HomeMy WebLinkAboutLithia Springs & Winburn Camp
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AN INVENTORY, HISTORIC DOCUMENTATION, AND ASSESSMENT
OF CULTURAL RESOURCES AT LITHIA SPRINGS AND WINBURN CAMP
By Nan Hannon and Clayton G. Lebow
For the City of Ashland
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December 11, I987
IRI Report No. PNW87-8
AN INVENTORY, HISTORIC DOCUMENTATION, AND ASSESSMENT
OF CULTURAL RESOURCES AT LITHIA SPRINGS AND WINBURN CAMP
by
Nan Hannon
and
Clayton G. Lebow
Prepared for
City of Ashland
20 E. Main Street
Ashland, Oregon 97520
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December 11, 1987
IRI Report No. PNW87-8
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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INFOTEC Research, Inc. (IRI), between August 29th and December 11, 1987,
conducted a cultural resource inventory and historic documentation of the
Lithia Springs and Winburn Camp properties, for the City of Ashland. The
purpose of this proj ect was to identify and record any cultural resources
located on these two properties, document the history of these resources, and
to recommend management measures. Three cultural resources were recorded:
two historic sites on the Winburn Camp property, and a single historic site on
the Lithia Springs property. The histori~ sites on the Winburn Camp property
i~c1ude the Winburn Cabin site and a historic dump site. The Winburn Cabin
site is probably not eligible for inclusion on the National Register of
Historic Places, although the site is interesting, and could be managed and
protected by the City simply by continuing the present property management
strategy. The historic dump site is not eligible for the National Register of
Historic Places, and need not be considered in future management plans. The
historic si te loca ted on the Li thia Springs property includes features
associated with the development of Lithia Springs. Given the significant role
that Lithia Springs has played in the history of the City of Ashland, there is
no question that this site (particularly with the Pompadour Chief, the steel
bridge over Emigrant Creek, the City Springs pumphouse and retaining wall, and
the angular concrete retaining wall at Lithia Spring all present) is eligible
for the National Register of Historic Places. It is recommended that this
site be nominated, and the property managed in such a way as to protect the
site. No prehistoric sites were observed on either the Lithia Springs or
Winburn Camp properties.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
page
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
ii
INTRODUCTION . .
1
PHYSICAL SETTING
1
BACKGROUND . . .
Ethnographic Setting
Archaeological Setting
Historical Setting
5
5
6
8
PROCEDURES . . . . .
Field Survey
Historic Research and Interview Procedures
lO
10
11
HISTORY OF LITHIA SPRINGS AND WINBURN CAMP PROPERTIES
Winburn Camp Property .
Lithia Springs Property
12
12
18
SURVEY RESULTS . . . . . .
Winburn Camp Property .
Lithia Springs Property
23
24
28
RECOMMENDATIONS
32
REFERENCES CITED
34
APPENDIX A: TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH DELMAR HUBBARD
A.I
APPENDIX B: TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH WILLIAM BRIGGS
B.l
APPENDIX C: TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH EVE NYE
C.1
APPENDIX D: TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH BUD SILVER
D.I
APPENDIX E: SUMMARY OF INTERVIEW WITH GERTRUDE BIEDE EASTERLING
E.1
APPENDIX F: SUMMARY OF INTERVIEW WITH LAWRENCE POWELL
F.1
APPENDIX G: MINERAL CONTENTS OF LITHIA SPRINGS
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
page
1. Location of the Winburn Camp Property
2
2. Location of the Lithia Springs Property
4
3. View of the Lithia Springs Property, to the West
5
4. The Long Cabin on the Winburn Property: . . . .
13
5. The Winburn Cabin, "Sap and Salt in the Woods,"
August 14, 1921 .....
15
6. Harry Silver and the Pompadour Chief
20
7. The City Springs Pumphouse and Steel Bridge
over Emigrant Creek
23
)
8. Plan Map of the Winburn Cabin Site (ASWP #1)
25
9. View (to the West) of the Meadow with the Former Winburn Cabin 26
10. Concrete Steps at the Back of the Former Winburn Cabin,
View to the Wes t . . .. ..... . . . . 26
11. The Former Winburn Cabin, View to the North; the Concrete 27
12. Plan Map of the Lithia Springs Site (ASLS #1)
29
13. The Pompadour Chief as it Appears in 1987. View to the North 31
14. The City Springs Pumphouse, Steel Bridge over Emigrant Creek,
and Retaining Wall. View to the East . . . . . . . . . . . 31
iv
INTRODUCTION
A cultural resource inventory and historic documentation of Winburn Camp and
Lithia Springs, both owned by the City of Ashland, was conducted by INFOTEC
Research, Inc. (IRI) , under contract with the City of Ashland. The purpose
was to provide information which would allow the City of Ashland to properly
manage the cultural resources on these two properties. The project was guided
by four goals: (1) to comply with Oregon's Land Conservation and Development
Commission (LCDC) Goal 5, which states that the "location, quality and
quantity" of "historic areas, sites, structures and objects" (among other
resources) shall be inventoried; (2) to compile a historical background on
each property, particularly as the property and the people associated with the
property were involved in the development of the City of Ashland; (3) to
survey both properties to locate unrecorded cultural resources; and (4) to
file completed site forms with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO)
on all cultural resources identified on the. two properties.
This proj ect was the result of a matching grant received by the City of
Ashland from SHPO. IRI's staff for the project included Clayton Lebow as the
Principal Investigator, Nan Hannon as the project Historian, and Richard
Pettigrew as the Project Manager. Al Alsing served as Project Supervisor for
the City of Ashland, and Jim Olson and Jim Roberts assisted by mapping
cultural resource sites; the City also provided in-kind services, including
the graphics, which were completed by Jim Olson. The field work was completed
by Clayton Lebow, Nan Hannon, Jim Olson, and Jim Roberts between August 29th
and September 1st; a total of seven person-days was spent on this task.
This report consists of four major parts. The first part provides an
introduction, and information on the physical, ethnographic, prehistoric, and
historical settings of the two properties (as no prehistoric archaeological
sites were recorded, the ethnographic and prehistoric settings are VE!ry
brief); the second part is a discussion of the field methods used during the
survey, and the research ana interview methods used during the historic
documentation. This is followed by an in-depth discussion of the history of
the proj ec t areas, and the impac t the people associated with the two
properties had on the City of Ashland. The final section is a discussion of
the sites recorded, including potential significance, and recommendations for
cultural, resource management.
)
PHYSICAL SETTING
The Winburn Camp property, composed of 160 acres, is located in southern
Jackson County in the W~ of the NE~, the SE~ of the ml~, and the ml~ of the
SE~ of Section 32, T39S, RIE, WK, between 3840 and 3280 ft (1170 and 1000 m)
in elevation (Figure l). The West Fork of Ashland Creek flows through, and is
joined by, Weasel Creek and Annie Creek within the property boundaries. The
project area, which is within the boundaries of the Ashland Ranger District of
the Rogue River National Forest, is also within the Ashland Municipal
Watershed. The climate is typical of upland forested environments in the
1
APPENDIX G: ANALYSIS OF LITHIA WATER
Elements Concentrations In ppm
Carbon (as bicarbonate, HC03-)
Sodium
Chlorine
Calcium
Boron (as metaborate, B02-)
Magnesium
Potassium
Silicon (as silicon dioxide, Si02)
Iron
Lithium
Aluminum
Bromine
Barium
Manganese
Nitrogen (as nitrate, N03-)
(as nitrite, N02-)
Phosphorus (as phosphate, P04)
Arsenic
Sulphur (as sulfate, S04) J
Fluoride
Dissolved Solids
Hardness as CaCO]
Color
(Ashland Heritage Committee n.d.)
2830
1980
1700
645
61
155
105
60.7
8.8
9
0.42
2
6.6
0.56
0.5
0.0064
0_09
0.004
6.5
0.53
7160
1500
5
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WINBURN
SITE
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ASHLAND I OREGON
PROJECT LOCATION
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SCALE IN MILES
ASHLAND QUAD. I 7.5 min. series
Figure 1. Location of the Winburn Camp' Property.
2
upper Rogue River drainage, with warm and dry summers, and cool and moist
winters. The vicinity probably accumulates a winter snowpack. The topography
of the area consists of steep slopes, with slopes over 90% not uncommon. The
only relatively level area of any consequence is at the confluence of Weasel
Creek and the West Fork of Ashland Creek; this area consists of approximately
one to two acres of alluvial terrace with slopes less than 10%. Situated just
west of this terrace is a small (approximately ~ acre) open meadow, with a
ground slope of approximately 10%. Two benches, both less than one-half acre
in size and with slopes less than 20%, were located east of and overlooking
the West Fork of Ashland Creek. Except for the open meadow, the property is
heavi ly timbered, wi th Douglas - fir (Pseudotsug.a menziesii) the dominant
overs tory ; other plants observed include bigleaf maple (Acer macroohyllum),
white fir (Abies concolor), red alder (Alnus rubra), chinkapin (Castanoosis
chrysoohylla), incense cedar (Libocedrus decurrens), Pacific yew (Taxus
brevifolia), Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii), California hazel (Corvlus
cornuta californica), ocean spray (Holodiscus discolor), salal (Gaultheria
shallon), dwarf Oregon grape (Mahonia nervosa), wild rose (Rosa spp.), wood
sorrel (Oxalis sp.), swordfern (Polystichum munitum), brackenfern (Pteridium
aquilinum), maidenhair-fern (Adiantum pedatum), horsetail (Equisetum sp.), and
beargrass (Xeroohyllum tenax). Other than road and building construction
associated with the Long and Winburn cabins (see discussion later in this
report), the property has undergone little historic alteration.
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The Lithia Springs property, 66 adres in size, is located in southern Jackson
County, in the SE~ of the SE~ of Section 12, T39S, RIE, WH, and the SW~ of the
SW~ of Section 7, T39S, R2E, WH, between 1900 and 2025 ft (579 and 617 m) in
elevation (Figure 2). The Lithia Springs property is situated on the eastern
edge of Bear Creek Valley, approximately two miles (3.2 km) east of Ashland.
Emigrant Cr~ek, which is a major tributary to Bear Creek, is located along
much of the northern property boundary. The climate is moderate (but more
xeric than the upland Winburn Camp property), with hot and dry summers, and
cool and damp winters. The vegetation falls within the "Interior Valley Zone"
(Franklin and Dyrness 1973:44-45, 110, Fig. 27). The property is
predominately grass land, with Oregon whi te oak (Ouercus garryana) and
California black oak (Ouercus kelloggii) present on the slopes, and willow
(Salix spp.), Oregon white ash (Fraxinus latifolia), black cottonwood (Pooulus
trichocaroa), blackberries (Rubus spp.), and poison oak (Rhus diversiloba)
found along the banks of Emigrant Creek. Topographically, the property
consists of two distinct areas. Approximately half of the property consists
of a relatively level alluvial terrace (Figure 3); located within this terrace
are the Lithia Springs and the City Springs. The remainder of the property is
on gently rolling hillsides with slopes up to 30%, although occasional rock
outcrops create much steeper slopes. Unlike the Winburn property, the Lithia
Springs landscape has been extensively altered during the historic timE!
period I particularly on the alluvial terrace. Most of the terrace has been
artificially filled (probably to alleviate the marshiness associated with the
mineral springs, and Emigrant Creek has been diverted from its original
channel (Appendix D). Except for the eastern corner of the terrace I no
original surface (present prior to historic occupation) was observed. The
hillsides remain relatively unaltered.
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LITHIA
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SPRINGS
SITE
ASHLAND,
OREGON
1000
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1000
3000
5000
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PROJECT LOCATION
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ASHLAND QUAD" 7.t5 min. series
Figure 2. Location of the Lithia Springs Property.
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Figure 3. View of the Lithia Springs Property, to the West.
BACKGROUND
ETHNOGRAPHIC ~ETTING
At the time of historic contact, Bear Creek Valley between Ashland and Talent
was the boundary between the Upland Take1ma and the shasta (Gray 1985:35-36).
This would place both the Winburn Camp and Lithia Springs properties within
Shasta territory, although it is likely that these properties were actually
seasonally exploi t:'cd by both groups, Al though speaking different languages
(the Upland Takelma belonged to the Penutian language family, the Shasta to
the Hokan Language family [Schaeffer 1959J), the two groups were similar in
many ways, The following brief swr.mary Ls taken from the ethnographies of
Dixon (1907), Holt (1946), and Sapir (1907); for more in-depth information,
refer to those authors, or t.O the compilation of southwestern Oregon
ethnographies by Gray (1985),
The basic socio-political unit among the Shasta was the small, exogamous,
patrilineal, extended family band, although each band belonged to a larger,
geographically defined group (the Shasta of Bear Creek Valley, for instance,
belonged to the lkirakutsu group), Each group was under the leadership of a
head man, whose position was heredi.tary (and, due to the practice of paying
fines as blood-rnor:ey, required that he be wealthy). Another influential
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individual (or individuals) within the group was the shaman (usually a woman);
this position was also hereditary. Religious belief of the Shasta revolved
around numerous supe rna tural be ings or spirits which inhabited various
inanimate objects or natural features; it was through one or more of these
spirits that a shaman obtained her power.
The Shasta were central-based hunters and gatherers who spent the winter
months in permanent or semi-permanent villages along lowland streams or
rivers; these villages were usually small, and consisted of the extended
family unit. In the spring, the village would be abandoned (with the
exception of a few elderly individuals), and the summer and early fall months
would be spent in the uplands gathering such resources as acorns and berries,
and hunting large game. In the fall, they would move back to the winter
village in time for the fall salmon run. Approximately five months would be
spent in the winter village before again returning to the uplands. A Shasta
village minimally consisted of family dwellings, which were rectangular, semi-
subterranean pole and plank structures. If a village consisted of several
families, then a men's sweathouse might also be constructed. Temporary
structures, used during forays away from the village, consisted of open, roof-
less shelters of brush.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SETTING
Archaeological research in the Elk Creek area on the upper Rogue River by IRI
in 1986-1987 has resulted in a synthesis of southwestern Oregon prehistory",',)
and development of a cultural chronology which divides the prehistory into two '
stages (Paleo-Indian and Archaic), and the Archaic Stage into four phases
(Pettigrew and Lebow 1987).
The earliest evidence of prehistoric occupation in southwestern Oregon is two
isolated, fluted, "Clovis" type projectile points found in the upper Rogue
River drainage area. This is a distinctive proj ecti1e point style which is
found throughout North America, and has been dated between 9500 and 9000 B.C.;
these points are the hallmark of the Paleo-Indian Stage. The earliest phase
Df the Archaic Stage is the Applegate Phase (8500-6500 B.C.), which is
characterized by distinctive projectile point forms, with shapes ranging from
square-based lanceolate to broad, diverging-stemmed, concave-baseq. items wit:h
neck widths between 12 and 19 rom. Edge-faceted cobbles are cominon in this
phase, end scrapers are rare, and obsidian is present but not prevalent. TIle
subsequent Marial Phase (6500-2500 B.C.) is characterized by relatively high
proportions of willow leaf shaped point types with maximum widths greater than
or equal to 12 mm, frequent end scrapers, high incidence of obsidian, and
substantial numbers of McKee unifaces. The, next phase is the Coquille Phase
(2500-250 B.C.), marked by a dramatic decrease in the frequency of obsidian,
and by the appearance and predominance of a broad-necked (widths greater or
equal to seven rom), unbarbed, converging- stem point type. Following this is
the Rogue Phase, which dates from 250 B.C. to Euro-American settlement. This
phase is characterized by narrow-necked projectile points (probably marking
the introduction of the bow-and-arrow). End scrapers become rare, and
obsidian use remains low. Ceramic use was common for a time (A.D. 900 to A.D.
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Although substantial archaeological research has taken place in southwestern
Oregon as a region, relatively few significant archaeological investigations
have been conducted in the upper Bear Creek drainage. Newman (1959) surveyed
the proposed Emigrant Dam reservoir (approximately three miles southeast of
Lithia Springs), and identified two sites: 35JAl and 35JA2, which he
subsequently tested. A relatively large number of grinding implements were
recovered, as well as animal bones, and late style projectile points,
prompting Newman to propose that these were intermittently occupied hunting
and gathering sites used in the relatively recent past. Between 1966 and
1969. a local junior high school class informally excavated the Cove Greek
Rockshelter, located approximately three miles northeast of Lithia Spri.ngs;
the cultural materials recovered are currently b~ing analyzed by one of the
authors (Hannon). The cultural materials include a high incidence of well
preserved bone and bone tools, grinding stones, and proj ectile point styles
ranging from willow-leaf - shaped to narrow-necked, barbed points. The point
styles indicate that the site could have considerable temporal depth, and has
potential to be a highly significant site.
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On the western side of the Bear Creek drainage, the Rogue River National
Forest has tested site 35JA19l, which is situated on Ashland Creek between the
Winburn Camp property and the City of Ashland. This site includes anthropic
organic soil, and may contain the remains of prehistoric houses. Very high
densities of lithic debitage were recovered, as were narrow-necked, barbed
proj ectile points, and a single grinding implement. An intact hearth or
earth-oven was recorded. Temporally diagnostic artifacts indicate that the
site was occupied recently (within the last 1500 years); the site appears to
be very significant (LaLande 1987). Another site tested by the Rogue River
Na tional Forest is site 3~JA168, located on Winburn Ridge. southeast of
Winburn Camp (Lalande 1983). Analysis revealed that the site was small (less
than ~ acre), shallow, and with low densities of cultural materials. Brief,
intermittent, use of the site by small groups on their seasonal travels to the
high elevation meadows of the Siskiyou Crest was inferred. A third site
identified in the vicinity of Winburn Camp is the East View Site (35JA187),
situated approximately three miles southeast of Winburn Camp. This site is a
small, sparse surface lithic scatter. However, this site is unusual in that a
carved basaltic zoomorphic figurine head fragment was recovered (LaLande,
personal communication, 1987). Future work is planned at this site.
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No prehistoric archaeological sites are recorded on either the Winburn Camp or
Lithia Springs properties. Delmar Hubbard, of Central Point, Oregon, whose
grandparents homesteaded on what became the Winburn property, and who lived on
the site as a child, states that his family never found Indian artifacts on
the property. Eve Nye and Gertrude Biede Easterling, who both spent time on
the property, were also unaware of any prehistoric material being discovered
on the Winburn property (appendices A, C, and E). On the Lithia Springs
property, a former city worker recovered a large (approximately 36x8 cm) blade
from a trench excavated in the property, but no other evidence of a
prehistoric site was observed by the worker (Baize, personal communication,
1987) .
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HISTORICAL SETTING
Euro-American settlement of Ashland occurred relatively late in the history of
the western frontier because of the hostile reputation of the local Indians
and the ruggedness of the mountains surrounding the Rogue Valley (Beckham
1971:23-46). However, the discovery of gold near Jacksonville in January of
1852, and the promise of free land in the Oregon Territory under the Donation
Land Claim Act of 1850, caused a rapid influx of population into the area in
the early 1850s (lalande 1980:64-71).
The first Euro-Americans to arrive in Bear Creek Valley found an Indian
village located along Ashland Creek, on the site now occupied by the Ashland
Plaza and the entrance to Lithia Park. This was probably a Shasta winter
village, and was home to around 100 people, under the leadership of a chief
called Tipsoe Tyee (Cardwell 1879:11-19). The conflicts between the settlers
and the Shasta and Takelma living in the southern Oregon region have been
we 11- documented by Beckham (1971). Those Indians who survived disease,
starvation and warfare were sent to the Siletz reservation on the northern
Oregon coast in 1856. Their culture was rapidly forgotten by the settlers
eager to establish themselves in the Rogue Valley.
Ashland's first settlers had been unsuccessful in the gold fields of
California, and rightly guessed that Oregon's enduring gold would be her
timber and agricultural products. Abel Helman and partners built a sawmill on
Ashland Creek in 1852, and a flour mill nearby in 1854. The town of Ashland
Mills grew up around these two buildings (O'Harra 1986:1l-l2).
The early population of Ashland was largely homogenous. Most settlers were
from the Midwestern states and territories, and shared common values and a
normative Protestant outlook (Haines 1980:5-13). They placed a great deal of
value on education and culture. Consequently, churches and schools were
quickly established. Development of a college was begun in 1869, and in 1872
the first students were admitted (O'Harra 1986:18). Ashland had one of the
first lending libraries in the state, and in 1893 was awarded a Chautauqua
contract, making Ashland one of the stops on a nationwide lecture circuit.
Every summer, visitors flocked to Ashland for two weeks of presentations by
visiting lecturers. Ashland .residents developed an appetite for cultural
events and an interest in the economic benefits of tourism (Ashland Commercial
Clubn.d.).
)
Cultural life and tourism were both made possible by the arrival of the first
train in Ashland in 1884. It took another three years to lay tracks over the
rugged Siskiyou Mountains, but in 1887 Charles Crocker, vice-president of
Southern Pacific, drove a golden spike near Ashland to mark the completion of
the circuit of railway around the United States (O'Harra 1986: 27; Ashland
Daily Tidings, June 17, 1976, p.2, col. 1-3). The railroad changed Ashland's
character dramatically. Examination of census records shows that there was
rapid population growth as railroad workers moved to town and new businesses
opened to serve them and the passengers s topping at the Ashland Depot. In
1880, Ashland's population was 854; by 1890, the population had doubled, and
by 1900 there were 3,000 Ashland residents. The population was also no longer
8
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homogenous. Chinese laborers who had helped to build the railroad settled in
Ashland, as did Greek, Italian, and Irish crew members.
Jackson County was now linked to the national economy, and able to export its
abundant agricultural products. Ranchers and merchants prospered, large new
homes were built, the Chautauqua program flourished, and Ashland's business
district expanded (LaLande 1980:81; O'Harra 1986:70-72). A number of
ambitious people saw both the beauties and opportunities in the area, and
moved to the little tDwn nestled in the Siskiyous to take advantage of them.
Typical of the entrepreneurs who arrived in Ashland during this period were
the Carters of Iowa, who arrived in 1884 to open Ashland's first bank and
invest in orchards, a land company and a produce business; Dr. and Mrs. F.G.
Swedenburg, of 'Wisconsin, who arrived in 1909 and invested in a hospital,
orchards, and land; C. C. Chappell, a New York stockbroker who retired to
Ashland in 1904 while in his early 50's; the Silver family, also of 'Wisconsin,
who arrived in 1905 after investigating investment opportunities allover the
'West Coast; and Bert Greer, a we11-travel1~d newspaperman, who purchased the
Ashland Tidings in 1911.
During the first two decades of the century, people such as these formed the
Ashland 'Women's Civic Improvement Club and the Ashland Commercial Club, which
undertook projects such as development of parks, paving of City streets,
lobbying for road improvements, construction of a library, and publication of
brochures designed to attract tourists and new residents to Ashland (O'Harra
1986: 79'-84). In 1913, community spirit and entrepreneurial energy
crystallized in a pl n to make Ashland a health resort. Ashland Tidings
editor Bert Gree outlined a program to pipe mineral waters to the City,
expand the e sting Chautauqua Park into Lithia Park, and develop an
attractive ourist hotel (Mahar 1963:323-324).
/'
Greer and the Commercial Club were successful in pushing through a $175,000
bond issue to finance bringing mineral waters to town and expanding what
became Lithia Park. They were not successful in attracting the expected
tourists to use the mineral waters. Many Ashland residents charged that the
proj ect had been too costly, that the company which charged $100,000 to lay
the pipes had done a poor job, and that the entire program was ill-conceived
(Silver Family Papers n.d.:2-50). The local controversy was eclipsed by
America's entry into 'World 'War I.
During the post-war period, Ashland's business leaders realized that outside
capital was required for development of a health resort. Ashland College
Professor Irving Vining was sent on a cross-country tour. Vining lectured on
the opportuni ties in Ashland to a variety of groups. At one of these
lectures, he met millionaire Jesse 'Winburn, who was persuaded to move to
Ashland and inves t in the resort proj ect. However, conflicts quickly
developed between 'Winburn and his Ashland partners, and the ambitious projects
were abandoned (Mahar 1963:325-340). Jesse Winburn became disillusioned with
Ashland, and left town (for a further discussion of 'Winburn's contribution to
Ashland, see below). After Winburn left town, development plans were
forgotten as Ashland's economy faltered. In 1926, Southern Pacific re-routed
most of its freight and passenger service through Klamath Falls. This was a
devastating economic blow to Ashland. Railroad section crews were transferred
9
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out of town. Businesses closed in the Railroad District. Ashland residents
predicted fearfully that "... grass would grow in the streets" (Barnthouse
1978: 28). Difficult years continued with the Great Depression, and many
Ashland buildings were sold for back taxes during the 1930s.
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Ashland's economy recovered during World War II, and the City prospered during
the post-war years. The demand for timber caused by the American housing boom
helped timber- rich southern Oregon. More than a dozen mills operated in
Ashland in the 1950s. Southern Oregon College of Education experienced record
enrollments, as servicemen and women went to school on the G.I. bill. Also
prospering was the Oregon Shakespearean Festival, which had begun modestly in
1935 under the direction of Angus Bowmer. The company suspended production
during World War II, but began performing again in 1947, to increasingly large
audiences. The Ashland Chamber of Commerce, successor to the Ashland
Commercial Club of the early decades of the century, became active in
promoting the Festival and the City to tourists. Unlike the Commercial Club,
however, the Chamber undertook carefully-planned projects, and its promotions
were successful. Tourism became Ashland's most important industry (O'Harra
1986:145-148).
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Ashland development and beautification projects that began in 1907 and
continued until the Great Depression -- projects in which Jesse Winburn and
the Li thia Springs Development Commiss ion played important ro les
contributed to the distinctive character that Ashland enjoys today. Lithia
Water, the Lithia Springs Hotel, and especially Lithia Park, continue to
attract visitors and residents to Ashland.
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PROCEDURES
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FIELD SURVEY
The strategy for the cultural resource survey of the Winburn and Lithia
Springs properties was an intensive, 100% survey of all areas witl) ground
slopes less than 20%, using parallel transects spaced at 20 meters. For areas
with ground slopes over 20%, parallel transects spaced at 50 meters were
planned. The entire Lithia Springs property was surveyed with parallel
transects spaced at 20 meters, using north-south transects (except for the
small parcel on the north side of Emigrant Creek, where east-west transects
were employed). Distances between transects were determined by pacing, and
transect bearings were established and maintained by compass readings. The
surface visibility on the alluvial terrace was excellent (30- 50%), but, as
mentioned above, the greater part of the surface we examined appears to be
fill brought in from elsewhere. The surface visibility on the hillsides was
also good, averaging approximately 20%. All rock outcrops were examined for
prehistoric rock art.
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At the Winburn Camp property, only two small areas were surveyed with
transects 20 meters apart: the benches overlooking the West Fork of Ashland
Creek, and the meadow and terrace at the confluence of Weasel Creek and the
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West Fork of Ashland Creek (see the discussion of physical setting above).
The remainder of this proj ect area was surveyed with transects spaced at 50
meters. Again, the transect spacing was established by pacing, and transect
bearings were determined by compass. Due to the steepness of the slopes and
the often-brushy undergrowth, maintaining parallel transects was difficult.
Surface visibility was very poor, averaging less than 1%; in an effort to
improve this visibility, root-throws, and road and stream cut-banks, were
examined.
The cultural resources recorded during the surveys of the two properties were
mapped with an electronic distance measuring device and a theodolite.
HISTORIC RESEARCH AND INTERVIEW PROCEDURES
To generate new information about the properties, interviews were conducted
wi th persons knowledgeable about the' Li thia Springs and Winburn Camp
properties and the people associated with them.
Informants included:
Delmar Hubbard, of Central Point, grandson of Nimrod and Anna
homesteaded the property which was later sold to Jesse Winburn.
built the cabin remodeled into "Sap and Salt in the Woods."
Long, who
The Longs
William Briggs, of Phoenix, Oregon, who was Ashland's City Attorney during the
period when Jesse Winburn had legal conflicts with the City. Mr. Briggs and
his father, E.D. Briggs, also served as Jesse Winburn's agents and attorneys
in 1921.
Eve (Mrs. Stephen) Nye, of Medford, Oregon, who worked as Jesse Winburn's
personal secretary, and lived at the Winburn Camp during the summer of 1922.
Bud Silver, of Ashland, grandson of Harry Silver, who owned and developed the
Lithia Springs property. Mr. Silver has the family records of the Lithia
Water and Carbonic Gas bottling businesses.
Transcripts of these interviews are included as Appendices A-D. Tape
recordings of the interviews also have been submitted to the City of Ashland.
An interview was conducted with Gertrude Biede Easterling, former Ashland City
Recorder, who visited the Winburn Camp in 1922, and has photographs of the
interior of the main lodge. Mrs. Easterling declined to be tape recorded, but
information obtained from Mrs. Easterling is included as Appendix E. An
interview was also conducted with long-time Ashland resident Lawrence Powell,
who knew Jesse Winburn. Mr. Powell also declined to be tape recorded, but
informa tion obtained dur ing that interview is included as Appendix F.
Although it would have been desirable to conduct an interview with John
Murphy, descendant of the Murphy family which homesteaded the property on
which the Ci ty Springs are now located, Mr. Murphy was unavailable for
interview for health reasons.
11
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,
,
Issues of the Ashland Tidings were reviewed for the period from 1907-1916, the
years during which the Lithia Springs were developed, and from 1920-1929, the
period between Jesse Winburn's first visit to Ashland and his death. The
researcher also reviewed relevant photographs and documents in the collections
of the Ashland Public Library, the Southern Oregon Historical Society, the
Southern Oregon State College Library, and the City of Ashland. Legal records
at the Jackson County Courthouse were reviewed to determine transfer of
titles. Minutes of the Ashland City Council were reviewed for the period of
Jesse Winburn's tenure in Ashland.
HISTORY OF THE LITHIA SPRINGS AND WINBURN CAMP PROPERTIES
WINBURN CAMP PROPERTY
On May 3, 1899, the Winburn property was homesteaded by Nimrod and Anna u)ng
(Jackson County Deed Book 23, page 552). A 1916 plat map printed by the
Douglas County Abstract Company shows that M.N. Long filed Final Homestead
Entry 4316 on a T-shaped piece of land surrounded by the Ashland Forest
Reserve. On this property, the Longs built a log cabin described by their
grandson as "just one big room" (Appendix A). Photographs of the cabin taken
around the turn of the century show a rustic structure with many of the
features of cabins built by German settlers in Oregon (Clark 1983:19). The
walls were made of widely-spaced, squared, hand-hewn logs with half-dovetail
corner notches. The cabin had a vertical board door, no foundation, and a
shake roof supported by peeled log rafters (Figure 4).
,
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Due to heavy snowfall during the winter, the Long family utilized the cabin
only during the summers. They maintained a home five miles down the road in
Ashland, and, during the summers, the family moved up on the mountain, where
Nimrod Long cut shakes with a small, horse-powered sawmill. The shakes were
hauled into Ashland for sale (Appendix A).
Because of its location halfway up the trail to Mt. Ashland and Mt. Wagner,
the Long property served as a popular stopping place for both summer and
winter hikers. Verl Barnthouse, of Ashland, who is now in his 90s, recalled
that ". ..if we wanted to get away from town a little bit, we'd go up to Long's
Cabin, which was the farthest part up Ashland Creek" (Barnthouse 1978:4).
Robert Wagner (1977: 14-15), also of Ashland, recalls a January expedition
around 19l0, when
...we went up to the old Long's Cabin up Ashland Creek which turned out
in later years to be the Winburn Cabin...we stayed all night there, got
up about 5 or 6 o'clock the next morning and we had skis. ..Not too far
out of the Long Cabin we rented some skis and. ..about halfway up there
was an old trail from Long's Cabin up to the one place that almost
touches the present-day ski road.
12
Figure 4. The Long Cabin on the Winburn Property. Photograph Courtesy of Mr.
Delmar Hubbard.
To encourage tourist use of Mt. Ashland, in 1905 the Ashland Commercial Club
developed a road to the Long Cabin, where tourists could hire horses for the
rest of the journey (Ashland Commercial Club brochure n.d.). Delmar Hubbard
recalled that campers stayed in a storage structure used by the Forest
Service. He remembered heavy use of the area by travelers after the
automobile came to Ashland (Appendix A).
In 1920, the Longs sold the property to a wealthy New York entrepreneur named
Jesse Winburn (J ackson County Deed Book 128, p. 200). Contemporaries
described Winburn as a short, "homely" man with red hair, a high-pi tched
voice, and a nervous. impatient manner (Appendices B, E and F). One of
several sons born to a poor Jewish family, Winburn had made his fortune by
developing subway advertising in New York City. He was president of the New
York Ci ty Car Advertising Company (Mahar 1963: 325) . He also served as
president of the Associated Advertisers of America, and during Uorld Uar I had
directed the U. S. Army's recruiting campaign. A world-traveler, Winburn had
considerable financial and political influence in New York State (Ashland
Tidings, May 27, 1920; vol. 1: p. 1, col. 4,5). However, Winburn's decision
to retire before the age of 50, and a divorce from his wife, prompted him to
look for a home in another part of the country (Mahar 1963: 325). In late
1919, Winburn, attending a meeting of the Advertising Club of New York City,
heard a talk on Ashland by Professor Irving Vining. Vining, a former teacher
at the Ashland Normal School, was touring the country as an ambassador for the
13
Ashland Commercial Club, seeking to interest outside investors in developing
Ashland as a health resort. Winburn was impressed by Vining's talk, and
arranged to visit Ashland in February of 1920. Vining and Ashland's business
leaders showed their New York guest the scenic beauties of the area, including
Crater Lake, Lithia Park, Ashland Canyon, and Mt. Ashland. They repeatedly
pointed out to him the economic potential of the Mineral Springs and the
Ashland Hotel (Mahar 1963: 326; Ashland Tidings May 2S, 1920; vol. 1, p. 1,
col. 1-3).
Convinced of Ashland's potential as a health resort, and attracted by the
rustic beauty of the area, particularly Ashland Canyon, Winburn returned to
New York to sellout his interests there, and prepared to retire in Ashland.
Wi th Vining, Ashland attorney E. D. Briggs, and Ashland banker E. V. Carter,
Winburn formed the Ashland Development Company (Mahar 1960 :4-7) . Winburn's
partners secured options on the Hotel and the Mineral Springs. They also
purchased the Long Cabin for Winburn, for the sum of $6,400 (Hubbard family
papers). At the time the purchase was made, the partners were aware that the
property was located in the Ashland watershed, and that the City was trying to
acquire all the watershed area in order to protect the purity of Ashland's
water supply; most of the land in the watershed was already Forest Reserve
(lalande 1980:92). The Ashland watershed was created in 1893 to guarantee the
growing population of Ashland a safe and abundant water supply (O'Harra
1986:52). Convinced that Ashland's economic health depended on Winburn's
investment in the community, and aware that Winburn very much wanted to
acquire the Ashland Canyon property, his partners decided to complete the
purchase, hoping that the City would compromise on the issue of water purity
(Ashland Tidings, April 25, 1921, p. 1, col. 1).
When Winburn arrived in Ashland in the early part of 1921, he was displeased
with the business deals his partners had negotiated for him. He let the
option on the Mineral Springs contract lapse, and declined to pay the mortgage
on the Ashland Hotel, forcing the owner to foreclose on the property (Mahar
1963:328). Winburn did, however, want to keep the Ashland Canyon property.
He went to the City Council in May, asking the Council to approve improvements
on the road to the property. The Council refused, and countered with an offer
to purchase the property for $6,000, so that it could close off the watershed
area. Winburn declined to sell. Winburn and the City eventually compromised
on the road improvement issue; with Winburn paying for grading, and the City
supplying materials (Ashland City Council Minutes, May 10, 1921, vol. 9).
In the meantime, Winburn had begun improvements on the property which cost
several thousand dollars. Bert Moses, a friend of Jesse Winburn's, who lived
at the cabin for a time, and who was a syndicated newspaper columnist,
described the property when Winburn purchased it:
There was but one room, and things were just about as primitive as you
find them anywhere. The roof leaked, and there was a lot of wind that
blew through the cracks between the logs.. .Jesse decided to enlarge the
place, put in modern conveniences and make it a retreat for newspaper
men and advertisers (Portland Telegraph, October 6, 1921, p. 13, col.
4 - 5) .
14
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I
Winburn not only enlarged and remodeled the Long Cabin, he built an entire
compound of structures in the rustic style popular in the Adirondack Mountains
where he had formerly vacationed. The cabin, converted to a six-room
bungalow, was connected by concrete walks to a two-story long barn, a service
house, chicken house, and a swimming pool fed by the icy waters of Ashland
Creek (Mahar 1963:331; Appendix C). Photographs taken in 1921 and 1922 show
that Winburn added two one-story wings at right angles to the original Long
Cabin (Figure 5). French doors provided entry to each wing. The shake roof,
supported by peeled log rafters J had broad, overhanging eaves. Flowerboxes
were attached below the windows, ~nd a massive fieldstone fireplace, at least
six feet wide, stood at the living room wing. The main lodge was approached
via a lighted, curved driveway which continued on to the corral adjacent to
the house, where Winburn kept his prized horses (Appendix C). The interior
walls were covered with rough-sawn vertical board-and-batten siding, and the
furnishings were in the rustic style and made of log, bent-wood and wicker
(Appendix E).
Figure 5. The Winburn Cabin, "Sap and Salt in the Woods," August 14, 1921.
Photograph courtesy of the Southern Oregon Historical Society.
15
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The lodge was electrified in 1922, at a cost of $1400 (Mahar 1963: 331) .
Winburn also installed a nickel-plated shower which sprayed from all sides,
which greatly impressed the citizens of Ashland (Mahar 1960:16). The swimming
pool, eight feet deep and made of concrete, was perhaps the first pool in the
Rogue Valley (Mahar 1963: 331) . Eve Nye recalled that Winburn thought it
amusing to invite guests to swim in the icy pool (Appendix C),
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Winburn's swimming pool was a cause of concern to Ashland's citizens, since it
drained back into Ashland Creek, which was the source of the City's water.
The Ashland Board of Health was also concerned by Winburn's cesspool, and his
livestock, which grazed in the watershed. The City Council voted that Winburn
be "required to burn all garbage, offal and sewer waste on the Long Cabin
property and in other ways fully comply with requirements of the Board of
Health of the City of Ashland..." (Ashland City Council Minutes, May 25, 1921,
vol. 9). Winburn refused to take the City's concerns seriously. He continued
to fish in Ashland Creek, which was prohibited by City ordinance. He
continued to graze his stock near Ashland Creek, and he deliberately violated
a City ordinance restricting picnicking at the water intake station (Ashland
Daily Tidings, October 12, 1922, p. 1, col. 7). Although fined by the City,
Winburn simply paid his fines and did as he pleased (Mahar 1963:332). Ashland
residents came to resent the eccentric millionaire's behavior.
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At the same time, Winburn grew to be an important figure in Ashland's social
and political life. He entertained lavishly at the remodeled cabin, which he
had named "Sap and Salt in the Woods," after the column that his friend,Bert
Moses published. Ashland residents still remember the parties that he threw
for the Rogue Valley's children (Appendix E). He invited 300 children to a
picnic in June of 1921 (Mahar 1963: 337), and the following month Winburn
organized a lavish Fourth of July parade and donated $375 in prize money for
the participants. Fifteen thousand southern Oregon residents flocked to
Ashland to see the parade (Ashland Tidings, July 5, 1921, p. 1, col. 1).
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Winburn was also generous to the community in other ways. The Women's Civic
Improvement Club had begun construction of a Civic Clubhouse near Lithia Park,
but abandoned the project because of lack of funds. In 1922, the Ashland
Daily Tidings (October 22, 1922, p. 1, col. 4) announced that "Jesse Winburn
has not only shouldered the expense of completing the Community Clubhouse, but
he will furnish it also." Total cost of building and furnishings was
estimated at $15,000 (Ashland Daily Tidings, October 22, 1922, p. 1, col. 4).
The building, dedicated on October 28, 1922, was renovated in 1986, and still
serves Ashland as a Community Center sixty-five years after its dedication.
Winburn also purchased the antiquated Granite City Hospital in Ashland, spent
$30,000 on improvements, and deeded it to the City (Ashland City Council
Minutes, January 2, 1923, vol. 9). The grateful City Council voted to name an
Ashland street after Winburn. They chose the street which passes Lithia Park
and the Community Clubhouse, and called it Winburn Way (Mahar 1963: 340).
Winburn was also asked to serve as Grand Marshal of the 1922 Ashland Labor Day
parade (Ashland Daily Tidings, August 14, 1922, p. 1, col. 1).
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Desp i te Winburn's gene ros i ty, Ashland's resentment of his erratic and
autocratic behavior was fueled by his involvement'in state and local politics.
Winburn was a major contributor to the campaign of Oregon governor Walter M.
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Pierce, who was elected in 1922. Winburn supplied about half of Pierce's
campaign funds (Ashland Daily Tidings, November 15, 1922, p. 2, col. 1).
Winburn also persuaded Ashland grocer Charles Loomis to run for mayor against
Dr. W.E. Blake. Blake represented a political group with whom Winburn was at
odds over' the watershed problems (Mahar 1963: 335). The campaign became a
bitter one. Winburn threatened Ashland that, unless Loomis won the election,
he would not finance a hotel for the City, nor would he turn over the deed for
the Granite City Hospital. Realizing that Winburn's support was doing him
more harm than good, Loomis publicly disassociated himself from Winburn. The
grocer was elected, and public sentiment turned decisively against the New
York millionaire (Ashland Daily Tidings, November 8, 1922, p. 1, col. 1).
Regional historian Marjorie O'Harra (1986:114) wrote that at the same time,
Winburn began to tire of Ashland. He became wary of being approached
with ideas that needed financing and the continuing complaints over his
contamination of the city water supply began to annoy him. So he sold
Sap and Salt, dropped all his projects and left town as suddenly as he
had come.
In the summer of 1923, title to "Sap and Salt in the Woods" was transferred to
the City of Ashland (Jackson County Deed Book 126, p. 381). The City
auctioned off the contents of the lodge and placed a gate across the access
road to the watershed, closing the area to unauthorized use (Mahar 1960:35).
The Ashland Chamber of Commerce was briefly permitted to use the lodge for
the i r mee t i ngs " Subsequently, Fores t Service fire crews used the
deteriorating compound, which they called the Winburn Camp (LaLande 1980:92).
In the late 1930s, fire guards were stationed at the lodge, and made their
reports by telephone (LaLande, personal communication, 1987). Finally
abandoned also by the Forest Service, the empty Sap and Salt buildings
deteriorated rapidly. William Briggs recalled that Jesse Winburn had been
cautioned not to use unpeeled logs in the construction of his lodge, because
of the problem of bark beetles eating away the wood, but that Winburn had
ignored the warnings (Appendix B).
In the early 19 60s, the City of Ashland and the Forest Service became
concerned about unauthorized use of the Ashland watershed by campers and
coun te r cul ture p e op Ie staying in Fores t Service buildings and the
deter~orating structures at the old Winburn Camp. To eliminate the danger of
fire and of water contamination, as well as the risk of accidents in the
dilapidated buildings, the Forest Service and the City razed the structures in
the watershed, including the Winburn Cabin (AI Alsing, personal communication,
1987) .
After selling his Ashland Canyon retreat to the City, Winburn left Oregon and
returned to New York. His Ashland acquaintances followed his career wi th
interes t, not ing that the se 1 f -made millionaire continued to travel in
America, Europe and the Orient, and that he increased his fortune by investing
in public housing units (Mahar 1960:35). In 1927, Winburn's travels took him
through the state, and he hosted a dinner party in Medford for his southern
Oregon friends (Ashland Daily Tidings, July 22, 1929, p. I, col. 1).
17
Jesse Winburn died on July 21, 1929, in Rye, New York, where he was building a
new home. He was 56. Reporting Winburn's death, the Ashland Daily Tidings
tactfully described the Ashland years of the City's "most widely-known former
temporary res ident" as "colorful." Ignoring the eccentric millionaire's
alienation from the town, the newspaper acknowledged Ashland's indebtedness to
Winburn "for the Community Hospital, for the Civic Clubhouse, for Winbu~n Way,
and a substantial donation to the beautiful Christian Science Church..."
(Ashland Daily Tidings, July 22, 1929, p. 1, col. 1-2).
Despite his short tenure in Ashland, Jesse Winburn had a major impact on the
City. Winburn Way and the Ashland Community Center are tangible reminders of
his presence in the town, and he is remembered ,as one of the most colorful
figures in Ashland history.
LITHIA SPRINGS PROPERTY
The Lithia Springs are one of a number of natural mineral springs in the
foothills of the western Cascades near Ashland. Ashland's early settlers
recorded the medicinal use of some of these springs by the local Indians
(O'Harra 1985:7-8). Pioneer Frank Riddle also claimed that Buckhorn Springs
near Ashland was utilized by the Klamath and Modoc Indians whose home was on
the eastern side of the Cascades (Ashland Tidings, December 14, 1914, p. 3,
col. 2).
Early Ashland residents believed in the medicinal value of bathing in and
drinking the mineral waters. Wagner Soda Springs and Buckhorn Springs enjoyed
modest success as tourist stops, and the Helman Baths and the Natatorium in
Ashland utilized the natural sulphur springs. In the l870s and 1880s, water
from the sulphur springs was piped to the White Sulphur Springs Hotel in the
present Railroad District (O'Harra 1986:87).
Exposed by spring flooding in the l880s, the Lithia Springs were visible in
Emigrant Creek in subsequent summers when the water of the creek was low. A
photograph in an early Ashland Commercial Cl~b publication shows the spring
bubbling up in the middle of the creek (Ashland Commercial Club n.d.). In
1906, Ashland resident Harry Silver visited a coal mine near Emigrant Creek,
and noticed the effervescent spring bubbling up in the middle of the stream.
Intrigued by the taste of the water, he commissioned a chemical analysis. The
report concluded, that with the exception of one European spring, the Lithia
Spring had the highest lithium content of any spring in the world (Silver
Family Papers n. d. :xx) . A mineral analysis of Lithia water is included as
Appendix G.
In 1907, Silver and his partner, G.H. Gillette, purchased 10 acres of land
around the Lithia Spring and completely exposed the Spring by constructing a
diversion dam to re-channel Emigrant Creek to the north (Appendix D). They
began bottling and selling Lithia water, eventually shipping their product
nationwide. In that same year, Silver contacted the Liquid Carbonic Company
in Chicago, and entered negotiations with them which resulted in a contract
18
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nine years later for Silver to extract and bottle the carbonic gas from Lithia
water (Silver Family Papers n.d. :2).
As the business became more profitable, Silver bought out Gillette's interest
in the company and invested in expansion (Ashland Daily Tidings, February 9,
1968, p. 3, col. 1-5). In 1919, a well was drilled east of the original
spring. The Silver Geyser, as Silver called it, sprang up from a well 165
feet deep. Until December of 1929, the Silver Geyser supplied the C02 gas
compression plant for the Liquid Carbonic Company, which installed a gas plant
and bottling plant for the liquification of carbonic gas (Silver Family Papers
n.d.:2l).
Silver visited the mineral springs at Saratoga Springs, New York, several
times, as well as other mineral water resorts around the country (0' Harra
1986:88). He came to believe that a similarly successful health resort could
be developed in Ashland. Envisioning construction of a sanitarium and resort
on the property, Silver built the firs.t of what he hoped would become a
complex of recreational facilities. Over one of the welling springs, Silver
erected a spring house, into which visitors could descend to drink Lithia
water from a carved basin beneath a marble panel listing the mineral content
of the water. Silver named the structure the "Pompadour Chief," and carved
the name over the arch above the spring (Figure 6, Appendix D; Silver Family
Papers n.d.:18). The name comes from the basalt outcrop on nearby Dead Indian
Road called Pompadour Bluff because of its resemblance to the Pompadour
hairstyle popular at the turn of the century.
At the same time that Silver was working on private development of the mineral
water 'resources, other Ashland citizens decided that the City could also
capi tal ize on the popularity of "health waters" (Ashland Daily Tidings,
February 9, 1968, p. 3. col. l-S). Particularly interested in the project was
Bert Greer, who had come to Ashland in 1911 and purchased the Ashland Tidings.
Greer envisioned the entire town becoming a health resort. Greer and a
steering committee composed of R.A. Minkler and J.P. Dodge developed a plan to
pipe lithia, soda, and sulphur water to several locations in town. One of the
locations was to be the Railroad Depot, so that tourists would be aware of the
healthful waters of Ashland. Another was to be in an enlarged park adjacent
to the existing Chautauqua facility. Land for the expansion of the park was
donated by Ashland businessmen Domingo Perozzi and Gwin S. Butler (0' Harra
1986:88).
However, negotiations wi th Harry Silver to purchase the Lithia Springs
property for municipal use failed to produce a contract. While negotiations
were underway, another well, which flowed 30 gallons a minute, was drilled
into the Lithia Spring on adjoining property which had been homesteaded by the
John Murphy family in 1877 (Jackson County Deed Book 7, p. 629). The Murphy's
agreed to sell their property to the City (Ashland Daily Tidings, August 3,
1961, p. 5, col. 1-5). The steering committee continued its plans.
Representatives of the Smith, E~ery Company of San Francisco were brought to
Ashland to bid on piping the Ii thia, sulphur and soda waters to the City
(O'Harra 1986:88). Smith, Emery Company estimated that it would cost $IOO,OOO
to install wire-reinforced wooden pipes held together with copper staples from
19
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Bud Silver.
the springs to Ashland. In order to raise the money, a bond issue was put
before Ashland voters. The Ashland Commercial Club held rallies at which
Southern Pacific Railroad executives, representatives of the Smith, Emery
Company and John McLaren, superintendent of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park
all spoke in favor of the project.
Greer editorialized that the local mineral waters were Ashland's "... big
asset, worth more, if properly utilized, than all the crops of southern
Oregon..." (Ashland Tidings, December 31, 1914, p. 1, col. 1-4). The steering
commi ttee claimed that the region's excellent railway service, and the
existing Chautauqua program, with its impressive building and surrounding
park, which was to be enlarged and landscaped by McLaren, made Ashland the
ideal place to develop a health resort. Southern Pacific Railroad, eager to
promote tourism in the southern Oregon-northern California area, helped the
committee with advertising expenses (O'Harra 1986:88).
On June 9, 1914, the citizens of Ashland voted 4 to 1 to pass the $175,000
Mineral Springs Bond issue (Ashland Heritage Committee brochure n.d.). Waters
were piped to a gazebo above the band shell in Lithia Park, to the Railroad
Depot, and to the Ashland Hotel. Fountains would later be added at the
library, and on the Plaza at the heart of the downtown Ashland (Ashland Daily
Tidings, August 3, 1961, p. 5, col. 1-5). Work was completed in December of
1915. On the Fourth of July of the following year, Lithia Park was dedicated.
O'Harra (1986:88) describes the dedication as "a gala, three-day event.
Health-giving lithia, sulphur and soda water bubbled from three mineral
fountains. " The Ashland Tidings reported in December of 1914 (December 31,
1914, p. 1, col. 1-4) that:
Tourist hotels, apartment houses and a water cure sanitorium under
scientific medical direction are being planned and will be constructed
during this year. Plans are being drawn for the finest water temple in
America - a work of art and beauty - and the park is being worked out
for the entertainment of great crowds. It is hoped to [soon] have the
resort ready for visitors. ..
)
The same article 'proclaimed the healthful benefits of drinking and bathing in
the mineral waters. These extravagant claims had been made by the commercial
bottlers of Lithia Water, and included statements that it was effective in the
treatment of digestive problems, arthritis and rheumatism, as well as renal,
cardiac, and skin disorders. Bert Greer wrote that people came from afar to
seek relief in Ashland's waters, " . . . and in every case the waters proved
beneficial." He predicted that tourists would flock to Ashland (ibid.).
These ambitious predictions failed to materialize. World War I diverted
Ashland's attention and money,. The civic spirit that had supported the
Springs Development proj ect was channeled into the Red Cross and the Home
Guard (O'Harra 1986:103-107). In addition, tourism dropped as travel
restrictions were imposed by the government (Mahar 1963: 323) . After these
travel restrictions were lifted in 1919, tourists did come to Ashland
though in smaller numbers than predicted -- encouraged by the improvements in
the Pacific Highway in 1919 (O'Harra 1986:111).
Ashland's business leaders realized that outside capital was needed to develop
the mineral springs as a resort attraction. They attempted to interest New
York millionaire Jesse Winburn in the proj ect, and Winburn did take out an
option on the springs property. His agent, Benjamin Ripin, came to Ashland in
1921, and in a meeting at the First National Bank, offered that Winburn would
bottle and advertise the Lithia water "in a big way," investing $100,000 in
the project, if Ashland would match the investment. No agreement was reached.
When Winburn arrived in Ashland himself, he dropped his option on the Springs
tracts, as well as his purchase of the Ashland Hotel, which he had promised to
develop as part of a resort complex. Harry Silver, the original Lithia
Springs developer I wrote that. Winburn told him that "... he had found his
associates dishonest with him" (Silver Family Papers n.d.: 18).
21
Regional historian Marjorie D/Harra (1986:114) wrote that:
After Winburn's initial interest in revitalizing the health spa idea
little or no more effort was put into promoting Lithia water. In the
pos t -war period of prosperity, people who frequented mineral water
resorts for health purposes wanted scientific treatment prescribed by
medical specialists. Ashland was a long way from population centers and
large sums of money would be required to develop the mineral springs
enough to attract these people.
During the Depression which followed the post-war period, the Silver family
was unable to make their mineral water bottling business or their carbonic gas
extraction plant profitable. In 1929, foreclosure on the springs property was
undertaken by the Banking Department of the State of Oregon on behalf of the
closed Citizens Bank of Ashland. Sale of the Silver property was arranged
with the City of Ashland, which already owned the adjoining City Springs
property acquired from the Murphy's (Silver Family Papers n.d. :7).
While the City Springs property remained a popular picnic area for area
residents who enjoyed visiting the springs (Figure 7), the interest in Lithia
water itself waned. Maintenance of the pipes carrying the mineral waters to
the City and the fountains became a problem. The caustic mineral waters
corroded the copper staples holding together the pipes. The wooden pipes had
to be replaced with .cast iron pipes. The City decided to replace only the
Lithia water pipes, and cap off the sulphur and soda springs. Gradually, the
fountains in town were either taken out or left to deteriorate (Ashland Daily
Tidings, August 3, 1961, p. 5, col. 1-5). Eventually only the Plaza fountain
and the fountain in the Park remained.
In 1944, the Dry Ice Corporation of Klickitat, Washington, leased four acres
of the property for manufacture of dry ice from the carbon dioxide gas
extracted from the Lithia water. Blocks of dry ice were sold to the railroad
for refrigeration of dairy products and produce. The company operated in
Ashland for fifteen years, until refrigeration cars were developed (Ashland
Daily Tidings, February 9, 1968, p. 3, col. 5; Appendix D). Ashland residents
complained that during this period the Lithia water piped into the City did
not have the proper "charge" as the carbonic acid gas was being extracted for
the dry ice (Appendix F).
In the early 19605, the deteriorating quality of the Lithia water coming from
the City Springs along Emigrant Creek caused the City to cap that well and
begin pumping Lithia water into town from an existing well near the original
spring. That well continues to supply Lithia Water to Ashland (AI Alsing,
personal communication, 1987).
In 1968, the City of Ashland entered into an agreement with the Ashland Park
and Recreation Commission, for the Commission to lease the Lithia Springs
Tract for recreation purposes including an archery range, picnicking, camping,
fishing, and group meetings. To date, the major use has been by the Ashland
Gun Club, which has a rifle range on the property (City Contract, May 21,
1968, on file in Ashland Department of Public Works; Development Plans for
Lithia Springs Area, November 6, 1969, on file in Ashland Parks Department).
22
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Photograph courtesy of the Southern Oregon Historical Society.
Although Ashland did not prosper as a health resort, the promotion of the
Lithia Spring~ was directly connected with the development of Lithia Park, the
Lithia water fountains, and the Lithia Springs Hotel, nm. known as the Mark
Antony Hotel. Sinu~ 1915, \'isic:ors to Ashland remember drinking the salty.
fizzy water piped into town from the Lithia Springs site. In 1982, the Lithia
water fountain {J;-, tbe Ashla.nd Plaza was designated as an American Water
Landmark by the ,:,rw,rican Waten"orks Association.
c'
SURVEY RESULTS
The cultuud res('ur~c sUL'/e)';.lf the wi.nburn Camp and Lithia Springs properties
documented three hi c, lor i. c s i l.( , t.\,/o of which (Ashland Survey \,finburn Property
[AS1.JP] 111 and AS',JP ,i2) arE-. on the l.Jinburn Camp property, while site Ashland
Survey Li thi.a Sprj ngs (ASLS) ill is on the Li thia Springs property,
23
--.
WINBURN CAMP PROPERTY
Site ASWP #1 (the Winburn Cabin Site) is the remains of the Winburn Cabin (and
associated out-buildings), located in the SW~ of the NE~ of Section 32, T39S,
RIE, WM, and situated at the confluence of Weasel Creek and the West Fork of
Ashland Creek (figures 1 and 8). This area comprises the only large (one to
two acres), relatively level (ground slope less than 10%) area in the entire
Winburn Camp property. A natural feature of this site is the open meadow,
approximately one quarter acre in size; the remainder of the site is heavily
timbered.
Ten historic features were recorded at this site (Figure 8). Feature 1 is a
concrete pad measuring 9 .lx7. 6 m; this feature has a hole 15 cm in diameter
through the concrete, located in the center of the pad, and a rectangular,
concrete lined pit (approximately 1. 5xl m, 50 cm deep) adjoins the pad on the
northeast corner. An old road, at this point running northeast-southwest, and
marked by a rock retaining wall (Feature 6, discussed below) passes by two
meters to the north of Feature 1.
Feature 2 is the remains of a collapsed log and plank structure. The
structure was 5.2x3.0 m, and made of saddle-notched logs (now five logs high),
with a door in the middle of the eastern wall. Planks (lx12 in. and 2x8 in.)
and round wire -drawn nails are also present.. This feature is situated
adjacent to and west of the old road (Figure 8).
The remains of the Winburn Cabin (and prior to that, the Long Cabin) were
designated Feature 3 (Figure 8). This feature is situated on the western edge
of the open meadow, on a slight slope (Figure 9); the feature currently
consists of concrete footings (or sidewalks), two concrete steps (Figure 10),
and a rock retaining wall. The entire feature measures 15.8 m north-south and
9.1 m east-west. The concrete footing (or sidewalk) is one meter wide, and is
present along the northern and western walls, and along half the eastern wall.
The concrete steps (two steps high) adjoin the footing/sidewalk in the center
of the western edge. The rock retaining wall is located outside the
footing/sidewalk, along the northwest (uphill) corner. A thicket of Douglas-
fir approximately 4 m tall currently grows within a portion of the feature
(Figure 11).
The remains of a swimming pool constitute Feature 4; this feature is located
on the southwestern edge of the open meadow, adjacent to Weasel Creek (Figure
8). Because all but the southern wall of the pool has collapsed, the size is
difficult to determine, but it appears to have been approximately 6.lx6.7 m,
and, based on the southern wall, to have been approximately 2.4 m deep. The
diving board springs are still intact along the western edge of the pool.
Feature 5 is a rock wall running northeast-southwest along
of the open meadow, and the northern edge of Weasel Creek
wall appears to mark the road leading to the Winburn Cabin.
three rocks high (approximately 30 em), and is 88.2 m long.
the southern edge
(Figure 8). This
The wall averages
24
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ASHLAND, OREGON
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The cabin was located at the far end of the meadow.
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Feature 6 is a rock retaining wall located
immediately before the road enters the meadow
maximum of 60 cm high, and is 25.5 m long.
on both s ides of the
(Figure 8). This wall
road,
is a
A small garbage pit (3 m in diameter) containing broken
approximately 12 cans is located just west of the swimming pool
This feature, designated as Feature 7, has been recently looted.
glass and
(Figure 8).
Feature 8 is a similar, but larger (4x4 m) garbage pit, with approximately 100
cans, broken bottles, brownware, and ceramic. This feature, the western-most
feature recorded (Figure 8), has also been recently looted.
A lxl m square concrete footing located in a small draw, away from the other
features, was designated feature 9 (Figure 8). The size, shape, and location
suggests that this feature was the privy.
Feature 10 is the remains of a collapsed board (2x4' s) and plank (lx6' s)
structure, located on the terrace adjacent to the West Fork of Ashland Creek
(Figure 8). Wire drawn 8 and 16 penny nails are present. The structural
remains measure 6.7x4.8 m.
Site ASWP 112 is a his tor ic garbage dump located in the NW!-,; of the NE!-,; of
Section 32, T39S, R1E, WM. This site, situated immediately adjacent to and
27
east of the road to Winburn Camp, (approximately one quarter of a mile north
of the Winburn Cabin Site), consists of approximately 100 cans (including
canned milk and lard cans), a stoneware enamel pan, a plain whiteware ceramic
cup and plate, stovepipe, individual bed springs: and stove parts. The dump
is not in a pit; the site covers approximately 12 m. Although not directly
associated with the 'Winburn Cabin Site, the density of the garbage suggests
that this site may reflect disposal during use of the Winburn Cabin Site.
Also located on the Winburn Camp property is a trail which begins at the
Winburn Cabin Site and traverses through the southern portion of the property
(Figure 1). Although this trail was not evident in the area of the Winburn
Cabin Site, it was plainly visible south of Weasel Creek, where the trail had
been cut into the steep slopes. The trail is not maintained (fallen trees
cross the path), but does appear to still be used. Brown, circle-type
insula tors and see tions of telephone wire are visible along the trail.
According to lalande (personal communication, 1987), this trail first appears
on Forest Service maps in 1908, and thus pre-dates Forest Service
construction. The trail was probably locally developed to provide access to
Wagner Butte and into the Li ttle Applegate River drainage. The trail
continues to be shown on Forest Service maps through the years, and a map
dated 1922 shows a telephone line to the lookout built on Wagner Butte during
the World War I era. A map dated 1963 no longer shows the telephone line,
although maps to the present time continue to show the trail location. The
trail is designated by the Forest Service as Number 965.
LITHIA SPRINGS PROPERTY
Site ASLS Ill, 28 acres in size, includes 14 features which reflect various
stages of use of the Lithia Springs property (except for the current use by
the Ashland Gun Club). The site is located in the SE~ of the SE~ of Section
12, T39S, RlE, WM, and the SW~ of the S~ of Section 7, T39S, R2E, WM, mostly
on the alluvial terrace (Figure 2). This site was difficult to record because
of the amount of alteration to the property that has taken place since the
first Euro-American development in 1907, and because of the tremendous amount
of debris scattered across the terrace. The 14 features we recorded represent
the major features found on the property; Figure 12 illustrates the location
of each feature (also shown are wells drilled by the City).
Feature 1 is a historic garbage dump situated adjacent to Emigrant Creek, and
beside a large rock outcrop (Figure 12). The dump is fairly extensive in
density and size; it measures approximately 20x2 m, with hundreds of items
present. The site apparently is still periodically used, as aluminum and
plastic items are common. The site has been looted, as small bottles have
been pulled from the dump and aligned on the rock outcrop.
Features 2, 3, and 10 are similar to each other in appearance. These features
are concrete monoliths, measuring 130x130 cm and approximately four meters
high, with three holes located in the sides. One side has two holes: one IS
em in diameter located 20 em above the ground, and the other seven centimeters
in diameter, approximately three meters above the ground. The opposite side
28
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has a hole identical to the seven centimeter hole, but does not have the lower
hole. All have bolts or bolt holes around the circumference. According to
Silvers (Appendix D), these features were associated with the production of
C02 for the Liquid Carbonic Company prior to 1929.
Enclosed concrete structures measuring 130x360 em, and 50 cm high, comprise
features 4, 5, and 8; features 4 and 8 have partially collapsed sides or tops,
revealing that the inside is hollow, with concrete baffles extending partially
across the structure from alternating sides. These features probably served
the same purpose as features 2, 3, and 10. Feature 5 also includes the pump
(currently in use) which pumps Lithia Water to the City of Ashland; the pump
and concrete structure are adjacent to each other.
Feature 6 is the concrete foundation of the ice factory, which was built in
1944. The foundation measures lO.7x12.2 m. This feature is located on a low
bench above and overlooking the alluvial terrace.
Feature 7 is an angular concrete wall, measuring 11. 7x9. 9 m long and
approximately one meter high; the wall is formed by two straight sections
meeting at an angle of approximately 1500. Bud Silvers states that this was a
retaining wall built by his grandfather (Harry Silvers) to divert Emigrant
Creek and expose Lithia Springs; this wall also supported the bottling works
structure (Appendix D).
Feature 9 and II are both flat concrete slabs; Feature 9 measures 9 .lx6.1 m
(and appears to be of relatively recent vintage), while Feature 11 measures
11 . 3x9 . 1 m.
The remains of the "Pompadour Chief" constitutes Feature 12. This is a
concrete subterranean bathhouse-type structure, with steps leading down into
the Lithia Water. No superstructure remains. The feature is divided into two
rooms, separated by a door and a low window; the top of the window is arched,
and the words "Pompadour Chief" are carved into the arch (Figure 13). This
feature measures 9.7x4.8 m.
Feature 13 is a rock pile measuring approximately 3x4 m, and 40 cm high,
located in a shallow draw on the hillside approximately 30 m in elevation
above the alluvial terrace. The rocks have not been piled long, as lichens
are still evident under some of the rocks.
Feature 14 consists of a steel bridge across Emigrant Creek, a concrete
pumphouse, and a retaining wall (Figure 14). The steel bridge, 1.5 m wide and
approximately 30 m long, allowed pedestrian traffic across Emigrant Creek; the
wooden footpath across the bridge no longer remains. The concrete pumphouse,
situated adjacent to the bridge and immediately south of Emigrant Creek,
measures 4x4 m. This structure has one door (facing south), and no windows.
The feature area has been built up by fill, which is held in place by a
retaining wall. This wall is most evident along Emigrant Creek, where the
wall prevents erosion of the feature area. A concrete stairway leads down to
the creek (through the retaining wall) just east of the pumphouse. According
to Bud Silvers (Appendix D), this is the location of the City Spring
originally on the Murphy property. The pumphouse supplied the Lithia Water to
30
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Figure 13. The Pompadour Chief as it Appears in 1987. View to the North.
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~igure 14. The City Springs Pumphouse, Steel Bridge over Emigrant Creek, and
Retaining Wall; View to the East.
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the various fountains in Ashland.
Emigrant Creek.
The fill was added to keep the area above
No prehistoric archaeological sites were located during the survey of either
property. A cryptocrystalline silica (CCS) flake was observed on the Lithia
Spring property, but close inspection of the immediately surrounding area
failed to reveal any other evidence of a site. This isolated flake was just:
above a road cut; it is possible that the flake was brought in with road.
gravels. A second CCS chunk with slightly rounded edges was observed in
alluvial gravels; this chunks appears to have washed in with the other
alluvially deposited rock.
Given the historically reported aboriginal use of mineral springs in the area,
and the reported recovery of a prehistoric artifact at the springs by a city
worker, it was anticipated prior to beginning the survey that a prehistoric
si te would be located in this area. There are two possible reasons for
failure to observe such a site. : First, the site may not have actually been
used aboriginally, although the recovery of the large prehistoric blade would
appear to refute this idea (it is possible, however, that aboriginal use of
the area was so light that there remains little evidence). Second (and most
plausible), the historic fill over the alluvial terrace may have covered any
site manifestations. This possibility is supported by the recovery of the
artifact bY'the city worker, who found the blade within a trench. If this is
the case, a buried site may exist.
Due to the rugged terrain and poor surface visibility, there was a low
likelihood of discovering a prehistoric site on the Winburn Cabin property.
Given the presence of prehistoric sites in the surrounding area, the Winburn
Camp property may have been aboriginally utilized for hunting and gathering,
but such activities leave little evidence of use. Because of the steep
slopes, the only area suitable for occupation was the terrace area at the
confluence of Weasel Creek and the West Fork of Ashland Creek; this area was
closely scrutinized (particularly all root throws and the open meadow area),
and no site observed.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The purpose of this project was to provide information allowing the City of
Ashland to manage the cultural resources on the Winburn Camp and Lithia
Springs properties; the management plan for any particular cultural resource
depends to a great extent on the significance of the resource. The
significance of a cultural resource is usually measured against the criteria
for the National Register of Historic Places (hereafter referred to as the
National Register), as defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (36CFR60.4).
These criteria are as follows:
The qual i ty 0 f s igni ficance in Amer ican history, archi tec ture,
archeology, engineering, and culture is present in districts, sites,
buildings, structures, and objects that possesses integrity of location,
design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association and
32
(a) that are associated with events that made a broad significant
contribution to the broad patterns of our his tory, or (b) that are
associated with the lives of persons significant in our past, or (c)
that embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method
of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess
high artistic values, or that represent a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction,
or (d) that have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information
important in prehistory or history (Federal Register, Vol. 46, No. 220).
When judged against these criteria, there can be little doubt that the Lithia
Springs Site (ASLS #1) contains features which make the site eligible for the
Na tional Register, particularly under criterion (a). The development of
Lithia Springs was very instrumental in the development of tourism in the City
of Ashland, as discussed above. Although subsequent developments on the
property have had an impact on the integrity of the site, the Pompadour Chief
(Feature 12), the City Springs pumphouse and associated steel bridge and
retaining wall (Feature 14), and the angular concrete retaining wall which
once diverted Emigrant Creek to expose Lithia Springs (Feature 7), are all
very important aspects of development of Lithia Springs, and all possess
integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association.
It is therefore our recommendation that the Lithia Springs Site (ASLS 111) be
nominated to the National Register, and that the site be managed in such a way
as to protect this valuable cultural resource. One relatively inexpensive way
to manage the property and to preserve the historical integrity of the site
would be for the City to develop the area as a day-use park (as it was used
earlier in the history of the City), with the history of the park as the
theme, and interpretive signs used to convey this theme to the public. The
current use of the property by the Ashland Gun Club is a serious threat to the
integrity of the site, as all of the features exhibit scars from bullets, and
some features have been seriously scarred. We therefore recommend that this
use of the Lithia Springs property be discontinued as soon as possible.
Al though no prehis toric site was found on the property, the reported
aboriginal use of mineral springs in the area, and the recovery of a
prehistoric artifact by a former city worker indicates that it is probable
that a prehistoric site is present. However, if a site is present, the fill
which has been brought into the area has covered the site, and while this fill
makes it impossible to determine if a site is present, it also serves to
protect any sites. If, however, subsurface construction activities (such as
trenching) are undertaken by the City, a site may be disturbed. We therefore
recommend that, prior to any construction requiring subsurface disturbance,
the City use one of two options: (1) hire a professional archaeologist to
monitor the subsurface disturbance; or (2) hire a professional archaeologist
to test-excavate the area to be impacted, in order to determine if a site will
be impacted.
The significance of the Winburn Cabin Site (ASWP 111) in relation to the
National Register criteria is not as clear as the Lithia Springs Site, and it
appears to us that the Winburn Cabin Site would, at best, be a weak candidate
33
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for inclusion on the National Register. The site possesses only integrity of
location and setting; the only applicable criterion would be (b) (association
with the lives of persons significant in our past). The significance of the
Winburn Cabin Site therefore appears to ride entirely on the importance of
Jesse Winburn in the history of Ashland. While it is clear that Winburn had
an impact on Ashland, the short duration of his stay in Ashland, and the
animosity he created within the community prior to his departure, would seem
to indicate that the Winburn Cabin Site would not be eligible for the National
Register based on the association with Jesse Winburn.
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Although the Winburn Cabin Site may not be eligible for the National Register,
the site is certainly interesting, and if the City so desires, could be
managed as if it were on the National Register. If the City were to continue
to manage the property as it is managed now (with limited access, and no
destructive activities on the property), then the site would be protected as
well as if it were on the National Register.
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The second site located on the Winburn Camp property, ASWP #2, the historic
dump site, is a common type of site which has little significance, and is not
eligible for inclusion on the National Register. This site does not need to
be considered in management plans for the Winburn Camp property.
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REFERENCES CITED
~.:~
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Ashland Commercial Club
n.d. Untitled promotional brochure, Ashland, Oregon.
Library Collection, Ashland, Oregon.
Ashland Pub lic
il\rrJ1
it'}
},.~
Ashland Heritage Committee
n.d. "Lithia Springs, Ashland, Oregon" (promotional brochure), Ashland,
Oregon. Ashland Public Library Collection, Ashland, Oregon.
t\'.""l
il>'t\1
:~
Ashland Daily Tidings
1907 -1922 Microfilm reels in the collection of the Southern Oregon State
College Library, Ashland, Oregon.
'1.:~~
~~~
1:ti
\',~f.!
i$.).'~'~.l
~
Ashland Tidings
1922 -1929 Microfilm reels in the collection of the Southern Oregon State
College Library, Ashland, Oregon.
I\~('~
'!;~'l
Barnthouse, VerI
1978 Oral History Interview fj60 in the Southern Oregon Historical Society
Collection, Jacksonville, Oregon.
~!i~
Beckham, Stephen Dow
1971 Requiem for ~ People: The Rogue Indians and the Frontiersmen.
University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma.
~::~
'-'J ti
Briggs, William
1987 Oral History Interview Included as Appendix B.
ii;;~
l;'.'.:"~'
~<.'..~.'
34
g'1 i
.,.,.,~.
!4f~i!.l
Cardwell, James
1870 Emigrant Company. MS. P-A 13l~, Bancroft Library, Berkeley, California.
Clark, Rosalind
1983 Architecture: Oregon Style.
Professional Book Center, Oregon.
Dixon, Roland B.
1907 The Huntington California Expedition: the Shasta.
American Museum of Natural History 17(5):381-498.
Bulletin of the
Franklin, Jerry F., and C. T. Dyrness
1973 Natural Vegetation of Oregon and Washington.
General Technical Report PNW-8. Portland.
USDA Forest Service
Gray,
1985
Dennis J.
The Takelma and Their Athapascan Kin:
Southwes tern Oregon. Master's Thesis,
Oregon State University, Corvallis.
an Ethnographic Synthesis of
Department of Anthropology,
Haines, Margaret
1980 Women in Jackson County, Oregon, 1875-1885: A Group Portrait. Master's
Thesis, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.
Holt, Catharine
1946 Shasta Ethnography. Anthropological Records 3(4):299-350.
LaLande, Jeff
1980 Prehistory and History of The Rogue River National Forest: A Cultural
Resource Overview. Rogue River National Forest, Medford, Oregon.
1983 Archaeological Inventory and Evaluation Report: Site 35-JA-168 (RR-
797). Report prepared for the Rogue River National Forest, Medford,
Oregon.
1987 Archaeological Inventory and Evaluation Report: Site 35JA191. Report
prepared for the Rogue River National Forest, Medford, Oregon.
Mahar,
1960
Franklyn D.
A Study of Jesse Winburn's Life and Contributions in Ashland, Oregon.
Unpubl ished paper in the collection of the Southern Oregon State
College Library, Ashland, Oregon. \
1963
The Millionaire and the Village: Jesse Winburn Comes To Ashland.
Oregon Historical Quarterly, Volume LXIV, #4, Portland, Oregon.
Newman, Thomas M.
1959 Final Report on Archaeological Salvage: Emigrant Dam Reservoir--Rogue
River Project, Oregon. Report of the Department of Anthropology,
University of Oregon, Eugene, to the National Park Service.
35
.
II
O'Harra, Marjorie
1985 Southern Oregon: Short Trips Into History. Southern Oregon Historical
Society, Jacksonville, Oregon.
II
0' Harra , Marjorie
1986 Ashland: The First 130 Years. Northwest Passages Publishing Company,
Ashland, Oregon.
I
Pettigrew, Richard M., and Clayton G. Lebow
1987 Data Recovery at Sites 35JA27, 35JA59,
Project, Jackson County, Oregon. Report
Inc., for the Portland District of the
IRI Report No. PNW87-7. Eugene.
and 35JAIOO, Elk Creek Lake
prepared by INFOTEC Research,
U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.
II
~.
Sapir, Edward
1907 Notes on the Taklema Indians of Southwes tern Oregon.
Anthropologist 9:251-275.
American
ftl
Schaeffer, Claude
1959 Indian Tribes and Languages of the Old Oregon Country.
for the Oregon Historical Society. Portland.
Map prepared
[1
Silver Family Papers
n.d. Photocopies on file in the Chappell-Swedenburg House Museum, Ashland,
Oregon.
~.:..lt,.
.
Wagner. Robert A.
1977 Oral History Interview 1/47 in the Southern Oregon Historical Society
Collection, Jacksonville, Oregon.
)
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Appendix A.
Interview with Delmar Hubbard, 3850 Walker Creek Road,
Central Point, Oregon, on October 22, 1987.
Mr. Hubbard's mother, Dora Long, was the daughter of
Nimrod and Anna Long, who homesteaded the Ashland Canyon
property in 1888, and later sold it to Jesse Winburn.
Interviewer; Nan Hannon
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Can you tell me when your grandfather acquired the property?
Yes, let me see, I have to look it up...
Your grandfather's name was Nim, N-I-M?
Yes. Nim. Nimrod was his name. Well, here, 1'm getting it
now. The date when he bought it here...well, it says, what
I have here is he homesteaded a place up here in Ashland
Creek just below Mt. Wagner in 1888. And he built a log
cabin there. It was just one" big room. Log cabin. And then
they made their living by making shakes. He had a regular
sawmill set up there run by a horse pulling the round and
cutting them up and split them into shakes.
NH: Was that along the creek?
DH: Yes. Well, it was - you've never been up there, I presume? )
NH: Yes. I have.
DR: OK. Well, there's a little stream comes down just alongside
of the house that - it runs into Ashland Creek. And that's
; where they got their drinking water. And they also had .the
homemade big box built up there and had a wooden trough that
the water would run through this trough from the hill, down
into a pan that was on top of this box they had made there
that had screen around it with a door that they could open up
and then they had burlap hanging down the sides, that made
for their cooling for their milk and things. They had cows.
They milked cows. Of course they had to have their horses, too.
They had a barn down below the house a ways, and that's how
A.2
they hauled their shakes down into Ashland. He bought
a place - I don't know whether you're interested in that
or not - on up on Ashland Creek, on Granite street, I mean.
And, let's see, he owned and operated a livery stable ln
Ashland for a while and then he later served as a council
of Ashland, and then he joined the Ashland Volunteer Fire
Department, from April 12, 1887, through April 13, 1894.
NH: When did he sell the property up in Ashland Canyon?
DR: To Winburn?
NR: Yes.
DH: I'm not just sure. I don't have anything ln writing right here.
They did sell it, but it was, let me see if I can kind of
track that somewhere in my mind. I was a little boy, probably
six or seven, give or take a few years, and I can remember
Winburn coming up to the house when he was talking to
Grandfather about it, and he gave both my sister and I a
silver dollar. And 1111 tell you, we really thought that was
something. Because back at that time...Now to give you an
idea on this, see, I'm 76 now, so it would be probably, well,
about 1917, I would guess.
NR: That's a long ways back.
DR: Yes. I imagine that the records from the City Hall in Medford
would have it, because they had to go through the sale on it.
I remember that after Winburn bought the place, of course
we didn1t go up there too much, anymore, but we used to live
up there until the snow would run us out. Then we didn't live
there any longer. Course then they'd come down to 323 Granite
Street, which is where he did live.
A.3
NH: When your grandfather lived up there, did he live there
year-round, or just in the summer?
DH: No. There would be too much snow 1n the wintertime. See, it's
right underneath Mt. Wagner there, so the snow would get
pretty deep, and of course all they had was a team of horses
to pull their wagon up, and down. Of course they had buggies
and they could. use them when they weren't hauling shakes and
things, but it's uh: if I remember, a little over five miles
from Ashland up there.
NR: I've talked to other people in town who say that they remember
going up there and spending the night and changing horses, or
using it as their stopping point on their way up the mountain.
DR: Yes, see he had a large building there. Now I donlt know
whether he built this building or whether the Forest Service
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built it, but the Forest Service used it to store equipment )
in case of fire and things, and when they were working on trails
and such up there. That would be just about halfway. A half-
way station. From Ashland they would go up there and spend
the night and get an early start in the morning to take t:he
trail up to Mt. Wagner and back.
NH: Was that Forest Service building close to the cabin?
DR: No. It was probably a couple of hundred yards down towards the
creek.
NR: When Jesse Winburn bought the property, did he remodel the
family's cabin?
DH: Oh, I should say. I have some pictures of the cabin when they
A.4
what it looked like when they were living there, and
also I have pictures of the cabin that Winburn built
up there. If you're interested, if you'd like to take a
look at them, I could give you all the information I have
here. [Mr. Hubbard describes the genealogical research
he has done on his family.]
NH: I wanted to ask you if you remember hearing anything about
there being an Indian site on the property, or if anybody
ever found any Indian artifacts?
DH: Not to my knowledge. No. I'm sure that, they could be at
something like this and I wouldn't have known about it,
because I was a small boy at the time. During the summer,
my sister and I lived up there because my father was killed
when I was three years old. So my sister was two years older.
So my mother had to go back to work. So during the summer
we lived there. With my grandparents. And, if somebody had
found something, artifacts or something, why, it's possible
I wouldn't know about it, but I don't think that to my
knowledge there wasn't too much history of the Indians up
in there in the canyon, that area.
NH: So was the Long family the first to own that property?
DR: Yes. He homesteaded it.
NH: So the ownership was the Longs,then Winburn, then the City.
DR: Yes. You see, my grandfather homesteaded it, and then he,
after he got up to an age where it was hard for him to work
it anymore, I can remember his big worry was a fire. And
there were so many people later on coming up in through there
and of course it would be on the main trail, and then, of
course, afterwards they got cars and people would come and
picnic, and they'd come in through there, and camping. He
was just always really concerned that there'd be a fire that
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would get set, and it would burn that whole mountainside
off, you know. Like it does around here other places. So,
and like I say, he was up in age where it was hard for him
to continue working and that's why he sold it to Jesse
Winburn. I suppose you have all the information on Winburn
when he came and all this.
I have some of it. Now, there's a meadow up there, when you
go up there...
Yes. The meadow was right in, would be in front of the cabin.
The meadow runs down through, of course, and they had it
fenced off at one time there when he was living up there,
and he kept his horses in there, and cows and things, but
it was quite a meadow.
Now there's a rock wall that runs northeast-southwest aloW"'....,
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the edge of the meadow. Did your family build that? '
No. That was what Jesse Winburn put in. He had a swimming
pool and all this up there. The information that I had was
that after he built this resort and he called it "Sap and
Salt," and they were having so much, of course, they had a
lot of saddle horses, and people were swimming in the swimmin<
pool and all this was right in the drinking water of Ashland
and they got quite concerned about it, and they condemned
the property and took it from him, and then they closed that
you couldn't drive up there anymore, you had to get
permission from the City to even go up there. They were
skeptical about doing that. The last time I was up there, was
several years ago. The place is so grown up, you know, from..
everything was taken down; the cabins and everything, not
anything left, so you wouldn't actually ever know exactly
where the cabins and things were later on, the last time :
was there. So I didn't go back anymore, because it was kind
of, I lost interest in, it doesn't look like it did when I
was a boy.
A.6
NH: So Jesse Winburn enlarged the family cabin quite a bit?
DH: Oh, yes. I should say. See, his, the cabin that my grandfather
built, and my grandmother, they lived up there, with just a
one big room, I'd say probably it was, oh, maybe 12 x 18,
guessing. I don't know for sure. But then Winburn kind of,
he built a place around it, more or less, built a great big
stone fireplace on one end, and had living quarters on out,
so he must have expanded probably bigger than it was.
NH: So he really enlarged it?
DH: Oh, yeah. There was, well, you know what a millionaire does
when he wants to. Instead of just...they had a big circle
driveway with floodlights out on it, and a big flag flying
out there, and a place for the, stalls for the horses and
everything, and they, of course, they had electricity up there.
NH: Did he build a new barn or did he use an existing barn?
DH: Oh, I'm sure he had to build a new one, because the barn
that my grandfather built was just big enough to store some
hay and then house a few stalls for a couple of horses or so
and two or three cows. It wasn't very big.
NH: Did he add other outbuildings?
DH: Yes, uh-huh. I don't really know what the different outbuildings
were, because I wasn't up there after he built it. 'Til after
the City condemned it. They tore a lot of it down before I
ever got back up there, so I don't know. Other than that one
picture I have here, of Jesse Winburn, somebody took it,
I don't know how I acquired that picture, but I do have it.
NH: I want to ask you about a trail that begins at the cabin site
A.7
and then goes through the southern part of the property.
It's not very well-maintained, but it looks like it's been
recently used.
DH: From the cabin there, In other words, right around in there
where the cabin was, you say there's a trail that goes south?
NH: Yes. Goes south. We noticed a lot of those old brown insulators
and telephone wire along that trail. Does that ring a bell?
DH: No. 'Cause when we was up there, there wasn't any electricity
at all. The electricity didn't come up until after Winburn
run lines all the way up_ But the trail used to, there was
a trail that went from the cabin that headed almost, well,
I'd say it was, it went more to the southwest. It run up in
toward the base of Mt. Wagner.
NH:
The old mountain trail?
,
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DH: Yes. Now, of course, later, when I was still a small boy,
too, there was the road followed the creek, and the road
more or less went right up the canyon up the creek until it
run out of, you know, the road ended, and then it was just a
trail on up to Mt. Wagner from there. But there was the
trail that we used to hike on, and would go back up there
more or less where this other little stream come in, and it
would go on up more or less southwest to intersect with,
I guess, the other trail that went on up Mt. Wagner.
NH: Mr. Hubbard, I really appreciate your talking with me. .
[Mr. Hubbard offers photographs to be copied.]
-~'"..,.."-'_.,-
Appendix B.
Interview with William Briggs, 300 Luman Road, Phoenix,
Oregon, on October 22, 1987.
Mr. Briggs served as Ashland's City Attorney during the
period when Jesse Winburn had legal conflicts with the
City. Mr. Briggs and his father, E.D. Briggs, also served
as Jesse Winburn's agents and attorneys in 1921.
Interviewer: Nan Hannon
B.l
NH: Tell me how you came to know Jesse Winburn.
WB: Oh, we represented him in the purchase of the Ashland Hotel and
various things that...we did quite a few things for him.
NH: You and your father?
WB: Yes.
NH: Were you the City Attorney at the time?
WB: Yeah. I was the City of Attorney for 28 years.
NH: What year did you become City Attorney?
WB : 19 1 9 .
NH: Do you remember the first time Jesse Winburn came to town?
WB: Oh, sure.
. NH: What happened?
WB: Well, everybody...the word was around that there was a millionaire
in town and everybody wanted him to come spend some money. And he
became a easily introduced person to a good many people in
Ashland. And he liked it.
NH: He liked being an important person in a small community?
WB: Yeah, he did.
NH: Did that change over time? Did he get tired of people wanting
things from him?
^-.........,."~..,-"._~
B.2
WB: Well, he bought that place up the canyon there. From Nim Long.
An old fellow that lived up there. He had a house in town but
he was rarely there. He liked to be up at the cabin. Winburn
remodeled it a lot. There was people in town that were leary
about his living up there, right ne~t to the water supply, you
know, and a few were against it. Letting him buy that. He did
things very rapidly when he wanted to do something. And he
wanted it done the day before. But, anyway, if he wanted to live
at the place, they were going to let him, because he said he was
gOlng to - he had noticed the different drinking places around
town, the soda water and stuff that was piped in, and he thought
that was pretty good. And they, thinking that he might make a spa
out of it, everybody kowtowed to him a little bit, you know. And
he was interested in the mineral waters here. Making it like
a regular spa town, like Saratoga Springs.
"fH: And the community was eager to do that?
WB: Oh, sure.
NH: Tell me what the cabin looked like after he remodeled it?
WB: Well, quite a bit different. He added on these wings, and then
there were, oh, maybe five or six cabins for guests. He had lots
of visitors up there. Liked people to come up and stay.
NH: Was there also a barn?
WB: Yes. Big enough for three or four horses. Pretty good-sized.
Not terribly big. It wasn't an expensive building. Some of that
work I think cost him more than it would most people. He wanted
things done his way. Well, sometimes his way cost him more than
it might of, you know.
NH: So there were maybe a half-dozen cottages, a barn, and then the
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ma~n cabin? Now was there also a circular drive? I've seen
that in photographs.
WB: That's right.
NH: Were the cottages ~n the area behind the cabin?
WB: Yeah.
NH: Back in the forest?
WB: Yes.
NH: And in photographs it looks like there was a corral righ.t next
to the house?
WB: Yes. He had a horse up there, which he used a little. The place
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up there had some very fine timber on it, too, which is still: )
there.
NH: You were mentioning the mineral waters that were piped into town.
Did you used to go and picnic at the Emigrant Creek property ever
WB: Well, we went out to Kingsbury Springs. It's undoubtedly open to
the public now.
NH: I was thinking of that area out by the present gun club now.
Where the Lithia Springs actually was. Where they piped the
water to the City.
WB: Well, the soda water came from there. The Lithia Springs came
out..uh, from, uh...from Bear Creek. Let's see, they didn't call J
Bear Creek.
NH: Emigrant Creek?
WB: Yes. Emigrant Creek. That was a little different spot. Kingsbury
was on the upper end of the dam.
B.4
,
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NH: Right. I've been up there. So you've been out to the Emigrant
Creek property where the Lithia Springs are?
WE: Oh, lots of times.
NH: Do you remember going down ln that Pompadour Chief building?
WB: I've taken picnics. ..I've been up to Pompadour. Had picnics up
on Pompadour.
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NH: On the Butte. Pretty spot.
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WB: I don't remember any buildings up around there.
NH: The little spring house where the springs came up on the Lithi~
Springs property. And that little steel bridge that was over ~~
creek.
WB: Yeah. Oh, yeah. I remember that.
NH: What can you tell me about that?
WB: We lots of times carne out there. And then went across on the
bridge on to the ~urphy property.
NH: So the Murphys owned the property on the other side of the ere.:':
WB: Yes.
NH: They just sold off that sprlngs part to the City? Is that right.
j
WR: Well, the City bought it from Silver. He was going to filter,
bottle the water, for years, in a small way, and then he sold tl
lot to the Southern Pacific dining cars. And the Lithia Water 'vi
rather peculiar. It was easy to bottle. But they had to use othE
gas with it. And injected into it. And it had a - until they
B.5
created some kind of filter - they had some kind of sediment ln
it at the bottom of the bottle. People didn't like that.
NH: That didn't look good. Do you remember the dry ice plant that
was out there?
WB: Oh, yeah.
NH: What can you tell me about that?
WB: Well, that wasn't a very big building, but they made lots of
ice in it. I've been there lots of times. I'd go down and watch
them make it. It was a matter of pressure. And one man died out
there from the...they used to put the bricks of dry ice which I
suppose were maybe 25 pounds a brick, and they would put thenl
in a...really what it was was a mammoth chest in the building
to store it. So it was kept cold. Otherwise it would go to pi.eces.
And it took the oxygen away when you got too close. Some...one )
man died there because he was in there too long and cause there
was not enough oxygen. Oh yeah, I know a lot about it. More
than lots of people. because Winburn got mad at me. And, uh,
tried to get me kicked off as City Attorney. The Council finally
got worried about the health of the City with the cow and the
horses and the, not only that, but the swimming pool that the
water ran in and out from the creek and ran i.n and from the pool
it ran back on in to the creek again.
NH: Not a very good idea.
WB: So they sent me out here. Well, he had a cesspool. That's what
turned the whole thing on. The cesspool was simply dumping the
sewage into a hole in the ground and letting it soak up, you know.
Well, he had a pretty good sewer, because he had a good crowd up
there all the time. And they liked to go up there and see what
he was doing. Until they had to go swimming.
NH: Yes. I've read about the problems with the water supply.
B.6
WB: Well, yeah, they had me going to tell him that he had to desist
from that septic tank and put in a regular sewer system. A
little higher grade, you know. ~ell, he got mad. He didn't like
to be told what to do. You understand. Up to that time everybody
was letting him do whatever he wanted.
NH: Yeah, live read about that. Sounds like it was real difficult for
you.
WB: Yeah. You can see in the paper that they had a hearing. He said
that I went up there and told him that he had to buy the material
from Provost Hardware, and otherwise they...af course, that was
a damned lie. I didnlt have any relationship to Provost at all. J
didn't care what, the Provosts just happened to be in the same
building. We just happened to have our offices there.
t1H :
That must have been a difficult situation for you.
WB: It was...he had hired Gus Newbery, an attorney in Medford, who
was a prominent figure, to come and try to present his case. The
Council heard him. There was a big crowd there. Every place in
the room was taken. But the Council didn't do a darned thing.
They made me mad, a little bit, because they didn't do anything.
Either for or against, you know. Of course, the upshot of it:
was, he had a friend that, named Fred Holmes, you ever hear about
that?
NH: Yes. live read about that.
WB: That time we had represented Winburn on about everything he had,
and the Hotel and everything else. We did all the work on those
and then when he had this row with me about making a regular
modern treatment plant for the sewage, he had a lot of sewage, he
had so many people all the time. And he was inviting people up,
and showing them what he was doing and he called it "Sap and
Salt."
8.7
Something like that. "Sap and Salt." He had a fellow there that
he seemed to like, and they, he sold a few newspapers, I guess,
that "Sap and Salt." Well, anyway, he got to seeing Fred Holmes.
Fred lived out In the country. And he gave Fred $15,000. And the
idea of it was he would get on the Council and fire Bill Briggs.
Well, the first place, he got quite a little farther, he didn't
make any bones about the money. He just gave it to him. $15,000.
To Fred Holmes. Well, Fred was in a bad financial condition. And
that $15,000 went like the stars of the morning. You know. Because
he paid his bills with it.
NH: Right.
WB: Well, anyway, Fred found out he couldn't run for the Council,
because he lived out in the country. You know.
NH: Yes. That's what I've read.
WB: And so he sued Fred to get the $15,000 back. Well, we represented
Fred. And, I imagine you could get a wonderful transcript out of
the evidence down at the courthouse.
NH: Right. Yes. I've read that. Strange situation.
WB: The trial was really ridiculous.
NH: Silly.
WE: Of course, they cleared Fred of all, of everything. He said he
spent the money and it was a gift. And that's what all the
evidence was, to that effect.
NH: Right. That it was a gift. Well, thank you very much for letting
me interview you, Mr. Briggs. I appreciate it.
Appendix c.
Interview with Eve (Mrs. Stephen) Nye, 2000 North Phoenix
Road, Medford, Oregon, on October 23, 1987.
)
Mrs. Nye worked as Jesse Winburn's personal secretary,
,
and lived on the Ashland Canyon property, during the
summer of 1922.
Interviewer: Nan Hannon
<
III
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EN: I've talked to somebody else about Jesse Winburn. I don't
remember who it was, but somebody called me one time and I
told them some things. I don't remember right now. It was
quite a while ago.
NH: Tell me how you met Jesse Winburn.
EN: Well, it was summertime, and. I was - let's see, was that before
I went to, yes, it was - before I went to College. Oh, I know,
I had been up on the Oregon State campus as a secretary, for
the winter, but I had promised to quit the job in spring and
come home because I had a boyfriend, but I did need a job, and
somebody told me Jesse Winburn was looking for a secretary. And
so I said, well, how do I get up there? Well, it seemed there
was a man going up there with a truck load of hay, and I could
ride up on the truck, which I did. My family lived in Ashland
then. So I rode up and Jesse Winburn was out in his yard doing
something or other, and looked like a working man and he was
pretending that he was one, and I said I was looking for Jesse
Winburn, and he asked me what I wanted, and he said, well, he
was Jesse Winburn, so we went inside and we talked and he said,
"All right, here's a drawer full of stuff. Letters and bills."
He said, "Sort it out for me." So I sat there and sorted it out,
and I don't know whether I had letters to answer or what, but
I did whatever he wanted me to do, and he said, "Fine." I
don't remember his words, but he said, "You can go to work
right away."
I said, "Wait a minute. I really do have to go home and get
some clothes, you know, if you want me to stay up here."
He said, "All right, all right, you can go down, but come right
back." So I - I don't know how I got down - I suppose maybe
he sent me down. He had a car and a chauffeur. So I packed
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up a few clothes and carne back up. And I spent most of the
summer up there.
NH: Now this was the summer of what year?
EN: About 22 or 23. Probably 22. I'm not sure. Either 22 or 23.
NH: What was Mr. Winburn like to work for?
EN: Well, he was very odd, of course. He was most peculiar. He
would send me down to Medford with a whole list of things
he wanted. Some of which were exotic and hard to find, you
know, and then I'd no more than get into the first store than
they'd say, "There's a call from Mr. ~Jinburn for you." I'd
go to the phone and he'd say: "v'1J1en are you coming back?"
I'd say, "I just got here! I haven't done the list yet." And
then, I'd, you know, then an hour or two later I'd go into
a store and they'd say, "Mr. Winburn's been calling youl"
NH: My goodness. mlat kinds of exotic things did he want you to
buy?
EN: Oh, I don't know. Maybe some beer mugs, or you know, some-
thing like that. I don't remember now, just things that I
had to look around for. This was a long time ago and the
town wasn't very big. It didn't have a lot of places that we
have now, like Placesetters, and so anyway, he was like that,
and expected me not only to be his secretary, but to ride
horseback with him, and to be his hostess, and he wanted to
invited dignitaries up there, and all that sort of thing, and
I was pretty young, you know, and this was a little bit
difficult for me, but kind of exciting, too.
NH: I can imagine that it was.
.
II
C.3
EN: He was very unusual.
NH: Can you describe the property up there ln Ashland Canyon?
,
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EN: Well, there was the main lodge. What did they call it now. ..?
NH: "Sap and Salt ln the Woods?"
EN: That's right. Yes. It was a big log building. Very rustic.
II
NH: What else was on the property?
q
EN: Let me remember. It's been so long. It's been sixty years.
There were a couple of other buildings. Cabins. All the rest
of the help stayed in the other buildings. Cabins. All the res1
of the help stayed in the other buildings. He had a valet
beside the chauffeur and the cook.
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NH: So he had a staff of three in addition to you.
EN: Yeah, I think so.
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NH: Gosh. A cook, a valet, and a chauffeur.
EN: Yeah. To take care of one man. And a secretary.
NH: So those people lived in another building beside the main lodge
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EN: Yes. I think they had some cottages out ln the back.
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NH: More than one cottage?
EN: Yes. I think so. I think so. He had a swirruning pool that was
ice cold. The water was right down off the mountain.
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EN: Well, I think I got in it a couple of times. He loved to
entice people into the swimming pool. And they'd freeze to
death. It was just like swimming in Crater Lake.
NH: Do you have any idea whether the main lodge was built where
the old Long cabin was, that the Long family had up there?
EN: I have a hunch that it was, but I couldn't be sure of that.
You know, I was pretty young, I was just a, kind of living
from one minute to the next, so when the next crisis was going
to hit me...
NH: What did that main lodge look like?
EN:
Well, even that's kind of dim in my memory. It was sixty years
ago.
NH: Do you remember any of the rooms?
EN: I can remember the living room, and he found out that I very
much liked music, and he bought a grand piano and had it sent
the mountain, so I played the piano. But I can't remember too
much of the details about the living room. 11m sorry, but
itls been so long, it's just goneiout of my memory completely.
I haven't even thought of it for a long time.
NH: I appreciate your trying to remember this for me. Now, I've
seen photographs of a big stone fireplace.
EN: Well, I think so. It's kind of vague, but I think there was.
NH: And the building itself was made of logs?
EN: Yes.
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EN: At one point he decided the City should have some swans in
the pond in the Park, and the City fathers said, "Go jump
in the lake yourself." They didn't want any. And he said, "I
don't care whether they want swans or not, they're going to
have swans." And so he ordered them from someplace in the east,
I don't know where, and they got here, and he went down there
and got those swans, and so Ashland had swans.
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NH: Oh, no. Did Jesse Winburn entertain a lot?
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EN: Oh, yes, quite a bit. He had a great many friends. I can't
remember now. But they weren't always there, and I was often
alone there with him.
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EN: Yeah.
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NH: But he did have a lot of people up there?
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EN: Quite often. Usually somebody there.
NH: Uh-huh.
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EN: My mother came up and spent quite a few days. My sister came
,up. I mean, my sister and I went horseback riding with Jesse _
we went, I don't know, up Mt. Ashland or Mt. Wagner, way up
there, and Jesse had a heart attack or something, because, at
a ranger's station up there, he had to lie down, you know,
and we finally got him back down...
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NH: That's pretty frightening.
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EN: For a couple of kids.
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NH: Tell me about your room ln the cabin.
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EN: I don't remember much about it. It was kind of cabin-like,
you know. It wasn't elegant or anything.
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NH: Were the furnishings rustic?
I
EN: Oh, yes. I remember. The kind of furniture you'd have in a
cabin. As you say, rustic. But, you know, I never knew what
he was going to say next. As I say, he was arrogant. He didn't
care who he insulted or anything. One time he decided to go
down to Ashland to get our h6rses shod, and I said, "But you're
having guests for lunch." And he said, "Let them wait."
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of Medford, I've forgotten who all, but they were dignitaries,
you know, and they were coming in as we rode out the gate on
the way to Ashland. And we hii.ed a car and drove back from
Ashland. I don't know, that was, he did exactly what he wanted
to do. Like it or not, he didn't care.
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EN: No, I don't, except that he was divorcing his wife. And I can
remember that we rode down to the park one day and I had a check
in my purse for $60,000. This was his payment to his wife, and
I can't imagine this was all he gave her. But ln those days,
a million dollars was just out of this world, and he had a
million dollars. Just sitting there, ln the bank in New York.
Well, something scared his horse and it bolted, and - now
when was this? - oh, I guess he galloped through the park or
something, and I can't remember now, we tied our horses in
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front of something, and well, tied our horses to a bicycle
rack, and something scared his horse and it bolted and knocked
a Catholic priest down on the street. That was a terrifyin~r
thing, and then my pur'se flew off, flew away from me, and I
suddenly realized that it had that check in it, but somebody
brought it back, I don't know. Things quieted down, but I
think the priest was hurt.
NH: Yes. I've heard that story about the priest.
EN: I was young enough so that these things there, I didn't take
responsibility for. I was just kind of living from one crisis
to another.
NH: That was quite a job. So Jesse Winburn's wife lived in New York?
EN: I think so. Yeah.
)
NH: Did they have children?
EN: No.
NH: What can you tell me about when Jesse Winburn left Ashland?
EN: I can't. I really can't. He got mad at me and fired me.
Because he was going over to the coast and I think, I don't
know, he wanted to take some other people along or somethin~J, and
he wanted me to go, and I didn't want to. I said I'd better
stay here. So. But then as soon as he left, why, of course,
I got hold of my boyfriend. He carne up to the cabin. We didn't,
you know, in those days, stay together or anything like that.
We were all very pure. But I may have left the cabin and saw
him for part of the day or something like that. Jesse found
out about it and he was furious. He was a jealous old guy
C.8
anyway. He didn't realize how old and unattractive he was
to a young girl. So he was furious and fired me. It didn't
exactly break my heart.
NH: No. That's an awful lot for a young woman to handle.
EN: Oh, there was a funny experience.
NH: I appreciate your sharing your memories with me. The City's
trying to decide what to do with the property, and documenting
it.
EN: The property up there...
NH: ...in the canyon.
EN: Does the City own this?
NH: Yes.
EN: You know, at the time that he was up there, the City water
supply came right down through there, and we just used to ride
our horses through there, and we'd stop and drink. It was
completely unprotected.
NH:
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When you were up there did you ever see anything of a prehistoric ~1
site, an Indian site, or did you ever hear anything about that? ~i
EN: I don't remember anything.
NH: Did you ever know anyone from the Long family that owned that
property?
EN: No. My association with Jesse was only a couple of months.
NH: Sounds like an intense couple of months.
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EN: Well, it was. And I guess I just kind of put it out of my
mind. It was kind of frightening ln a way, and yet very
exciting.
NH: Well, Mrs. Nye, I really appreciate your talking with me.
Thank you very much. It helps to understand that whole period
in Ashland history. A pretty exciting time.
EN: The people who remember him are long gone. I think of "Pop"
Gates, the mayor of Medford at the time. It was actually "Pop"
Gates who told me that Jesse Winburn was looking for a
secretary, and I thought that if the mayor of Medford, whom
I knew personally anyway, recommended it, I thought it was
probab~y all right. But most of the people are long gone.
NH: Is there anyone else you could suggest that I could talk to
who would remember Jesse Winburn?
EN: I can't think of anybody.
NH: I was also talking to Billie Briggs, who was the City
Attorney, about what he remembered. Well, thank you very
much, Mrs. Nye.
EN: You're welcome.
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Appendix D.
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Interview with Bud Silver, 1085 Emma Street, Ashland,
Oregon, on November 20, 1987.
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Mr. Silver's grandfather, Harry Silver, owned and
developed the Lithia Springs property, which was
later purchased by the City of Ashland.
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Interviewer: Nan Hannon
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BS: My grandfather was the man who built it. Harry W. Silver.
And my father worked there for him after they built it when
he was a young man.
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NH:
So you've been on the property?
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,
BS: Oh, yes. Both since everything was torn down and before. Ther
nothing much left to see now. That's what I meant this rnornin
Most people get all of their information from the early
newspapers, the archives, and of course the man that spear-
headed it all wasn't recognized. The crook, the old so-and-so
son-of-a-gun was the editor of the Tidings.
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BS: Bert Greer. And so that's why they get a convoluted Vlew of t
whole si tua tion, you know. Nobody has ever researched the /:-)
other side. Anyway -
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NH: Well, this is a good chance to do that.
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BS: Of course, ln the 20's was when everything went sour. And, uh
that was the end of the bottling plant and the C02 plant. And
the idea of having a health spa in that part of the valley.
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NH: So your grandfather and G.H. Gillette bought the property
around 1907.
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NH: And they had some mineral analysis done on the water?
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BS: Yes.
NH: So they decided it would be good to bottle?
BS: They bottled it much the way that we get 7-Up and Squirt
and those products, those drinks, today. And that was on the
market and it was shipped to various places and to various
individuals. As far away as New York, and allover the
United States. They also sold C02 - carbon dioxide - which
is the gas that's in Lithia water. And that was put in big
cylinders. Yes.
NH: Did they have the bottling plant on the property?
BS: Yes.
NH: Where was it located in relation to the Pompadour Chief
building?
BS: The Pompadour Chief? That's the one where you go dQwn the
stairs?
NH: Right.
BS: Okay. My grandfather built that one also. And in relation
to that, as you come down the hill, from the fence, from
the gate, you come downhill and you're still going down the
incline, and there's a kind of a - at least there used to
be - a kind of a slow curve just as you level out at
that bottom...Pompadour Chief is coming down the hill.
Coming down the hill here. And that evidently is the old,
is the dry ice plant, before you were born. That's the big
one. OK. And all around here and down to Pompadour and on
over to the City Springs. What's CCNC?
NH: Concrete wall.
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BS: What's the vault mean? Is that a well?
NH: There was a bit of a structure left there.
BS: This lS the old concrete wall here, right? I see, you've got
that old City Pumphouse down here. All right. The garbage
dump is right behind the big rock.
NH: Yes.
BS: Well, I don't recall the gas plant being right there. It was
up in this area somewhere.
NH: The dry ice plant.
BS: The last one they had. The big one. It wasn't here. There's
a big rock here somewhere where you come around. OK. The
Silver Geyser is right in here, right below the rock. And
this concrete wall originally shut out the creek. The creek
bed came around here and like I showed you - did I show you
the picture of the springs?
NH: Yes, you did.
BS: So, my grandfather built the rock retaining wall to keep the
water eut, so that he could concrete around the spring.. and
that was what th~y originally bottled as Lithia water. And
the C02.
NH: So the actual sprlng would have been where? Somewhere on this
side of the wall?
BS: The actual sprlng was on this side of that little retaining
wall there. You've also got pictures there of the building,
the old buildings that were there, and they were all in
this area. In fact, the big building was over the - was
built over the spring and the retaining wall was used to
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support the old, original building. And you have pictures
of that.
And that was the bottling works?
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That's where they bottled. Right. The source of the big
problem was that he was bottling this commercially, my
grandfather was, and the City wanted to pipe it into town
to make the same kind of health spa in here free. That's,
you know, one single source of the problem.
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So they built the, your grandfather built the bottling works
building right over the Lithia Spring right after they
built the diversion darn?
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After the diversion dam, to keep the creek, which came right
behind it, this partition, right behind it, of course the
creek bed's changed over the years. I don't know what scale
this is. Yes, one inch to a hundred feet. Well, about 22
feet, evidently, the creek's moved in that direction. And
that's possible.
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So the creek was right in here.
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Yes. The creek came right here. And actually, the creek came
pretty close to old Pompadour pere, as I recall. Oh, maybe
not. I don't remember. As I recall, it came closer to
Pompadour Chief than it does now, which is what - sixty
years. Fifty-five years. The creek came down here, and
of course the pumphouse, the wall there where the, by the
footbridge, it kept the creek out.
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Yeah, on the other side of that was the creek, and it wasn't
deep at that point. It was quite wide. Wide enough for that
footbridge.
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NH: The wall in around here, that retaining wall?
BS: That I don't recall. That may have been added later. This is
all new. And this concrete pad here must have been that picture,
you know, you saw, that showed the - and I'm guessing now _
that might have been the first gas plant put in, and then they
realized they couldn't get enough carbon dioxide from this area,
so they had to back towards Emigrant to get enough gas. And this
is the one I recall visiting with Mr. Mann quite often. It
wasn't his, it was farther back here. It was back. It wasn't;
that close.
NH: Do you think it could have been these?
BS:
It might have been, although I could say they sunk ten, or
five, wells. As I recall, five. I thought there was five. There's
four shown there. I don't know. Hard to tell unless you go
look at it. I could walk over it with you sometime.
NH: That would be great.
BS: I don't know why the gas plant doesn't still have some cement
foundations. This may have been gone from someone's memory, too.
NH: This was surveyed this summer, and these are the features that
are'here, but I'm wondering if -
BS: Well, there must be something here if they would put that there.
NH: The gas plant had those large aerating towers.
BS: When you say big, what do you mean big? Do you mean ten feet
tall, eight feet tall, sixty feet tall, or do you know?
NH: I don't know.
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NH: I don't know.
BS: I don't know either. There were tanks. I donlt recall a tower,
as I understand the word tower. I recall tanks that were
probably ten, twelve feet high. Big tanks. Right over each one of
the wells, and I'm sure that would be there, but I don't
remember any towers.
NH: Well, what I've read about the gas plant lS that they had aeratins
towers that would -
BS: Well, that could be. I don't know whether those tanks were the
aerating towers or not. They could have been. You could drink
water out of some of these, you know. The water bubbled out.
The best water was here. Of course each time you opened a well,
that detracted from the taste of the water uptown. Because you
were taking the C02 out. And that's when the Lithia water uptown
was not as good - I don't know whether you like it or not, I like
it, it tastes good, now - because all the wells are sealed. But
when they were drawing the Co2 from them, you got a rather -
I don't know -
NH: Flat?
BS: Blah. Yeah, flat.
NH: Lawrence Powell has told me that people ln town complained that
when the dry ice plant was up -
BS: A lot of people still go down and fill their gallon jugs there.
Great with dinner. The original Silver Geyser was right under
that rock. And I think it's still there. You can see it in the
pictures. And all the buildings were right in there.
NH: So these would have been the bottling works.
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BS: That's where the bottling works was. And you've got a picture
of the bottling works.
NH: And you remember the dry lce plant being farther over here?
BS: That's what I recall. Of course, your perspective's different
than if you drive in, and it could be. The garbage dump is still
on our land. It's not owned by the City. I don't believe.
Because my cousins corne up and camp up there every summer.
In fact, they were here this last summer. With all their children.
They're twins, and their husbands and their kids were with them,
they camped out there for a while. ..And if you look straight
down on it, that may just be true. Because this old Emigrant
Road is angling back up this way, and if this is true, that
could possibly be.
NH: Well, it's certainly close to the property line there.
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BS: Yes. This is the property line here?
NH: Yes.
BS: So our land lS still, falls over here, still the Silver property.
NH: Would these here have been part of the bottling works?
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BS: I don't know how many wells they put on the City land. Evidently
these wells here are not, were not, the wells I'm thinking of,
or five of them fell on our land, which evidently is over here,
and that's what they'd do the C02 from, because they couldn't
get enough here. They drilled as many as they could, but you
can see they kept closer. And then they began to drill over
here, and I think across the creek, across the creek, up ln
here somewhere, you'll see some more of the wells. Or at least
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what's left.
NH: The City has record of eighteen capped wells here.
BS: They may have eighteen on their property. And for some reason,
five sticks in my craw, I don't know why five, but I know that
ultimately they had to move, they're moving closer and closer
to the hills, the mountains, until they got over there and
they had to - and then they had to go to Grandpa's, ~nd start
drilling there. And that could be where it is, by golly. The
person who drew this obviously knew whereof they spoke. It
seems to me I remember driving farther off the access road to
get to the dry ice plant. Can't tell today. I can get lost in
Portland.
NH: So that was how they diverted the creek?
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BS:
Yeah. This is the wall.
NH: That's a wonderful picture of the springs coming up in the creek.
BS: Did you get the big one?
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NH: Yes.
BS: I talked to my aunt, and ultiamtely, if you do go ahead with
your plans, why, then we would be glad to have the pictures
made part of the display down there.
NH: l'd like to do that. I think it's an important part of Ashland's
history.
BS: Well, I do, too, mainly because my grandfather started the whole
concept, and then the name Lithia is so prominent in and around
Ashland. Even in Medford. Lithia Motors. Too bad he didn't
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patent it. Too bad he didn't do a lot of things.
NH:
Well, he certainly started out with some good plans. But the
political situa~ion got so -
Oh, it was bad. It was really bad. It was an honest man dealir
with a group that weren't. And you know how it is today.
What kind of a person was Bert Greer?
I have no idea. He was - are we taping this now? - I just kno~
from listening to my aunts and uncles talk, he was a devious
son of a bitch, but he had the Tidings, which gave him the
power. And he believed in the Golden Rule. The man with the
gold makes the rules. And he had the gold, or at least he and
his friends, and there were a lot of them, and they had, I gue
on their side of it, they had some points, too. They wanted_~o
make Ashland, the town itself, the health center, like the; )
had in New York at Saratoga Springs. That land, also, was one
of the three considered for the Veteran's Administration that'
now in Roseburg. And I think that generally the population in
town didn't want that built there. The unstable veterans
running around town. Like they have at - like they think they
have at White City. Now that's pure supposition. Just pure
supposition.
But that area out there was one of those being considered.
They had such ambitious plans for Ashland. How did your folks
feel, then, your grandfather and your father, after none of
that really panned out here in Ashland to make it a resort?
My father worked in Medford for COPCO, which was the forerunner
of PPL, for thirty some years. He wouldn't move to Medford,
because he liked the schools in the area, but he never had
much use for the City politics. Nor did my grandfather. Or .
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APPENDIX E.
Summary of Interview with Gertrude Biede Easterling, 115 Nob
Hill, Ashland, Oregon, on October 20, 1987.
II
Mrs. Easterling recalled that Jesse Winburn was a small, "homely,"
red-haired, balding, freckled man, and that he had a rather shrill
voice, and a nervous, impatient manner.
II
She recalled that she and a friend, who also worked for the City
of Ashland, took a snowshoe hike up to "Sap and Salt in the Woods,"
during the winter of 1922. Her friend's brother was employed by
Jesse Winburn to pick up mail and groceries in downtown Ashland
and take them up Ashland Canyon to the lodge.
II
On the day that Mrs. Easterling visited the cabin, Jesse Winburn
was touring another part of the country. However, she and her
friend were given dinner by the couple who served as caretakers
for the lodge. One of them was the cook, and the other the chauffeuJ
She believed they lived in a smaller cottage behind the lodge.
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Mrs. Easterling shared an album of photographs taken on February
22, 1922, on the Winburn property. They included interior
photographs of the building. The furnishings of the living room
were in the rustic style, including bent twig chairs, a bent twig
desk, and wicker chairs. There were Oriental carpets on the floor,
and a massive, fieldstone fireplace dominated one wall of the room.
A number of drawings were tacked up to the wall over the desk.
They appeared to be cartoons, and may have been drawn by Jesse
Winburn's friend Bert Moses, the syndicated columnist who produced
the "Sap and Salt" column.
Mrs. Easterling recalled the controversy over the purity of the
Ashland water supply, and the general community opinion that Jesse
Winburn was headstrong and not concerned with the best interests
of the City. She believed that Winburn became tired of being
approached by people who had projects - commercial or philanthropic
which required his financial support. She remembers that the
community was not surprised when Jesse Winburn left town as
abruptly as he had arrived.
"
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APPENDIX F.
Summary of Interview with Lawrence Powell, 92 Alida Street, Ashland,
Oregon, on October 21/ 1987.
Mr. Powell recalled taking picnic suppers out to the Lithia Springs
property, and that the steel bridge over Emigrant Creek had been
there as long as he could remember. (Mr. Powell came to Ashland
in 1910.) He described the Lithia water piped into the City
during the years that the carbon dioxide plant was operating as
"flat," with very little of its natural carbonation. He said that
the quality of the water improved after the City moved from the
City Springs well to the earlier Lithia water well nearer to
Emigrant Creek.
Mr. Powell suggested that his friend H~rold Hutchins, of Phoenix,
Oregon, would be a good source of information on the property,
since he was an employee of the dry ice company. An attempt was
made to contact Mr. Hutchins, but he had recently been moved to
a convalescent home because of poor health.
Mr. Powell recalled that Jesse Winburn was regarded as an eccentric,
and that he was not popular in town despite his generosity in
contributing to civic projects. The community regarded him as an
outsider, and resented his cavalier attitude toward the purity of
the Ashland water supply. Mr. Powell repeated the story of Winburn's ").','
fishing in the reservoir, being fined for breaking the ordinance
forbidding fishing there, and continuing to fish and pay the fines.
He also mentioned that people were concerned about Winburn and
his guests swimming in the reservoir, and maintaining horses and
cows in the watershed area.
Mr. Powell, who has been a long-time collector of Indian relics,
stated that he was unaware of any aboriginal occupation along
the area of Emigrant Creek under study, but that it would have been
a good site for an Indian encampment.