the billows of the sea. The shales, clays and 
 sandstones were broken into fragments or reduced to sand, 
 but these boulders were not so easily disposed of. By 
 the time the boulder beds were reached in the course of the 
 erosion of the mountain, an arm of the sea, or possibly a 
 lake had formed where Rogue River valley is and into it 
 these boulders were washed or rolled, as the cliffs were dis- 
 integrated and carried seaward. That this was the result 
 of sea action has been shown by the old sea beaches and 
 the surf carved sandstone lying on top of the boulder beds. 
 
48 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 Along Bear creek and other streams having tributaries 
 coming from this great mass of sediment, will be found soil 
 composed of a fine mould that has been enriched by the 
 supply of organic matter held in the sedimentary deposits 
 that are being drawn upon by every spring and winter 
 freshet. Elsewhere I have mentioned a horizon of coal. 
 Near Siskiyou station this coal is almost four thousand feet 
 above the sea. Following the coal croppings to the 
 northwest along Grizzly mountain we see the horizon 
 gradually becoming lower and lower, which really marks 
 the grade of the uplift, for this horizon of coal was in all 
 probability at one time practically at the sea level. At 
 Coos bay we will find the coal mines being worked at the 
 level of the ocean, yet it is doubtless, the same deposit, 
 or rather a formation of coal produced all along this line 
 at, or about the same period, when the shore we have been 
 tracing was continuous around the old island and being 
 bathed by the waves of the sea. The Cascades rose first 
 and carried the country gradually up with it, sloping sea- 
 ward. Afterwards another folding has 0C2urred where 
 the Coast range is, and as the range rose slowly from the 
 water it lifted the country lying between it and the Cas- 
 cades, beginning that expansion of the continent which has 
 finally produced the Willamette and Umpqua valleys, and 
 shut out the sea from Rogue River valley. For long ages 
 the Willamette valley was a great inland sea similar to 
 what Puget sound now is, and the Columbia river was a 
 great strait similar to the straits of Fuca, connecting the 
 Willamette sea with the ocean. This uplifting continued 
 gradually until the sea was entirely expelled and the Wil- 
 lamette was left to be worked by Nature's methods into 
 the wonderful country which we now see it. After the 
 rising of the Coast range as before suggested, it appears 
 that Rogue River valley became a lake or land-locked arm 
 of the sea. The fossils and fresh water beach lines, now 
 plainly marked on the slope of Grizzly indicate this. Dur- 
 ing that time there is no doubt that much of the sediment 
 that forms the present soils of the valley was being deposit- 
 ed, from the older worked over sediments that were bein^ 
 washed from the surrounding mountains, and thoroughly 
 mixed at the bed of this lake or sea arm. The waves of 
 the ocean no longer operating along the sandstone and 
 boulder cliffs, the wearing away of these masses became 
 very slow and the boulders were being left on the talus 
 slopes and foothills of the valley, and were not carried down 
 into the valley-surface deposit, except on the so-called 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 49 
 
 "desert", which appears to have been the last to be 
 drained of its water and there we find the boulders on the 
 surface, in little rounded areas depressed in the middle, 
 just as we see the coarser materials of deposit now being 
 left in little clusters and bunches at the bottoms of shallow 
 lakes that are disturbed by waves and currents. That 
 these deposits came from the Cascade mountains is evident 
 from the fact that the soil deposited with the boulders is, 
 at least on the top, "dob'y" from the basaltic lava that is 
 only found in that direction. This boulder-strewn area 
 will sometime in the future be reclaimed by removing the 
 boulders and cultivating the strong "doby" soil that is 
 plentiful and very productive. To discuss the possible 
 source of these boulder cliffs would lead too far afield for 
 the purposes of this little book. Besides nothing more 
 than a theory could be advanced to account for them. It 
 would, however, call us into a geological review of east- 
 ern Oregon and a more elaborate discussion of the Cascade 
 range, old river beds beyond the mountains and the fossil 
 beds of the Great Basin between the Cascades and the 
 ±tocky mountains. We will not go into this at this time, 
 but in the following chapter I will add a word on Crater 
 lake which will involve some further notice of the Cascade 
 range. 
 
 We have already devoted considerable time in discuss- 
 ing the formation of the Cascade range in order to show its 
 relation to the Old Island and influence upon the climate 
 and soil of Rogue River valley and have said little of the 
 formation, mineral resources and scenic attractions of the 
 Siskiyous. In fact it appears to me that among the important 
 assests of Oregon are its scenic attractions. These of 
 course are not confined to the section of the state of which 
 this little book assumes chiefly to treat. In the belief that 
 the divesion will not detract from the reader's interest, 
 I will insert as the following chapter, a lecture (somewhat 
 changed), delivered by me before the Oregon Development 
 League at Salem in November, 19 06, and which was after- 
 wards published in the Chamber of Commerce Bulletin at 
 Portland. The subject assigned to me was Scenic Oregon, 
 a subject that could easily be made to fill a volume and in 
 the discussion of which a single lecture was not adequate. 
 
Chapter VII. 
 
 SCENIC ATTRACTIONS AND HOW AVE SHOULD VIEW 
 
 THEM. 
 
 * * * * "And I have felt 
 
 A presence that disturbs me with the joy 
 Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime 
 Of something far more deeply interfused, 
 Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, 
 And the round ocean and the living air, 
 And the sky, and in the mind of man." 
 
 — ( Wordsworth. ) 
 
 This is an age of commercialism. Dollars and cents 
 furnish the trade mark in the world's activity. Climate 
 and soil must stand the test of adaptibility and pro- 
 ductiveness, and the label on the can or package consti- 
 tutes the best advertising matter in this age of money 
 getting. 
 
 The rigors of climate create resourcefulness in the 
 methods devised to overcome and modify the effects, and 
 its very inconveniences are productive of new fields of en- 
 ergy and enterprise. The ancient storage batteries of the 
 sun are exploited in the development of coal mines in 
 climates most rigorous and regions the most desolate. 
 
 The magnificent forests of our mountains are attacked 
 by an insatiable savagery born of greed. The streams 
 that come leaping, sparkling and singing from the moun- 
 taln heights are viewed with the eyes of cupidity and 
 engineers are employed to estimate the horsepower they 
 see running away, or the acres that may be irrigated by 
 them, the dollar mark being kept constantly in view. 
 
 The moment a new usefulness is discovered in the end- 
 less bounties of nature, the genius of man finds a method 
 of appropriating it. The beauties of nature are marred 
 or destroyed with a ruthlessness born of greed, the spirit 
 of the age. 
 
 The delightful parks and glades in our mountain 
 fastnesses, where nature -runs riot in the creation of beauty 
 and song, are made desolate for the benefit of the wool 
 market and stock yards. The spirit, however, which 
 prompts all this is, in the main, all right. In fact I am 
 inclined to agree with Pope that "whatever is, is right." 
 
 It does not follow that because the commercial spirit 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OP OREGON. 51 
 
 Is uppermost and always aggressive, the esthetic quality in 
 man is growing less. In the home we have music, pictures* 
 poetry and about the home flowers, fruit and fragrance. 
 We live for love, and love revels in that which soothes and 
 pleases the mind. The grand in nature finds admiration 
 in the souls of men, and in the contemplation of it man 
 finds not only recreation and rest, but opportunity for study 
 and food for dreaming. The softer sentiments wherein 
 lie the sweetest possibilities are not in the every day 
 struggle for lucre, but in the moments of respite, when 
 music charms, the fragrance of flowers soothe, and the 
 poetic sentiment springs to the spot where room is made 
 for it. 
 
 The Switzer or Highland Scottsman tunes his harp 
 to sing of the beauties and grandeurs of his native land. 
 When away from it he longs to return to it, and 'tis then, 
 when far away and homesick, memory comes to his aid. 
 Again he revels among the hills and peaks of his nativity. 
 'Tis then the absent Switzer remembers that the highest 
 Alps, the glaciers and sunken lakes make up one of the 
 greatest assets of his native land. It is there and be- 
 cause of that, that thousands of pilgrims from all quarters 
 of the globe congregate. There and for the moment the 
 struggle for money is forgotten and the enjoyment of the 
 sweets to be purchased with it is felt. There, is spent 
 with lavish hand the dollars that were elsewhere sought 
 with almost savage greed. 
 
 It is in the hours of such pleasure that the tight fisted 
 become the openhanded, and those whose country furnishes 
 that for which they lavishly pay, reap rich harvest from 
 foreign coffers. To the dwellers there, the great natural 
 wonders they have to show become assets of greatest profit. 
 Mountain peaks and glaciers, sunken lakes and water-falls 
 are resources, and counted as such. 
 
 These things speak a universal language and are 
 understood by the charmed multitude, though that multi- 
 tude may not understand the language of the human units 
 that make it up. 
 
 "A motion and a spirit, that impels 
 
 All thinking things, all objects of all thought, 
 
 And rolls through all things. Therefore am I still 
 
 A lover of the meadows and the woods, 
 
 And mountains; and of all that we behold 
 
 Prom this green earth; of all the mighty world 
 
 Of eye and ear, both what they half create 
 
 And what perceive; well pleased to recognize 
 
52 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 In nature and language of the sense, 
 The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse, 
 The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul 
 Of all my moral being." 
 
 So sang Wordsworth of those subtle influences awaken- 
 ed in him as he he reveled in "Gods Out of Door." Every 
 lover of nature knows what such sentiments are and how 
 the nerves tingle with the joy of the sdul; the pulsating 
 throb of the Universe. 
 
 The millions upon millions of dollars that are annually 
 carried out of our own county by sight-seeing pilgrims to 
 foreign lands, are no less purchasers of the products of 
 such lands than are those who buy of their manufactured 
 articles and products of the soil. No country is richer 
 in these natural wonders than our own. If such sights and 
 scenes are resources of value there, why ought not we, 
 with many as great and some greater, class them upon 
 the utilitarian side in that which they bring to us from 
 the wealth of the sightseeing, while at the same time 
 our esthetic taste is charmed and strengthened? A whole 
 volume would be crowded with even a meager description 
 of the sights and scenes in our own state that are worthy 
 of the closest attention of travelers and sight-seers. 
 
 The entry into Oregon from California by the Southern 
 Pacific railroad — one of the most delightfully scenic roads 
 in the world — never fails to charm, even the most phlegma- 
 tic. To climb the Siskiyou mountains and view the broad ex- 
 panse of mountain billows through the gentle silvery sheen 
 of an autumn sunlight, is a treat never to be forgotten. 
 To sit at the car window as the train speeds along through 
 the valleys of Oregon, and drink in the delights of an ever 
 changing panorama, nature's own painting, encased in its 
 framework of mountains, many of which pierce the blue 
 vault, snow capped and pine clad, is a great treat 
 that opens the heart and hand of the most tightfisted and 
 so-called practical business man. The generosity thus 
 aroused is an asset we should not ignore. 
 
 A climb to the summit of Mt. McLauglin brings en- 
 chantment in the view presented; twenty lakes are within 
 vision, each a gem nestling in the forests that surround 
 the base of the mighty mountain. These lakes are cold, 
 pearly clear, and filled with trout while the forest abounds 
 in game. 
 
 Until you have seen Crater lake your tour of sight- 
 seeing will be incomplete. It is admitted to be one of 
 the great wonders of the world. It is unique among the 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 53 
 
 great natural wonders. It is the deepest body of fresh 
 water with the single exception of Lake Baikal in Siberia. 
 It is the crater of an extinct volcano, the greatest of its 
 kind; twenty miles in circumference, four thousand feet 
 deep, with a depth of over two thousand feet of water. 
 Its banks tower two thousand feet above the water surface, 
 from which they appear awe-inspiring in their grandeur. 
 The inside dimensions at its water surface are six and a 
 quarter by four and a quarter miles, and snow banks per- 
 petually decorate the inner rim of the crater. There are 
 no visible inlets or outlets to or from the lake, and the 
 water as seen from the cliffs is in color, ultra marine, 
 except in a few shallow places near the shore, where It 
 changes to the deepest green. Near the west side is 
 Wizard island, a cinder cone, the last chimney of the old 
 volcano, standing eight hundred forty-five feet above the 
 water with a crater in the top five hundred feet across and 
 a hundred feet deep. Two miles east of the island the 
 water is two thousand two hundred feet deep, making the 
 island a mountain inside the main crater more than three 
 thousand feet high. The crater in this island also has 
 its banks of perpetual snow. Around the lake fragments 
 of glaciers still cling, and evidences of glacial action out- 
 side of the rim of the great crater, together with the 
 character of the formation, shows conclusively that where 
 the lake now is was formerly a mountain towering, perhaps, 
 six or eight thousand feet above its present highest pin- 
 nacle, which has been torn away and scattered over the 
 surrounding country. Imagination is called into action 
 with little fear of exaggeration. The lake has been stock- 
 ed by the government with rainbow trout and not long 
 ago I caught trout there that measured eighteen inches in 
 length, and am told that it is not unusual to find them 
 two feet long. 
 
 About the lake are many noted peaks and beautiful 
 natural parks. The highest points are more than eight 
 thousand feet above the sea, and the view from any one of 
 them is magnificent. Join me while we view this panorama. 
 
 Follow the slope of the mountains toward the south 
 along yonder canyon, until it is lost in the gloom of the 
 forest and rocky gorge. From a dark hole in the moun- 
 tain side, with many a babbling sound and musical ripple, 
 flows Anna's creek, as if laughing in its glee at once more 
 beholding the sunlight and mountain shadows after a tur- 
 bulent journey through Plutonian darkness in its passage 
 from Crater lake. Its course for a dozen succeeding miles 
 
54 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 is through a romantic canyon, with vertical walls hundreds 
 of feet high. This of course we cannot see from our 
 perch, but we can see the course of the canyon, and where 
 it enters Klamath valley, which is spread out below us 
 like a map, or painting clothed in yellow and green, its 
 broad stretches of meadow, fringed and separated by long 
 lines of tamarack and willow, making the water courses 
 clear and cold, a veritable fisherman's paradise. Further 
 on is seen the shining surface of "Big" Klamath lake, 
 bordered and fringed with its marshes of tule and Pelican 
 Bay, the recently purchased summer home of E H Harriman, 
 the whole incased with a framework of mountains, whose 
 summits to the west are covered with snow, their sides 
 clothed with dense forests of pine and fir, appearing dark 
 blue in the distance, while high, craggy, sparsely timbered 
 basaltic ridges rise to the east. 
 
 At the southern end of Klamath lake the mountains 
 have dwindled in proportions and are bare of timber. 
 Through them and having its course southward, we mark 
 a canyon and through it we know that Link river runs, 
 and though only a mile and a half in length, it drains an 
 immense area of country. The Klamath Basin comprising 
 several thousand square miles, is in plain view, and still 
 further on Mt. Shasta pierces the blue vault 14,440 feet 
 high, and though a hundred miles away it seems near at 
 hand. 
 
 To the southeast skirting the mountains that lie to 
 the east of Link River Basin, is Lost river, which further 
 on empties into Tule lake, that silvery spot with its dark 
 back ground of lava beds, where Canby and Thomas fell, 
 victims of a mistaken policy in the war with Captain Jack, 
 the renegade Modoc chief. Just below us only twenty 
 miles away and plainly seen on the bank of Wood river is 
 old Fort Klamath where Captain Jack and three of his 
 murderous companions were hanged in October 1873. I 
 witnessed the execution and on the next day made my first 
 vist to Crater lake thirty-five years ago. From our stand on 
 the brink of this great abyss we now turn to the east and ob- 
 tain a wonderful expanse of vision. The "Great Oregon des- 
 ert." is in view, with Steins mountains beyond it, where Chief 
 Moses toyed with Uncle Sam's wavering policies during the 
 war of 187 8 and 1879. To the northeast, Bear creek 
 buttes rear their heads six thousand feet above sea level, 
 and mark, practically the geographical center of Oregon. 
 To the north Diamond peak and the Three Sisters may 
 be seen along the fracture line of the Cascades, marking 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 55 
 
 spots once energetic in volcanic action. To the west we 
 may trace the coast range for many a mile. To the south- 
 west Mt. McLauglin shines like burnished steel in the sun- 
 light only thirty miles away, while still beyond it the 
 rugged Siskiyous add still further grandeur to the view and 
 fragments of Rogue River valley are thrown into the pic- 
 ture by way of decoration. In short we are standing on 
 a pivot upon which we may turn and have within the scope 
 of our vision thousands of square miles of territory, em- 
 bracing mountain and plain, hill and vale, desert lands 
 and garden spots, lakes and rivers, winter and summer 
 and spots that are bloody pages in the history of Oregon 
 and California. Here we are standing on the very spot 
 where the most violent volcanic action occurred during 
 that period when an expansion of the continent was 
 wresting our Old Island from its lonely environment of 
 ocean, and bringing to the sunlight an empire of the west; 
 here nature thundered her loudest acclaims when Oregon 
 was born. 
 
 Neither time nor the purpose of this little volume 
 will permit extended particular description of the many 
 interesting sights to be found in Oregon, which is varied 
 beyond conception in the richness of its many scenic 
 wonders. Perhaps in another volume I may attempt to 
 depict in proper phrase the Columbia that rolls its billows 
 to the sea; Hood, the queen of mountains; Jefferson, the 
 Three Sisters, Diamond peak, and the thousands of sights 
 hidden away in the Cascades, Coast range and Blue moun- 
 tains with their valleys between. We have yet much to 
 explore in the Old Island. I can not, however, resist the 
 temptation of a little further digression. 
 
 The present and the future generations owe and will 
 owe, a debt of gratitude to the projectors of the great Cas- 
 cade forest reserve, and to them will fall the sacred duty 
 of preserving it in the interest of the public. There we 
 may go for health, for recreation and pleasure. These 
 great forest reserves constitute a substantial resource that 
 will not be exhausted by a proper use of them. 
 
 In his book entitled "The Mountains of California," 
 John Muir has dedicated one of the finest tributes to nature 
 that has ever been written. He has not written rhyme, 
 but every page is a poem. No one can read what he says, 
 if the reader has a spark of love of nature in him — and 
 most people have, though it may be latent — without being 
 carried out of himself, out of his human surroundings and 
 into that realm of beauty which only requires a little exper- 
 
56 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 ience to make a genuine enthusiastic. There is no re- 
 creation that so strengthens the physical and at the same 
 time elevates, ennobles and charms, as that of mountain 
 climbing. Those who have been denied the privilege from 
 any cause have not filled out the possibilities of their con- 
 ceptions of intricate variety in the beauties of nature. 
 To wander alone in the mountain forests and listen to the 
 crooning of nature's nymphs is to love that solitude for the 
 company it furnishes. To watch the destructive cyclone 
 on the broad plains of the Mississippi valley, or even t<> 
 read of it, arouses a feeling of terror of the dread forces 
 of winds run wild; but to listen to the' gentleness of these 
 same winds tuned to the musical instruments nature has 
 provided in the pine tops, is to lapse into a sense ol 
 security, with every nerve responsive to the music thej 
 make. 
 
 Who that has sought the nigber mountains has no! 
 been conscious of the stillness with both music and incense 
 in it; the gentle rustling of the pint needles, th? tremu- 
 lous movements of boughs and blanches, the sul-eu sough- 
 ing of the winds in the higher passes, the gentle lullaby of a 
 l'eighboring rill, or the rush and roar of some cataract.. 
 Ihe ever present perfume of the myriads of plants and 
 flowers and resins, forces a conception of nature's cathe- 
 dral, where praises are sung and incense is offered up to the 
 mighty and unseen forces that have built up these massive 
 piles. 
 
 Those who live in the immediate vicinity of the grand- 
 est of mountain scenery, by their very familiarity of near- 
 ness, are often most ignorant of the beauties and benefits, 
 and seem contented if the localities are within the line oi 
 vision and feel no desire, or curiosity for nearer investi- 
 gation. Man builds great sanitariums for the recupera- 
 tion of the votaries of fashion, whose leisure has been 
 misspent in the atmosphere of pestilence and bad breath, 
 and who name these places "health resorts." The change 
 is simply from one kind of dissipation to another; instead 
 of building up wasted tissue, they pull down that which 
 has suffered least, to keep company with that which has 
 suffered more. It is said that "the lowest valleys and 
 the highest hilltops were the Masons' first Lodge room," 
 and that the "groves were God's first temples." It may 
 now be truthfully said, as a rule, that the lowest valleys 
 are the haunts of men, and where you find the densest 
 population you will also find that the mental, physical and 
 morals of humanity suffers most. Wickedness seeks the 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OP OREGON. 57 
 
 multitude, and the multitude grows more wicked from the 
 contact. That is called artificial which is the result of 
 human ingenuity, and human ingenuity is bent to its 
 greatest effort to pander to the passions of men and women, 
 because it pays best in money. He who seeks the solititude 
 of the mountain for the love of it, parts company with 
 avarice and wickedness at least for the time, and revels 
 among the virgin beauties of nature, fresh from the hands 
 of nature's God. The great book is here opened to him, 
 and as he views it all in wonder and wrapped admiration, 
 he feels inclined to enlarge upon Pope, and to say "the 
 greatest study of man is Nature." There is no question 
 that the study of man is a great and proper study, but to 
 study him to the exclusion of the other great lessons that 
 the Creator has spread out around us in Nature, is to mis- 
 construe and restrict some of the strongest evidences of a 
 great and over-ruling power, whose law is nature, and 
 whose records are the rocks, the hills and the valleys. The 
 instruments with which these records are written are the 
 elements of nature with which we must reckon in our 
 study. We cannot neglect these in our study of mankind. 
 The eternal principles of evolution are everywhere vouched 
 for and emphasized. No one will seriously find fault with 
 the hope that after this life a new page will be opened to 
 humanity. None will seriously wish to believe that this 
 life is not a steppingstone to a better one. It seems to 
 me consistent with such a wish and such a hope that, if in 
 the other life we are to be graded and assigned by any rule, 
 or standard, it must in a measure depend on our study 
 and appreciation of nature as it is here opened out. 
 
 To whatever we may be indebted for the life present 
 and to come, we are also indebted for that which gives us 
 genuine pleasure in this life, and that pleasure depends 
 largely upon our study, understanding of and adaptation 
 to the conditions we find in the material world about us. 
 We grow tired of darkness and wish for the sunshine. 
 We are not satisfied with music, nor sermons, nor any 
 other one thing. We appropriate to our use the infinite 
 variety and details that belong to the material mass 
 without stopping to think of the relations we bear to them, 
 or they to each other. We do not stop to study these re- 
 lations and have no conception of the beauties and start- 
 ling surprises in store for the student of nature, who of all 
 others can fully understand such impaired passages as have 
 been written by Wordsworth, Byron and other poets who 
 have gone out of the herds of humanity into the majesty 
 
58 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 of untamed nature and there, forgetting the age r have 
 opened and read the great book. Such as they, can 
 appreciate the beauties of Muir's descriptions and are made 
 better by the change of companionship. Byron says: 
 
 There's pleasure in the pathless woods 
 There is beauty on the lonely shore. 
 
 There is society where none intrude 
 By the deep sea, and music in its roar. 
 
 I love man not the less, but nature more, 
 From these, my wanderings * * * 
 
 To understand well is to observe closely; and how 
 many do so observe? Read Muir's description of the 
 Douglas squirrel and whether you have ever seen this 
 little animal or not, you will be conscious of following one 
 whose whole soul is in his study, and who has not lost sight 
 of the slightest detail. To one who has closely watched 
 this little bundle of sunshine and muscle, comes the delight 
 of seeing him again in his native haunts. So delightfully 
 complete is the description that you hear his chatter; you 
 can see the majesty of the forest where he makes his 
 home; you smell the odors of the pine woods and the 
 balsam of the firs; the fragrance of the flowers and grasses 
 delight your senses; every pine needle and cluster of leafy 
 foliage varies the monotony of a steady sunlight and carries 
 to you so soothingly the music of movement and murmur, 
 that every chord of a healthy being becomes responsive 
 to the melody. 
 
 Whatever may be our conception of the Creator we 
 are here nearest to Him, and as we tune our souls to har- 
 mony with such environment we come into closer contact 
 with the Creator and His creation, "He in us and we in 
 Him", part and parcel of harmonious whole in which is no 
 discord, except in man's egotism or selfishness he makes it. 
 He who seeks the grove finds there the Temple. He climbs 
 to the mountain top and as he stands there and feasts his 
 soul on the grandeur and beauty that is spread out around 
 and below him, his consciousness is more than admiration; 
 it is reverence in the presence of an unseen and mighty 
 power, and his sentiment is that of adoration for the author 
 of it. It needs not the weak devices of humanity to direct 
 his attention; human devices are not needed for such a 
 sermon — a veritable "Sermon on the Mount." Nature 
 sings her own songs; the poet calls it the "music of the 
 spheres." 
 
 In the presence of matured nature the old grow young 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 5V> 
 
 again, moral and physical miasmas are left behind in the 
 haunts of men. The grateful shade* the leaping and singing 
 of the water> fresh from nature's fountain* sparkling and 
 bright as the dew-drops of the morning, invite to restful 
 repose, while the fragrance of nature steals away the 
 senses* and the sweets of unhaunted dream-land make an 
 Elysium of her own combinations. Here* then is the 
 sanatorium that meets every requirement* fills every want, 
 where is built up every tissue; here the mental* physical 
 and moral receives each its proper treatment. Such a 
 book speaks a universal language. No translation or re- 
 vision is required. It makes no difference what tongue 
 is spoken by the auditor, nor whether he be educated or 
 ignorant, savage or civilized* he can read, for himself, and 
 if he will study the book he will gain understanding from 
 it. It is the book of books, nature itself, written by the 
 author of all, and furnishing the text and substance of 
 every other book. Why, then is he who admires it most, 
 seeks it, studies it, and adores the author of it not a 
 consistent worshiper, and pleasing in the sight of its 
 Creator and his. 
 
 He who makes the roses grow, where before was a 
 bleak hillside or barren spot, is a worker in the Father's 
 vineyard. He who studies nature and improves the quality 
 of fruit is a public benefactor, and draws his inspiration 
 from the book. There is a voice crying in the wilderness 
 that rustles the leaves in the tree tops. The birds mingle 
 their melody with the fragrance of the flowers, ferns and 
 grasses. There all is life, activity and joyous freedom, 
 so delightfully blended as to make up the most harmonious 
 whole. Man alone is a breeder of discord in his scramble 
 with man. There are too many teachers among the 
 creatures, with little thought of the lessons of harmony 
 taught in the book of nature. 
 
Chapter. VIII. 
 
 A MORE PARTICULAR EXAMINATION OF THE 
 SISKIYOUS. 
 
 "Here I and the beasts of the desert agree, 
 Mankind are the wolves that I fear, 
 
 They grudge me my natural right to be free, 
 But nobody questions it here." — (Cowper). 
 
 In the preceding chapters we have devoted the space in 
 proof of the insular character of the Siskiyou mountains 
 in pre-historic times. We have shown that it is one of 
 the oldest pieces of terra firma among the continents of 
 today. We will naturally expect to see a very material 
 difference in its rocks, minerals and soils, from the country 
 we have been exploiting, though we find the two abutting 
 upon each other. 
 
 We have discovered that the mineral wealth for which 
 northwestern California and southwestern Oregon have been 
 noted since the earliest settlement of this west coast, is 
 found in and around the Old Island. We have discovered 
 that the Siskiyou mountains afford a watershed with its 
 axis almost corresponding with the line that separates these 
 two states, turning the water to the north and south, and 
 that the axis of th6 Siskiyou range is east and west, which 
 is at right angles with the usual trend of the mountain 
 ranges of the continent. We have discovered that the 
 climate of the region affected by this old mountain island 
 is different from that to be found elsewhere. It now 
 rests with us to make a closer examination of that part of 
 the interior of the old island embraced within the limits 
 of the Siskiyou range, and to make a closer scrutiny of 
 this ancient land. I have mentioned the geological assign- 
 ment of the island to the cretaceous period; the word cre- 
 taceous means chalky, and relates to a formation of so dis- 
 tinctive a character, as to give its name to that period dur- 
 ing which it was formed. In fact we do not know how 
 long before that period the mass of the island was formed, 
 but that it was here as a large body before the cretaceous 
 fossils, we are sure, for we find them in the sandstone that 
 laps up on its old shore. I do not intend to enter into 
 a geological discussion further than to assure an under- 
 standing of what is to follow. From the term "chalk", 
 it is not to be understood that this formation consists 
 wholly of that article known to commerce and the school 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 61 
 
 room as "chalk" and called by that name. It consists of 
 chalky matter sometimes with flints, sometimes with marl, 
 sometimes with neither and frequently merging into various 
 kinds of limestone, intermixed with sandstone filled with 
 shells and other fossil remains of that period, particularly 
 crustaceans, the shelly covering of whose bodies, being of a 
 limy character, enters into the limestone formations peculiar 
 to that period to which this section is assigned. Within 
 the Old Island are extensive limestone caverns, of an older 
 date than the cretaceous. These caverns and marble halls 
 are of great extent and to the description of which a 
 chapter will be given further on. Suffice it to say at this 
 time, that it is generally understood that the larger caves 
 and caverns of the earth are to be found in limestone for- 
 mation, though not wholly or necessarily so. For instance 
 the picturesque cave of Fingal, in Staffa, is in basalt, and 
 in many places modern lava contains caverns of great extent. 
 Rock salt and other formations susceptible to the action of 
 water, form many interesting and beautiful caverns. Pro- 
 fessor Liebig in explaining the formation of stalactites and 
 stalagmites, has suggested that agency which rapidly forms 
 caverns in limestone, by the action of water charged with < 
 carbonic acid gas. The mold of a superficial soil being 
 acted on by moisture and air, evolves carbonic 
 acid which is dissolved by rain. The rain . water 
 thus charged, permeating the calcareous strata, has the 
 power of taking up a portion of lime, which it retains' in 
 solution and carries along with it, until evaporation has 
 discharged the excess of carbonic acid, when the lime is 
 precipitated, and if in a cavern many fantastic shapes are 
 formed; or if the stream still charged reaches the open 
 air the lime will be deposited along its bed and shores, 
 incrusting the banks and clinging to the roots of trees and 
 other objects that afford it a resting place. Some of my 
 readers will recall from memory the existence of such 
 streams and such deposits that have come under their own 
 observation. Often these cretaceous deposits have been 
 formed at the bottom of the ocean, in thin horizontal strata, 
 consisting chiefly of microscopic shells. Such deposits 
 more generally resemble chalk than ordinary limestone. Now 
 if such a sea bottom should become dry land and then be 
 subjected to volcanic action which would break it up and 
 change the position of its broken parts from horizontal to 
 vertical, or to any angle away from horizontal, a character 
 of formation would be exhibited exactly like that now to be 
 seen in the vicinity of the old mines two or three miles 
 
<>2 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 below Ashland and at many other points about this Old 
 Island. Again, if such cretaceous deposits be formed in 
 the deep depressions of the sea, they will have greater thick- 
 ness and may reach hundreds, or even thousands of feet 
 in depth. Such deposits may now be seen along the line 
 of the Grand canyon of the Colorado that were once at the 
 bed of the sea and have been elevated and crumpled in the 
 course of the contraction of the earth; cross sections are 
 exhibited where the stream has cut through them making 
 it possible to measure the depth of the deposits. This 
 great natural wonder has been most delightfully explained 
 and described by Captain C. E. Dutton of the United States 
 Geological department. 
 
 Now let us suppose this old sea bed to have been slowly 
 uplifted until it became dry land and after many ages of 
 exposure, and the changes consequent upon sunshine and 
 shadow, rain and drouth, heat and cold, volcanic action 
 and metamorphic effect, this deposit is pierced by some 
 subterranean convulsion, of which steam furnishes the 
 chief force, and this followed by fitful outbursts of water 
 heated as only subterranean fires or nature's chemistry can 
 do it, and we will have this great mass of matter boiling 
 and bubbling, rising and falling, and becoming more and 
 more mixed with the wreckage of greater depths, the whole 
 seething mass carrying with it, not its original character but 
 a new one, a mush and mud boiling over its sides; aqueous 
 and igneous matter inextricably mixed, porphyry, iron, spar, 
 cinnabar; gold, silver and what-not, ground in the mills of 
 Vulcan, mixed and boiled with the deposits of the ocean, 
 a pot of porridge fit to feed the internal forces that have 
 shaken the earth with convulsions since that poetic morn 
 when "the stars sang together." 
 
 Such a mixed mass of matter may be seen but a short 
 distance below Ashland, at what is known as the "49 
 diggins." These old geysers and mud volcanos, at one 
 time held high carnival at many places about this Old 
 Island when the waters of the Pacific washed the foot of the 
 Rocky mountains, and a roaring surf lashed a lonely shore 
 where Ashland now stands, while, at or toward the interior 
 of the island, lurid flames belched forth from lofty mount- 
 ains, marking this a veritable Terra Del Fuego. Un- 
 countable ages before Crater lake became the mightiest 
 hole-in-the-ground, before the Cascade mountains arose 
 above the surface of the waters, when only a portion of the 
 Sierra Nevada mountains had reflected the rays of the sun, 
 while yet a great part of the continent of Europe was 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 63 
 
 sleeping beneath the waves and long before man came 
 to inhabit the earth, a mighty volcano was in operation 
 near where Ashland creek has its source, and there rained 
 down on the spot where we now live a greater storm of 
 ashes and stones than sealed the fate of Herculaneum and 
 Pompeii, while all about the foot of this great fiery mount- 
 ain, in clusters and groups, bubbled and boiled these geysers 
 and mud volcanos, the Devil's porridge-makers, where men 
 now for the love of money, are digging and delving for gold. 
 The leviathans of the. deep, the like of which we have nor 
 now, either on land or in the sea, but the bones of which 
 we find preserved in the sand and lime of that ancient day, 
 then fought their titanic battles where are now villages and 
 towns, farms and orchards. 
 
 That there has been an immense erosion of this Old 
 Island is very evident, and perhaps a great part of the 
 four thousand feet of sediment that makes up the mass of 
 Grizzly mountain came from the Siskiyous. On Wagner 
 butte at an altitude of nearly seven thousand and about 
 eight miles southwest of Ashland, is a considerable frag- 
 ment of marble. Westerly along the Siskiyou mountains 
 at various elevations, on the tops of high ridges are exten- 
 sive bodies of beautiful marble. W T e find it on the mount- 
 ains that border the Applegate and Williams Creek valleys. 
 On Chaney creek about twelve miles southwest of Grants 
 Pass these marble beds are of considerable extent. Much 
 of it is of fine quality, and in Chaney creek district are 
 extensive caves formed in them. Some of these beds have 
 gone in to the ownership of private parties and are being 
 utilized in the manufacture of lime, in the character of 
 which it excels. Further on to the south and southwest, 
 in the southern part of Josephine county and reaching to 
 the California line these limestone beds are found high up 
 in the mountains, usually occupying the tops of the ridges. 
 
 This display of limestone, which in places has become 
 marble by metamorphism, tells its own story. It too was 
 deposited at the bed of the ocean and like the Cascade 
 mountains, was slowly raised above the surface, crumpled, 
 folded and broken, until now we find it a part of this great 
 mountain mass. There are evidences that indicate that 
 the country to the north and east of the Old Island was 
 above the water at a much earlier period and that it sub- 
 sided and at a later epoch was elevated above the water 
 as we now see it. It is a query then, whether that earlier 
 subsidence occurred at the time of the elevation of the 
 Siskiyous. A discussion of this interesting subject how- 
 
04 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 ever, we cannot take up, for as before suggested it would 
 lead us too far afield for our present purpose There is 
 no great doubt that when this limestone bed first 
 came above the surface it extended as a continuous mass, 
 an unbroken field of limestone, hundreds, and probably 
 thousands of feet thick, and covered hundreds, if not 
 thousands of square miles of area. Now only fragments 
 are left on the ridges, and great gulches and canyons ha ye 
 been washed through it, until as above stated we only find 
 fragments left on the tops of the high ridges that separate 
 profound canyons. Some of these beds now cover many 
 miles of area and in places are as much as two thousand 
 feet thick. The bedding is a bluish slate, probably the 
 slime of the ocean floor where it was deposited. This 
 bedding may be seen where erosion has laid it bare, Btims- 
 times a thousand feet above the bed of the canyon. It is 
 quite evident that the greater part of this deposit has been 
 worn away and gone to enrich the soils of the valleys tha> 
 lie at the feet of these mountains, or have been returned 
 to the ocean for further refinement and distribution. To 
 stand on a summit of any of the prominent heights of the 
 Siskiyous and look about and below at the magnitude and 
 depth of these canyons, and try to conjure the length of 
 time required to remove the incalculable quantity of mater- 
 ial necessary is confusing. As said before the gr< R1 mass 
 of these mountains seems to be granite, which is classed as 
 an intrusive, igneous rock, that doubtless forced its way 
 to the surface through great depths of sediment which, 
 since that time has almost wholly disappeared. Everywhere 
 these mountains are seamed and scarred with ledges and 
 dykes — quartz ledges that in many places are rich in 
 gold, copper and other minerals. These ledges during 
 the unnumbered ages since they were filled, have • .iff e red 
 erosion and been broken and scattered, spreading their 
 fragments as gold mixed gravels around the old shore-line. 
 Some of these are known as "pocket ledges," for the lea- 
 son that the gold is found in them in spots and bunches. 
 while between the bunches, or pockets, the ledges are 
 barren. Pocket ledges are sometimes very rich, the bunches 
 being large and with little rock, or other foreign matter 
 being mixed with the gold. The breaking up of such 
 ledges assure rich placers of coarse gold. The "nuggets" 
 come from these "pocket ledges." There are but a few of 
 the hundreds of streams of the Siskiyous that have not fur- 
 nished placer mines of varying richness. Thirty miles 
 south of Jacksonville, almost on the summit of the oil 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 65 
 
 island, operations are now being pushed in the development 
 of extensive copper deposits. Good roads have been built 
 at heavy expense and much enthusiasm is being evinced 
 at the prospect of the opening of these mines. Further 
 west high up in the mountains, other copper properties are 
 being operated or opened. In the extreme southern part of 
 Josephine county a smelter has been in operation for the 
 past three years and the developmnt of many locations is 
 being pushed forward as rapidly as men and money can ac- 
 complish the work. The development of gold quartz 
 mining is a great and growing industry, and the use of 
 electricity for power has added an impetus to the exploita- 
 tion of the mineral resources of the Old Island. Further 
 to the west nearer to the coast, chrome, carrying a consid- 
 erable percentage of silver, is plentiful and with facilities 
 for shipment will become a great industry. 
 
 The coal mines of Coos are within the Old Island and 
 have been extensively operated for fifty years. Situated 
 on Coos bay, one of the best harbors on the coast, they need 
 no better facilities for shipping their product and great 
 markets are open to them. Asbestos, graphite, kaolin 
 and fire clay are found in many places and cinnabar prom- 
 ises an important source of revenue. Few countries 
 furnish finer building stone than the granite, sandstone, 
 marble and coarser limestone found in abundance about the 
 Siskiyous. In addition to all this mineral wealth, these 
 prehistoric time-scarred veterans, are clothed in world 
 renowned forests of pine, fir, cedar, spruce, laurel, maple, 
 myrtle, ash and many other varieties of the finest timber, 
 and the government is wisely guarding them from vandal- 
 ism and waste. The Port Orford cedar is, perhaps the 
 finest of its kind in the world. I have no information 
 that it is found anywhere outside of Coos, Curry, Josephino 
 and Douglas counties and it brings fancy prices in all mar- 
 kets. It is gigantic in size, sometimes reaching a diameter 
 of sixteen feet and one hundred and fifty feet without a 
 knot or a limb. If this royal wood existed elsewhere it is 
 almost extinct. The sugar pine and red and yellow fir 
 also excel of their kind. The Forestry Exhibit at the Lewis 
 and Clark exposition, coming from Coos county could not 
 have been excelled. Some of that exhibit may still be 
 seen at the Forestry building at Portland, which has been 
 preserved. There are great quantities of lesser growth, 
 all of which differ in some respects from that of similar 
 species elsewhere, and of smaller growths that are not 
 found anywhere else. Were I a botanist I am sure that 
 
m PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 I would revel in the study of the flora of this region. The 
 variety of flowers and flowering shrubs to be found is in- 
 teresting almost to confusion. The bright colored manzanita 
 is everywhere and in size and beauty it excels. The flowers 
 of this bush are of various tints of pink and red, and very 
 fragrant and good bee food. To the honey manufactured 
 from the manzanita there is a fragrance and flavor that is 
 unique and that adds to its quality. Every canyon has its 
 dog-wood with great white blossoms, its yew with dense, 
 fragrant foliage, madrone with its bright, smooth shiny 
 bark and great broad leaves that look* like they were 
 heavily varnished, and in season, beautiful red berries. 
 The Oregon grape that has been adopted as the state shrub, 
 reaches ^perfection in the Siskiyou mountains. Its leaves 
 are holly-shaped, bordered with sharp spines, thick, glossy 
 and highly polished on the upper side. The stem of this 
 shrub grows some times six or eight feet high and is not a 
 vine as its name might imply to the uninitiated. It has 
 flowers that grow in long clusters and are a brilliant orange 
 color. Few plants are more highly decorative than the 
 Oregon grape. Its berries when ripe are in clusters cor- 
 responding with the bloom, are a beautiful purple, about 
 the size of a buckshot and very firm and sour. Mountain 
 lilies grow . to perfection and when in bloom shed their 
 fragrance with great power. They grow on stalks some- 
 times seven to eight feet high and will bear from half a 
 dozen to fifty blooms on a single stalk. Sometimes acres 
 of the mountains will have hundreds of these stalks to the 
 acre, adding an indescribable charm to the landscape, the 
 great white blooms throwing off fragrance that can be 
 detected for half a mile when they grow in abundance and 
 the wind is fair. Everywhere that there is soil there are 
 flowers of some kind, sometimes so small that they will be 
 overlooked unless under the closest inspection. On the 
 highest points, and almost against the snow banks, these 
 beautiful little reflecters of sunshine decorate the ground 
 As you go higher, the form and character of the shrubs and 
 flowers change and that to be found at six to eight thousand 
 feet, while sometimes resembling those lower down, in some 
 respects will be found entirely different. Tiger lilies are 
 frequent in the canyons. Maple, alder and ash, form the 
 most inviting shade in little nooks by the roystering 
 stream, hidden away in the deepest canyons. 
 
 The mountain sides sloping to the north are clad in 
 the everpresent pine, fir, spruce and hemlock. The sugar 
 pine with its short needles, long cones and stubby branches, 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OP OREGON. W 
 
 can be identified miles away. Some of these trees will 
 measure eight feet in diameter and be a hundred feet with- 
 out a limb. The yellow pine is not less Characteristic; its 
 needles are longer, its cones shorter, its branches more 
 symmetrical and the bright yellow of its bark distinguishes 
 it at a glance. It too grows to great size with clean, beau- 
 tiful trunk. The red or Douglas fir seems to be especially 
 adapted to these mountains, massive, firm and beautiful* 
 reaching a heigh often of two hundred feet and a girth of 
 twenty or more. The Douglas fir is one of the most valu- 
 able of our forest products; it has great strength and is a 
 very firm and lasting timber. The white fir is a beautiful 
 tree, tall straight and symmetrical, but not long lived, as 
 a rule, though specimens of great size and age are met 
 with. Its foliage is very beautiful and glossy and the bark 
 white, and in the young trees smooth. This timber when 
 young is sometimes called "balsam," because of the quan- 
 tity of fir balsam that exudes from it. As a commercial 
 timber it is less valuable than the others. It is very heavy 
 when green and light when thoroughly seasoned. It is 
 not a lasting timber and has a tendency, like Cottonwood, 
 to warp and twist if left to the weather. It is valuable 
 for boxes and for some kind of inside finishing and in the 
 manufacture of paper. Iir some localities there is a good 
 quality of red cedar, but as a rule this class of cedar is 
 subject to a kind of dry rot. The myrtle, maple and white 
 cedar burl (found chiefly in Coos and Curry counties), are 
 very valuable for furniture and is fine finishing lumber. 
 Nothing is more beautiful than the variegated myrtle, the 
 birdseye maple and the cedar burl, all of which take a 
 splendid polish and are extensively used for veneers. The 
 myrtle, however, only grows to perfection on the streams 
 along the slopes facing the ocean. They grow on rich 
 bottom lands of great agricultural value that are being 
 cleared up and the myrtle is being destroyed as was done 
 with the walnut of the Mississippi valley in the early days 
 there. The future will suffer great loss when this splendid 
 timber shall have been wasted as is being done. Along the 
 coast spruce abounds and is extensively used in the manu- 
 facture of tubs, buckets, crates and firkins; it is also valu- 
 able for paper pulp. Alder, cottonwood, quaking asp and 
 hazel are also plentiful along the streams. The hazel 
 grows to mammoth proportions, often thirty feet high and 
 two to six inches in diameter. I have seen elder growing 
 to be twelve and fifteen inches in diameter. (The reader 
 must not confuse 'elder' with 'alder.' 
 
68 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 In the fall of the year when all nature is preparing 
 for the winter, a trip through these mountains furnishes 
 a greater variety of startling and wholesome delights than 
 anything else. 
 
 "Autumn laying here and there 
 Its fiery finger on the leaves," 
 
 touches off the scene with a warmth and glow of coloring, 
 unequalled in the whole catalogue of artificial delights pre- 
 pared for occasions. I will devote a chapter to the 
 subtler influences to be found in these mountains, where, 
 if there is any poetry in the adventurer's soul, he can find 
 enchantment. In the following chapter we will climb the 
 heights and enjoy the panorama. 
 
Chapter IX. 
 
 A RAMBLE THROUGH AND OVER THE SISKIYOUS. 
 
 "What if earth 
 Be but the shadow of Heaven, and things therein 
 Each to the other like more than on the earth is thought" 
 
 Having selected Ashland as the place from which our 
 explorations of the Old Island may be best prosecuted we 
 will again make it our starting point; this time for a ramble 
 over the Siskiyous. 
 
 We will assume it to be the month of July and Chau- 
 tauqua season. In this little city, christened by admiring 
 strangers, "Ashland the beautiful," a thousand strangers 
 are gathered for recreation and pleasure, and the enjoyment 
 of a "feast of reason and a flow of soul" that characterizes 
 this annual assemblage of Chautauquans. 
 
 In the Chautauqua park are gathered both old and 
 young — some chatting, some reading and some sleeping 
 away a half-holiday, but all free from care the while. 
 Through this beautiful park runs Ashland creek, which has 
 its birth in the snow banks of Ashland butte, ten miles 
 away. Looking up stream we catch glimpses of the dis- 
 tant snow banks and are impelled toward them. Every- 
 where we see the stream thro' dense foliage, laughing, leap- 
 ing and singing, or resting in a pellucid pool, joyous in re- 
 flecting in detail the decorative borders that surround it, 
 then rushing away again for a moment's flash and sparkle 
 in the sunlight. 
 
 After half a mile has been traversed the valley be- 
 comes a canyon; the mountains come closer in, as though 
 to hear more distinctly the musical message that the rush- 
 ing stream is bringing from the snow bank. Our road 
 following the sinuosities of the stream makes a turn about 
 a jutting point and we find ourselves under "Hanging 
 Rock," a great granite boulder perched above the roadway. 
 Turning to the right we enter a dense shade of maple, alder 
 and yew. Just below, a couple of barefoot boys are ang- 
 ling for trout and catching them, as the speckled beauties 
 in their basket prove. A little further on we pass "Echo 
 Rock," which at first startles the stranger with the thought 
 that behind this granite palisade is another torrent. We 
 discover our mistake and good humoredly submit to be 
 
70 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 laughed at by the merrymaking messenger, that has only 
 played us a little joke. * We climb a rugged point while 
 our stream sings merrily on below us. Every few rods 
 are inviting and romantic nooks where the sunshine is filt- 
 ered througn a dense and variegated foliage, casting a sheen 
 as from a gorgeous cathedral window. Here the maple, 
 alder, yew, madrone, cedar and many other species of 
 growths cover mossy mats on sloping banks, inviting to re- 
 pose. A water ousel dips into the spray for a moment, 
 then perches on a rock in mid-stream and nods and jerks 
 his little body as though making obeisance to his holiday 
 visitors. «A Douglas squirrel springs up, like a little 
 bundle of sunshine and muscle, and flashing his saucy tail 
 in defiance scampers up a fir tree and chatters and scolds 
 at us from its branches. A covey of mountain quail in top- 
 knot and gay garb, flutter and are gone among the grasses. 
 A mountain lily, the queen of mountain flora, nods above 
 us and scatters here fragrance in reckless extravagance. 
 
 A little further on we reach the "Shut In," the site.of 
 the head-works of Ashland's splendid water system and 
 municipal lighting plant. Here massive walls of granite 
 tower above us leaving "only room for the road bed and the 
 stream which plunges down a rocky defile with a rush and 
 a roar, raising a spray that feeds the beautiful maiden-hair 
 ferns and other clinging growths that find precarious foot- 
 ing on these rugged granite walls. We notice how different 
 the formation is from that of Grizzly and the Cascades. 
 There it was shale, gravel, sandstone and boulder cliffs with 
 the inevitable capping of basaltic lava. Here it is granite, 
 granite everywhere. Granite boulders in the stream, gran- 
 ite cliffs towering high above us, and erosion bringing 
 granite sand and soil into the canyon and filling the cre- 
 vices and fissures among the rocks. 
 
 We follow the sinuosities of the stream for a mile 
 further and come to "the Falls," and are now in "Ashland 
 Park", a water and timber preserve of many thousand acres^ 
 in the heart of the Siskiyou mountains. This park has 
 been set aside by the Government — an act of paternal 
 thoughtfulness that gives assurance that we are progress- 
 ing in a very important matter. 
 
 We are now well into the mountains and four miles 
 from town. Here the stream forks, one branch coming 
 from Ashland butte, the other from Wagner butte. The 
 beautiful falls of the one and the no less delightful cas- 
 cades of the other, a few rods above the junction; the dense 
 shade, the pools of crystal, ice-cold water, the variety of 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 71 
 
 foliage, the chattering of chipmunks and scolding of squir- 
 rels, the confused mingling of fragrance from the dense and 
 varied foliage, make this an ideal, spot for a summer's day 
 picnic. 
 
 • From this point our road bears up the Wagner creek 
 branch of the stream for two and a half miles further and 
 there comes to an end. From this on to the summit is a 
 reasonably good trail recently greatly improved <by the 
 forestry service, which has also established a telephone line 
 from Ashland to the summit of the mountain. Everywhere 
 along the stream the characteristics before described are 
 repeated and multiplied. The mountains grow higher 
 and steeper, the canyon more rugged and deeper and the 
 stream more rapid and turbulent. Six miles from Ashland 
 we reach the end of the wagon road which however, the 
 forestry service has undertaken to extend, perhaps to the 
 summit near the top of Ashland butte. We now begin 
 a steeper climb over the winding and zig zag trail six miles 
 further ere we reach our goal. Many splendid views are 
 obtained as we wind our sinuous course around the side 
 of the mountain climbing higher and higher above the 
 bed of the canyon. Wagner butte rises to a height of over 
 seven thousand feet and is just to the right and only five 
 miles to the top. Winding along sometimes in the timber 
 and anon along the brushy hill side until we reach the top 
 of a long ridge that comes directly down from Ashland 
 butte which looms up grandly and near by and are on the 
 summit of the Siskiyous. For the last two or three mjles 
 we have followed the, axis of a long ridge from which we 
 looked down into a deep canyon to the east and west. We 
 heard the plunging cataracts below us but could not see 
 them. We observed the timber of splendid growth and of 
 the varieties heretofore described. Our way along this 
 ridge has been gently upward through inspiring forests 
 and grassy glades. The grass is very luxuriant and being 
 in a government water preserve is protected from pastur- 
 age. 
 
 We have reached a region of rarified air and find the 
 shade and grassy mats most delightful places of repose. 
 One cannot travel fast nor far in these altitudes without 
 stopping for breath, but a more delightful place for leisurely 
 sauntering on a bright summer's day could not well be 
 found. Here imagination will run riot if one has any. 
 If one has poetry in his soul it will come to the top, and for 
 psychological reverie and daydreaming here are many ideal 
 spots. The poetry and dream-inducing effect however, I 
 
72 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 will try to give in a subsequent chapter. In this little 
 volume it is my desire to give some portion of the esthetic 
 as well as the utilitarian. The poetry of the situation is 
 no less sought for by the investigator and constitutes one 
 of the greatest charms and attractions of this Old Island. 
 They come in as decorations and embellishments to a region 
 which is greatly varied in its material resources and the 
 advantages offered to the miner, farmer, horticulturist, 
 stock-raiser and lumberman, all of whom find here spots 
 for their vocation rarely equalled, and as a side study man's 
 relation to material things. 
 
 Having reached the top we gaze about in delight. Just 
 to the east of us only a half mile away and a thousand 
 feet above, is the summit of Ashland butte, one of the high- 
 est points of the Old Island. We will reserve for a subse- 
 quent chapter a climb to the top of it and will take our 
 course toward the west along the main summit of the 
 range. There is a wonderful expanse of mountain billows 
 and valleys in view, but we will first deal with other fea- 
 tures. Starting at our feet and flowing away southerly 
 is a rivulet which a few miles down the mountain becomes 
 a roaring torrent where very extensive mining was carried 
 on in the early days and is still pursued to a considerable 
 extent. It is known as the Grouse creek, Beaver creek 
 and Hungry creek mining region and begins down the slope 
 from us five or six miles away and is chiefly just across 
 the line in California. The slope is steep and cut up with 
 canyons and gulches. Where we are there is an occasional 
 weather-beaten tree, gnarly, warped, scraggy and stunted, 
 for the winter storms are very severe here and are liable 
 to come any month in the year. Snow banks near by show 
 its lingering hold into mid summer and in places throughout 
 the year. Large areas of the southerly slope are barren 
 of timber, or possess it only in patches and grooves, but 
 everywhere grass is luxuriant, even to the very edge of the 
 snow banks, giving a beautiful park-like appearance. Fur- 
 ther down the timber begins in broad forests of pine, fir 
 and cedar and along the streams are the growths elsewhere 
 described. All of this we can see with distinctness, and so 
 thick and dense are the trees that they seem to be piled 
 one upon the other. At the foot of the slope and twelve or 
 fifteen miles away, with the use of a glass we can see 
 patches of the silvery surface of the Klamath river into 
 which all of these streams flow. 
 
 I have already spoken of the importance of this river 
 in the mining business of California. The stream is mined 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OP OREGON. 7?, 
 
 by means of wing-dams thrown out from one bank or the 
 other, sometimes to near the channel, which turns the 
 water toward the opposite bank, then pumps are placed 
 into the parts enclosed, a large wheel is rigged just outside 
 of the dam where the current is strongest and so placed 
 that the stream, striking the buckets at the bottom of the 
 wheel turns it and develops large power, sufficient to oper- 
 ate pumps derricks, etc. The water must not only be 
 pumped out of the space enclosed in the dam, but water 
 must also be raised to the sluices, which are placed above 
 the ground being mined, and the gravel and dirt elevated 
 and dumped into them. Many of the boulders are very 
 large, requiring strong derricks to move them and even 
 then sometimes they have to be reduced by blasting before 
 they can be handled. Often several wheels are required 
 to generate the necessary power for operation of these 
 channel claims. In many places they have to remove as 
 much as sixty feet of boulders, gravel and sand before the 
 bed-rock is reached where the chief pay is found. These 
 claims can only be operated in the summer months when 
 the water is at its lowest; from all of which it will be read- 
 ily seen that mining in the Klamath river is no small under- 
 taking. It requires many thousand dollars to "rig up" 
 such a mine and many men, working by shifts day and night 
 as long as the season lasts. Sometimes immense sums are 
 taken out of these river claims in a season and again money 
 is lost on the venture. Almost every bar on the Klamath 
 river from the time that stream has entered the Old Island 
 to the ocean has been worked over, in some instances more 
 than once. Many of the best bars lay outside of the chan- 
 nel, and were per consequence more easily and cheaply 
 worked. Since the early mining days there have been 
 many millions taken from the Klamath river bars, and still 
 they are being operated every year. Streams enter it 
 
 from both the north and south, practically all of which have 
 been mined from their sources to where the river receives 
 them. Until a few years ago the mining of all this region 
 was placer work, performed by the various methods then 
 in vogue, but in recent years quartz mining is being rapidly 
 developed. This old mountain has been seamed and scar- 
 red most unmercifully in every direction by intrusive dykes 
 and ledges of quartz and porphyry, all of which contain 
 more or less gold and some of them are very rich. The 
 erosion of this old mountain which I have already described 
 has torn off the tops of these ledges and dykes and washed 
 the contents into the streams and rivers carrying the gold, 
 
74 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 which being heavier than the other sediments sinks to the 
 bottom where, in streams it is found on the bed-rock. 
 This is also true of many glades and lines of old water 
 courses from which the water has been diverted by changes 
 in the slopes. In such places, often near the tops of high 
 ridges may be found heavy deposits of old sediments with 
 great depths of rich gravel. Sometimes this deposit will 
 pay from the surface down, but as a rule the best pay is on 
 the bed-rock. Sometimes these gravels are as much as 
 fifty feet or more in depth and if water is available are 
 worked by hydraulic. 
 
 Standing on the summit of this mountain as we are 
 supposed to be, we are looking over many hundreds of miles 
 of the finest forests and mining territory on the continent, 
 whether looking southerly into California or northerly into 
 Oregon. The line dividing the two states is only about 
 four miles south of our look-out at this summit. What I 
 have said about the mines along the Klamath river will 
 also apply to the mining along the Applegate and Rogue 
 rivers on the northern slope, except that there has not been 
 as much wing-damming used in the last mentioned streams. 
 AH of these streams get their wealth from this old moun- 
 tain. 
 
 Pursuing our course now to the west along the main 
 divide we will find a reasonably good trail following the 
 ridge. The way is open and grass covered, with occasional 
 scraggy timber. The slopes break down at a sharp angle 
 on either hand, the streams flowing northerly to Rogue 
 river and southerly to the Klamath. The going is fine 
 and the view grand from almost every part of the way. 
 The dense forest covers all of the northern slope and large 
 areas of the southern. To one familiar with the country 
 a descent of a few miles to right or left would bring such 
 trout fishing as would make any angler shout with delight. 
 Occasionally we come into a glade and surprise deer quietly 
 feeding, for they frequent the higher ridges during the 
 summer. If it be in the middle of the day we will occa- 
 sionally hear them scampering off as we enter a clump of 
 trees, and find where they have been enjoying their mid- 
 day siesta under the shade of the heavy branched larch 
 that grows in rank and dense clusters near the higher 
 summits. There are few places to be found where the 
 shade is so inviting, the ground so luxuriously carpeted 
 with cast off foliage and the breezes so laden with the odor 
 of balsams and fragrant vegetation, as* in these beautiful 
 bowers. There is a freshness and a quality to the at- 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 75 
 
 "mosphere that is most enjoyable and is entirely wanting in 
 the valleys below. Pursuing our course still to the west 
 for about six miles we come to the "Big Red mountain," so 
 called from the distinctly reddish cast of its formation. It 
 is perhaps seven thousand feet high) with rugged peaks, 
 pinnacles and high cliffs where one may sit and look into 
 dizzy depths almost directly below him. This eminence is 
 three or four miles long and seems entirely distinct in its 
 character from the main granite mass of the Siskiyous of 
 which it is a part. It is largely of serpentine and about it 
 are found fine prospects of cinnabar, where a number of 
 claims have been taken and considerable development work 
 has been done. This old mountain breaks abruptly down 
 to Beaver creek at the south and is a delightfully grassy 
 slope almost to the stream a mile away. If one were out 
 for pastime and a summer outing a finer place for a week's 
 indulgence in hunting and fishing could not be found than 
 on the banks of Beaver a couple of miles below the summit 
 of Red mountain, No better place could be wished for 
 and the stream for all that goes to make up a romantic 
 seclusion cannot be excelled. There in the depth of one 
 of the grandest canyons- — not a rough rocky gorge, but a 
 canyon with long steeply sloping sides, smooth and densely 
 timbered — is a clear, leaping, plunging stream of ice-cold 
 water, with myriads of trout reaching fifteen inches in 
 length, banks shaded with maple, alder, ash, yew and wil- 
 low, and here and there deep, broad pools to which you 
 work your way and into which you cast your hook with 
 assurance of fish. There are no roads within ten miles 
 of this place and the ordinary fisherman never finds it, 
 hence it has not been fished out nor its wildness impaired 
 by the vandal. I recall two weeks that with one compan- 
 ion I camped there and fished, and prospected and waxed 
 fat. What a glory and joy of life in such a place, away 
 from care and turmoil, living under the trees, fishing when 
 one feels like it, eating when one feels like it, sleeping 
 when he feels like it and doing whatever he wishes when 
 he feels like it. How I enjoyed lying under the trees listen- 
 ing to the stream murmur and the squirrels scold and spe- 
 culating upon that time in the past when this was an is- 
 land with no land in sight from its highest point off to sea. 
 Further down the stream a few miles are the deserted mines 
 where men swarmed and sweated and swore in the early 
 mining days, mines now all but obliterated. An occasional 
 prospect hole or foundation where a miner's cabin stood, 
 or the line of an old mining ditch almost lost in the jungle 
 
76 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 is all that is left to tell of the toil and sweat for gold back 
 in the "fifties." Occasionally you will still find a miner 
 who tells you with the utmost assurance, born of much 
 dreaming, that he has found "the old channel" again, where 
 Dutch Flat Joe, or Kanaka Sam struck it rich in '62 just 
 before the Salmon river excitement that caused the stam- 
 pede from Beaver. 
 
 In this section of the country there are old channels 
 of rich gravel now covered by the mountains to great 
 depths. Where the canyons have been cut deeply through 
 the mountain they have in places laid the old channels bare 
 where they cross them. This tells of other extensive earth 
 movements of great age. Sometimes one will come across 
 an old miner who is rapidly wearing himself out at his 
 work, barely eking out an existence, but who is sure he 
 has found "the old channel" and will tell you how rich it 
 will be. He will regale you for hours, if you seem inter^ 
 ested, in giving the history of the camp when "these hills 
 were full of prospectors and miners." It is very interesting 
 sometimes. Again you will find one grown gray, wrinkled 
 and bent with old age and hard usage, who has not always 
 been poor, one who has seen better days, educated, a great 
 reader who always has good books to beguile away the long 
 winter days, when here miles from other human habitation 
 and snowed in he passes his lonely time with no companion 
 but his cat and dog. To see these old men here in such 
 environment and listen to the story which they think about 
 and review too often, one feels that a tragedy is being en- 
 acted. Yet such men have grown to love the solitude 
 and the mountains until their features seem to have taken 
 on a likeness of their rugged surroundings. 
 
 We must, however, recall ourselves to the summit of 
 Red mountain from which we have made this long degres- 
 sion. Looking now down the long slope we trace the rapid 
 decline to the bottom of the canyon on the north side 
 through which the "Little Applegate"' runs, another stream 
 which has been mined from the early days and has been 
 very rich. There are some of the richest placer mines here 
 that are now being operated in Oregon. All that has been 
 said about the delights of an outing on the banks of the 
 Beaver will apply with equal force to the Applegate. From 
 our lookout we can see Rogue River valley and far over 
 the mountains beyond it. Looking again to the south 
 across Beaver canyon, we mark a high mountain about 
 three miles away that extends as a spur southerly toward the 
 Klamath. This is Stirling mountain and contains some 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 77 
 
 very rich quartz mines. The ledges are pockety and con- 
 sequently the gold is found in bunches, but some very rich 
 pockets have been found. This mountain seems to have 
 been largely the feeder of the placers of upper Beaver, 
 Deer creek and Bear gulch. Placers have been worked on 
 Stirling mountain within two hundred feet of the top, water 
 being caught from the melting snows and confined in small 
 reservoirs. Of course, the season for such mining is very 
 short, but the ground has been rich enough to justify it 
 and the exepense is light for the sediment in which the 
 gold is found is very thin. * The gold thus obtained is but 
 little eroded and is often found with angular bits of quartz 
 clinging to it, not having traveled far enough to free itself 
 from the rock. There are many such places but they are 
 generally high up in the mountains where it is difficult or 
 impossible to get water to work them. Red mountain is 
 cut in all directions with quartz ledges but no mines of 
 consequence have been developed in it. Yet I believe it 
 to be a promising place for future quartz mining, and that 
 sometime good mines will be developed there. 
 
 Leaving Red mountain and following the summit trail 
 on to the west for a few miles we come on to the head 
 waters of West Beaver. This is also a mining stream but 
 not to the extent the other is. It is noted chiefly for the 
 "Cinnabar Springs" located on it. These springs consti- 
 tute one of the natural wonders of the Siskiyou s, They 
 have gained a wide, and it seems a just reputation for the 
 great medicinal properties contained, which appear es- 
 pecially efficacious for skin and blood diseases, particularly 
 for syphilis and scorfula. There are many recorded cases 
 that have been cured after the doctors have given the pa- 
 tients over as incurable. Crowds of people flock to them 
 every year. Some take advantage of the limited accom- 
 modations furnished by the proprietor and some go pre- 
 pared to camp. There are a number of springs differing 
 in the properties they contain. Some are said to be pois- 
 onous to drink and others are quite palatable. The treat- 
 ment consists of drinking the water and bathing in the 
 water and mud that is worked up and mixed with it. Some 
 of the springs seem strongly saturated with such properties 
 as are found combined with cinnabar. An extensive de- 
 posit of that mineral is found here and at one time a few 
 years ago a company possessed themselves of it and moved 
 in a large lot of machinery preparatory to working and 
 producing quicksilver. For some reason they never per- 
 fected their plans and aside from some extensive prospect- 
 
78 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 ing and partial development the enterprise has been held 
 in abeyance. That situation prevails to too great an extent 
 in mining matters in southern Oregon and northern Cali- 
 fornia. A promising piece of mining property will be tied 
 up in the hands of speculators and adventurers, on promise 
 to develop it (the owners not being able to do so), and will 
 then be held until all who are not able to stand repeated 
 assessments are frozen out. In the meantime the property 
 lies idle and the whole country is made to suffer. Cinna- 
 bar is on the south slope of the mountain. Turning now 
 to the north and looking down the slope to the northwest, 
 we have a view of Squaw creek which flows into "Big Ap- 
 plegate." About five miles down the Squaw creek canyon 
 a small valley opens containing some ideal stock ranches- 
 There are two little lakes known as "Squaw" lakes, that 
 in their environment of high heavily timbered mountains 
 and the deep blue of their deep clear waters, remind one 
 of what he has read about some of the romantic lakes of 
 Scotland and Ireland. The lakes and the streams that 
 flow into them are full of trout some of which reach eight- 
 een inches in length. These lakes are very clear and more 
 than a hundred feet deep. The lakes and the lands about 
 them have gone into private ownership and are held at a 
 very high figure. As a mountain home for the stock- 
 raiser the place is almost invaluable, and as a summer home 
 for some man having sufficient money to afford such a lux- 
 ury it would be great. Almost everything that can be 
 produced in Rogue River valley will grow here. The lower 
 lake appears to have been greatly deepened and enlarged 
 by the sliding of the mountain into the canyon that affords 
 it an outlet. Trees can be seen near the lower end of the 
 lake in a depth of thirty or more feet of water, while the 
 trees still standing on the mountain side near by are all 
 awry as though they had been disturbed in their positions 
 and tipped over. This place is about thirty miles south 
 of Jacksonville. 
 
 Still following the summit trail of the Siskiyous after 
 passing opposite the head waters of Squaw creek we come 
 opposite the head waters of Elliott creek. This is another 
 of the beautiful and romantic streams of the region — rich 
 in gold, large in volume, clear and set in a frame-work of 
 forestry decorations that can neither be imitated nor ade- 
 quately described. The south slope at the north side of 
 its canyon is a continuous natural park of oak, maple, fir, 
 pine and cedar, everywhere carpeted with a luxuriant 
 growth of grass and furnishing pasturage for hundreds of 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 79 
 
 cattle and horses that are roaming about. Following our 
 summit trail a few miles further we come into the vicinity 
 of the Blue Lead Copper mine. This property was sold by 
 the several small owners that located it, to capital- 
 ists from Montana, who paid $15 0,000 for it after spending 
 perhaps twice that amount in determining whether it was 
 worth it. For the past four years they have worked sev- 
 eral hundred men there and since buying it have constructed 
 a fine wagon road to the property which is situated at an 
 altitude of about four thousand feet. A railroad is being 
 projected to it with the prospect that before a great while 
 it will have direct rail communication with Rogue River 
 valley. Moving westerly along the summit of the Sis- 
 kiyous we come opposite the Big Applegate. As before 
 stated this stream has been the source of a large part of 
 the mineral wealth that has been reaped in south western 
 Oregon. 
 
Chapter X. 
 
 A RAMBLE THROUGH AM) OVER THE SISK1VOUS. 
 
 (Continued.) 
 
 "An island full of hills and dells, 
 
 All rumpled and uneven 
 With green recesses, sudden swells, 
 
 And odorous valleys driven 
 So deep and straight, that always there 
 
 The wind is cradled in soft air." 
 
 If we were to go down into Big Applegate valley and 
 travel to the mouth of that stream we would find its banks 
 dotted with prosperous and happy homes for thirty miles. 
 Sometimes the valley spreads to generous breadth and 
 again narrows to a meager margin. Where tributaries 
 enter it has greater breadth and the industrious farmer, 
 stockman and miner have utilized the fertile bottom lands, 
 the grass covered mountain sides and the gravels on the 
 bars and in the gulches. Remembering that the climate 
 is such as has been ascribed to Rogue River valley, wi 
 can easily picture orchards, farms, gardens, fields of alfalfa 
 and grain, pure running water everywhere, all set in frames 
 of lofty picturesque mountains, bordered and decorated 
 with the growths before described. The school house and 
 church appear at convenient intervals and evidence of 
 poverty is reduced to the minimum. Game is plentiful 
 in the mountains and trout in the mountain streams. 
 
 Moving a few miles further to the west we reach the 
 summit of Grayback, another of the high points of the Sis- 
 kiyou mountains. We are here almost on the line divid- 
 ing California and Oregon, and have thousands of square 
 miles in view. This is. a land of magnificent distances, 
 and the shining peaks observed from fifty miles back are 
 seen with equal facility from the top of Grayback. To 
 attempt to describe the general view from each of these 
 high points would simply be a repetition. There is a 
 difference of course, in the nearer details but the general 
 view has much the same appearance- and is almost con- 
 fusing for its magnitude. The snowbanks of Grayback 
 like those of Ashland butte, cling to it in protected spots 
 throughout the summer and send down into the valleys 
 in generous abundance the water so frequently mentioned. 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 81 
 
 We see the canyons leading way down the rugged 
 sides of this great eminence, dark and somber in the 
 weight of the ever present forest and know that at the bot- 
 tom of each is singing merrily along, a beautiful stream 
 of that for the lack of which so much of the world's surface 
 is desolate. Crossing now to what is known as "Little 
 Grayback" — itself a greater than mount Washington — we 
 overlook Williams creek in Josephine county, Oregon. This 
 little valley is worthy of special mention. It is twelve 
 or fifteen miles in length and from one to five in breadth. 
 Some of the finest farms to be found in the Siskiyous are 
 in this valley. No country has a greater abundance of 
 water, nor is better supplied with good mountain range. 
 There are large areas of it not yet under cultivation but it 
 contains one of the wealthiest and most progressive com- 
 munities in the county. Its climate is like that of Rogue 
 River valley and with soil of similar character all it needs 
 to make it a veritable garden spot is railroad communica- 
 tion. Its borders and neighboring gulches produce quan- 
 tities of gold and the mountains bordering it are supplied 
 with marble of fine quality. In fact from our perch on 
 Grayback we are looking out over broad fields of marble 
 and other limestone to the west, northwest and north, of 
 which mention has heretofore been made. Evidently the 
 time was when these mountains were under the sea and 
 these marble beds were being laid in the water and have 
 since been raised to the surface by the intrusion of exten- 
 sive granite dykes that make up the mass of the Siskiyous. 
 Doubtless at first this field of limestone, now largely met- 
 amorphosed into marble, was practically level and covered 
 hundreds of square miles, or more. The intrusion of the 
 granite and elevation of the mass broke it up and tended 
 to throw it into irregularities. Subsequent erosion has 
 carried away a large part, perhaps the larger part of it 
 leaving the residue on the tops of the higher ridges with 
 deep canyons between. In places where these canyons 
 have been cut to great depths the bedding of the marble 
 may be seen a thousand feet or more above the streams 
 that run at the bottom. This bedding appears to be a 
 bluish slate. Great caverns have been formed in these 
 limestone deposits that have not yet been fully explored, 
 but constitute the greatest natural wonder of the Old 
 Island. A separate chapter will be given to the descrip- 
 tion of them from a personal exploration by the writer 
 in company with Joaquin Miller, "The Poet of the Sierras'* 
 and Senator Jefferson Myer of Portland. Allow me to remark 
 
82 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 in passing, that the erosion of these limestone beds has 
 been one of the sources from which these valleys have 
 gained their renowned fertility. The uses of lime as em- 
 ployed in nature make up a very interesting study and 
 inasmuch as the presentation of it will further enlighten 
 the reader on the region under discussion, I will also give 
 that in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 We will now continue our visual observation from the 
 mountain top. Remembering that we are still on the 
 summit of Grayback we will direct our attention to some of 
 the canyons trending toward the west and northwest. The 
 principal ones are Deer creek, Sucker creek and Althouse, 
 beginning at the northwest and veering around to the west 
 in the order named. These streams are all tributary to 
 the Illinois river which in turn is a tributary of 
 Rogue river and is a large stream. Each of the 
 streams mentioned, in their lower courses have valleys 
 through which they run, of considerable extent and have 
 the same general characteristics of climate and soil as the 
 others described. In these valleys are large and prosper- 
 ous settlements, with yet thousands of acres to be reduced 
 to cultivation. From what has been said it will occur 
 to the reader that water for all purposes is plentiful. 
 Sucker creek, Althouse and the Illinois valley are practi- 
 cally one. The upper end of this great area is spread 
 out like a fan, with a reasonably even country lying between 
 the streams, the greater part of which is susceptible of a 
 high state of cultivation. Some of the lands are prairie 
 with considerable areas of oak, maple and scattering pine 
 and fir timber. Much of the oak is of good quality and if 
 the valley had railroad facilities would become a source of 
 important revenue. Kerbyville lies in the valley on the 
 bank of the Illinois river and was for many years the 
 county seat of Josephine county, before the building of the 
 S. P. railroad gave birth to Grants Pass. In the early 
 mining days "Kerby" was one of the chief towns of southern 
 Oregon, which together with Waldo about twelve miles to 
 the southwest, did an important business. During those 
 days all of the southern part of the state obtained its 
 supplies by ocean to Crescent City, thence inland by pack 
 train, later by wagon, and these towns were the chief places 
 of trade along the line to the interior. In those days the 
 neighboring streams were swarming with miners and these 
 towns busy and humming with life and activity peculiar 
 to the western mines. It was placer mining then and these 
 mines were famed as among the richest of all the "upper 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OP OREGON. 8.) 
 
 country." Since then the placers have been pretty well 
 worked out and freighting is no longer done over the Cres- 
 cent City road. Farming, dairying and fruit raising have 
 largely supplanted the miner and the freighter and the 
 building of the S. P. railroad has caused the glory to de- 
 part from these old towns. Notwithstanding all this, 
 however, quite an extensive trade is maintained for each 
 is surrounded by a growing and thrifty population and 
 mining is still prosecuted to a considerable extent. The 
 farmer, orchardist and stockman finds a market for his 
 produce among the remaining placer miners and the rapidly 
 increasing quartz miners, and the surplus is carted from 
 thirty to fifty miles to Grants Pass. Extensive copper 
 mining interests are being developed near Waldo and a 
 smelter has been in operation for the past three years. 
 These enterprises give employment to many men and the 
 country is being gradually filled and the same appearance 
 of thrift and contentment prevails that characterizes the 
 other valleys mentioned. The mountains surrounding 
 these valleys of Sucker creek, Althouse and Illinois, are 
 wonderfully rich in varied mineral resources, copper, gold, 
 and chrome which carries a goodly per cent of silver and, 
 then, the limestone and marble are not to be forgotten. 
 The magnificent forests that surround these valleys cause 
 covetous eyes to squint and mouths to water. Here we 
 see the first of the white or Port Orford cedar, the most 
 beautiful trees in the world; tall, straight and with foliage 
 as handsome as lace. Here is water power going to waste 
 sufficient to operate the machinery of a kingdom; water 
 enough to reclaim a large desert. Strawberries, peaches 
 and melons that are great bundles of sunshine, sugar and 
 water; marble for the door step of the humblest cottager; 
 apples and pears that would bring the highest price in the 
 markets of the world, all waiting for the bulls and bears 
 and other beasts of the great financial zoo to stop fighting 
 and stealing from one another long enough to build a rail- 
 road into this paradise hidden away in the glorious Siski- 
 you mountains. Looked at from any eminence these 
 valleys make a beautiful picture, green and clad in the 
 finest foliage in the summer and gorgeous in autumn color- 
 ing, streams of the purest water everywehere singing lulla- 
 bys at all seasons. The summer breezes cooled from the 
 mountain tops come laden with odors and incense beyond 
 the power of kings to buy. Yet we read of the sweat shop 
 and the poor consumpted women and children working into 
 the small still hours of the night, by the dim light of kero- 
 
84 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 sene lamps, in stuffy dingy rooms in the wealth and smoke 
 cursed cities, strangers to a single breath of God's pure air, 
 working, working, working for the simple possibilities of 
 life and that the rich man may live in splendor. And these 
 same rich taskmasters, what would they do if the opportun- 
 ity came to them to still further augment their wealth from 
 these vast resources? The answer is easy. They would 
 attack these great forests in their savage greed and make 
 a desert waste of these grand mountains and beautiful val- 
 leys, if only they could add to their hoards. The beauty 
 of it as it now is is worth more than the combined wealth 
 of Rockefeller and Morgan, and yet — it could be made more 
 beautiful and helpful to humanity if only a small part of 
 their over-burden were spent here in a proper way. I 
 would not exchange my freedom of enjoyment in the revels 
 I get in the open air in such an environment for all the 
 wealth of either of them, if I had to take with it the terrible 
 disease that almost universally afflicts the confirmed money- 
 getter. The acquired greed for money is one of the worst 
 curses that can afflict any man. Joaquin Miller, speaking 
 of the millionaire in relation to the beauties to be found 
 in such scenes as I have been describing, justly says: 
 
 The gold that in the sunlight lies 
 
 In bursting heaps at dawn, 
 The silver spilling from the skies 
 
 At night to walk upon, 
 The diamonds gleaming in the dew 
 
 He never saw, he never knew. 
 
 Money is necessary in the development of great re- 
 sources, the development of which is essential for the higher 
 enjoyment and elevation of man. These valleys would 
 support swarms of contented and happy people and give 
 them ample time for the enjoyment of the grand and untam- 
 ed beauties of the mountains, if only the money-mad were 
 kept away. 
 
 I will ask the reader to accompany me down the moun- 
 tain to Waldo, thence across the mountain by a good wagon 
 road to Crescent City about fifty miles, where we will see 
 the waves of the ocean still washing the shores of the Old 
 Island, for on its western shore it has never been divorced 
 from the briny deep. Wending our way down through 
 the splendid forests, loitering along the streams with hook 
 and line, or camping for a day or two wherever the fancy 
 strikes us, we find an untrammeled satisfaction not to be 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. So 
 
 found at pleasure resorts, or about great hostelries that lie 
 within the reach of the swarms of the busy and idle of the 
 great cities. Waldo is situated at the extreme southwest 
 corner of Illinois valley where the road to Crescent City 
 starts across the mountains that separate these valleys 
 from the sea. There are but a few houses remaining but 
 their character, size and strength show that they were 
 built for a purpose and under conditions with which they are 
 not now in touch. One is still occupied as, a store, another 
 as a warehouse, still another as a saloon, for the miners 
 hereabout think they must have their "booze" and still 
 others shelter the few families remaining. The old hotel 
 shows evidence of its former inportance and still invites the 
 traveler to its homely but wholesome fare. This is also 
 a station on the stage road between Grants Pass and Cres- 
 cent City, and has its postoffice and school house. About 
 it are some fields and orchards and everywhere in the neigh- 
 borhood the dumps, ditches and wrecks of old mines are 
 in evidence. Only a few miles away is the copper smelter 
 and lounging about the saloon, store and hotel will be 
 found men who are ready to give information of the last 
 strike and the prospects of great operations in the mines 
 soon. Some of these old miners have been in the vicinity 
 for more than forty years and can tell many interesting 
 stories of their adventures and rich finds. If you were 
 to accompany one of them to his home you would find him 
 housed in a little log cabin far up the gulch, near the 
 banks of a stream. Generally a single room with cooking 
 stove, bed, table, a few shelves to accommodate his dishes, 
 a few home made chairs and benches, while from the rafters 
 and joists would be hanging the rough clothing and ac- 
 coutrements of the miner and the corners of the room will 
 be littered up with gum boots, gold pans, shovels, etc. One 
 or two rude outbuildings shelter the wood and such other 
 of his heavier possessions for which room could not be 
 found in the cabin. Usually a cat and a dog or two. 
 Always a gun and fishing tackle. Sometimes a little 
 garden patch and perhaps a few fruit trees. Here he has 
 lived year in and year out, growing old and every day tak- 
 ing on more and more of a resemblance to his rugged sur- 
 roundings. His cabin is always open to the belated or 
 fatigued wanderer. He will share his bed and frugal fare 
 with a generosity and hospitality scarcely found anywhere 
 else, though he may have carried it in here on his back for 
 many a weary mile over the rough mountain trail. No 
 experience is more interesting than unexpectedly to come 
 
m PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 upon such a habitation just as the shades of the evening are 
 coming on, and the night noises of these great forests are 
 beginning to be heard and felt, perhaps just as you are 
 thinking of passing a lonely night with your back to a log 
 and only the trees and sky above, tired and hungry. The 
 smoke from his little clearing attracts you and a moment 
 later you are welcomed inside his humble home. Many 
 questions are asked, the stove is lighted up and soon you 
 are invited to sit up, as ravenous as a bear, and enjoy his 
 home-made bread, fried bacon, black coffee and potatoes. 
 I have had such experiences and never did spread at the 
 most high toned resort give such satisfaction. The meal 
 done, pipe and tobacco are produced and seated by the 
 blazing fire an interchange of conversation follows long to 
 be remembered. Morning comes, breakfast over and you 
 go out into the crisp sweet air of the mountains, laden as it 
 always is with an aroma wild and delicious and you feel 
 that you too, could spend the remainder of your days in 
 such an environment. The old miner follows you to the 
 gate, begging that if you ever come that way again to be 
 sure and stop with him. As you say your heartfelt good 
 bye he asks you to give a little message for him down at 
 the store as you pass by and you are out on the trail in 
 the full enjoyment of the morning walk after the cheer 
 of such a night. Sometime, sooner or later, the old miner 
 will be missed longer than usual from the store and some 
 one goes to see about it. It is the old story. The 
 rocker is idle by the stream, the frightened cat scurries for 
 a hiding place. There is no response to the anxious knock, 
 The latch is raised, the door swings opn to the push, the 
 room is dark and cold but otherwise as you have seen it 
 before except that cold, stiff form on the bed in "the corner. 
 He died as he lived, alone. Miners are notified, a grave 
 is dug in his own little clearing and he is laid to rest in 
 the spot he so long called his home. 
 
Chapter XI. 
 
 FROM WALDO TO CRESCENT CITY AND UP THE COAST 
 TO COQUILLE RIVER. 
 
 ''Roll on, thou dark and deep blue ocean — roll!" 
 
 From Waldo across the mountains to Crescent City is 
 about fifty miles, and the direction is west by a quarter 
 south. The mountains are very rugged and belong to the 
 Old Island formation. They are generally classed as the 
 Coast range, but this is a mistake, as the Coast range abuts 
 upon the Old Island north of Coos bay. The junction has 
 not beeen scientifically ascertained as yet, though Prof. J. S 
 Diller of the geological department having charge of field 
 work has been making the survey northwest of Grants Pass 
 the past season, and as the work progresses northerly the 
 point will be determined. In fact the Old Island has as yet 
 received only casual attention from the department ot geol- 
 ogy but in the future will furnish most interesting data 
 among the geological records. I have said that the main 
 mass of the Siskiyou mountains is composed of granite, but 
 it must not be inferred that there are not large areas that 
 now show aggregations of other formation. In places the 
 intrusive granite has not reached the surface either in its 
 upward movement nor by erosion of the sedimentary forma- 
 tions that covered it. In many places the erosion has been 
 complete, in others it has not progressed to that stage. 
 
 There is a good wagon road for so rough a country, 
 between Waldo and Crescent City and a daily stage line 
 passes over it. The first nine or ten miles out from Waldo 
 is a heavy mountain climb, continually upward. Here we 
 reach the summit of the first and highest ridge and from 
 the top will indulge in the view as it presents itself. To 
 the east, northeast and southeast the view is an inspiring 
 one. The Illinois, Sucker creek and Althouse country lies 
 spread out below us with perfect distinctness and presents as 
 fne a picture as any of the many heretofore described. 
 Grayback and the other high points of the Siskiyous rise 
 grandly east of us showing their great areas of forest with 
 here and there patches of snow above the timberline. 
 With a glass farms and orchards can be seen in the valleys 
 and beyond them far to the northeast can be seen the high 
 eminences of the Cascade mountains. The lower moun- 
 
88 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 tains lying between us and Rogue River valley emphasize 
 the perspective and enable us to determine the borders of 
 that valley where the Cascade mountains impinge upon it. 
 To the south and southwest all is mountain billow cut 
 with canyons and clad in forest. Turning now we pursue 
 our journey to the west and at once commence a descent 
 by a reasonably regular grade but by a very sinuous course. 
 So steep is the mountain that in places several tracks seem 
 to be lying along the mountain side below us. We dis- 
 cover that it is only our own road which seems to double 
 and bend upon itself. The mountain slope down which 
 the road runs has been burned over and there is little but 
 burned stumps, brush and rocks covering large areas, as 
 sad a sight as the ruins of San Francisco were. The 
 
 timber has started again and in spots has made considerable 
 progress, but upon the whole the mountain is practically 
 a barren waste for many a weary mile. The grade by 
 erraitc courses drop us rapidly down. Occasionally we cross 
 a ravine with water. At Shelly creek we notice sand stone 
 About fifteen or twenty miles out from Crescent City we 
 come into the redwoods. Here the country is practically 
 level. The dense growth of redwood timber stands so tall 
 and thick that the sun seldom penetrates enough to be felt. 
 The undergrowth is a perfect jungle of brush and ferns, 
 the latter reaching eight or ten feet in height. Fogs 
 almost constantly hang over the forest, so dense and low 
 that the tops of the trees are sometimes obscured. We 
 are down almost to the sea and the ground being practically 
 level and always shaded never dries out. The roads are 
 covered with holes and split redwoods — corduroy it is call- 
 ed — to make them passable. The jungle is matted with 
 vine maple, hazel and other growths so dense that it is 
 almost impossible to get through it and being always wet 
 and often boggy would soon become impassable in the 
 roads but for the corduroying. We notice a decided differ- 
 ence in the atmosphere. In fact as soon as we started 
 down the mountain w r e sniffed the salt sea breeze with a 
 relish. I shall not stop to describe the redwood, it has been 
 done so often that the reader is doubtless familiar with it. 
 Here is an almost virgin forest as yet little disturbed. At 
 Smith river a few miles out is quite a settlement chiefly 
 engaged in dairying. Where the timber has been cleared 
 away the growth is rank and rapid. Clover seems to be 
 indigenous and grows to perfection as does the redtop 
 and timothy. Occasionally there are spots of prairie, or 
 lands only covered with brush, where the difficulty in mak- 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OP OREGON. 89 
 
 ing farms is comparatively light. The greatest trial of the 
 farmer is to keep down the fern, the humidity makes it 
 almost impossible to kill it out. Clearing up the timber 
 lands along the coast is a very arduous and laborious task, 
 and the making of a farm is the work of a lifetime. Where- 
 ever the logs, trees and brush are cleared away the redtop, 
 timothy and clover is grown in rank abundance without 
 difficulty. This greatly enhances the value of these lands 
 for dairying, particularly as the only, facility for shipping is 
 by sea from an open roadstead, where for long periods at a 
 time vessels cannot safely lie at anchor. Loading and 
 unloading is done by lighter which is impossible in a rough 
 sea. Notwithstanding all of these difficulties, including 
 bad roads and high mountains, the early day settlers and 
 miners in all of Southern Oregon had to depend on Crescent 
 City as a receiving and distributing port. Lumbering is 
 carried on to a considerable extent and with a good harbor 
 this would soon become a famous lumbering point. Cres- 
 cent City is the county seat of Del Norte county, California; 
 the extreme northwest county of that state. There are 
 roads running southerly along the coast to Humboldt bay 
 and northerly to Coos bay. The town is a place of con- 
 siderable importance and many of its people have grown 
 wealthy in the various avocations that have been pursued 
 here. Though the S. P. railroad is practically hundred 
 miles away the building of it took from Crescent City a 
 great part of its resource. No longer do ships unload here 
 for the interior nor packtrains or freight wagons take 
 cargo. 
 
 In many respects Crescent City is a picturesque place 
 with the broad Pacific and its ceaseless surf directly in front 
 and the redwood forests and high mountains behind it. 
 Many people from the interior come here during the summer 
 for an outing and to enjoy the surf and sea breezes for 
 a season. At Smith river the fishing is good and clams are 
 obtained in abundance when the tide is out. Hunting for 
 agates and rare shells on the seashore is a pleasant and 
 sometimes an exciting pastime. A great reef extends out 
 for miles where seals and sea lions abound and around 
 which cod and halibut fishing is fine in good weather. 
 
 With saddle horses and good weather a trip up the coast 
 a hundred miles or more to Coos bay is an enjoyable 
 diversion and thither we proceed in our present inspection 
 of the shoreline of the Old Island. Leaving Crescent City 
 we proceed sometimes directly along the seashore and 
 sometimes are driven inland by a mountain spur 
 
03 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 that forms a headland extending out so as to prevent the 
 forming of a beach around its foot. We cross Smith river 
 near its mouth where it has the appearance of a stream of 
 magnitude. The tide runs up quite a distance and were 
 it not for the drifting sands at its mouth it might be used 
 as a harbor for small craft. A few Indians may still be 
 seen living in small huts and substisting on fish and game 
 and by selling trinkets of their manufacture to summer 
 visitors. Some of them work for the whites when work 
 is to be had. Further up the coast we cross Chctko and 
 Pistol river, each of which discharges large volumes of 
 pellucid water directly into the ocean. Occasionally we 
 find a settler and sometimes a small settlement. The land 
 is always good where there is a level margin sufficient to 
 justify location. Everywhere is cedar, spruce and fir as 
 fine as can be found anywhere in the world, but inaccessible 
 for commercial purposes as yet, and likely to remain so 
 for many years to come for want of an outlet and facilities 
 for transportation. Every now and then we hear rumors 
 of a projected railroad up the coast, but one who travels 
 along it cannot avoid the conclusion that several generations 
 are likely to come and go before such an event will come 
 to pass. The mountains run down steeply to the shore 
 at many points and are cut by deep canyons with high steep 
 ridges between. It would be a very difficult and expensive 
 undertaking to say the least. It is true that the mountains 
 are full of valuable mineral and covered with vast and 
 valuable forests, and also true that there are many small 
 valleys of valuable agricultural land, but whether the roads 
 will come from the. main line inland, or some other method 
 will be employed is yet problematical. 
 
 We cross the line into Oregon and come to Gold Beach 
 at the mouth of Rogue River. Here we find our stream 
 a mile wide and capable in good weather of admitting ves- 
 sels of a moderate size. Gold Beach is the county seat 
 of Curry county and is supported chiefly by the beach mines 
 and by fishing. The fishing industry was developed here 
 by R. D. Hume who grew very wealthy and acquired the 
 title of the "Salmon King" of southern Oregon. Mr. Hume 
 died a few months ago leaving a very large estate in Oregon 
 and California. He was a very astute business man, persist- 
 ent and aggressive and practically acquired a monopoly of 
 all business at Gold Beach. He owned stores, saw mills, 
 and his own vessels by which he carried his products to 
 San Francisco and other markets. His vessels were of 
 necessity limited to suit the character of the bar at the 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. \)) 
 
 mouth of the river. He will doubtless be missed' and it 
 is hardly likely that another will soon be found to take his 
 place. There will be a better chance, however, for men 
 with less capital who would have built modestly but could 
 not compete with the "Salmon King.'* 
 
 The black sands were early discovered to be very rich 
 but being magnetic it has been a difficult matter to save 
 the gold. Besides this the mining being in the sands on 
 the beach, permanent works could not be established be- 
 cause of the tides and the heavy surfs. Various devices 
 have been resorted to to extract the gold from the magnetic 
 sand and while much money has been made from these 
 beach mines, there have been few who have realized the 
 hope of the miner. There is gold enough to justify men 
 of wealth to take hold of it if the proper method of working 
 the sands could be devised. It appears that much of the 
 gold that is found on the beach has come down Rogue river> 
 which in the ruggedness of its lower course is a genuine 
 rock crusher. As has been said the mines along Rogue 
 river are and have been very rich. Its bars like those of 
 the Klamath river, have been worked wherever they could 
 be reached. From the upper Rogue river down all of its 
 tributaries have yielded gold and many of them, much of 
 it. Hence it is not strange that quantities have eluded 
 the bars and the miners up the river, and being ground 
 finer and finer as it proceeded down stream has, when it 
 has reached the ocean, been thrown upon the beach. Re- 
 curring again to what was said several chapters back in 
 speaking of the Klamath river, that it has no gold above 
 where it enters the Old Island, so it is with Rogue river, 
 it has produced no placer gold until it receives the tributar- 
 ies from the Siskiyou mountains, or has reached the point 
 where it crosses the shoreline of the Old Island. Rogue 
 river here at its mouth has its history of romance and trag- 
 edy. The crew and passengers of a wrecked vessel in 
 the early days made shore here and had to fight the Indians 
 and sustain life by hunting and fishing until assistance ar- 
 rived. But I am not writing that kind of history and 
 must not be led into it. If this little book should be re- 
 ceived with a sufficient degree of favor I might attempt to 
 write the scraps of history that have been made in this 
 region and are as yet unwritten. In 1883 while I was 
 Collector of Customs for the district of southern Oregon, 
 stationed at Coos bay, my jurisdiction extended down to the 
 California line. Gold Beach was, therefore within my 
 bailiwick and I had occasion to come here on official duty. 
 
92 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 At that time there was only a small trail, no wagon road, 
 between here and Port Orford, thirty miles up to the coast. 
 While at Gold Beach (it was Ellcrisburg then), a traveling 
 salesman came in from Crescent City and as the ride to 
 Port Orford was a lonely one without company, we arranged 
 to travel together and fixed the date of our starting. 
 Having secured horses on the north side of the river we 
 hired a man to put us over in a skiff. It was a bright 
 windy morning and for the first ten miles or more, our 
 trail was over rolling grass covered hills in sight of the 
 ocean and a part of the time on the beach. The timbered 
 mountains stand well back and this beautiful wild pasture 
 being covered with cattle, horses and sheep, presented a 
 fine pastoral scene. Our horses were fresh and in good 
 condition and we cantered along with much enjoyment. 
 Some miles along a high headland runs down to the sea 
 and we had to pass over this, reaching an elevation of 
 almost a thousand feet. As we started up the steep trail, 
 with the land breaking away sharply to the sea, the wind 
 rose to a gale and the surf beat upon the shore at a fear- 
 ful rate. The higher we rose the more steeply did the 
 hill seem to break down to the water. Mr. Parson (my 
 companion, was behind and I ahead. Bye and bye I 
 
 thought I heard him call and looking back saw him on the 
 ground leading his horse and making frantic motions to- 
 ward me. I stopped until he came up and observed that 
 he seemed greatly excited. When he came near so that 
 I could distinguish his words above the din of the surf and 
 the rush of the wind I found that he was characterizing me 
 in language that missionaries are not supposed to teach, 
 
 as a fool, and loudly demanding that I should get 
 
 off of my horse or I'd be blown into the sea. In fact my 
 friend was suffering from the most painful fright I ever 
 saw a man in. He thought our position a most dangerous 
 one with the mountain breaking down at a dangerous 
 angle into that violent surf. I think he would have been 
 thrown into hysterics if I had not done as he wished. 
 When in the course of a half. mile we had reached the top 
 and even he could see that we were not in any danger, he 
 was so overcome that I had to wait for him to steady his 
 nerves before proceeding. After passing over this we came 
 down onto the beach where we had fine going until we 
 reached Eucher creek. 
 
 Eucher creek is a delightful little stream discharging 
 directly into the ocean. We had been told to fol- 
 low the stream a short way and we would find a farm house. 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OP OREGON. 93 
 
 It was about noon and we wero ready for dinner after our 
 romantic ride over the hills and along the beach. The 
 bed of the canyon was not more than a hundred 
 yards wide and we were surprised to find that only 
 a few hundred yards in it opened up into a beautiful little 
 valley about two miles long and perhaps three quarters of 
 3 mile in its greatest width. I have read in novels of such 
 a cove, but never before saw one that was so complete. 
 The stream wound along through it so clear that all the 
 colors of the pebbles on its bed were distinctly shown. The 
 hills arose on either hand rather steeply and were covered 
 with timber and brush in autumn dress. Little groves of 
 maple, oak, alder and ash stood here and there and fronting 
 the stream and only a few rods away was a neatly con- 
 structed cottage, framed, covered with rustic and painted 
 white. The yard was enclosed with a picket fence; barns 
 and other out-houses were ranged about, the fields just 
 beyond and a separately enclosed garden near by. Ducks 
 and geese were swimming in the stream or waddling along 
 the bank, while turkeys and chickens were engaged in the 
 usual occupation of such poultry. Hogs were rooting 
 about or sleeping under the trees. In the door yard were 
 an abundance and variety of flowers and on the porch and 
 in the windows were pots containing flowering plants. Every- 
 thing was as neat as a pin, while the sound of the surf just 
 outside the gateway came clearly to the ear. The spot 
 was the most romantic I ever saw and everything boded 
 contentment, love, civilized intelligence and that oft sung 
 vision of a "cottage by the sea." We found the proprietor, 
 made our wants known and were invited inside the house 
 to await dinner. What we saw inside was no less at- 
 tractive and we were curious to know something of the 
 how and why. The man and his wife were very intelligent 
 people and from them we learned that they had lived there 
 several years. The man had once been a police officer in 
 San Francisco and his wife had been raised in the city. 
 While up north on some official business he had accidentally 
 dropped in here and was at once so enamored of the place 
 that he began negotiations for it. A conditional purchase was 
 agreed upon and he returned to the city for his wife. They 
 visited the place together and were of the same mind in 
 regard to it. They bought it and at considerable expense 
 made the improvements I have described and declared that 
 they had never regretted the change. 
 
 After dinner and a ramble about the valley for half 
 an hour we again took up our journey. Soon after leaving 
 
94 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 this little valley of enchantment we climbed inland over 
 another headland which barred our way on the beach. 
 Reaching the top about a mile or more inland we struck 
 the head o£ a stream which we followed down its whole 
 course of several miles and came out on the beach again 
 about four miles below Port Orford, which place we reached 
 about five o'clock in the evening, having run a gauntlet of 
 fire for a couple of miles where the stream passed through 
 some heavy timber. Here Mr. Parsons came near having 
 another attack of hysteria. To get mixed up with a forest 
 fire in the mountains is not a pleasant experience at best 
 and this did look dangerous, for we could not get away 
 from the stream and the fire was on both sides of it. 
 
 It was our purpose to take the stage at Port Orford 
 for Bandon at the mouth of the Coquille river, thirty miles 
 north. The stage made the trip down one day and back 
 the next and had that morning left for the north, so that 
 we had to stay over one day and two nights. This was 
 satisfactory for the headlands, beach, lagoons, and country 
 about were very interesting. The weather was fine and 
 after supper we climbed the promontory just west of the 
 town and watched the sun sink into the blue Pacific. The 
 place is one of the most picturesque to be found on the 
 coast. It is only a few miles below Cape Blanco, the most 
 westerly point in the United States and the village stands 
 on high land overlooking a beautiful fine weather harbor. 
 A great curve is here made in the shore line forming a cres- 
 cent open to the south with the western horn projecting in 
 a sandstone headland southerly, almost one hundred feet 
 high, forming in the bight a good shelter for ships in a 
 northwesterly storm. Here I watched the thundering 
 surf beating against the foot of this headland and noted 
 the manner of work it was performing. The evidence of 
 sea action which I have described among the sandstone 
 cliffs along the sides of Grizzly mountain and in the vicinity 
 of Ashland, I find verified here and in present operation. 
 As these mountain billows come rolling in they break with 
 great force against the cliffs, throwing the spray fifty feet 
 high. Where there are seams and fissures in the cliffs the 
 force of the blows keep cutting deeper and deeper until 
 arches and caverns of large extent are formed. Occasion- 
 ally the power of the water has forced immense slabs, 
 weighing hundreds of tons, from the wall and as they topple 
 over are gradually ground to sand by the weight and 
 force of the waves. All of the headlands and cliffs that 
 we have passed from Crescent City on our way up the coast, 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 05 
 
 bear the same evidence of this action and in every instance 
 afe easily identified as the objects of attack by the same 
 elements that have cut and carved the sandstone cliffs of 
 Grizzly mountain. To the northwest of this headland is 
 Agate beach, where quantities of fine agates are found ana 
 around the sides of Grizzly and along the foot of the Cas- 
 cades we find the material from which they are worn smooth 
 and beautiful by the sea. Between the town and the 
 beach to the northwest is a lagoon of considerable extent 
 and depth and literally alive with trout. The lagoon is 
 separated from the surf by a ridge of sand dunes near- 
 ly a hundred feet high and absolutely barren of all vegeta- 
 tion. Captain Tichenor located here about sixty years ago 
 in the belief that at some time it would become a port of 
 importance and the government has at times investigated it 
 as a possible site for a harbor of refuge. The expense, 
 however, would run into the millions and as yet it has not 
 been undertaken. With enough outlay it woul(J doubtless 
 become a boon to the coasting trade and other vessels sail- 
 ing these waters in bad weather. There are very few 
 harbors on the Pacific coast that vessels can safely enter 
 in heavy and continued gales. The settlement here has 
 not been particularly remunerative to those who cast their 
 lot in it on account of its isolation. Coasting vessels fre- 
 quently run in when the weather is good or for shelter 
 from northwesters, but regular packets seldom stop. Hav- 
 ing spent an interesting day fishing in the lagoon, gathering 
 agates and shells on the beach and studying wave action 
 on the rocks we climbed into the stage on the second morn- 
 ing after our arrival and just as the early sun began to 
 light up the crests of the combers we plunged into the for- 
 est, bound for Bandon. The road was good and fairly 
 level. A few ranches were passed and a few miles out 
 we crossed the Sixes which is a stream of considerable im- 
 portance, clear and cold and running with a strong current. 
 A few miles up this river there is gold mining of consider- 
 able extent, but that which strikes one most is the timber, 
 Port Orford, or white cedar, yellow fir, spruce and along 
 the streams myrtle, maple and ash. We are entering the 
 forests that have made Coos bay, Coquille and Port Orford 
 famous. Along the Sixes are occasional farms that have 
 been made in the vine maple and myrtle flats where the 
 heavier fir, spruce and cedar were not in the way. The 
 soil is excellent and for miles and miles we travel over an 
 almost level country that sometime in the future, when 
 the timber shall have been cut away and the ground cleared 
 
m PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 for cultivation, will become a wonderfully rich agricultural 
 region. We come to Flora's creek and find quite a settle- 
 ment, the people generally engaged in dairying. In this 
 vicinity are lakes and marshes that furnish fine pasturage 
 and meadow lands and are also great places for ducks and 
 geese. This is a sportsman's paradise. After passing 
 Flora's creek a few miles we come to the beach again hav- 
 ing left Cape Blanco behind, and for eight miles enjoy the 
 ride on the surf beaten sand at low tide and watch the 
 breakers rolling in. Often they come so far up on the 
 beach that the water almost reaches the wagon box. A 
 short way out we can watch the sea lions swimming high 
 on the rollers and watching us with apparent curiosity. 
 On the beach we pass New river, so called because now 
 and then the drifting sands cause it to change its course 
 and sometimes they dam it up entirely, forming a lake 
 back of the sand dunes; another great duck shooting field. 
 A few miles further on we leave the beach and drive :: 
 couple of miles across the sand hills to Bandon on the 
 south bank of the Coquille river. Our trip has been a 
 delightful one, thanks to the weather, but we are tired 
 and the salt air has contributed to give us a ravenous appe- 
 tite. Here we find good accommodations and will remain 
 over night and take a steam boat up the river in the 
 morning. 
 
Chapter XII. 
 BANDON, THE COQUILLE RIVER AND COOS BAY* 
 
 "I have heard the call of the wind-swept pine 
 
 And there bides no rest for me; 
 My soul is drenGhed with clear star-shine 
 
 And drunk with the win 3 qj the sea.*' 
 
 Bandon is situated on the south shore at the mouth of 
 the Coquille river, about twenty miles below Cape Arago, 
 which is just off the entrance to Coos Bay. At this writing 
 the town is grown to considerable importance. It has a 
 remarkably picturesque situation* fine beach and rocks just 
 off shore where thousands of seals and sea lions Congregate 
 during the season when they seek the company of each 
 other. No place on the coast furnishes a better opportun- 
 ity for studying these interesting animals. I have seen 
 thousands of them on and about these rocks at a time. 
 The seal rock at San Francisco do not compare with these 
 in the numbers of sea lions that frequent them. This is 
 coming to be a place of summer resort for frequenters of 
 the sea side, and when railroad communication shall have 
 been completed with the interior it will doubtless become 
 one of the most popular resorts on the coast of Oregon. 
 The high headland affords a fine outlook seaward, the 
 broad river mouth which constitutes the harbor extends 
 miles inland, the bar is directly in front and the rolling 
 Pacific in its boundless energy dashes upon the rocks and 
 lashes the beach with a never ending roar. The town-site 
 is an unduiating table-land about one hundred feet above 
 the tide and extends inland as such for several miles, grad- 
 ually ascending to the foot of the mountains. The soil 
 is sandy and has been built by the action of the surf and 
 wind. This tableland is covered with a stunted growth 
 of spruce and cedar which is very ornamental but of little 
 use except for firewood and fencing materials. A mile or 
 two inland are evidences that the continent is expanding 
 here, as elsewhere along the shore of the Pacific. These 
 evidences consist of great depths of beach sand and shells 
 with drift wood such as we now see gathering along the 
 beach. The country lying between the Coquille and Coos 
 Bay is a peninsula extending inland for several miles and 
 consisting of marine drift. One studying it closely would 
 
m PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 come to the conclusion that the time was when all of tin's 
 peninsula was a bay and has been filled with the wash and 
 drift from the ocean and the Old Island, aided by the up- 
 ward movement of the coast line and the drifting sands 
 that are constantly moving along the shore. Miles back 
 in this peninsula beach drift shows plentifully where ero- 
 sion has cut deep channels through it r or where, in digging 
 wells, or mining for coal the drifts are uncovered. The 
 peninsula is practically level, at least the hills are 
 not high enough to be dignified by the term mountains, and 
 much of it is level. The inequalities are not greatly differ- 
 ent in contour or proportions from the moving sand dunes 
 that are being constantly built up and torn down along the 
 ocean shore by the action of the winds. All of this penin- 
 sula is covered with a wondrous growth of yellow fir (called 
 Oregon pine), spruce and gigantic Port Orford cedar. I 
 measured one cedar tree that had been blown down, which 
 measured sixteen feet in diameter twenty feet from the 
 ground, was nearly two hundred and fifty feet high and 
 almost two hundred feet without a knot or a limb. This 
 was, of course, an unusually large one. There are many 
 arms and indentations reaching into the peninsula from the 
 bay that afford good facilities for logging. Around the 
 edges of these indentations and along the numerous streams 
 that run through the forest are dense growths of myrtle, 
 maple, vine-maple, hazel and ash. Sometimes areas of 
 many acres are covered with rhododendron with its ever 
 green leaves and remarkable red and purple bloom, large 
 as large roses and as beautiful, a more cheery sight can 
 not well be imagined. The ever present fern also grows 
 in rank profusion. The dense undergrowth is tied and 
 matted together with wild blackberry vines that produce 
 quantities of luscious fruit where the sun has a chance to 
 sweeten it. Salal and salmon berries also grow in great 
 quantities. 
 
 Having taken a casual glance at the country lying 
 within the peninsula, we will leave it for a time and recur 
 to it again, giving now brief observation to the beautiful 
 river and the country lying along it. First, however, I 
 wish to pay a tribute to the excellent hotel accommodations 
 to be had at Bandon, which has for several years been fos- 
 tering the growth of her summer resort business. In its 
 improvement it has its newspaper, excellent schools, several 
 hotels, some manufacturing and, lying as it does at the 
 mouth of a harbor second only to Coos Bay, with a navig- 
 able river upon which boats ascend to Myrtle Point, forty 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 99 
 
 "miles inland by the course of the stream, navigable also for 
 coasting schooners of fair size to Coquille City twenty miles 
 up stream, all of which tend to give assurance of future 
 importance. The government has for many years been 
 Quite generous in its appropriations for the Coquille and 
 the bar has been greatly improved. Tugs are kept here 
 to accommodate the vessels that frequent the port and it is 
 not unusual to see several ocean craft lying at anchor in 
 the harbor at one time. 
 
 For several miles the river varies from one to two 
 miles in width and salmon canneries and saw mills are seen 
 &t frequent intervals along its shores. Ship yards where 
 
 vessels are built also occur and no country in the world 
 affords finer timber for the construction of water craft. 
 It constitutes one of the great businesses of both Coquille 
 and Coos Bay. Ships that were built at Coos Bay are now 
 navigating the waters of all parts of the world. Spars and 
 ships knees, planking and finishing lumber for ship-building 
 are shipped hence to the Atlantic shores and to foreign 
 countries. Moving on up the Coquille the most phlegmatic 
 will be struck with the beauty of the stream, After the 
 lower expansion it drops to a width varying from a few 
 hundred feet to half a mile, its shores everywhere bordered 
 with myrtle timber, among the most beautiful and decora- 
 tive trees that grow. These trees have bodies that some- 
 times measure four or five feet in diameter. As a rule 
 they branch out rather low and their great spreading tops 
 and ever-green leaves overhang the pellucid stream as if 
 admiring a reflection of their own beauty. I have never 
 steamed along between those splendily shaded banks that 
 I have not caught myself humming ''The Blue Juanita.*' 
 Nothing is more soothingly pleasant to me than a ride, in 
 good weather, on the deep, quiet waters of the Coquille^ 
 this water boulevard, bordered with these beautiful, aro- 
 matic trees that seem to reach out their branches as if to 
 extend their protecting shade across its whole surface. 
 Every now and then our little steamer sounds its whistle 
 and rounds into a landing fixed under the shade of a great 
 tree. Men, women and children flock to the landing, mail 
 is discharged, perhaps some freight put on* or taken on, 
 a few words exchanged, we cast off and are soon moving 
 on watching the trees and noticing the salmon that are 
 jumping here and there making great circles Of ripples on 
 the water. There is a margin of greater or less extent of 
 the finest agricultural land along both shores clear up to 
 Myrtle Point and many fine farms have been made. The 
 
100 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 bottom lands along the river, in fact along all the streams 
 in this section of the country, are very rich and will pro- 
 duce everything that is suited to the climate — fruit, veget- 
 ables and all kinds of hay. Grain does not do so well on 
 account of the prevailing moisture which causes rust and 
 prevents the grain from maturing. Much of these bottom 
 lands have been cleared of the myrtle, maple and ash and 
 the other growths that have been described. The dense- 
 ness of these growths makes the clearing of a farm a long 
 and laborious task but when completed the happy owner 
 has a little kingdom all of his own. 
 
 For furniture and fine finishing work there is no timber 
 that will excel the myrtle, birds-eye maple, ash and white 
 cedar burl, all of which are produced here in great abund- 
 ance. It is sad, however to see the waste of these splendid 
 materials. In clearing up a farm these trees are cut, 
 rolled into heaps and burned to get them out of the way. 
 Some of us remember this same kind of wastefulness that 
 years ago prevailed in parts of the Mississippi valley with 
 reference to the walnut, maple and wild cherry that were 
 treated in the same way. Now half a dozen of these great 
 logs of walnut that were thus destroyed would bring enough 
 money to buy a modest farm. The value of this timber 
 was not appreciated until it was gone. Even the few 
 remaining stumps are being dug up and sold at big prices 
 to be worked into veneering. Nothing makes a finer ven- 
 eer than the myrtle. It is so limited, however, that with- 
 in a few years the timber that is being destroyed, if saved, 
 would bring more than the land upon which it grew. I 
 have seen some of the finest furniture and inside finishings 
 in ships' cabins made from the myrtle. The finest exhibit 
 at the Lewis and Clark Exposition at Portland came from 
 Coos and consisted of these woods. They may still be 
 seen at the forestry building at the exhibition grounds. 
 I have seen a schooner load of Port Orford cedar consisting 
 of five hundred thousand feet, loaded at Coquille, no board 
 of which was less than two inches thick, two feet wide and 
 twenty feet long and not a knot in the whole cargo. Such 
 lumber at that time (1883), brought, in the rough at San 
 Francisco, sixty dollars a thousand. Thousands of cords 
 of this cedar was cut and sold at fifteen to twenty dollars 
 a cord at the wharf, to be used in the manufacture of match- 
 es. 
 
 Twenty-five miles from Bandon we reach Coquille City, 
 the county seat of Coos county. This town is well sit- 
 uated having an excellent country surrounding it and is the 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 101 
 
 head of navigation of ocean going vessels on the Coquille 
 river. Here freight is taken for the coasting trade and 
 for the Sandwich islands. Many of these schooners voyage 
 hence to the coast of South America. The hills about 
 Coquille city are not high, but as a rule are, or have been 
 heavily timbered. The soil is a rich clay and when the 
 timber is taken off and the stumps burned out will produce 
 great crops. These old logged off areas are generally 
 allowed to grow up with the ordinary dense growths that I 
 have described, which are sometimes kept down by pastur- 
 ing with sheep, goats and cattle, and when so pastured 
 they become excellent grazing lands, for clover and a kind 
 of blue grass spring up spontaneously and grow luxuriantly. 
 There are many clearings and farms where the forests once 
 stood, and the area so reduced is growing rapidly from 
 year to year. From Coquille City it is about a dozen miles 
 to the northwest to Marshfield and the two are connected 
 by rail. Marshfield has for many years been the principal 
 city of the Coos country. Its claim to that distinction is 
 now being strongly contested by North Bend, which is sit- 
 uated three or four miles further down the bay to the 
 north. If we were to return down the river four or five 
 miles from Coquille City, we would notice prairie to the 
 north from which a stream flows into the river. That is 
 Beaver slough and consists of five or six thousand acres that 
 some years ago came under the designation of swamp and 
 overflowed land. As such it went to the state and was 
 disposed of at one dollar per acre, twenty cents per acre to 
 be paid down and the other eighty cents to be paid on 
 proof of reclamation by drainage, at which time a deed 
 would be made by the state. Land grabbing under this 
 land law furnishes one of the rankest chapters of grafting 
 in the history of Oregon. This Beaver slough tract is 
 one of the finest bodies of land to be found anywhere, and 
 so far as I know it has never been reclaimed. A dyke 
 along the river and a tide gate at the mouth of the slough, 
 a little ditching, tiling, and clearing of brush and this 
 tract would be worth a quarter of a million dollars. It 
 extends back from the river four or five miles and the tide 
 which runs up the river enters it and runs almost to the 
 head of the slough. There are a great many smaller 
 bodies of such land along the many sloughs that run back 
 into the country from Coos bay and Coquille river, that will 
 sometime become the most valuable lands in the country. 
 These sloughs have the advantage of gathering in the de- 
 pressions where they lie, the very cream of the higher sur- 
 
102 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 rounding country, which in time becomes very deep. Such 
 tracts are world beaters for clover, red top, timothy and 
 other grasses; the most alluring spots for dairymen. They 
 will also produce anything that can be raised in that climate, 
 which means a great deal. 
 
 From the head of Beaver slough to the head of Coos 
 bay, is about five miles and is designated as "The Isthmus." 
 The country between is somewhat elevated and covered with 
 timber and at the head of the bay is an old coal mining* 
 town called Utter City to which steam boats on the bay 
 run daily. From this point the course of the bay is almost 
 north for about twelve miles to North Bend where it turns 
 abruptly to the southwest for about eight miles and enters 
 the ocean. The town of North Bend is on the south and 
 west shore of the bay and opposite to North slough which 
 comes in from the north and covers another area of so- 
 called swamp and overflowed land. This area abounds in 
 little lakes and channels that afford the finest fishing and 
 duck shooting, and around it is good land and some good 
 timber. Four miles back, up the bay from North Bend 
 and on the same shore is Marshfield. Two miles south 
 from Marshfield and near the head of coal mine slough, is 
 New Port, where are located the coal mines of Coos county. 
 Ocean vessels load coal at the wharfs at New Port and 
 its shipment has been one of the chief industries of the 
 Coos country for the past fifty years. These are practically 
 the only coal mines being operated in the state. The coal, 
 while not an anthracite, is excellent for all uses required. 
 The coal field is extensive and thousands of acres of coal 
 lands have been gobbled up under the guise of homesteads 
 and pre-emptions, another field in which the United States 
 has been defrauded of large tracts of land. It is probable 
 that the statutes of limitation have run against these frauds. 
 Four miles below North Bend and on the same shore of the 
 bay, is Empire City, for many years the county seat and 
 principal town. The Custom House is here, and back in 
 the '80s an extensive lumbering establishment was laid our 
 at Empire and a magnificent mill erected. It did indiffer- 
 ent work, however, and in a few years was dismantled, and 
 the old town presents a very dilapidated appearance. » It 
 is the port of entry, occupies a beautiful and romantic site, 
 overlooking the lower bay and having a view of the surf 
 for ten miles up the coast. I remember with keen pleasure 
 the almost four years I spent at Empire and feel sad at the 
 • decay of the old town. North Bend, Marshfield and Co- 
 quille City are forging ahead and the first two are sites of 
 
AND MARBLE MALLS OF OREGON. 103 
 
 great lumbering operations and shipbuilding. About half 
 way between North Bend and Marshfield and on the op- 
 posite side of the bay Coos river enters. This stream is 
 navigable for twelve or fifteen miles and is bordered with 
 fine farms and a thrifty population. Other hamlets dot 
 the shores of the bay and other settlements have appropriat- 
 ed eligible sites further inland and in the mountains. This 
 little bay affords an interesting and lively appearance. Its 
 people are largely from Maine, Massachusetts and other 
 northeastern states. Many of them have been reared to 
 a seafaring life and many more come from, the Maine woods. 
 The manners are essentially of the New England type and 
 the people are noted for their generosity and hospitality so 
 characteristic of the country from whence they hail. Many 
 are from Boston and never allow you to depart without 
 impressing that fact on you. But they are good people 
 and no more enjoyable time could be had than at a New 
 England clam-bake and celebration at Coos bay. 
 
 Among the sources of sport and recreation nothing 
 could be more enjoyable than a trip of a week's camping 
 up Coos river angling for the speckled beauties in which its 
 waters abound; or a day at Cape Arago lighhouse on the 
 island; or a saunter on the beach in good weather; 
 or fishing for tom-cod from a small boat with a dozen hooks 
 on your line and sometimes getting a fish on every hook 
 at a single throw; or spearing flounders at night from a 
 boat by the light of pitch-wood torches, or even lounging 
 around the jetty, catching rock cod with a long line and 
 heavy weight, or lying under the shade of a spruce tree 
 on the headland looking off at the gently rolling billows, 
 gathering clams at low tide, or catching crabs with a garden 
 rake. All these are sources of pleasure such as having once 
 been enjoyed will never be forgotten. Then again, when 
 storms are on and friends are out on the water; when the 
 surf rises as it scarcely does anywhere else in the world, 
 until its pounding on the beach shakes the ground where 
 you stand and rattles your windows in the dead of night. 
 When Old Boreas is on the rampage many weird sounds are 
 heard and many creepy apprehensions aroused. One having 
 grown familiar with such things would not guess long at 
 the peculiar craving of the sandstone cliffs along the sides 
 of Grizzly mountain. Here, then, and at the mouth of the 
 Coquille and at Port Orford, we have harbors, perhaps the 
 only ones of the Old Island where the sea is operating much 
 in the same way it did when the beach lines we traced on 
 the sides of Grizzly were being buffeted by the billows of 
 
104 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 this same ocean. Here we have found and entered deeply 
 into the coal mines, now on a level of the sea, that in their 
 forming belonged to the same date with the dposits we 
 find near Siskiyou station four thousand feet above the sea 
 and more than two hundred miles away. We would not 
 expect to find fossils belonging to the creatceous era 
 along this beach where the ocean has been continuously 
 in action during all that period of time described in the 
 earlier chapters of this little volume, and we do not find 
 them. 
 
 Cape Arago extends for some miles out to sea from 
 the south side of the entrance to Coos bay, and terminates 
 in an island on which the Government lighthouse and life 
 saving station are established. The .mainland at this 
 point is a promontory from which a splendid view is ob- 
 tained to the limit of vision up and down the coast. The 
 island is from half to three quarters of a mile in length 
 and at its widest part is only a few hundred feet across 
 Near its middle it is almost cut in two by the action of the 
 sea and a hole has been cut through it almost large enough 
 to sail a good-sized schooner through. This opening is 
 arched over affording a natural bridge over which the 
 light-keeper passes from his residence to the lighthouse. 
 At this point the island is so narrow that before a walk 
 and railing were put over it the keeper had to crawl on 
 his hands and knees on stormy nights in fear of being 
 blown off the island. This island is fifty or sixty feet 
 high and the sides are vertical to the surf and are solid 
 sandstone cut and carved as is usual in such places. The 
 lighthouse stands at the outer extremity of the island and 
 is about eighty feet high. Notwithstanding the elevation 
 the lenses are often incrusted with salt from the spray that 
 is dashed against them during hard storms. Still beyond 
 the island a reef extends and at its outer point is a whist- 
 ling buoy whose hoarse bellowing can be heard miles inland 
 when the wind is favorable. Still beyond the buoy the 
 reef extends covered by several fathoms of water where cod 
 and halibut fishing furnish recreation and profit when the 
 sea is sufficiently smooth to permit it. The island is con- 
 nected with the mainland by a suspension bridge two or 
 three hundred feet long. At low tide there is not much 
 water in the channel but when the tide is full and a south- 
 west gale is blowing, the sea rushes through it with fearful 
 volume and force. The life-saving station is located on 
 the island also and on the shore of this channel 
 the life-boat must be launched, a wild operation in a rough 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OP OREGON. 105 
 
 sea. Tne writer had an experience here in 1883 which will 
 be remembered as the adventures of a lifetime. As it will, 
 in my judgment aid us in the nature study we have been pur- 
 suing I will give it. 
 
 The occasion was the wreck of the new steel steamer 
 Tacoma bound south from Puget Sound with her first cargo 
 of coal, carrying 5 000 tons and trying to make a record 
 trip. I was collector of customs at the port and ex-officio 
 had some duties in regard to the life-saving service, which 
 at that time only maintained a keeper but no crew, a volun- 
 teer crew being depended on in case of an emergency. Late 
 one evening a man in oil skins and sou-wester appeared at 
 the office and excitedly announced that the steam ship 
 Tacoma had gone ashore above the mouth of the Umpqua. 
 twenty miles to the north and was being hammered to 
 pieces on the sands. She had a crew of fifty men and a 
 few passengers and no means of getting ashore except by 
 making rafts of deck wreckage, the boats having been 
 stoven and broken. There was a fearful storm raging and 
 the messenger had been sent down the beach to get the 
 Cape Arago life-boat. I at once set about to gather a 
 volunteer crew. Several vessels lay in the harbor but the 
 sailors were loth to leave their snug berths for so strenuous 
 a service. I succeeded in getting enough to promise to 
 man the boat, but inasmuch as a tug would have to accom- 
 pany it to the scene of the wreck, and neither the life-boat 
 nor tug could be taken out until high tide, which would not 
 occur until about four o'clock in the morning, it was pro- 
 posed that I should take another crew to launch the life- 
 boat and meet the tug off the bar at that hour and the 
 volunteer crew would come out with the tug and take 
 charge. I gathered up eight men, most of whom were safe 
 men for such an enterprise, and at dusk we set out on foot 
 for the station eight miles away. It was a stormy blustery 
 night and we had to cross south slough (almost a mile 
 wide) in a rickety small boat, which we accomplished with- 
 out accident. Pitchy darkness had now set in and when 
 we reacned the station the waves were beating upon the 
 island with such force that it shook and quivered as if in 
 danger of being washed away. We could do nothing until 
 the tide was well in, hence employed ourselves with loosen- 
 ing the hatches of the boat house, which was built in a 
 bight of the channel shore and stood on piling above the 
 narrow beach from which we had to lower the boat to the 
 sands. The boat had never before been taken out and the 
 hatches and tackle having been kept painted were stiff anc 
 
106 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 hard to handle. The boat was a splendid specimen of that 
 class of craft and with its cargo of necessary accoutrements 
 was heavy. By midnight we had the boat on the beach 
 with life-line, cannon to shoot the line, life preservers, etc.. 
 all stowed away and ready to push off so soon as the tide 
 should serve. It was yet four hours before we could expect 
 the tug to heave in sight which would be about day-light. 
 We could do nothing but wait and think of the imperiled 
 men twenty miles away. The storm was gradually increas- 
 ing and the roaring of the surf and the shaking of the 
 island was calculated to disturb weak nerves. The clouds 
 were flying overhead like frightened gulls and occasional 
 gusts brought snow and rain. Surf was thrown completely 
 over the island and even dashed against the lenses of the 
 light more than one hundred feet above low tide. As the 
 time drew near for manning the boat, our faces when shown 
 by the light of the lantern exhibited no levity. Desmond, 
 the keeper of the station and ex-officio captain of the crew, 
 appeared to be nervous and frankly admitted that our un- 
 dertaking was a perilous one. Charley Getty, George Wil- 
 son, Andrew Jackson and the others whose names I have 
 forgotten were men of experience, courage and good judg- 
 ment and I was the only one who had never had any exper- 
 ience in the surf. My initiation promised to be more than 
 ordinarily interesting. I had confidence in the "boys" and 
 while not wholly placid I put on the best face I cculd and 
 would not have balked under any circumstances. As the 
 time drew near we examined the lashings, put on our life 
 suits, assumed the stations assigned to us and "stood by" 
 reedy to receive orders. We were instructed to stand at 
 our places and with our oars on the sands to steady the 
 boat and when word should be given, to drop to our seats 
 and shove off. The boat's nose was kept ■ on the sands 
 and its stern out toward the channel. Just to the south of 
 us not over seventy-five feet away was a dyke reaching out 
 into the channel, cutting it half in two and 
 standing from ten to twenty feet high. Over this the 
 sea was breaking like a Niagara. As the tide rose and the 
 boat began to float she would rise to the swell until all 
 hands were put to their best efforts to hold it. Then it 
 would sink back until it rested on the sands again only 
 to repeat its upward and downward motion time and time 
 again. We were drenched to the skin, the channel was a 
 seething mass of foam, and the roaring surf drowned our 
 voices except when raised to the highest pitch. Charly Getty 
 and the captain each manned a steering oar and sat in 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 107 
 
 the stern. I had the port bow oar and the others were 
 arranged in their places when the command was given to 
 shove off. I shall never forget that wild plunge. The 
 seething waters caught us and hurled us with the force of 
 a catapult under the suspension bridge and out into the 
 roaring surf beyond the island. The water was breaking 
 in thirty fathoms and the waves were rolling tumultously. 
 Great combers glowing with phosphorescent light seemed 
 miles in length. As a huge breaker rose before us the 
 order to back on our oars was obeyed with alacrity and we'd 
 back away from it until it broke and then rush forward 
 again into the foam and swirl. And thus, for two hours, 
 we backed and filled among breakers that are noted the 
 world over for their violence and volume. The cannon 
 broke its lashings and threatened to make a hole through 
 the boat in its wild plunges from one side to the other. 
 Two men were ordered to haul in their oars and secure the 
 gun. They could hold it but could not lash it and the 
 crew was weakened by losing two of its oarsmen. The 
 captain turned us toward a bight in the island for the pur- 
 pose of running ashore and "trimming ship." As we near- 
 ed the beach the port bow oar was ordered to "stand by" 
 and take a line ashore as soon as her nose should strike 
 the sand. That order was for me. I drew in my oar. 
 caught up the line and standing in the bow made ready to 
 jump as soon as I should feel the boat strike. The momeni 
 came just after a great roller had drawn back to sea and 
 the succeeding one was coming in. I plunged forward 
 into the water waist deep only to be caught by the incoming 
 roller which was not less than ten or fifteen feet high. Ii 
 caught me up and threw me forward fully fifty feet. i 
 was completely submerged but fortunately retained presence 
 of mind enough to hold onto my line, dig my heels into tht 
 sand and throw myself head first toward the shore. Tht 
 returning roller left us high and dry on the beach and all 
 hands were ordared to secure our cargo. The tug had no? 
 yet come in sight and as we were again on the island and 
 not far away from the station the captain made an excuse t( 
 go there for something. We put everything in trim and 
 waited for the captain, knowing that the tug would sooi; 
 come over the bar and whisle for us. After half an hour 
 and no captain I took another man and went to the station 
 to ascertain the cause of delay. We found him snugl: 
 esconsed by his stove and in answer to us he declared tha: 
 all the money in Christendom would not induce him to g<« 
 out in that surf again. Here was a problem. A man wh( 
 
108 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 claimed to have been at sea all his life and who had been 
 intrusted with the responsibilities of life-saving keeper, on 
 the first occasion of his services being called for, and in 
 the most critical moment showing the white feather when 
 his crew of volunteers were clamoring to do this act of 
 humanity and mercy. We begged, entreated and finally 
 threatened, but all to no purpose. Going out a^ain we 
 saw the tug a mile away and by the steam from her 
 whistle, knew that she was blowing for us. We secured 
 another (smaller boat), from the light-keeper, a boat that 
 leaked badly, and sent two men off to the tug to announce 
 the situation and ask the captain to send the tug's boat in 
 with the crew that had volunteered and we would meet 
 them with the life-boat. This the captain refused to do. 
 The trip out in the little leaky boat in such a surf was a 
 very dangerous mission, but these two were very brave 
 men, and it was our purpose to try and take the boat out 
 to them ourselves when we saw with astonishment, the tug 
 turn deliberately in and disappear over the bar. It looked 
 like a shocking piece of cowardice in all concerned. We 
 knew, however, that the captain of the tug was no coward, 
 but up to this day there has been no satisfactory explana- 
 tion of the act. All on board the steamer Tacoma were 
 saved by fishermen, except eleven who clung to the rigging 
 until the ship broke in two and keeled over. They clung 
 there for two days and nights and being benumbed with 
 cold, half starved, half drowned and completely exhuasted, 
 they dropped one by one, were washed ashore and buried. 
 The fishermen of the Umpqua performed such feats of dar- 
 ing and mercy us we sometimes read about and if the life- 
 boat had reached the wreck every life might have been 
 saved. Desmond ought to have gone to prison for the re- 
 mainder of his natural life, but as it was, after several 
 days' investigation, he was simply relieved of his position. 
 This little story seems hardly apropos to the purpose 
 of this book, but it tends to show the relentless energy of 
 this great force, that since the waters were gathered in the 
 hollows, has been shaping islands and continents and 
 (hanging the face of nature. 
 
Chapter XIII. 
 
 THE SEA IN A TEMPEST — THE IMPQUA RIVER AND 
 VALLEY. 
 
 "The breaking billows cast the flying foam 
 
 Upon the billows rising — all the deep 
 
 Is restless change — the waves, so swelled and steep, 
 
 Breaking and sinking; * * * 
 
 Curled as they come, they strike with furious force, 
 ****** 
 
 Raking the rounded flints, which ages past 
 Rolled in their rage, and shall for ages last." 
 
 My memory is a storehouse of many incidents in ex- 
 perience and associations about Coos Bay, fishing, hunting 
 and boating. Some are incidents humorous, incidents sad, 
 incidents on land and water; incidents political and others 
 of a social character which, while the narration might be 
 made entertaining would not aid the purpose of this vol- 
 ume. I will therefore pass over them and ask the reader 
 to accompany me up the beach twenty miles to the Umpqua 
 liver by stage, thence by boat to Scottsburg,the head of navi- 
 gation on that stream, from whence, by stage we will reach 
 the S. P. railroad at Drain sixty-five or seventy miles in- 
 land. I will select one of the many trips I have made 
 over that route and give it in narrative form. 
 
 During the winter of 1S83-4 Gen. J M Siglin and I fixed 
 a date to go out in company. The stages that were driven 
 up the beach were what are known as "beach wagons." 
 The tires are very broad on account of having to be driven 
 over the sands. The start had to be gauged to suit the 
 tide for our drive would be directly on the beach, from 
 which, if we were caught by the incoming tide we would 
 be driven into the sand hills. Our start was just before 
 daybreak from Empire where the bay is about two miles 
 wide and had to be crossed in a small boat, the stage barn 
 and horses being on the other side. The morning was 
 cold and stormy and a heavy sea chopped the bay into a 
 rough boating proposition. Jarvis, the good-natured driver 
 and proprietor of the stage line, was a down-easter, and 
 knew how to handle a boat. We were on hand with storm 
 coats and full conviction that we would have a rough trip. 
 
110 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 The boat was heavily loaded and now and then would take 
 in a sea that required one of us to keep bailing. Spray 
 was constantly blowing over us and by the time we had 
 landed at the barn we were drenched to the skin. A twenty 
 mile drive up the beach under the circumstances was not 
 a pleasant experience to contemplate. We were in for it 
 however, and were not of the kind to "gig back." At the 
 barn we found three more passengers waiting for us; two 
 men and a woman; one of the men being a drummer. 
 From the barn there was a drive of about two miles over 
 the sand dunes before we reached the beach, and being wet 
 and chilled the General and I started out on foot. We 
 reached the beach and traveled along it two or three miles 
 before the stage overtook us. The weather was so heavy 
 and thick that we could not see to the outer breakers. 
 The wind blew a perfect gale from the northwest and the 
 waves were running monstrously high and when they struck, 
 even at low tide, almost covered the beach to the sand 
 hills. If the tide should turn before we reached the Ump- 
 qua we were sure to be turned off the beach, which would 
 mean a wait out in the bleak sand dunes until the tide 
 should ebb again. The storm had been on for two or three 
 days with a heavy swell running in, gaining in volume and 
 violence as the storm increased. A wilder sight can not 
 be imagined than these great billows breaking a mile off 
 shore and rushing in in a swishy roar in acres of moving 
 foam. Many kinds of sea life had been thrown upon the 
 beach, squid, devilfish and great jelly fish two feet across 
 were stranded, wriggling and writhing to avoid the attacks 
 of sea gulls, fish hawks and eagles that at such time are 
 attracted in large numbers. Some of the devil fish (polype), 
 were three feet long with arms two feet or more in length 
 provided with suckers by which they fasten onto and 
 secure their prey. They are vicious looking creatures and 
 are well named. The brute has a beak like an eagle's and 
 as sharp as a keen edged knife. His eyes are the most 
 vicious looking orbs with which any living thing has been 
 endowed, and in his native element is not a desirable crea- 
 ture to meet. There were thousands of these. The day 
 before our trip the driver had discovered a whale about 
 thirty-five feet long that had ventured too close to shore 
 and had been thrown out by the surf. He appropriated his 
 find and afterwards rendered it up and obtained over a 
 thousand dollars worth of oil. It was lying on the beach as 
 we, came up and gave us an excellent opportunity to examine 
 the leviathan at close quarters. Sea lions are sometimes 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. Ill 
 
 thrown ashore in this way. A large one will often weigh 
 a ton or more and is considered a valuable find. Four 
 or five miles before reaching the Umpqua river Ten Mile 
 creek has to be crossed. When the surf is low and the 
 driver can venture far enough out, where the sands are 
 beaten solid by the waves, the crossing is safe, but when the 
 sea is running as we found it it is necessary to keep well 
 up on the beach and the danger is that one will get into the 
 quick sands. That was our misfortune on this occasion. 
 Our progress had been slow and the tide was turning when 
 we reached the stream and the surf prevented us from keep- 
 ing far enough out to avoid the danger. These sands shift 
 from time to time and are always unsafe. There were 
 five passengers and the driver and we were told that the 
 crossing did not look safe and that we should be prepared 
 to take to the water if things went wrong. The stream 
 was about one hundred yards wide and we could see that 
 a strong current was running toward the middle of it and 
 that it was thick and dark with moving sand. We got 
 along all right until we approached the channel where the 
 horses commenced to sink in the sand. The driver, passing 
 the lines to the drummer sprang out and called the General 
 and I to do likewise. We jumped into the water waist deep 
 and pushing at the rear end of the wagon assisted the 
 horses who, after a plunge or two, went into the newly cut 
 channel in water that ran across their backs and they were 
 in danger of being washed out to sea. The other man had 
 jumped out as we did and was also pushing at the end of 
 the wagon. As it went into swimming water he held on, 
 Jarvis, Siglin and I let go. The horses after some swim- 
 ming and plunging reached the opposite bank and climbed 
 out. Our friend who had held onto the wagon trailed over 
 like a tar bucket. The drummer whipped up and finally 
 got out of the stream leaving three of us on the other side. 
 Now the question was how were we to get over. We did 
 not dare to stand where we had parted with the wagon for 
 we were in the treacherous sand, and by the time we had 
 found solid footing we were almost out of hearing from 
 those in the wagon, the surf kept up such a roar. Jarvis, 
 however, succeeded in making them understand that one 
 of them was to bring the wagon back to us, keeping as far 
 out in the surf as possible. The drummer balked, but 
 the man who had been dragged over and was already thor- 
 oughly soaked, and being a man of courage, took the lines, 
 unloaded the woman and drummer and keeping as it ap- 
 peared dangerously far out in the surf succeeded in reaching 
 
112 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 us. Returning we kept as far out as we dared to, and 
 though one roller broke clear over the wagon, we got over 
 and had a race with the tide until we reached near enough 
 to the Umpqua river to make it safe to tackle the sand hills. 
 By unloading the passengers the team was able to wallow 
 through the loose sand to the boat landing. Through it 
 all the drummer kept cool but perspired copiously and in 
 good Semitic language, embellished with commercial jargon 
 heaped imprecations on the whole business. One must 
 have an experience of this kind before he can fully appreciate 
 what the strenuosity of a twenty-mile trip directly on the 
 Pacific beach means on a windy, wintry day just at the tail 
 end of a long storm at sea. The unceasing clatter of gulls, 
 the screaming of fish-hawks and the threatening swoop of 
 great eagles, the beach lined with various kinds of life from 
 its depths, swept out of their element, the constant roar 
 of the huge billows, and sweep of the surf and the darkness 
 — which is unlike any other darkness that is experienced 
 with old Sol overhead — gives a kind of uncanny aspect to 
 everything. 
 
 Our little steamer lay at anchor a hundred yards off 
 shore just in the mouth of the river bobbing up and down 
 in the rough water like a bob on a trolling line. We were 
 taken aboard in a small boat, a performance that never fails 
 to unsteady the nerves of the land-lubber, in such weather. 
 All were safely put aboard and the little propeller turned 
 its head up river into the bay which is two miles wide 
 and where the seas run high enough to induce sea sickness. 
 About six miles from the landing we rounded into the wharf 
 at Gardiner, a saw-milling and salmon-canning town. The 
 lumbering business here is the chief occupation, although 
 some coastwise traffic in freight is also done. Deep sea 
 craft load here for various parts of the world and some 
 freight to the interior is unloaded here and products from 
 hence shipped away. Splendid forests lie back of the town 
 and it presents a lively and an enterprising appearance. In 
 the early dayo freights for the Umpqua valley and other 
 points interior was unloaded here and products 
 from hence shipped away. From this point naviga- 
 tion is good for something over 2 miles to Scottsburg, but 
 not above that. Many years ago a steamboat was taken to 
 Roseburg, an incident intended to be used in an application 
 to Congress for an appropriation for improvement of the 
 river to that point. The steamboat failed to get back, and 
 the purpose for which it was taken there failed also. From 
 Gardiner to Scottsburg the river is very interesting. The 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 113 
 
 mountains come down to the water with a steep even slope, 
 leaving no margin for settlement. In coming up the river on 
 this occasion we who had gotten soaked on the beach spent 
 most of our time in trying to get dry in the engine room. 
 At Scottsburg we remained until four o'clock the next morn- 
 ing, when we boarded the stage for Drain, thirty-six miles 
 away, the nearest railroad station. In good weather this is 
 a delightful ride, but at that time, in an incessant storm, 
 muddy roads and damp clothing, the reader can imagine that 
 our comfort was not excessive. The road runs along the 
 lower Umpqua valley, which besides being very rich and 
 productive, lies in a most attractive setting. The mount- 
 ains break away on either hand decorated with a beautiful 
 growth of oak, maple, ash, cedar, pine and fir. The valley 
 has splendid growths of oak, interspersed among the farms, 
 making it iook like a park with the beautiful river running 
 sometimes along its margin, and anon through its middle. 
 The farms and improvements are all well kept, the orchards, 
 gardens and stock show thrift and contentment. From 
 Elkton to Drain is fourteen miles over a mountain of mod- 
 erate elevation, a part of the time along the side of a very 
 deep canyon. The road is a mere bench cut around the 
 side of the hill at a dizzy height from the bottom of tin 
 gorge. The driver, like most of stage drivers, liked to 
 indulge in the stories of accidents that have happened from 
 sliding off the grade, and runaways down the hill. On 
 this occasion he entertained us with an incident of a few 
 weeks before that happened to him. He had as passengers. 
 ex-Governor Whitaker and Judge Kelsey, both well known 
 and prominent men and old pioneers. They were both 
 great jokers and well acquainted, but like many other jokert 
 .could not relish a joke on themselves, and as they had been 
 joking each other pretty hard they were each in sonu 
 warmth of temper. The driver was listening and grew a 
 little careless when at the most critical point of the grade 
 his team shied and upset the stage down the hill. There 
 were some trees against which the stage hung up. The 
 slope was as steep as the roof of a house and the two pion- 
 eer politicians started down the slope in a very unconven- 
 tional way. Kelsey succeeded in colliding with a tret 
 before he got fully under way and turned to look for the 
 Governor, who was headed down hill on all fours and mak- 
 ing wonderful time. Kelsey called at the top of his voice, 
 
 "come back you d d old fool, you'll got lost!" Th< 
 
 Governor succeeded in stopping himself, the stage was 
 righted, but little damage was done, the passengers crawlee 
 
114 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 in and they proceeded in silence. The Judge was inclined 
 to be talkative but the Governor was too indignant to 
 answer him. 
 
 Late in the afternoon we reached the station and en- 
 joyed that peculiar sensation only known to those who have 
 had two strenuous days of such travel as belonged to long 
 journeys du.ing pioneer experiences. Our present troubles 
 were over and a little comfort was at hand which we enjoy- 
 ed to the fullest, notwithstanding the fact that we would 
 have to make the return trip in a few days and in all 
 probability would again suffer tribulation. One is not fit 
 for pioneer life who cannot follow the scriptural injunction, 
 "think not of the morrow," so far as worrying over probable 
 future hardships is concerned. In fact these experiences 
 and adventures constitute a very interesting picture gallery, 
 which, during the remainder of life can be called up and 
 looked over at will; the old masters have painted nothing 
 as good, and J. P. Morgan's great picture collection would 
 not be accepted by me in exchange for my own, if the 
 exchange could be made. 
 
 Our present occupation is an examination of the old 
 Siskiyou island, therefore we will turn south from Drain on 
 the Southern Pacific road to Grants Pass. The probabilities 
 are that we are beyond the limits of the Old Island, though I 
 believe it extends as far north as the Umpqua river at Scotts- 
 burg, and there are some indications of it in the valley of 
 that name. We will not theorize upon this but will view 
 the valley and leave to the Geological Department the duty 
 of settling the question of its age. 
 
 From Drain to Roseburg, the county seat of Douglas 
 county, is forty miles, and the country, in appearance is not 
 like any other part of Oregon. It is not properly a valley, 
 but a great plain dotted over with hills and mountains of 
 moderate size, without regularity or order. As a rule 
 these hills are timbered with pine, fir and cedar on the 
 north slopes while the southern slopes are provided with 
 beautiful oak timber standing in groups and groves, or 
 singly upon a smooth grass covered acclivity which in many 
 places has been cleared of the trees and put in cultivation. 
 In other places these southern slopes never had any timber 
 but were found by the first settlers enchanting spots of 
 splendid soil, usually a clay covered everywhere with ex- 
 cellent grass and decorated with a great variety of flowers 
 that filled the spring days with fragrance. Where these 
 hills are not too steep they are cultivated to the top on the 
 south slopes and produce great crops of cereals and fruit. 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 115 
 
 Between these hills lie the valleys, many of them several 
 miles in area and supporting a good population, while others 
 seem to have been made for a single family. Across the 
 Umpqua valley from Drain at its north to the mouth of 
 Cow creek canyon at its southerly extremity, is about eighty 
 miles, as traversed by the railroad. The county is bound- 
 ed north by Lane county, east by Lane, Klamath and Jack- 
 son, south by Jackson and Josephine and west by Coos and 
 the Ocean. It reaches to the summit of the Cascades on 
 the east and much of it is high, mountainous, heavily for- 
 ested and picturesque. The Umpqua river rises in two 
 sources, the north Umpqua in the Cascade mountains in 
 the northeast part of the county flows by a general westerly 
 course with a slight southern trend. The South Umpqua 
 rises also in the Cascade Mountains to the southeast and 
 has its course westerly and northwesterly to a junction with 
 the North branch a few miles northwest from Roseburg, 
 thence westerly by a sinuous course to the ocean. 
 Both branches are beautiful streams of clear, cold water, 
 Roseburg stands on both banks of the South Umpqua. Thiir 
 little city is one of the oldest in Southern Oregon and is a 
 place of wealth and importance. Its site is a picturesque 
 one, and it is surrounded by fine farms and orchards. It 
 is the site of the Soldiers' Home for the state, which i^ 
 located a mile and a half westerly near the river, and has- 
 been worked into a bower of beauty. 
 
 If we were writing a civil and political history of the 
 state, Roseburg and Douglas counties would furnish several 
 interesting chapters. Here was the home of Gen. "Joe" 
 Lane an Indian fighter, the first Governor of Oregon and 
 United States Senator, who resigned that position at tht 
 breakout of the Civil War, because of his sympathy witb 
 the South. He was candidate for vice-president in I860 
 on the ticket with Breckenridge and was for many years- 
 a prominent and picturesque figure. Though out of sym- 
 pathy with a majority of the state, in that great crisis, in al. 
 other matters he was held in high esteem. He raised here a 
 large and intelligent family, several of whom have honored 
 positions and all of whom have held the respect of their 
 fellow citizens. Judge Mathew P. Deady, so long U. S. Dist. 
 Judge of Oregon was, also a resident of the county in tlu- 
 early days. Judge Deady gained a wide and honorable 
 distinction as judge during the many years that he held that 
 office. No man ever maintained a higher judicial dignity, 
 or left more valuable decisions than he. J. F. Watsoi 
 who served two years as United States District Attorney and 
 
116 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 several times as Judge of the Second Judicial District of 
 Oregon and his brother E. B .Watson, who served on the 
 Supreme bench of the state were raised in this county, 
 Roseburg is, and since his boyhood has been, the home of 
 Binger Herman, several terms a member of Congress and 
 for many years Commissioner of the U. S. General Land 
 Office. 
 
 But, as has heretofore been said, I am not writing 
 either a civil or political history, and must omit this inter- 
 esting subject. As will be surmised from what has already 
 been said, the valley has the general shape of a palm leaf 
 spread out, with its stem lying along the river to the ocean. 
 Many streams come from the high mountains all converging 
 and flowing into the Umpqua river. Along all of these 
 streams are margins of rich land which have been appro- 
 priated and are generally in a good state of cultivation. 
 The great numbers of little valleys, nestling among the 
 rounded grass-covered hills make it a very picturesque 
 county, almost unique. Many of the richest farms and 
 orchards of the state are found here and in the southern 
 part of the county considerable mining is done. Besides 
 its splendid forests of pine, fir and cedar, it also has great 
 wealth in its oak, ash and maple. Its principal towns 
 along the railroad to the north from Roseburg, are Oakland, 
 Yoncalla and Drain, the last mentioned place being the 
 site of one of the Normal schools of the state. I must not 
 fail to mention Jesse Applegate and Chas. Applegate who 
 in the early days settled at Yoncalla. The Applegate fam- 
 ily was large and in the pioneer history of the state the 
 Applegates were among the most important factors. Per- 
 haps Oregon has never had a stronger mind than that of 
 "Uncle" Jesse Applegate, as he has been familiarly called. 
 His life and history would fill a volume, and the history 
 of the state could not be written without it. "Uncle" Lind- 
 sey Applegate, also a brother, whose home was at Ashland, 
 had a no less distinguished career and honorable record, 
 whose sons, as well, have added many interesting chapters 
 to the history of Oregon. But I must resist the temptation 
 to digress into historical matters. Along the railroad south 
 of Roseburg are the important towns of Myrtle Creek and 
 Riddle. Near the last mentioned place is an extensive and 
 valuable deposit of nickel. One of the chief products of the 
 valley is prunes. They thrive to perfection and are ship- 
 ped by the carload. Hops are also produced in large quan- 
 tities on bottom lands. As before stated, the soil is largely 
 clay among the hills, but in the bottom is a loam. Many 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 117 
 
 of the hills and depressions are gravelly, but even here, ay 
 a rule, apples, pears and prunes do well. The climate is 
 a medium between the more humid one of the Willamette 
 and the dryer one of the Rogue river. For its geology, 
 which shows less age than the Rogue river, I must content 
 myself with referring the reader to Professor Condon's 
 "Two Islands," before mentioned, though it is a great tempt- 
 ation to go into its sandstone deposits and bring forth the 
 interesting records found there. On our journey south a 
 few miles beyond Riddle, we plunge into Cow Creek canyon, 
 one of the most picturesque stretches of road along the 
 line of the S. P. The canyon is very deep, the mountains 
 extremely rugged and the stream very crooked. No lover 
 of nature can take a run of twenty odd miles through this 
 canyon without having his enthusiasm aroused to the high- 
 est pitch. One cannot avoid admiration of the engineering 
 skill and courage that has been displayed here by the build- 
 ers of this scenic road. At West Fork we see the last 
 of the Port Orford cedar, and what we see here is of a 
 young growth. It is being rapidly exhausted within reach 
 of the railroad by the demands made on it for telegraph, 
 telephone and electric light poles. They are the finest 
 in the world without doubt or exception. At the head of 
 the canyon we pass Glendale, a town rapidly growing into 
 importance because of the forests near it and the mines 
 that receive supplies from the station. A short distance 
 out of Glendale we enter Josephine county, and a run of 
 sixty or seventy miles over a mountainous country where 
 there are extensive mining and lumbering interests, brings 
 us again to Grants Pass, from which point we will revisit 
 the Greyback region of the Siskiyous, and make the pro- 
 mised exploration of the Great Josephine County caves; 
 which will be heareafter designated as "The Marble Halls 
 of Oregon." Before making these explorations, and in 
 pursuance of a promise made in a previous 
 chapter the succeeding chapter -will deal with 
 "Lime and its uses in Nature." I assure the reader 
 and believe he will agree with me, that the denudation of 
 these mountains of their lime and mixing it with the 
 deposits of the valleys, have been a great factor in consti- 
 tuting the unusual richness of the soil. Permit me also 
 to say that the reader who has never made a special study 
 of lime has never learned his relation with the material 
 things about him. I therefore beg him to read it before he 
 enters the caverns that nature has so "wonderfully 
 carved in the limestone beds of these mountains. 
 
Chapter XIV. 
 
 LIME AND ITS USES IN NATURE — CAUSES OF THE 
 
 LIMESTONE CAVERNS WHICH WE HAVE 
 
 YET TO EXPLORE. 
 
 "I am a part of all that I have met." 
 
 We are about to explore the "Great Marble Halls of 
 Oregon" and inasmuch as they are excavated in the mount- 
 ains by forces nature has provided, and seem to have been 
 deposited for a purpose, our study would be incomplete, did 
 we not examine somewhat closely this important element. 
 
 Lime has been one of the greatest record makers in 
 the unwritten history of the world's progress, from the 
 first appearance of animal and vegetable life on earth, if. 
 indeed not the chief est employed in that round of evolution, 
 which has constantly improved on the past. It is the 
 most useful substance known to man in the mineral king- 
 dom. Its uses are almost innumerable, but we will only 
 deal with a few of them. Nature uses lime extensively 
 in all forms of life, both animal and vegetable. It is not 
 readily soluble in pure water, but is so in water charged 
 with carbonic acid gas. During the dry seasons and im- 
 mediately after the early rains, the atmosphere becomes 
 charged with carbonic acid gas, which being absorbed and 
 carried down with the rain furnishes vitality to vegetation, 
 and percolating into the soils finds its way into the cracks 
 and fissures of the earth, acting first upon the soils, then 
 upon the rocks in its way. When the water thus charged 
 comes into contact with the limestone bodies, such as it 
 will soon be our business to examine, its solvent properties 
 at once commence active operations; cutting and dissolving 
 and forming what is known as the carbonate of lime. If 
 in its travels it reaches great depths the pressure is also 
 great, which enhances the transporting power of the water: 
 i.e., enables the water to carry more of the lime than would 
 be possible with less pressure. The solvent properties of 
 the water are also enhanced by the pressure and more rap- 
 id cutting results. The magnificent caverns that we are tci 
 examine have thus been formed and the water carrying the 
 lime in solution, finds an outlet to the surface, where beini; 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 119 
 
 relieved of the pressure, and an opportunity given for es- 
 cape of the gas, much of the lime that has been carried in 
 solution or suspension is precipitated; i.e, deposited along 
 the banks or bed of the stream incrusting roots, trees and 
 rocks, and where the conditions are favorable, building up 
 some of the many wonders in lime, samples of which we 
 shall see in the Marble Halls. If the water has been heat- 
 ed and carries a quantity of sulphur, the deposit formed 
 will constitute what is known as travertine, of which 1 
 will speak more fully hereafter. A considerable quantity of 
 the lime is still further held in solution and carried along 
 with the stream for the enrichment of the soils along its 
 banks, or deposited in the delta at its mouth. The great 
 depth of sediments which has been described as forming the 
 mass of Grizzly, has in this way acquired large quantities 
 of lime and the erosion constantly going on, reducing these 
 sediments to soils, furnishes the Rogue River valley with a 
 soil enriched by this valuable product. We all know the 
 value of lime as a fertilizer, and see in the operation of na- 
 ture which I have just explained, one of its methods to 
 vitalize and urge on vegetal growths, so essential to the 
 existence and happiness of man. 
 
 Carbonic acid gas is essential to the growth of all 
 kinds of vegetation, and for this purpose the atmosphere is 
 kept charged with it. Without moisture the gas would 
 be of little service, as it woud float above the earth, and in 
 time would charge the atmosphere so heavily as to become 
 dangerous to, if not destructive of all life, both animal and 
 vegetal. Rains and atmospheric currents distribute it and 
 keep up its proper circulation. We will assume that the 
 wet season has just closed and the dry season commenced. 
 The sun causes evaporation to take place rapidly; the moisl 
 surface gives forth its gases, of which carbonic acid gas fur- 
 nishes a large part. After a time of warm sunshine there 
 comes a shower of rain, the atmosphere is cleared and for 
 a time seems to be washed and clean. The carbonic acid 
 gas which had accumulated, is carried to the earth as 1 
 have explained, and having been saturated with water 
 commences its round of circulation. Part of it passes 
 again into the atmosphere as a gas and a part goes into the 
 earth with the water as a solution, vitalizing first the 
 vegetal mold, then carrying the surplus into the earth, 
 where it combines with such minerals as serve its purposes 
 best, which we find is lime. Thus we see the lime more 
 widely distributed and deposited, giving off its gas which 
 again commences its round of circulation. The lime thus 
 
120 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 distributed is to be used again and again in taking up the 
 surplus of carbonic acid gas over a wider range and extend- 
 ing the area of fruitful soils thus enriched. We will ob- 
 serve that evaporation is constantly going on over the sur- 
 face of the earth and ocean, from which clouds are formed 
 and the currents of air that carry these clouds in every 
 direction over the earth, and the rains that come from them 
 by which the same round is repeated over and over again. 
 This is also in strict accord with the rythm of motion thai 
 is observed constantly and incessantly in everything thai 
 pertains to the universe. 
 
 There are other gases also, which are taken into the 
 circulation of nature and do their part in this great plan. 
 but we are now dealing with the uses of lime, and those 
 elements that more nearly concern it. 
 
 Analysis shows that every variety of plant life contains 
 a proportion of lime, and that all requires more or less of 
 carbonic acid. I do not intend to say that the same pro- 
 portion is found in, or is required by all classes of vegetal 
 products, but that the amount required is found. The 
 same is also true of animal life. Earthy matter consisting 
 largely of the carbonate and phosphate of lime, soda and 
 magnesia, fill the bone cells and give strength and rigidity 
 to the bones. In children this is lacking to a certain de- 
 gree, making the bones flexible and easily pressed out of 
 shape. In old age the earthy matter is increased which 
 causes the bones to become brittle and easily broken. T1k j 
 following table gives approximately the component parts 
 of the bone structure in man and ox, to-wit: 
 
 In man, Gelatine 33.30 per cent, in ox 33.30 
 
 " " " 5 7.35 
 3.86 
 
 2.05 
 3.45 
 
 These proportions vary in different animals, but in all, 
 lime either as a phosphate or a carbonate, furnishes the 
 major portion of the bone structure. These are permeated 
 with veins through which a circulation of blood and other 
 fluids is kept up, and by which wasted tissue is renewed 
 and bone structure supplied. It follows that the mineral 
 substances necessary for such structure are supplied through 
 the veins and must come from the food that is eaten. Wheth- 
 er the food is meat or vegetable it contains these necessary 
 ingredients, that are first supplied to the vegetal world in 
 the above described way. Carbonate of lime, so abundant 
 
 Gelatine 
 
 33.30 
 
 Lime Phos. 
 
 53.04 
 
 Lime Carb. 
 
 11.30 
 
 Mag. Phos. 
 
 1.16 
 
 Soda & Salt 
 
 1.26 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 121 
 
 in the animal and vegetal kingdoms, is the main constitu- 
 ent oi: the shells of the crustaceans and molusks, and as 
 we have seen, occurs plentifully in the bones of animals 
 and men. Indeed it is an essential ingredient of all kinds 
 of life, high or low, animal or vegetal. An examination 
 of the earliest fossils shows that it played a larger part in 
 the early ages of the earth's history than now. The com- 
 binations of lime with other elements were brought about 
 by natural laws, new features and forms and greater fine- 
 ness were evolved in the various subjects brought into exist- 
 ence. We must not lose sight of the carbon, which in the 
 advancement of organic nature is the constant companion 
 of lime, and without which the magnificent caverns which 
 we are to examine would not have been formed and 
 of these great lime deposits below the surface of the 
 mountains would be lost to the necessary advancement oi 
 organic life. Without the carbon man would have been 
 deprived of the benefits derived from these massive beds 
 of fertilizing and revivifying materials stored away in the 
 bowels of the earth. Carbon, then, is one of the essential 
 elements by the means of which various mineral substances 
 are utilized for the growth of living organisms. It is free 
 or uncombined in graphite and pure in the diamond. It 
 is much more abundant, however, in states of combin- 
 ation. United with oxygen it occurs as a carbonic acid gas 
 in the atmosphere, in natural waters, in limestone, in dolo- 
 mite and ironstone. In coal it is found combined with 
 oxygen and hydrogen; and in animals and plants it is found 
 as one of the elements in building up wood, starch, gum, 
 bone and flesh. 
 
 So essentially useful are these elements when combin- 
 ed with animal and vegetal matter, or more properly speak- 
 ing, when formed into such matter because of the properties 
 we have been discussing and others not yet touched uponn, 
 that man finds many uses for the broken fragments of these 
 frames along the pathway of natural decay. For instance 
 bones are largely used in purifying liquids, syrups, etc., 
 etc. when properly prepared and also as deodorizers and 
 fertilizers. In fact there seems scarcely a limit to the 
 usefulness of these mineral substances, and when used 
 over and over again, and almost innumerable compounds 
 have been made from them and used for the purposes for 
 which they were made, the residue is again handed ovei 
 to nature's chemical laboratory where they are refitted for 
 a new round of usefulness. Every day we eat of the bones: 
 and flesh and vegetables of prehistoric ages, and lime is 
 
122 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 largely the vehicle by which these prehistoric feasts have 
 been carried down the ages to us. 
 
 All of the constituents that enter into the composition 
 of bones, are desirable additions to soils, and particularly 
 the phosphates. Phosphoric acid usually found in com- 
 bination with magnesia, but more particularly with lime, 
 enters into the structure of every plant and animal; and 
 can not therefore, be dispensed with, either in animal or 
 vegetal economy. A study of ocean life shows that cal- 
 careous, i.e. chalky, or limy matter enters not only the 
 fleshy and vegetal substances, but also into the bone, where 
 bone is a part of the structure, and into the shell where 
 such a shield or shelly covering is provided for the protec- 
 tion of the animal wearing it. It will also be observed 
 that light and heat are indispensable to the development 
 of animal or vegetal forms. Both light and solar heat 
 are diminished by remoteness from external influences. 
 Solar light and heat also depends upon the position occu- 
 pied upon the surface of the earth. The most luxuriant 
 growth of animal and vegetal life to be seen at the present 
 time is to be found near the equator. There is also found 
 the strongest light and the intensest solar heat. As the 
 poles are approached we know that the heat and light dim- 
 inishes, and so does the proportions of animal and vegetal 
 life. This thought carries us back to the one already 
 developed, that vegetal life depends largely upon carbonic 
 acid gas for nourishment, and that animal life depends pri- 
 marily upon vegetal life. We have seen that the genera- 
 tion of carbonic acid gas on the surface of the earth, de- 
 pends on light, heat and moisture, and that its distribution 
 depends, first; on ocean and air currents, and second upon 
 percolation into the earth and the transporting power of 
 water; and that from this it enters into the complex cir- 
 culation of fluids and gases, and in animal life, into the 
 circulation of the blood. 
 
 Now, when we realize the fact, that in order to give 
 carbonic acid gas its greatest facility for the development of 
 life, either animal or vegetal, it must combine with some 
 mineral substance; and that lime is the substance with 
 which it most readily combines for its greatest work in 
 the economy of nature, we are preparing to follow it into 
 further combinations needed by it in the prosecution of 
 the work it has in hand. It used to be a favorite notion 
 that phosphorus was in some way connected with the active 
 working of the mind, and that fish, being rich in phosphorus 
 furnished an excellent brain food. 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 123 
 
 The reader will remember that in a previous chapter 
 I have given considerable attention to the mineral springs 
 in the upper part of the Rogue River valley and elsewhere 
 about the Siskiyou mountains; that I have given an analysis 
 of one of the springs and spoke of the escaping carbonic acid 
 gas and other gases connected with the springs, and of the 
 great depth of sediment forming the mass of Grizzly moun- 
 tain; and the extensive erosion of the Siskiyous, by which 
 the greater part of the surface lime and other deposits were 
 washed into the sea. - These great beds of sediment and 
 escaping gases indicate the character of the soils being 
 formed, and that they contain the ingredients we are con- 
 sidering. They are among the strongest evidences of the 
 great age of this old island and account for the peculiar 
 growths and great fertility of the valleys of this region. 
 
 As v/e have seen, the bony structure of all animals in- 
 cluding man, contains the phosphate and carbonate of lime, 
 the phosphate predominating. The proportion of phos- 
 phates is greater in marine life than in that found on land, 
 so far as the fleshy parts of the animals are concerned. 
 This does not apply to the shells of such animals as are 
 furnished with such covering, which are chiefly of the 
 carbonate of lime. We see therefore that phosphoric acid 
 and carbonic acid, are required in the economy of nature 
 in combination with lime as a base, in furnishing vitality to 
 organic life. Pursuing our study we see that the immense 
 beds of limestone, covered deeply under the mountains and 
 valleys, are largely composed of the bones and shelly cover- 
 ing of marine animals now extinct; and that these bed*- 
 were temporarily withdrawn from use, to supply the re- 
 quirements of after-ages. When we realize the fact that 
 lime is so essential to the existence and development of or- 
 ganic life, and that so much of it is stored away, we may 
 reasonably ask the question: from whence is the present 
 supply derived, and how did these immense beds of lime 
 come into existence as such? We will search for an 
 answer. 
 
 These beds are not wholly due to the action of tin 
 elements on the uncovered portions of the earth's surface. 
 In fact many of our most extensive beds of limestone show 
 that they were formed at the bottom of the ocean, and 
 only contain fossils of marine animals and fishes. Many 
 of these beds may be traced to a coral origin, while others- 
 show the shells of mollusks and other denizens of the deep. 
 The discovery of marine shells in the shales and sandstone^ 
 of our highest mountains, shows that every part of thU 
 
124 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 globe has at some time or another been submerged beneath 
 the waves of the sea; and all bear evidence of the import- 
 ant part that lime has played in the existence of organic 
 matter, from the earliest appearance of animal life. I 
 have already observed that lime appears to have been more 
 extensively used in the early history of the earth than at 
 present. This is borne out by the fact that life seems to 
 have been more abundant then than now, and in form was 
 more gigantic. I do not mean to be understood that there 
 is less lime nor that it is in less use now than then, but 
 that in the evolution of all material things, and the unceas- 
 ing circulation, it has come to be more and more refined 
 and more generally distributed. In the reptilian age, when 
 this old island was surrounded by the ocean, the waters 
 fairly swarmed with monsters, whose huge frames required 
 immense quantities of carbonate and phosphates of lime. 
 These frames are now being unearthed in the centers of 
 the continents, and in almost all places far inland, and in 
 their decomposition have added much needed fertilizing 
 material. 
 
 As these limy materials have been extracted from their 
 beds by the action of the elements and other causes, they 
 have contributed their proportion to the streams that have 
 carried them to the ocean, where nature's chemistry has 
 been employed to restore them to usefulness by the 
 revitalizing processes employed in its labaratory, which 
 though being continually drawn from are never exhausted. 
 These new beds may again, sometime, be found buried 
 under mountains far inland, if the ocean shall continue to 
 shift its position as it has done in the past, which does not 
 seem probable, however. Then after undergoing meta- 
 morphic transformation they will be subjected to the same 
 processes that we will see going on in the great marble 
 caverns which we are preparing to explore, from whence 
 in different combinations they will issue forth to renew and 
 fertalize fields and valleys, now hidden from the sun, as 
 these are now fertalizing the valleys into which their waters 
 flow. 
 
 The ocean is the great fountain from which the lime 
 gathers its phosphorus, while it draws its carbon from the 
 rain that finds its way by percolation, through cracks and 
 fissures in the rocks, long after the ocean has been removed 
 to some other portion of the earth, and these limestone 
 beds, once at the bottom of the sea have become a part of 
 some continent or island. 
 
 So that in this we have marked out another source of 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. lfe 
 
 vital circulation, that is and for many ages has been evolving 
 higher and newer forms out of the materials, which though 
 they never die are constantly changing burial places; first 
 at the bottom of the ocean, then in the heart of a mighty 
 mountain. In this way they are repeating the round of all 
 matter, whether of that we call animate, or that we desig- 
 nate as inanimate. Thus, though buried for aeons of 
 ages in the bowels of the earth, or in the depths of the 
 ocean, it means not death, but a renewal of life and strength 
 by ages of rest and sleep, during which the elements em- 
 ployed are combining with the vitalizing forces of nature 
 for distant enterprises, in developing higher and newer 
 forms of life. The fossils now being deposited, including 
 all forms of organic matter, will sometime in the distant 
 future, perhaps, be to those who shall then live what the 
 fossils of animals now extinct are to us, while the material 
 will have been used over and over again, each succeeding 
 process having a tendency toward still further refinement. 
 
 This branch of the subject is by no means exhausted, 
 but not wishing to tire our readers, if any shall find patience 
 to peruse this, we will hasten on to another topic connected 
 herewith that ought not be overlooked, inasmuch as it 
 will throw still further light on the subject of this volume. 
 
 It is reasonably certain that the earliest form of life 
 on the earth was an algae, or sea weed. It is also quite 
 certain that at that period the surface of the earth was in 
 a state of great heat, as compared with the present tem- 
 perature, and that only such life as is suited to such tem- 
 perature could exist. As the cooling process continued, 
 other forms of life suited to the changed conditions came 
 into existence. Now if we find anywhere on the earth's 
 surface conditions similar to those that prevailed in thai- 
 distant past, and if there we find a growth similar to the 
 growths of which I have spoken, and if it is at the present 
 time thriving, we may study it with satisfaction and profit. 
 
 In Iceland, New Zealand, the Yellowstone National, 
 Park, and in some other places on the earth we find hot 
 and boiling springs, all carrying various kinds of mineral 
 substances in solution or suspension, and there we also 
 find such growths as are suited to such conditions. We 
 will only take what we observe at the Yellowstone, because 
 it is a section within our own country, and because we will 
 there find the phenomena in greater perfection than else- 
 where, and on a more extensive scale. Here are the Mam- 
 moth Hot Springs ranging from one to two hundred degrees 
 of heat as the water conies to the surface. From one 
 
126 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 hundred to one hundred and eighty degrees we find algae 
 growing vigorously. There are a great many of these hot 
 springs and the volume of water is very large. About 
 them have been built up basins of travertine of great 
 beauty, consisting almost wholly of carbonate of lime with 
 which the water is heavily charged. On close examina- 
 tion we find that the vegetable algae is one of the chief 
 artificers in the construction. This growth is not found 
 except in hot or warm water, and its growth is marked 
 where the water has a temperature of from one hundred 
 forty five to one hundred sixty degrees of heat. This 
 growth seems to be spontaneous, for immediately where it 
 is the hottest it grows best. This apparently spontaneous 
 growth it would seem, is such in fact, or else the seed from 
 which it springs comes from the same buried regions whence 
 the lime is supplied. One is perhaps justified in speculat- 
 ing a little under the unusual circumstances. Is it prob- 
 able that the limestone beds that are now being brought to 
 the surface in solution, were formed in that early period 
 of the earth's existence when its surface held only hot soils 
 and hot water? If so then; was this character of growth 
 indiginous at that time and at the place where the lime 
 was gathered, and were its ripened seeds borne away on 
 the water and deposited with and hermetically sealed in 
 the limestone, and now being released again at the surface 
 under conditions similar to those that prevailed at the time 
 of its growth, i.e., under great heat, that they at once ger- 
 minate and grow? If that suggestion is dsiputed I would 
 like a more plausible one. If we suppose this to be true 
 we have the spectacle of seeds being embalmed and preser- 
 ved from the date of the earliest growths on the earth, and 
 now being brought to the surface and freed under condi- 
 tions of heat similar to that which prevailed when it was 
 the only growth, it springs into life and exhibits to us the 
 methods employed by nature in the very morning of the 
 earliest vegetable existence. 1 know this thought will 
 meet opposition from botanists and I will not urge it. But 
 aside from speculation we have facts to examine which are 
 most interesting. 
 
 This strange locality is doubtless the site of recent 
 volcanic action, and the geysers and hot springs indicate 
 great internal heat still prevailing. The mountains in 
 the neighborhood show great and complicated foliation of 
 stratified rocks, consisting of sandstone, shale and lime- 
 stone which, in places is capped with basaltic lava, the 
 result of volcanic activity since the stratified rocks were 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 127 
 
 laid down; practically the same as prevailed on Grizzly 
 mountain. The interesting terraces, basins and other 
 structures built up by the Mammoth Hot Springs, consist 
 of the carbonate of lime and have doubtless left great cav- 
 erns in the original" beds, similar to those it is our pur- 
 pose to explore presently. The manner of construction 
 is as follows: As the heated water pours from its exit 
 in the rocks, the algae commences at once to grow, attaching 
 itself to the rocky bed where it strikes. Its growth is in 
 a single fiber that shoots up toward the surface of the water. 
 The vegetable fiber requires carbonic acid, which is con- 
 tained in the carbonate of lime held in solution and is 
 attracted to the fiber and as the water commences to deposit 
 the lime it gathers about the growing fiber, building a tube 
 around it. The fiber and tube grow together until the 
 top of the water is reached when both stop and the veget- 
 able dies at the top. While this one was being built up 
 thousands more were growing up side by side in the same 
 way and the spaces between the tubes were being filled 
 with little pellicles of lime which were held in suspension, 
 making a solid wall which would cause the water to rise 
 as high as its outlet, and this wall describing the arc of a 
 circle and connected at each side with the rocks of the 
 mountainside formed a beautiful basin between the wall 
 and the mountain. When the water has risen as high as 
 its point of issue, it breaks over the growing wall and 
 commences to build another basin below, and so on down 
 the side of the slope, building beautiful white terraces and 
 each terrace containing a basin of limpid hot water. These 
 beautiful terraces and basin walls are tinted with bright 
 colors, red and green, imparted by the contained vegetable, 
 though for a long time it was supposed to be a mineral 
 coloring. The further away from the exit, of course the 
 cooler becomes the water, and the paler grows the algae, 
 until we find it building no terraces nor walls but waving 
 about in the current white and colorless, the water having 
 lost most of its heat, and deposited most of its lime. 
 
 Along the banks of this heated stream there gathers a 
 slimy deposit, like gelatine; such as is often seen in back- 
 yards during the wet weather; this comes from the steam 
 and is a deposit of that which was contained in the water; 
 brought from the depths where the earlier deposits of or- 
 ganic matter, both vegetal and animal, were stored away. 
 Being at all times subject to additions from this steam 
 it has its own growth and when stepped on or handled, it 
 seems nearly to resemble the mass of which the jelly-fish 
 
128 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 of the ocean are composed, but on examination it is found 
 to be a vegetal growth also. When taken from the rocks 
 where it has been deposited and has grown and placed 
 where it will be exposed to the sun, the water which it 
 contains is evaporated and there is left only a small residue 
 of carbonate of lime, silica and other earthy matter. 
 
 We will now briefly examine the geysers of this same 
 region 'some miles away. Here the hot water is at in- 
 tervals thrown to a great height, forming large pools about 
 them. This is called acid water, because it has been dis- 
 solving the acid rocks and holds the result -in solution, as 
 the other beds hold the lime, silica being largely the product 
 held. Silicia is the material from which glass is made. 
 Crystalized quartz furnishes the purest example of silica 
 in mass. Now on watching the action of these geysers we 
 will notice that a substance of gelatine is being collected 
 about the outer edges of the pools, where it grows like 
 the mother of vinegar. This is also a vegetable as the 
 mother of vinegar is, and has a sour taste. Thi;> 
 jelly-like mass is driven constantly toward the edges of 
 the pool, until it becomes so dense that the water is 
 forced to find an outlet, and breaks through at some point 
 drawing the water away from this growth and leaving it 
 to the mercy of the sun. The growth has taken root, so 
 to speak, in the rock that forms the bed of the pool, or 
 rather, it attaches itself to the rocks and grows like a toad 
 stool. If while the moisture still continues in it, you 
 step into the mass the sensation is the same as though 
 you trod on a massive jelly-fish, the foot crushes through 
 it. Now after the sun has evaporated the water from it, lo! 
 we have another transformation; a stone of the character of 
 opal, called silicious sinter, because silica is the chief in- 
 gredient. In the northwestern part of Nevada, in a sage 
 plain, there is quite an area over which these bunches ol 
 silicious sinter are scattered, evincing the probability that 
 here geyser action prevailed in the distant past. This 
 silicious sinter, after it has been completely transformed, 
 shows specimens that resemble a compact species of coral. 
 An acid test shows the presence of lime also. Even in its 
 solid rock state it lias the appearance of a petrified fungus. 
 
 There is much more that might be said in this con- 
 nection but fearing to tire my readers with that which, 
 strangely it seems to me, fails to interest so many, I will 
 not pursue it further, though a book might be written on 
 the subject. I will, however, ask that you remember what 
 I have said about this formation of silicious sinter and of 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 12*1 
 
 algaeous growth and jelly masses to which out attention 
 was drawn in the neighborhood of the Mammoth Hot 
 Springs, and the peculiar life we saw thrown onto the 
 beach in our ride from Coos Bay to the Umpqua. We 
 will further be led to a consideration of the uses to which 
 silica and lime are put in the advancement of organic mat- 
 ter. This is proper for we are engaged in studying some 
 of the most interesting things in nature. 
 
 I have referred to the cretaceous period and the rep- 
 tilian age, as to the immense forms and character of animal 
 life existing at that time. As I have said, the ocean 
 then swarmed with animals of gigantic size and mon- 
 strous build. The fossils of that period show that many 
 of these animals lived both in the water and on the land; 
 great four-footed beasts that both walked and swam, some 
 of them also added the skill of flying. An examination 
 of these monsters show that many of them had a covering 
 of shells and scales. Where the animal was covered 
 with a shield of scales, the material contained a large per 
 cent of silica, and those that wore shells had their shield 
 of carbonate of lime. The Ptyrodactyl was beast and bird 
 combined. From tip to tip of his wings he sometimes 
 measured twenty feet. His wings were of leather instead 
 of feathers, more like a bat than a bird. He had jaws 
 and teeth like an alligator. His tail was an elongated 
 vertebra with many joints and growing out at right angles 
 from these joints were quills, more like those of a porcupine 
 than a bird, with coarse spines which were then the nearest 
 semblance to feathers to be found in all nature. As we 
 trace these animals down to the present time we are struck 
 with the gradual but steady changes that have occurred. 
 The Ptyrodactyl has by degrees lost its massive size; his 
 teeth and jaws have given way for a beak; his bat-like 
 wings have been exchanged for the beauty and strength 
 of feathers and feathers are made to cover his whole body. 
 The scaly covering of most of the animals have been dropped 
 and hair or fur have taken their place. A fair division has 
 been made between the land, the sea and the air. There 
 is less of war among them than in earlier times. Scales 
 and shells are not now so necessary for their protection, 
 There has grown more gentleness and civility, and more 
 refinement both in form and manner, social instincts have 
 been gradually evolved. The posterity of the Ptyrodactyl 
 now covers the whole field from the Condor of the Andes, 
 to the humming bird, that animated flash of sunshine and 
 brilliant plumage that will draw a momentary feast from 
 
130 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 the boquet you hold in your hand. All these changes and 
 a million more have occurred, largely through the refining 
 processes that we have been tracing, and which have been 
 going on since these immense beds of limestone were laid 
 down in the ocean, and while its surf was lashing the shores 
 of this old island. At Ashland was an open roadstead and 
 on its beach these animals fought and played. 
 
 Now if we examine the quill and feather of the bird 
 we find their strength and flexibility come from the silica 
 they contain. The nails on your fingers are very akin to 
 the quill and the scale of the fish, ditto. The waters of 
 the Mammoth Hot Springs and the Geysers both carry and 
 distribute the mineral ingredients essential for both animal 
 and vegetable life. The shell-fish have their covering of 
 
 the carbonate of lime for protection, but no bones. Man 
 and other animals have been furnished with other means 
 of defense and need no shelly covering, but they have been 
 provided with a framework of bones consisting largely of 
 the carbonate and phosphate of lime. 
 
 If we examine the mussel we find it contained in such 
 a shell with which it is so closely indentified that it is 
 difficult to tell just where the shelly substance ceases and 
 the flesh commences. It is made to cling to the rocks 
 by means of a bundle of fiber more of the character of veg- 
 etable than animal. This bundle of fiber is made to pass 
 through an opening at the knuckle of the shell and to con- 
 nect with the flesh by such gradations that it is difficult to 
 tell where the fiber ceases and the flesh commences. The 
 barnacle has its covering of the carbonate of lime also 
 with which it is so closely identified that separation kills 
 the animal. The barnacle has a beak like a bird except 
 that it is separated vertically instead of horizontally. It 
 has small beady eyes and can move its head ~o as to des- 
 cribe half a circle. 
 
 The jellyfish, sometimes called the sunfish, is a mass 
 of gelatine and resembles in look and feel, that vegetable 
 substance we found along the banks of the Hot Springs 
 and in the pools of the geysers. We saw thousands of 
 these creatures along the beach on our trip from Empire 
 City to the Umpqua; if you step on it there is little resist- 
 ance and the foot crushes through it as it did through the 
 vegetable jelly mass at the Hot Springs. If you place the 
 jellyfish in the sun, the water will be evaporated and only 
 a small residue of carbonate and phosphate of lime, a little 
 silica, a small portion of common salt and earthy matter 
 will be left, which if placed under pressure with heat be- 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OP OREGON. 131 
 
 cones a rock. The same treatment of the flesh of all the 
 shell fishes produce the same result. So that we have the 
 same result from like treatment of either the vegetal or 
 animal substances. All these forms come from the inor- 
 ganic and under proper conditions become organic, and 
 when the conditions are again reversed they return to the 
 inorganic. Of course we cannot in this way trace or ac- 
 count for the vital fluid, or life germ, but we must recognize 
 our kinship to all material things. We are made to fee 
 that if we would follow the injunction, "know thyself" we 
 must become students of nature. 
 
Chapter XV. 
 
 THE MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON— EXPLORING PRE- 
 HISTORIC WONDERS IN ETERNAL DARKNESS — 
 INIMITABLE DECORATIONS IN CARBONATE 
 OF LIME. 
 
 "Joaquin Miller, the Poet of the Sierras", the Hoii. 
 Jefferson Myers of Portland, and the writer, met at Grants 
 Pass, Oregon, on the 3d day of August, 1907, enroute to 
 explore the great caves of Josephine county, situated about 
 forty miles southerly from that city, near the California line 
 and in the heart of the Siskiyou mountains. The Commercial 
 Club and business people of Grants Pass rendered us much 
 assistance and extended courtesies for which acknowledg- 
 ment should be made. To Mr. Andrews, the Secretary, 
 we are especially indebted. 
 
 On the following afternoon Mr. Tom Gillmore, the 
 liveryman, drove us to "Johns", a farm house hotel situated 
 in the heart of Williams Creek valley about twenty miles? 
 away. They had been notified by phone of our coming and 
 we found a royal supper awaiting us. 
 
 We remained over night and cannot soon forget it. 
 The place is an ideal one. Farm houses, orchards, barns, 
 well with marble curbing, flowers in profusion, the great 
 mountains in the near distance sending down many streams 
 of clear, cold water that lent its music to the stillness of 
 the evening, and we occupying the center of one of the 
 most charming little valleys in existence together with 
 the company, spirit of comradeship and perfect weather 
 made this, our first evening out, a most delightful one. 
 We sat on the porch in the cool breezes laden with the per- 
 fume of flowers, ripening grain and new mown hay, chat- 
 ting with the hostess and her two daughters until near ten 
 o'clock, and enjoyed the recitations the poet gave, some- 
 times of his experiences and travels and anon running off 
 into sentiment inspired by his poetic fancy and surround- 
 ings. The little girls were in love with the venerable poet; 
 they all are when such occasions and environment open 
 the inner sanctum and reveal the real man. The week 
 we spent together in the wilds, and which I shall attempt 
 to describe, was one to be remembered. "Jeff" and 1 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 133 
 
 are no less lovers of nature than is the poet, but were more 
 liable to explode our admiration, while "Joaquin" effer- 
 vesced. We were congenial and nature smiled on a trio of 
 spirits that enjoyed and loved it. 
 
 The following morning dawned in splendor and our 
 hospitable land-lady had an early breakfast, which in its 
 quality vied with the supper of the evening before; fried 
 chicken and many a delicacy. I cannot take time to des- 
 cribe this beautiful valley; a chapter would be required, 
 and besides we have already viewed it from the summit of 
 Little Grayback, in a former chapter. Our team was soon 
 ready to drive us to the head of wagon navigation at 
 the upper end of the valley, seven miles further on. Here 
 we met John H. Kincaid, packer and guide. "Jeff" and 1 
 'hit the trail" and left "Joaquin" and Kincaid to follow. 
 For the first five or six miles our trail was good, through 
 a fine forest, with an occasional outlook over canyons and 
 mountain billows. About noon we reached Grayback Creek, 
 a rushing mountain torrent, and while awaiting the pack- 
 train we tried to beguile the festive trout, but without 
 success. Here we lunched, quaffed this clear, ice cold 
 water and breathed deeply of the mountain air. An hour's 
 rest and again the trail, this time all together. Our course 
 was now west over Meadows mountain and for the first 
 three miles was a strenuous, continuous climb up a steep 
 ascent, until we reached an altitude of at least five thousand 
 feet, thence downward for about two miles and two thous- 
 and feet lower, when we reached our destination, about 
 four o'clock in the afternoon and about twelve miles from 
 where we left the wagon. F. M. Nickerson had been tele- 
 phoned to at Kerbyville to meet us at the caves, also to 
 act as guide through the labyrinths. He came in about 
 an hour later as hungry as a bear after a walk of twenty 
 miles. He and Kincaid are, perhaps, the only men who 
 are thoroughly familiar with these underground passages 
 and we can heartily recommend them both. 
 
 These caverns were discovered by Elijah Davidson, 
 while hunting bear in these mountains in 1874, he chased 
 one into the lower entrance. The first effort at exploration 
 was made in 187 7 by our guide, Nickerson, Elijah David- 
 son and John M. Chapman, who entered at the lower open- 
 ing, the upper one then being unknown. Homer and Er- 
 nest Harkness, two brothers, took a squatter's claim at 
 the lower entrance in 1880. The land being unsurveyed they 
 could not acquire title. During the next two years these 
 two brothers spent about a thousand dollars in enlarging 
 
134 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 passages between such chambers as they had discovered, 
 so that they could be entered. They also built the first 
 trail, but the country was too sparsely settled to make their 
 enterprise pay and the day of tourists had not yet arrived. 
 At that time the nearest point to the railroad was about 
 two hundred miles. They became discouraged and aban- 
 doned their undertaking with a very limited knowledge of 
 these underground palaces. In 18 87 our guide Nickerson 
 and A. J. Henderson took possession of the caves and in- 
 corporated a company for their further exploitation. They 
 went about their work methodically and attracted the at- 
 tention of "Captain" A. J. Smith who posed as the repre- 
 sentative of unlimited capital. The "Captain" was sur- 
 charged with caloric and evolved hot air as a dynamo does 
 electricity. The people in the nearby valleys became en- 
 thused and the "Captain" proceeded to action. He secured 
 a bond from Nickerson and his partners, employed surveyors 
 to lay out roads and trails; hired men to further explore 
 and develop the caverns; bought provision and supplies, 
 erected cabins and put gates at the entrances. These 
 deep mountain recesses all at once took on the airs of a 
 military camp and long accounts grew on the books of the 
 nearest merchants. Mountaineers toiled and sweated a mile 
 or more under ground, but the doughty "Captain" could 
 never be induced to enter the dark chambers that were 
 being opened up. Devious and various methods for stav- 
 ing off creditors were resorted to. In this way, month 
 after month his liabilities grew until he had incurred in- 
 debtedness for labor and supplies, to the amount of several 
 thousand dollars and then the "Captain" disappear- 
 ed. Kincaid and Nickerson thus put in many weary 
 months in the bowels of this great mountain and for more 
 than a dozen years have been whistling for their pay, and 
 praying for the rest of the "Captain's" soul. This is the 
 way they learned the labyrinthine mazes, of these Marble 
 Halls, miles under ground. Such is the story as told to 
 us. Our guides long ago earned the fees they get for 
 acting as guides and are past masters in the art of tracing 
 these dark passages. 
 
 There are two entrances, one almost at the bed of the 
 c?nyon, and another about three hundred feet higher and 
 between a quarter and a half mile to the southeast. The 
 lower entrance is the larger one and is the outlet for a fine 
 stream of water, which immediately after escaping from 
 Plutonian darkness, commences a series of leaps and plunges 
 down a rugged canyon through one of Oregon's finest for- 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. i::> 
 
 ests. Entering this opening with lantern "and candles, 
 one of the guides ahead and one behind, we proceeded up 
 the stream by a tortuous course for about a hundred and 
 fifty yards where we found a ladder. To this point the 
 cavern is fron ten to fifty feet wide and from fifteen to 
 seventy-five feet high. There are but few decorations, 
 but a sense of rugged grandeur absorbs the adventurer. 
 We mounted the ladder to a narrow shelf twelve or fifteen 
 feet above the stream, which we could hear gurgling on 
 merrily below us, a long narrow crack or fissure extending 
 down to it. From the entrance to the ladder the Poet 
 named "Watson's Gorge" and I bowed to the compliment. 
 Our course for hundreds of yards further was devious, and 
 recognizing the strenuosity of it "Jeff" named it "Roose- 
 velt's Rough Ride." Our course lay through cracks and 
 fissures, narrow, crooked, with angular turns, sometimes 
 opening into- chambers of considerable size, with narrow- 
 passages leading away in the darkness. At one time, 
 Aickerson who was leading, became confused and wandered 
 about, chasing weird shadows first into one passage then into 
 anotner. Kincaid's little dog follows him every trip into 
 the caves and. at once indicated his canine sagacity by dog 
 talk punctuated by erratic movements of his stubby tail, and 
 turning into another passage said as plainly as a dog could, 
 "here, you fellows, this way," we followed and found that 
 the dog was right. This place we called "Paradise Lost." 
 After something like half a mile of wandering through 
 these narrow ways, we ascended sharply over irregular 
 broken fragments and saw light through a small opening. 
 We squeezed through and found ourselves in a good-sized 
 chamber just inside the upper entrance. 
 
 We were now at the threshold of that wonderful laby- 
 rinth of halls, corridors and chambers, cut out of marble 
 by the action of water charged with carbonic acid. This 
 is not a great cave or cavern after the style of the Mammoth 
 Cave in Kentucky, but a great marble mountain honey- 
 combed with innumerable passages, halls, corridors, and 
 chambers, decorated in the most gorgeous fashion with an 
 inimitable architecture in crystals of the carbonate of lime. 
 The Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is great for the size of 
 its chambers, but is emphasized poverty as to its adorn- 
 ments. This mountain is a labyrinth of chambers from 
 3 few feet in size to others of great dimensions, and all 
 decorated in endless profusion and beauty. From tin 1 
 great number and "complexity of its chambers, corridors 
 and passageways, the Poet suggested, and we heartily sic- 
 
136 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 onded, a new name: "The Marble Halls of Oregon." It 
 is to be hoped that this name may be adopted by some 
 suitable and formal action. 
 
 Proceeding from the upper entrance our general direc- 
 tion into the mountain is to the southeast for a mile and 
 three quarters to two miles and our course is a very erratic 
 one. From the entrance our descent is sharp for about 
 seventy-five feet, where stalactities and stalagmites first 
 appear. Turning now to the left a still further descent of 
 about fifty feet brings us into "Adam's Tomb"; gray and 
 somber, with strength rather than beauty depicted in its 
 adornment. There is no water dripping in this chamber, 
 hence it has a desolate, dead appearance and musty odor. 
 At the southern edge of this chamber is a dark forbidding 
 hole which the guides call "Jacob's Well." Kincaid fear- 
 lessly clambered into it and we followed, clinging to rocky 
 projections until after a sheer descent of forty or fifty i'eel 
 we came into a chamber, irregular in outline, about one 
 hundred feet long, from ten to fifty feet wide and from 
 fifteen to fifty feet high. Everywhere in this room the 
 decorations are splendid for strength and regularity of 
 design and are unlike any other chamber visited by us. 
 Returning now to the main passage above, we proceed for 
 several hundred feet through a corridor, irregular, swelling 
 here and there to goodly proportions and anon contracting 
 until stooping and crouching are necessary, but at every 
 turn and angle the explorer is made to utter exclamations 
 oi surprise at the eccentricities displayed in the archil ;ecture 
 of these Marble Halls, growing in endless night for millions 
 of years, yet displaying the most remarkable tracery and 
 design. Each of these chambers were given names sug- 
 gested by some peculiarity of structure displayed. "The 
 Shark's Head," "Queen's Chamber," "King's Hall," "Niag- 
 ara Falls," "Joaquin's Rest", "Nick's Bedroom," "Jefferson 
 Myers Room" and many others. We na.vs on through this 
 irregular corridor and in one of the narrowest places find 
 a ladder and descend about eight or ten feet into a chamber 
 well decorated which, having passed through, w^ 
 climb out by means of another ladder twelve or fifteen feel 
 high and come into "Windy Passage," where a strong cur- 
 rent of air threatens to extinguish our candles and some- 
 times does so. This passage is long, sinuous and small, 
 sometimes requiring one to crawl on hands and knees. 
 Then we come into the "Theatrical Stage", with gorgeous 
 curtains and draperies, fluted columns and marble pedestals. 
 Here any one may sing and it will sound musical. Even 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OP OREGON. 137 
 
 Jeff and I sang a duet with stunning effect. With a piece 
 of metal one can run the scale on marble crystals pendant 
 from the ceiling and produce tones of exquisite sweetness. 
 Next we come into "Joaquin Miller's Room". This is one 
 of the most profusely decorated chambers in the whole 
 labyrinth, stalactites and stalagmites are in profusion, long 
 slender tubes as clear as glass, not larger than pipe stem? 
 and so fragile that great care is required in handling them. 
 A broad table projects from the wall four feet above the 
 floor, about twenty feet long and about six feet wide, with 
 drapery long and delicate, snow white and glistening, reach- 
 ing from the table to the floor, and except in one place, 
 preventing ingress to the museum of beauties beneath. 
 There is a marble basin filled with water, so clear that it? 
 presence is not easily detected. This basin is lined with 
 the most delicate, frost-like crystals, so fine and filmy that 
 with your finger you can plough a furrow through them. 
 Looking beyond this little crystal lake, these delicate tubes, 
 pedestals and statuettes, continue as far as your glimmering 
 candle will permit your vision to penetrate. These beau- 
 ties are protected from that vandalism which has shame- 
 fully desecrated many of its chambers. Above the table- 
 are shelves of like character. Here the Plutonian designer 
 has taxed complexity and confusion in stocking a unique 
 toy-shop. Give imagination a little play, distribute your 
 lights properly and then catalogue the infinite variety oi 
 trinkets you will see in this old curiosity house. In othe: 
 parts of this splendid room are stalactites from the top. 
 wedded to stalagmites from the bottom, forming pillars 
 from ceiling to floor as if placed there to support the roof 
 We had some railroad fuses, red and green which when 
 lighted burned for ten minutes. We lighted one in this- 
 chamber and placing the venerable Poet, with his long hair 
 and flowing beard, in the background, retreated down the 
 corridor a hundred feet or so and watched the startling 
 effect. The uncanny red glow slowly filled that wonderful 
 place with a wierd effulgence. The Poet looked like 
 Father Time calling the world to judgment. Every pend- 
 and crystal seemed tipped with fire, and crystalline masse? 
 in the deep recesses were suffused with a colored glow and 
 brilliancy not to be described. "Nick's Slide", a slippery 
 chute, barely large enough for a good sized man to squeeze 
 through, extending downward for about a hundred feet with 
 a hole at the bottom, said to be two hundred and fifty feer 
 deep, was near by. We had been at the bottom of tht 
 slide, and now, in the effulgence of this rose tinted light 
 
138 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 with a thrilling sense of our unusual situation, we nervously 
 glanced at it, feeling it to be a fitting time and place for 
 Old Nick himself to appear from the greater depths where 
 His Satanic Majesty might find a suitable abiding place. 
 The chamber soon filled with smoke tinged as all else 
 with the red glow; the light began to fade and in the dis- 
 solving view the luminous glamour blended with the dark- 
 ness and Pluto dropped his dark curtain on our strange en- 
 tertainment. 
 
 From this point our course bore southerly for about 
 three hundred feet through a great corridor, fifty or sixty 
 feet wide and from twenty to forty feet high. This led us 
 into what has been called the "Ghost Chamber," renamed 
 by us, "Solomon's Temple." We could only guess at the 
 dimensions, but our guides told us it was three hundred and 
 fifty feet long, one hundred and fifty feet wide and eighty 
 feet high. The floor of this great room is about forty feet 
 below the corridor through which we had just passed. The 
 descent to it is over irregular masses of marble that have 
 fallen from the top. There is not much of decoration here, 
 but the magnitude, darkness and stillness gets onto ones 
 nerves. Along the further wall of this great cavern we 
 again came upon our stream and named it "The Stygian." 
 Here was a very interesting change. The stream had cut 
 a channel four or five feet deep through a bed of clay and 
 washed gravel upon which the marble deposit, at this place 
 seems to be bedded; yet it can hardly be seen for reasons 
 I need not now state. The floor in the furthest end of this 
 great chamber reached by us, is covered to a considerable 
 depth (how deep we had no means of determining) with this 
 bed of clay and gravel, frosted over with a coating of the 
 carbonate of lime (stalagmite), from one to three inches 
 thick, the underside of which consists of delicate frost-like 
 crystals, discolored to a dark yellowish brown from the 
 clay and the iron oxide it contains. I desired very much 
 to make a close examination of this clay and gravel but 
 was not prepared to do so. 
 
 At the eastern end of this great room stands a ladder 
 eighteen feet long, resting against the solid marble wall. 
 The ladder did not seem to be safe for the heavier men, but 
 Kincaid suggested that I could make it if I wished to take 
 the risk and that it was well worth while. The guides 
 never tell you what you are coming to, but leave you to 
 enjoy the sensation of surprise. I at once agreed to follow, 
 saying that "it is what I came for." Kincaid led the 
 way, I followed and "Jeff" held the ladder, at the top of 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 150 
 
 which wo found a narrow passage inclining upward at an 
 angle of thirty or forty degrees, smooth, slippery with the 
 constant dripping of water and with precarious foot and 
 hand-holds. Laboriously we worked our way upward 
 through this dark, silent passage lighted only by the feeble 
 rays of the candles we carried, until we estimated our dis- 
 tance to be one hundred feet above the foot of the ladder. 
 Here we found one of the most wonderful spectacles hi 
 the whole labyrinth. A circular chamber, not more than 
 twenty feet in diameter and, according to Kincaid's state- 
 ment two hundred feet high. Our candles were not suffi- 
 cient to reveal the top, and every foot of its inner walls were 
 decorated as far as the eye could penetrate, with clusters 
 of crystalized carbonates, snow white and resembling, more 
 than anything else that I can think of, great white swans, 
 two or three feet across the back, wings drooping, every 
 feather distinct, standing cut as if in upward flight, one 
 preceding another until the view is lost in the darkness; 
 or a flock of angels that had been arrested in their flight and 
 changed to marble. Water was everywhere dripping and 
 glistened like diamonds at the point of every feather. 
 
 I am not superstitious but confess to a queer sensations 
 everything was so unusual; two miles under a vast moun- 
 tain; more than a thousand feet of earth and rock above 
 us; in this narrow circular chamber, so high that the ceil- 
 ing could not be seen; reminded of angels by the pure 
 white, wonderful architecture and stillness, where perhaps 
 a million years of darkness has held undisputed sway and 
 no sound, save the soft drip, drip, drip of water, the unseen 
 and almost noiseless architect and builder of these inimit- 
 able Marble Halls. In the thought of that time in the 
 vastness of long ago, when these deposits of lime were 
 being formed on the bed of the ocean, where the denizens 
 of the deep once played, forms of life long extinct and of 
 that time since when these great mountains have risen 
 above the surface of the ocean and continents and islands 
 have been made and lost, one may easily forget himself in 
 speculative imagination. One wonders if at the source of 
 the heavily charged waters that now issue from the Mam- 
 moth Hot Springs of the Yellowstone there are caverns 
 like these; whether the water here was ever hot like that, 
 and whether the temperature and steam that filled this 
 honey-combed, marble mountain arose in clouds from holes 
 and fractures in its sides. 
 
 Returning to our companions in ''Solomon's Temple" 
 we climbed back into the corridor, and turning to the left 
 
140 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 for a hundred feet or so, entered another chute. Ascend- 
 ing at an angle of twenty or thirty degrees through a cir- 
 cuitous, tortuous passage for about sixty feet, we came into 
 "Jefferson Myers' room", which is about one hundred and 
 fifty feet long and from ten to forty feet wide and of vary- 
 ing height. At the furtherest point this chamber narrows 
 to dimensions which prevent further progress, but does 
 not entirely close and doubtless opens into other chambers. 
 In this chamber are splendid decorations, stalagmite, stal- 
 actites, marble basins lined with crystals of the greatest 
 delicacy and filled with water, so pure and clear that touch 
 is necessary to detect its presence. Here some of the 
 sweetest tones are produced by tapping these snow-white 
 pendants with a piece of metal. At the side of this 
 chamber is an opening large enough to drive a horse 
 through, connecting with "Solomon's Temple" and about 
 sixty feet above its floor. If one were to stumble out of this 
 opening in the dark he would have a sheer drop of sixty 
 feet. 
 
 We spent the larger part of four days in our explora- 
 tions and are assured that there are many miles of passages, 
 corridors and chambers that have never been entered. 
 By enlarging passages, as many of those examined by us 
 have been enlarged, glories in lime will be opened and ex- 
 plored. From the bottom of the deepest chamber to the 
 top of the highest visited by us, is almost seven hundred 
 feet and between these points the mountain is honeycombed 
 with innumerable chambers, as I believe, only a fragment 
 of which have ever been witnessed by human eyes. There 
 is no sign of life to be found in these caverns and no fossils, 
 unless an examination of the clay and gravel mentioned 
 shall disclose them. That they are much more extensive 
 than can at present be determined, is shown by the fact that 
 numerous openings in the side of the mountain further 
 down the canyon discharge volumes of water from marble 
 cliffs. Again at every turn in our explorations we saw 
 openings leading away into the darkness, too small to enter, 
 but which we judged opened to wider passages and large 
 chambers. These caverns are within a government forest 
 reserve and fortunately can be protected from vandalism. 
 We caused the attention of the authorities to be directed to 
 them and have some assurance that they will not be only 
 retained by the government, but that a forest ranger shall 
 be stationed there who shall act as guide and protect these 
 decorations from breakage and from the smoke of torches. 
 This spot ought to be made a National Park like Crater 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 141 
 
 Lake and at least a township of the splendid forest that 
 surrounds them should forever be preserved from civilized 
 savagery and greed. The surroundings are wonderfully 
 romantic and grand. Mountains, forests, canyons and 
 cliffs are gigantic. Geologically it is one of the oldest 
 formations on the continent and shows extreme metamor- 
 phism. It is true that all of this limestone has not become 
 marble, but much of it has and of a fine quality and beauti- 
 fully variegated. 
 
 Our last thirty-six hours at the caves was during a 
 continuous downpour of rain. We had prepared a shack 
 from some boards, the remnants of "Captain" Smith's 
 operations and managed to keep partly dry, but not without 
 an experience to be remembered. A party of men and 
 women came just before we were ready to start away. They 
 had been caught on Meadows mountain and had camped 
 out in the rain and came to our camp about nine o'clock 
 in the morning, wet and hungry. We prepared some 
 breakfast for them and after drying them by the fire, accom- 
 panied them through part of the caverns. Our horses had 
 gotten away from us and about three o'clock in the after- 
 noon, the rain still pouring, Nickerson, Myers, the Poet 
 and I started down the mountain to the settlements on 
 Sucker Creek, six or seven miles away. The trail was over- 
 grown with brush and choked with fallen logs. About 
 six o'clock we reached a miner's cabin where we left the 
 Poet to enjoy the hospitality of one of these noblemen of 
 the wilds — a Mr. Barrett — and we went on two miles fur- 
 ther and found splendid accommodations. The next morn- 
 ing we sent a horse for the Poet and telephoned to Kerby- 
 ville for a team. The distance from Kerby was thirteen 
 miles. By two o'clock we drove into that little burg as 
 chipper as larks. The Poet could not say enough in praise 
 of his host of the night, and certainly no weary and be- 
 dragged wayfarers ever found more hospitality than was 
 given us by Mr. Grimmet and his wife, with whom we stay- 
 ed. That good lady even fitted us out with dry clothes 
 and had ours hung about the stove to be dried for our 
 departure next day. Our approach had been heralded 
 about Kerby and nearly the whole town was out to greet 
 us. The expedition was in every way a success and at 
 seven o'clock that evening we reached Grants Pass, tired 
 but happy. 
 
Chapter XVI. 
 A REVIEW AND CONCIA SIOX. 
 
 We have at some length viewed more than ten thousand 
 square miles of territory of Southwestern Oregon from its 
 mountain tops and in its valleys. We have overlooked as 
 much more of Northern California, and have identified 
 mountain peaks more than a hundred miles distant. That 
 portion of the Old Island within the limits of California is 
 in many respects identical with its territory in Oregon, 
 while in other respects, dependent- on climate, is entirely 
 different. The territory with which we have had especially 
 to do is bounded on the north by the Calipooia mountains, 
 on the east by the Cascades, on the south by the State of 
 California and on the west by the Pacific ocean. It has 
 therefore all the varieties of climate that are embraced 
 between the sea level and an altitude of almost ten thousand 
 feet. In its valleys strawberries ripen until Thanksgiving, 
 and its roses bloom until Christmas and sometimes later, 
 while at its highest points the snows never melt. In its 
 greatest altitudes the flora is akin to that found in Arctic 
 regions, while in the valleys some species of semi-tropical 
 vegetation thrive fairly well. From many points of van- 
 tage we have been able to read the records from cretaceous 
 times to the present. Within the territory encompassed 
 we have the remarkable fact of single valleys that are now 
 being enriched with the soils of all the periods embraced. 
 From the Cascade Range Rogue River Valley is drawing 
 soils by surface erosion from very recent geological up- 
 heavals and deposits, while from the Siskiyous it is drawing 
 by surface erosion soils from a formation so old that its 
 geological designation involves a shadowy uncertainty of 
 the past. On these mountains have grown many species of 
 vegetation that were doubtless extinct before the fossil 
 bearing sandstone of the old shore line was laid down, the 
 fossils of which are of life also long since extinct. On 
 this Old Island we find trees still flourishing that so far 
 as I have been able to learn grow nowhere else. From 
 its high mountains we traced the gold and other metals that 
 have enriched its shoreline. In the magnetic sands along 
 the present sea beach platinum is found and in other places 
 inland on the Old Island this valuable product promises 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 143 
 
 to become a resource. We have found its valleys wonder- 
 fully productive of a great variety of fruits and vegetables, 
 a country that in grapes vies with California and France 
 and in peaches, pears and apples challenges the world. Its 
 mountains are wonderfully rich in the precious and valuable 
 metals and minerals. We have seen that its forests have 
 a world wide reputation, and' in their depths is found a 
 sanatorium tree to rich and poor alike. Certainly he who 
 has been fortunate enough to secure a home here has much 
 to be thankful for. Always in sight of the diversified at- 
 tractions of the mountains and where the water is both 
 pure and musical, the climate salubrious and fruit and 
 flowers abundant, he who could not be satisfied would be 
 hard indeed to please. With all the possibilities of that 
 appreciation of the aesthetic in nature which greatly en- 
 hances a safe foundation on which to build health and hap- 
 piness in that respite it furnishes to the one grown weary 
 with other things. 
 
 Thirty-five years experience in the Siskiyou mountains 
 has taught me the psychological value of high altitude, 
 silence, dense forests and pure water, with the thoughts 
 and associations that can be had under such conditions. 
 When sick or tired with business cares or public strife 1 
 turn toward the Siskiyous and delve into their beckoning 
 haunts. I find in the depths of the canyon and forest a 
 quiet peace. On a mossy bank beneath an yew tree's 
 shade, beside a foaming mountain torrent, I stretch myself 
 alone with Nature. 
 
 How cool and -still it is and withal so joyously rollick- 
 ing and noisily delightful. The stream leaps and laughs 
 and plunges in the shadow of the gorge and overhanging 
 branches, where grows the tiger lily, the dog-wood, the 
 maple, the quaking-asp with its leaves a-quiver, maiden- 
 hair ferns clinging to niches in the granite walls, vines 
 clambering over boulders, squirrels chattering and scolding 
 and where the sun in lace-like films, sifts and filters through 
 dense foliage, filling my retreat with a sheen of subdued 
 sunlight, modified and tinted with the greenery that half 
 shuts out the sense of day. 
 
 With pipe of love and lovers reed 
 My muse comes to me singing, 
 
 And planted round with goodly seed 
 The hills with joy are ringing. 
 
U4 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 In such a place what dreams may come? Here Is 
 music too. All chords may be heard in the restless stream 
 from the softest touch to the deepest bass. The gentle 
 lullaby tuned to the music the pine-tops make when stirred 
 by a summer zephyr, mingle with sunshine and shadow, 
 until sound, color and the odor of flowers and blossoms 
 blend into one harmonious whole, so delightfully conceived 
 as to suggest a solemn cathedral, its altars and incense and 
 drowsy Nature as a worshiper. 
 
 Bubbles break on the foaming stream 
 
 And scatter sifted pleasures, 
 Throughout the realm of this fair dream, 
 
 This mystic realm of magic treasures. 
 
 But I'm up and on again through the forest and glade, 
 climbing higher and higher still, filled with the spirit of 
 the mountain; up into God's brightest sunlight and purest 
 breezes. 
 
 From everywhere comes to me a welcome borne on 
 Nature's breath, sweetened with the odor of the woods, en- 
 livened with the winging whirr of the bee, the flutter of 
 pheasant and quail. And now I'm startled and stopped in 
 my wild wood scurry by the cracking of brush, and be- 
 hold! as if in kingly consciousness of form and grace, a 
 sturdy buck with spreading antlers; a trim limbed doe at 
 his side. But a moment they delight my eyes, then sound- 
 ing his pipe of warning, they bound away; the forest closes 
 about their receding forms and I see them no more. 
 
 On, still I clamber, only halting now and then for 
 breath or to view the prospect from some commanding 
 point, or to drink in the glorious majesty of the forest. 
 Stately pines and firs cheer me with their shade and spread 
 their cast-oft* foliage, a soft carpet for my feet. All Nature 
 seems in a social mood and though alone I'm blessed with 
 the best of company. I stop and chat with a giant pine oi 
 mighty girth and imposing height. The soft breezes stir 
 his branches and through his luxurious foliage he sings to 
 me a gentle song of welcome. I drop myself on the soft 
 oed he has spread for me, and turning my face upward 
 listen to his story of two thousand years of life. He tells 
 me he was a husky sappling a hundred years old when our 
 Savior was on earth. He watched the flame and smoke, 
 heard the thunderous sounds and felt the earth beneath 
 him shake when Vulcan lit his torch on Shasta and Mc- 
 Laughlin, that now look so beautiful, and white, and still 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 145 
 
 In their mantles of snow. He tells me that he was a giant 
 of the forest before any of the present nations of earth 
 had grown great. He had commenced to grow old before 
 Columbus discovered America, and had watched many gen- 
 erations of wild men come and go before civilization came 
 to this hemisphere. He had long trembled in fear of 
 the woodman's axe, but now blesses the day that made hij- 
 habitat a forest reserve and hopes he may lay his bonet 
 among his ancestors in the orderly way of Nature. 
 
 But now I've finished my dream in this generous shade. 
 With a blessing from the monarch, I pursue my journey to- 
 ward the snowbanks. I follow the pine-clad ridge, looking 
 ever and anon into the depths on either hand, or upward 
 where 
 
 Siskiyous crags are banked with snow, 
 On summits grand and lofty, 
 
 And shining peaks where'er I go 
 Reflect the sunlight softly. 
 
 The winds in the tree tops sing to me gently and the 
 sound of rushing water comes to me from below. Now 
 and then I climbed a nearby cliff overlooking great depth*- 
 or majestic heights and watch the spots of sunshine and 
 cloud shadows chasing each other in and out, among the 
 giant pines and firs, picturing alternately with light and 
 shade, the hoary heads of these grandest monuments ot 
 God. Up and on, again and again, until I stand on tht 
 summit of Ashland Butte eight thousand feet above the 
 level of the sea, in a rarified air and the purest sunlight: 
 snow and silence all about me and more than a thousane 
 square miles of mountains and valleys in view. Mountaii 
 billow succeeding mountain billow to the horizon's brin'r 
 in every direction. Shasta and McLaughlin, Union Peak. 
 Mt. Theilson, the great cliffs that form the framework about 
 Crater Lake, and the Three Sisters can all be seen. Cali- 
 fornia and Oregon lie at my feet. Away below me lie 
 Shasta valley in California and Rogue River valley in Ore- 
 gon, shimmering in the silvery sheen of a summer's heat 
 indebted for their fertility and beauty to the snow banks- 
 at the mountain tops. At the northern foot of this might? 
 slope nestles the little city of Ashland and beyond it rise- 
 Grizzly mountain with its ancient records. 
 
 One cannot conceive of the muificence of the bounties- 
 of Providence until he has gone: into her great storehouse 
 with his soul tuned to the environment. la the deptlu 
 of these massive piles Nature's hoards- of. minerals are kept 
 
146 PREHISTORIC SISKIYOU ISLAND 
 
 from hence go leaping and sparkling, the rill, rivulet and 
 river that make the valleys blossom. Here are the forests 
 that supply man's multitudinous wants in commerce and 
 trade. Here is a sanatorium for the sick and God's great 
 paradox, an oratorio in silence. 
 
 Here from this lofty summit I view a wonderful pano- 
 rama. To me comes a feeling of reverence and peace and 
 the ''small still voice" thrills me. Here is a great enter- 
 tainment where the earth, the air and sky are the stage 
 settings, the clouds are the curtains and the music of still- 
 ness a divine revelation. "My sensibilities are all awake, 
 yet my inner consciousness is bathed in a subtle something 
 which seems to be independent of the senses and I am re- 
 minded of John Fisk's book, "Through Nature to God." 
 My muse again whispers reverently, 
 
 To know of God, draw near to Nature, 
 
 Her truths are the keys to every soul. 
 To see in Nature's every feature, 
 
 Love's limpid, laughing, flowing bowl, 
 Is but to feel that God still liveth 
 
 And all around are parts of Him. 
 To him that loves, the Master giveth. 
 
 A bowl that's filled beyond the brim. 
 
 In these deep solitudes the spirit of the mountain is 
 ever about us. It whispers in the blue sky, scintillates 
 and sparkles in the witcheries of the night; it calls from the 
 depths of the forest; gurgles and sings in the laughing 
 waters; it thunders from the heights and ever invites imag- 
 ination to wander in subterranean caverns, and to tell of 
 the things it sees and hears. 
 
 Again 1 return to the monarch pine at* 1 stretch my 
 weary frame for delicious repose. As J lie listlessly be- 
 neath the generous shade and give myself unreservedly to 
 the subtle influences that environ me, I seem to become a 
 part of the all-pervading spirit of these solitudes. By 
 gentle degrees the hamperings of my human self are loosen- 
 ed and fall away; the gentle movements about me become 
 music; the odors become incense; crags and peaks, forests 
 and slopes, become works of art finer than human hands 
 can draw and the movement of running water is the motion 
 and murmur of a countless throng which is at once many 
 .and one. As my body lies thus stripped of the animation 
 that at other times dominates it, and the soul released 
 floats into its realm of mystery, there come visions to me 
 
AND MARBLE HALLS OF OREGON. 147 
 
 down the aeons of ages I seem to have traveled, and an in- 
 definable acceptance of a fact which is neither memory 
 nor me, but of which I am at once a part and the whole. The 
 laws of the material universe no longer bind me. I float or 
 fly without fear or surprise. The early dawn of conscious- 
 ness in the world seems to be a present song, and all intel- 
 ligence of things without the sense of will seems mine. 
 Where man dreams of that elusive something he calls ether 
 I am illumined by it; thrilled and carried aloft with it. 
 I delve below the ocean like a bird that flies through the 
 air, or without thought of harm walk upon the surface ot* 
 the waters. I have no need to measure time, it is all now. 
 The past and the future are one and that one the present. 
 All space is an intelligible here. I have no need of stimuli 
 to cortical centers, for all knowledge seems mine without 
 the excitement of nerves or the awakening of senses. 
 
 "O, when 1 am safe in my sylvan home, 
 
 I tread on the pride of Greece and Rome; 
 And when I am stretched beneath the pines. 
 
 When the evening star so holy shines, 
 1 laugh at the lore and pride of man, 
 
 At the sophists school, and the learned clan; 
 For what are they all, in their high conceit. 
 
 When man in the bush with God may meet?" 
 
 (The End.) 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
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