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The Rogue at Blossom Bar, so named because of the wild Azaleas along its banks, Also known as the "rock garden".
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Few rivers are more beautiful than Oregon's Rogue. After tumbling out of the Cascade Mountains near Crater Lake this river glides through the lovely Rogue River Valley before cutting its deep chasm through the Syskiyu and Pacific coast mountain ranges, for many years a river of no return. Its gradient can exceed 30' per mile through the 3000' canyons of the Rogue until it glides gently past Illahee and Agness and then spills inevitably into the Pacific Ocean at Gold Beach. |
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The "rock garden" from another vantage point. |
Like the McKenzie, the earliest
recorded explorers into the Rogue were the Hudson Bay fur traders in 1822.
The traders referred to the river as LaRiviere aux
Coquins, the River of the Rogues, after the local population who were
not pleased by the traders' intrusions into the area. Not withstanding the circumstances surrounding the
origin of the name, the "Rogue River" is indeed quite apt. This is a river
of mischievous and dangerous character whose confining canyon walls create
powerful hydraulics that will beat and sink the hardiest of craft. Indeed, for many years the Rogue was considered
unnavigable through the canyon.
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A log driver on the Clearwater in Idaho, circa 1940. |
It was not long In 1851 gold was discovered in Jacksonville, up river from Grants Pass. It was not long before before panning and placer mining invaded the Rouge River canyon. In spite of the dangers the river became a primary route for transporting men, equipment and supplies to mining camps in the canyon. The boats were fairly traditional river drivers. The earliest were perhaps patterned after the log driving bateaux that migrated into the Northewest from Maine in the 1870s and 1880s. Or, they may have been patterned after the boats built and used by the fur traders. Regardless, the river driver was for decades the boat of choice on the Rogue. It could be driven up river using pike poles and oars, and it could be run down river as a traditional river dory. |
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Zane Grey's boat at Winkle Bar. Probably built by Claude Bardon in the early 1920's. A boat built for a one-way trip.
A Rogue driver under sail, circa 1910 |
The boats, however, that were used to transport goods into the canyon were "one way boats." They were either left to rot on the river bank or used locally within a confined section of river. More often than not the boats were dismantled and the lumber was used by the miners or homesteaders. These boats were most common among the commercial salmon fishermen on the lower Rogue as well as the fishermen in and around Grants Pass. Sportsmen began to access the Rogue in the early 20th century. The name Glen Woolridge is synonymous with the early development of Rogue River access. He and Cal Allen were the first run the Rogue from Grants Pass through to Gold Beach in 1917, a Herculean feat in those days. A boat builder and guide by profession he was also a promoter, with a gift for gab and hyperbole that enticed the rich and famous onto the river. Western author and sportsman Zane Grey fell in love with the Rogue and purchased a piece of property in the heart of the canyon (Winkle Bar) in the early 1920s. The colorful Rogue River guide, Claude Bardon, squired Grey and his parties into the canyon. He is also credited with building several of the seven river drivers Grey commissioned for trips to Winkle Bar. The boats were used locally to reach parts of the river. One relic is on display next to Zane Grey's cabin. The current owners have been very generous in allowing river travelers to peruse the grounds and the boat. |
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The author's re-creation of the Zane Grey boat as representative of the Rogue River Drivers. |
