Rogue River Ranch

The Rogue River Ranch is a farm complex from the pioneer days in Curry County in southwest Oregon in the United States. The ranch is located on the north bank of the Rogue River in the Rogue River - Siskiyou National Forest. The original buildings were built by George Billings. Later, the property was sold to Stanley Anderson, who enlarged the ranch and additional buildings built. The Bureau of Land Management bought the ranch in 1970. The property is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

History

Archaeological findings show that the North American Indians, the area around the Rogue River Ranch settled more than 9000 years. First settled in the valley of the rogue people who Takelma spoke, later athabaskisch speaking people came to the area. Although their languages ​​were different, but both groups had a common way of life that was based on fishing, hunting and gathering. For thousands of years, was the site where now stands the Rogue River Ranch is a seasonally occupied camps, eventually resulted in a permanently inhabited village. The life of the Indians along the Rogue River came to an end when in 1856 the natives were sent to reservations in northern Oregon.

In 1887, Tom Billings made ​​his claim to a piece of land on the north bank of the Rogue River at the mouth of Mule Creek after Homestead Act. The following year, Tom transferred his claim to his older brother George. The first child of him and his wife Anna, a daughter named Marial, came in 1894 to the world. After the child's name, the settlement at the Mule Creek Marial was called.

George Billings, built in 1903 a large two-storey building founded in the Marial Billings Trading Company. He also led a boarding house for travelers and miners. Over time, the trading post was the center of the economic and social life of the residents of Marial, who eventually numbered about 100 heads. Billings sold his bar called Douglas property west of the Mule Creek in 1907, the Red River Mining and Milling Company. In the following year he set up his remaining possessions, a barn, which was later called the tabernacle. Billings allowed in this building, the holding of dances and church services. The Red River Mining Company closed its operations in 1912 and Billings acquired the land west of the creek back. He sold it in 1931 at a price of U.S. $ 5,000 to Stanley Anderson.

The Andersons bought later 130 acres on the shore opposite to the ranch. They extended the main house and built a house for the administrator, a bunkhouse, blacksmith, horse armory, wood and storage shed and a Hühnerpferch. The Andersons tore most of the old mining equipment down on Douglas Bar. The post office was opened in 1903 closed in 1954. Stanley Anderson stroked 1956, the main house in red color, which is still available today. The Anderson family sold the now 200 acre ranch comprehensive to the Federal Government of the United States, the Bureau of Land Management transferred the responsibility for the administration of the estate within the program of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers.

The Bureau of Land Management converted the main house into a museum that documents the history of the aborigines, the history of the local mining industry, the settlement by the Billings family and the development of the ranch under the Anderson family. The museum is open from May to October.

Because the Rogue River Ranch played an important role in the economic and social development of the area, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 29. The area of ​​the historic ranch is approximately 700 acres, about 280 acres. On the site there are four contributing and six non- contributing buildings.

Building

For the public, four ranch buildings are accessible, the armory, the blacksmith shop, the tabernacle and a museum in the main house. The caretaker's house, a large parking and several smaller farm buildings are not publicly available.

The main house was built in 1903 and is situated on a gentle slope overlooking the Mule Creek. The building is a two-story built in timber frame construction house. The timber for the construction was cut from ponderosa pines at the construction site by hand. The side panels were planed down with tools at a thickness of less than one centimeter. The window glasses were brought overland from Portland, the window frames, however, were made ​​on the ranch. The main house has no fireplace, but it is heated by a wood burning stove in the living room.

The other ranch buildings, it also is wood frame buildings with cladding by overlapping boards. The Bureau of Land Management has the arsenal refurbished in 2008. In the reconstruction rotten frame elements were replaced, the endangered the entire structure.

Location

The Rogue River Ranch National Historic Site is located in the canyon of the Rogue River in southern Oregon. The Ranch at the mouth of Mule Creek on the north bank of the river lies at an altitude of approximately 127 meters above sea level. The property is isolated and surrounded by the Rogue River - Siskiyou National Forest. The ranch is a major stopover in the whitewater section of the Rogue River, which is designated as a National Wild and Scenic River.

The Rogue River Ranch is located 67 km south of Glendale; 39 km southeast of Powers 24 and 37 km north-east of the settlement Agness, Oregon. The drive from any of these places takes at least two hours. The next City is Grants Pass, about 120 km away. The Ranch can be reached from the Grave Creek Bridge, which is located about 13 kilometers north of Galice, even with the boat on the Rogue River or through the hike on the path through the Canon. The route along the river has a length of 35 km and is completed by boaters in two days, hikers usually take three days. The Bureau of Land Management maintains a campsite at the mouth of Mule Creek.