You are invited to a free special event featuring Saving Wellington, a recently released short documentary movie complimented with a presentation by our local historian/archaeologist, Jeff LaLande.

The gathering will be a double header. First, there will be a showing of the new and locally produced documentary entitled Saving Wellington, a movie created by Applegate Valley filmmakers Greeley Wells and Ed Keller. This show explores the Wellington Wildlands and reveals why it should be saved. If you are wondering where is this 7,500-acre Wellington Wildlands, it is located on the north side (on the right) of Highway 238 between Ruch and Applegate. This twelve-square-mile intact block of undisturbed naturalness and diversity are primarily composed of oak woodlands, mountain meadows, dense chaparral and mixed hardwood forest along with isolated patches of timber and old growth hidden behind ridges and in the canyon bottoms. This unique mixed landscape is a hiker’s heaven punctuated by amazing views across the Applegate Valley and the Siskiyou Mountains.

Second, Jeff LaLande, Ph.D., a historian and archaeologist, will share his knowledge about the history of the Applegate Valley with the community. Jeff, a Jackson County resident for 50 years, worked for the U.S. Forest Service in southwestern Oregon for over three decades. His talk will concentrate on the Applegate Valley’s Native people, the 1820s-1840s fur trappers and explorers, and the early gold mining and farming settlement of the region that began soon after 1850. Join us as we travel into our region’s past, and “walk along” with the people who preceded us here. The Wellington Wildlands of the Applegate/Rogue Divide have been part of LaLande’s research over the years.

Please join us as we travel through Oregon’s past and into the present with these fascinating story tellers at Jacksonville Library Community Room, on Saturday, November 3, 2018, 4:00pm. This event is free and open to the public however seating is limited to 55 people. Donations are appreciated.

Featured image: Wellington Wildlands Photo: Scott Harding