Pioneer Profiles
Auguste Petard – Caught in “The Act” – by Carolyn Kingsnorth
Pioneer Profiles – August 2018
Early settlers recognized the Rogue Valley’s potential for grape and wine production long before the World of Wine, now the Oregon Wine Experience, began celebrating the award-winning varietals being produced in […]
William Bybee – Land Baron – by Carolyn Kingsnorth
Pioneer Profiles – July 2018
Among the Rogue River Valley’s early settlers, there was no more extensive land owner than William Bybee. According to the 1904 Portrait and Biographical Record of Western Oregon, Bybee could claim […]
Thomas G. Reames: Capitalist, Politician, Self-Made Man – by Carolyn Kingsnorth
Pioneer Profiles – June 2018
This summer you can again experience the world of 19th Century banking when you step behind the counter of the oldest bank in the Pacific Northwest, preserved intact since its proprietor’s […]
In Search of Peter Britt’s Original Valley View Vineyard – by MJ Daspit
While compiling Rogue Valley Wine, a pictorial history of the local wine industry co-authored with Eric Weisinger (Arcadia Publishing, 2011), I became familiar with Jacksonville’s iconic pioneer photographer, horticulturalist and winemaker Peter Britt (1819-1905). Today […]
Mary Ann Harris Chambers – Survivor – by Carolyn Kingsnorth
Pioneer Profiles – March 2018
With women today finding their voices and power by sharing their experiences, organizing, marching, demonstrating, and seeking political office, a look at some powerful pioneer women seems in order.
A woman’s role […]
An 1854 Letter from Oregon – by Orange Jacobs, Esquire
Pioneer Profiles – November 2017
In the mid-1800s, the promise of gold and free land lured fortune seekers, settlers, and merchants to the newly formed Oregon Territory. Carolyn Kingsnorth has stepped aside from our pioneer tales […]
Colonel John England Ross: Indian Fighter, Part 3 – by Carolyn Kingsnorth
Pioneer Profiles – October 2017
The previous two installments of Pioneer Profiles recounted Col. John England Ross’ exploits as Indian fighter, treasure seeker, and entrepreneur. We left him in the Klamath basin escorting wagon trains across […]
Colonel John England Ross: Indian Fighter, Part 2 – by Carolyn Kingsnorth
Pioneer Profiles – September 2017
When we left Colonel John England Ross in our August 2017 Pioneer Profile, he had barely avoided eating crow…literally. After finding gold near Sawyer’s Bar on the Klamath River in California […]
Colonel John England Ross: Indian Fighter, Part 1 – by Carolyn Kingsnorth
Pioneer Profiles – August 2017
Ross Lane, which meanders through the Valley floor just north of Jacksonville, demarcates some of the former land holdings of Colonel John England Ross.
Ross, who gained his title and his reputation […]
The Glorious Fourth! – by Carolyn Kingsnorth
Pioneer Profiles – July 2017
Well into the 20th Century, the Fourth of July was a bigger U.S. holiday than Christmas. Long before Congress declared July 4th an official holiday in 1870, John Adams had written […]