Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society

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LAND USE: EAST I-5 REST STOP TO PLEASANT VALLEY CEMETERY

ASSESSMENT Of PROPOSED PIONEER MEADOWS SUBDIVISION
CONTAINING APPLEGATE TRAIL RESOURCES

IV.G. Land Use: East I-5 Rest Stop to Pleasant Valley Cemetery

The Applegate Trail, as the main north-south route through northern Josephine County in location and evolution, remained stable for over 60 years in the location of the 88-acre M37 Proposed Pioneer Meadow Subdivision from 1856 through 1900 - 1910. The first automobile in Grants Pass arrived in 1904. A little more than a decade later, in 1915, Josephine County’s automobiles numbered 266.

For purposes of this assessment paper, the geographic section of interest of the Applegate Trail is JASec 3 the section from the Josephine County Sportsman Park to the Pleasant Valley Cemetery. This section includes the Proposed Pioneer Meadow Subdivision .

The Josephine County Comprehensive Plan (JCCP) allocates land along the old Applegate Trail in JASec 3 to forest and residential. The Pioneer Meadow Subdivision Application is allocated to forest. Until recently, and except for the land along Monument Drive, this allocation represented the stability of the Applegate Trail and the land use in JASec 3.

Refer to Section III. for information on Josephine County’s historic resource standards.

c) Residential and Forest Lands

Land along the old Applegate Trail in JASec 3 is zoned Rural Residential 5 and Woodlot Resource (Map 17). Intensive development is evolving rapidly along Monument Drive and to the West and South in the from of high intensity rural residential, commercial, and light industrial zoned land.

The western part of JASec 3, including the Pleasant Valley Cemetery, is zoned Rural Residential 5-acre minimum. In this section a segment of the remnant Applegate Trail will probably disappear as part of the newly approved 160-acre Paradise Vista Subdivision (Map 19).

The 1856 General Land Office surveyed Applegate Trail point JA-8 is close to the boundary of the 2006 Paradise Vista Subdivision and the M-37 Pioneer Meadow Subdivision Application (Map 6; Map 18; Map 19; Aerial Photo 2). The three land owners west of the proposed subdivision and south of the Pleasant Valley Cemetery have the opportunity to be stewards of the Applegate Trail (Map 19).

The eastern part of JASec 3, including the Proposed Pioneer Meadow Subdivision and the location of the Applegate Trail, is zoned Woodlot Resource. The Josephine County Sportsman Park managed by the Josephine County Sportsman Association is also zoned Woodlot Resource. The Sportsman Association has an interest in inventorying and interpreting the cultural resources of the Applegate Trail as part of its recreational program (Map 19).

Two subdivisions in JASec 3 have a high probability of adversely affecting a large segment of the remnant Applegate Trail.

. 30 lot 160-acre 2006 Paradise Vista Subdivision Approved

. 87.75 acre 2006 Measure-37 Proposed Pioneer Meadow Subdivision

The 160-acre Paradise Vista Subdivision was approved in 2006.

The 88-acre Pioneer Meadow Subdivision Application proposes to create 16 lots ranging from 3.56 acres to 6.87 acres in size, along with the extension of Timber Lane, a Rural Residential Road. The application was filed pursuant to Josephine County Board of County Commissioners’ Order No. 2005-073, which locally satisfied the property owners’ claim for compensation under 2004 Oregon Ballot Measure 37. The claim was based on the fact that the property was acquired in 1975, when the property was zoned Suburban Residential 5-acre minimum.

If approved as a M-37 application by the state and county, the Pioneer Meadow Subdivision Application will be evaluated by the RPC for compliance with 2007 standards for health and safety.

On September 11, 2006 the Proposed Pioneer Meadow Subdivision was considered by the Josephine County Rural Planning Commission (RPC). The RPC decided not to hear the application until it was complete (i.e., M37 waiver by the State of Oregon). The 150-day mandamus rule would have been exceeded December 18, 2006. The applicant agreed to extend the date until June 18, 2007.

The Pioneer Meadow Subdivision Application should be considered by the RPC in time to have a final written decision prior to June 18, 2007. If approved as a M-37 application by the state and county, the Pioneer Meadow Subdivision Application will be evaluated by the RPC for compliance with 2007 standards for health and safety. The September 11, 2006 Josephine County Staff Report identified the compliance standards the RPC will be using as RLDC 50.050.

 Except for the unknowns of the Measure-37 the land of the Proposed Pioneer Meadow Subdivision and its high potential to be developed into homes (Map 19), the eastern part of JASec 3 zoned Woodlot Resource land has the greatest potential for research and protection of the Applegate Trail in northern Josephine County.

Significant wetlands occur in the eastern part of JASec 3 adjacent to the Applegate Trail (see Section IV.C.3.). This area includes the eastern part of Tax Lot 500 Pioneer Meadow Subdivision Application), northern part of Tax Lot 300 Pioneer Meadow Subdivision Application), and a majority of Tax Lot 400, Section 14, T.35S., R.6W. WM (Map 3; Map 16; Map 18; Map 19; Map 20; Aerial Photo 1; Aerial Photo 2; Aerial Photo 3A; Aerial Photo 3B; map on page 25 of Staff Report). Locally these wetlands make up much of what is known as the old Cochrane Ranch (Map 8). The reason for the use of the name locally was that Gordon Cochran was part of the Cochran family, and he eventually became a teacher at both the Three Pines Elementary School and the Hugo Elementary School. Therefore, many of the surviving locals identify the land with the old Cochrane Ranch.

In 1856 the General Land Office field survey notes and resulting maps inaccurately located Harris Creek as dumping into Louse Creek instead of Jumpoff Joe Creek (Map 5). The reason was probably, in part, because of the complex hydrology and wetlands in the upper drainages of Schoolhouse Creek and Harris Creek (sections, 11, 13, and 14, T.35S., R.6W., WM; see Section IV.B. and Section IV.C.).

This area, except for fruit tree saplings, has been open and generally free of trees for all the life of 62-year old Mike Walker. He believes it was also open in the 1840s when the Applegate Trail was first opened (see Section IV.F.7.). Tax Lot 500 and Tax Lot 300 represent a significant example of the Applegate Trail in lowland Josephine County which have been relatively free of development (Aerial Photo - 2). A 1940s aerial photograph clearly depicts a trail/road close to the boundary line between the open wetland pasture and the forests to the south (Aerial Photo 1 (1940s); Aerial Photo 2; Map 6; Map 8).

The September 11, 2006 Josephine County Planning Office Staff Report records, "The property also has areas of heavy vegetation and possible wetland areas (note pg 13 and Appendix C of the Galli Report)." Page 4; Map 20. The staff report on page 10 records:

"7. Wetlands - as reflected on the Tentative Plan map and noted in the Galli Report (Section 8 and Appendix C), there are areas of undelineated wetlands. The site observation conducted by Dennis Hutchinson indicate that the actual wetlands area is much smaller than what is depicted on the current database via the GIS map." [Map 20 equals the map on page 22 of the staff report] "To address the wetlands requirements, staff recommends condition #1." [1.b.]

1.b. "b. A designated homesite area for Lots 10-14 which will avoid impacting the wetland areas. Development of these lots shall be within the designated homesite area located outside of the wetlands, unless the applicant submits an approved DSL permit."

The Josephine County Sportsman Park is zoned Woodlot Resource. It is managed for recreation.

The Josephine County Sportsman Park has expressed interest in researching, interpreting, and preserving what is left of the Applegate Trail on land owned by the Josephine County Sportsman Association and land it manages which is administered by Josephine County.

The following was downloaded from the Josephine County Sportsman Park’s web page on April 20, 2007 (http://www.jcsa-shootingsports.org/).

Henri de Montmorency, JCSA E.V.P. June 2006 Newsletter

"As many of us know, the Historic Applegate Trail was in our area, but few knew exactly where. Volunteer surveyors from the Hugo Neighborhood Historical Society were at JCSA recently. Their project is to roughly lay out where the Applegate Trail was located. In the months to come, a certified surveyor will be called in to map the trail’s exact location."

"Mike Walker, the spokesman from the Hugo Soc., informed me their part of the trail to document stretches for about 20 miles. Of that distance approximately 90% is located on private property and getting permission to cross this property has been mostly non-existent. As JCSA is public property, it’s turning out we are becoming the main focus of this 20 mile section."

"Mike Walker, Kelly Rarey and Karen Rose, all from the Hugo Historic Soc. were guest speakers on Friday, June 2nd when Walker Mountain Long Rifles held their annual BBQ. They presented maps, read from a diary of an Applegate pioneer and gave a brief talk on where the trail was. Needless to say, they were the highlight of the evening."

"The trail enters onto JCSA property approximately at our front gate, comes across Archery Range 2 and then straight up our road next to the pond. From there it follows just about where our road is from the Range House down to Trader’s Row, then bending in the lower meadow and heading toward Mt. Sexton. A temporary stake with an orange flag on it has been erected on Archery Range 2 and a second one, just a few yards down the road from the shower rooms."

"We have been discussing that someday when this project is completed, we hopefully will be able to have a monument erected on JCSA property in commemoration of this part of the Applegate Trail in Oregon’s historic past."

Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) administered lands adjacent and south of the Josephine County Sportsman Park, including the east side of the I-5 Manzanita Rest Stop, contain critical sections of the Applegate Trail, including the Harris homestead, and the site of the October 9, 1855 Mary Harris standoff with the Rogue Valley Indians. The following is from an article in The Daily Courier entitled, The Harris Family Massacre.¹

She had fought the Indians for two days. The day it was over was after Major Fitzgerald arrived with a detachment of dragoons and volunteers, Mary and her daughter, Sophie, were saved. The aftermath was terrible.

. Her husband Mr. Harris was dead.

. Her hired help, Mr. Reed, was dead.

. Her son, David, was never found and presumed dead.

. Her daughter, Sophie, was seriously wounded.

. Her home was saved, but her barn was burnt.

A detail of soldiers helped Mary bury her husband, removing part of the cabin floor and digging a grave. She was allowed to take a few possessions from the cabin, and her home was then burned to hide the grave. Mary Ann only revisited her former home site once, in 1871, when she moved her husband to the Jacksonville Cemetery.

In 2006 two rock cairns, Harris Cairn South and Harris Cairn North, were discovered by the General Land Office Field Survey Sub-Committee of the Hugo Emigrant Trails Committee. These cairns were within a hundred feet of each other and close to the location of the Harris house as recorded by the 1856 GLO survey and map and calculated by the Sub-Committee (Appendix F). It is suspected that they represent the locations of the Harris barn and house, and/or perhaps the interim interment of Mr. Harris.

 g) Summary

The Applegate Trail in the western half of JASec 3 is on its way to being buried under residential development. The three land owners west of the proposed subdivision and south of the Pleasant Valley Cemetery have the opportunity to be stewards of the Applegate Trail.

The eastern part of JASec 3, including the Proposed Pioneer Meadow Subdivision and the Josephine County Sportsman Park have the greatest potential for research and protection of the Applegate Trail.

As a package the lands of the Proposed Pioneer Meadow Subdivision, the lands administered by the Josephine County Sportsman Park, and the administered lands of ODOT south of the Josephine County Sportsman Park including the east side of the I-5 Manzanita Way Stop contain critical sections of the Applegate Trail.

The Proposed Pioneer Meadow Subdivision contains visible traces of the evolved Applegate Trail. The Josephine County Sportsman Park contains the location of a pioneer home and a channeling draw which makes the location of the Applegate Trail specific on the ground. This along with a rare seven surveyed locations (i.e., 1856 GLO survey) within a one mile segment of the Applegate Trail make site specific aspects of the trail’s location known.

1. Peterson Aubrey. 2002. The Harris Family Massacre. The Daily Courier. Mondays Make History presented by the Josephine County Historical Society. Grants Pass, OR.

© 2012 Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society