Josephine County

China Bar. Josephine County.

China Bar is approximately one half mile north of where Mule Creek joins the Rogue River. China Bar was the location of a community of Chinese placer miners who worked the area from the 1860's to the 1880's. The bar is named after Chow Long, an early Chinese placer miner. China Bar is within the Rogue National Wild and Scenic River. Reference: “Rogue River Float Guide” 2004; U.S.G.S. quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Kelsey Peak, Oregon, 1998. 

                                                                    

China Bar Rapids. Josephine County.

China Bar Rapids is on the Rogue River between Mule Creek and China Bar. The rapids are approximately 0.2. miles in length and rated as Class II. The name is derived from nearby China Bar. Reference: “Rogue River Float Guide” 2004; U.S.G.S. quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Kelsey Peak, Oregon, 1998. Photo.

China Basin. Josephine County.

China Basin is a valley within the Siskiyou Mountains. Nearby streams such as China Creek2, Munger Creek, and West and East Fork Williams River flow into it. The basin is drained by the Williams River. China Basin lies within the Galice Mining District. Reference: “Comment on the Proposal to Designate 13 Areas for OHV Use” 2008; U.S.G.S. quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Williams, Oregon,1980. 

 

China Creek1. Josephine County.

China Creek1 flows southeasterly into Taylor Creek. It is within the Lower Applegate Mining District. Reference:  Koschmann and Bergendahl 1968; Recreational Activities; U.S.G.S. quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Mount Peavine, Oregon, 1998. 

China Creek2. Josephine County.

China Creek2 flows in a southeasterly direction into China Basin, approximately 2 miles west of the town of Williams. The creek lies within the Galice Mining District. Reference: Koschmann and Bergendahl 1968; U.S.G.S. quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Williams, Oregon, 1980. 

China Creek Road. Josephine County.

China Creek Road is near China Creek2 in the town of Williams. Reference: “China Creek Road”; U.S.G.S. quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Williams, Oregon, 1980. 

China Garden. Josephine County.

China Garden is on the east side of Sucker Creek adjacent to a lode mine. There are numerous mines in the area. Reference: U.S.G.S. quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Oregon Caves, Oregon-California, 1996.

 

China Gulch1. Josephine County.

The stream in China Gulch1 flows through the gulch in a northerly direction and joins Wolf Creek. It is within the Greenback Mining District and evidence of mining activity is extensive.

Reference: Koschmann and Bergendahl 1968; U.S.G.S. quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Golden, Oregon, 1996.

China Gulch2. Josephine County.

China Gulch2 stream flows into the Rogue River in an area that is part of the Rogue National Wild and Scenic River Corridor and the Galice Mining District. Reference: Koschmann and Bergendahl 1968; U.S.G.S. quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Bunker Creek, Oregon, 1998. 

China Gulch Rapids. Josephine County.

China Gulch Rapids is in the Rogue River where it is joined by China Gulch2. The rapids are in the Galice Mining District. Reference: Koschmann and Bergendahl 1968; U.S.G.S. quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Bunker Creek, Oregon, 1998. Photo.

Chinaman Hat. Josephine County.

Chinaman Hat is a peak that stands at 3544 feet above sea level, being surrounded on the west and south side by the South Fork Silver Creek. The shape of the peak is roughly conical, suggesting the appearance of the peasant hat worn by Chinese immigrants in the later part of the 1800's. Reference: U.S.G.S. quadrangle, 7.5’ series, York Butte, Oregon, 1980. 

Chinamans Ditch Trail. Josephine County.

Chinamans Ditch Trail is southeast of the town of Williams. The ditch is commonly called Chinamans Ditch because of presumably being dug by Chinese laborers. It brought water to the Layton Mine itself near the Lower Applegate Mining District. The trail, when completed, will follow the ditch over both public and private land for a distance of 13 miles. The trail head is at Rock Creek. Reference: Environmental Assessment for the Scattered Apples Forest Management Project 1999; Koschmann and Bergendahl 1968; U.S.G.S. quadrangle 7.5’ series, Tallowbox Mountain, Oregon, 1996.

Coyote Creek Chinese Placer Mines. Josephine County.

Coyote Creek was the location of several hundred Chinese miners as early as the 1860's.

Reference: Grave Creek Watershed Analysis, v. 2. 1999:145; U.S.G.S. quadrangle 7.5’ series, Golden, Oregon, 1998.

Gin Lin’s Josephine Camp. Josephine County.

Gin Lin, a Chinese placer gold miner, relocated from Jackson County to the gold mining area along the Rogue River near Galice Creek in 1885. He returned to China in 1894 and died there in 1897. See Gin Lin's Camp, Jackson County; Gin Lin's Ditch, Jackson County; Gin Lin's Mining Trail, Jackson County. Reference: LaLande 1981: 31, 81; U.S.G.S. quadrangle 7.5’ series, Galich, Oregon, 1998. Photo.

Kerbyville Chinese Camp. Josephine County.

Kerbyville Chinese Camp was established by Chinese miners in 1854. Kerbyville is now known as Kirby. Reference; Mead 2006: 270.

Sailors Diggings Chinese Lumber Mill. Josephine County.

Sailors Diggings Chinese Lumber Mill provided cut lumber for the miners of Sailors Diggings in the mid 1800's. Sailors Diggings refers to the mining district that became known as Waldo Mining District when a post office was established in the community with the name Waldo in 1856. Reference: Althouse Creek Watershed Assessment 2005; Walter n.d. “Waldo (City).”

Tyee Bar. Josephine County.

Tyee Bar is on the Rogue River four miles downstream from the confluence of Grave Creek and the Rogue River. As many as 300 Chinese placer miners worked the area in the 1880's.

Reference: “Rogue River Float Guide” 2004; U.S.G.S. quadrangle 7.5’ series, Bunker Creek, Oregon, 1998.

Waldo Chinatown. Josephine County.

 Waldo Chinatown was a series of small structures closely spaced behind the store on the main street of the town of Waldo. In existence by 1858, the Chinatown was more of a residential area than commercial center. Exuberant celebrations with fire crackers is thought to have been the reason that it was destroyed by fire. The Chinatown and Waldo itself no longer existed by the 1930's. Reference: Brandt; Francis.

Waldo Chinese Cemetery. Josephine County.

Waldo Chinese Cemetery is near Cave Junction about five miles southwest of Waldo Road and BLM Road 40-8-28. The remains of those buried there were removed and sent to China by a Chinese association in California in the 1920's-1930's. The cemetery is on the National Registry of Historic Places. Reference: Brandt. Photo.

References

Althouse Creek Watershed Assessment. 2005. U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Medford District. http://www.blm.gov/ Accessed March 8, 2011.

Brandt, Roger.  “The Chinese in Oregon’s Gold Rush.” Highway 199. http://highway199.org/ Accessed December 7, 2010.

“China Creek Road.” MapQuest. http://www.mapquest.com/ Accessed December 14, 2010.

“Comment on the Proposal to Designate 13 Areas for OHV Use.” 2008. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Land Management. http://www.blm.gov/ Accessed December 15, 2010.

Environmental Assessment for the Scattered Apples Forest Management Project. 1999. U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Medford District, Grants Pass Resources. http://www.blm.gov/ Accessed December 15, 2010. 

Francis, Dorothy.  “Waldo, Oregon History.” Web Trail. http://www.webtrail.com/ Accessed December 6, 2010.

Grave Creek Watershed Analysis, v. 2. 1999. U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Medford District. http://www..blm.gov/ Accessed March 10, 2011.

Koschmann, A. H. and M. H. Bergendahl. 1968. “Josephine County Oregon Gold Production.” http://www.westernmininghsitory.com/ Accessed November 12, 2010.

LaLande, Jeffery Max. 1981. “Sojourners in the Oregon Siskiyous, Adaptation and Acculturation of the Chinese Miners in Applegate Valley, circa 1855-1900.” Masters thesis. Oregon State University.

Mead, George R. 2006. A History of Union County with An appendix the Chinese in Oregon. LaGrande, Oregon: E-Cat Worlds.

Oregon Metal Mines Handbook. 1952. Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, Bulletin No. 14-C, Vol. 2, Section 1-Josephine County, 2^nd ed.

Recreational Activities-Trails. China Creek Trail 1130. http://www.fs.fed.us/ Accessed December 15, 2010.

“Rogue River Float Guide.” 2004. U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management. http://www.blm.gov/ Accessed March 10, 2011.

U.S.G.S. Quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Bunker Creek, Oregon, 1998. 

_______. Quadrangle 7.5’ series, Galich, Oregon, 1998.

_______. Quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Golden, Oregon, 1996. 

_______. Quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Kelsey Peak, Oregon, 1998.

 

_______. Quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Mount Peavine, Oregon, 1998. 

_______. Quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Tallowbox Mountain, Oregon, 1996.

_______. Quadrangle, 7.5’ series, Williams, Oregon, 1980.

_______. Quadrangle, 7.5’ series, York Butte, Oregon, 1980.

Walter, Greg. “Waldo (City). n.d. The Oregon Encyclopedia. http://www.Oregon-encyclopedia.org/ Assessed March 8, 2011.