Over the next month or so our blog will focus on some interesting Rogue River historical sites/people.
Historic Whisky Creek Cabin was first built around 1880 by an unknown miner. The original structure was little more than a crude shelter, consisting of four walls, a dirt floor, and a shake roof.
Over the years, the cabin and the nearby mining claim, were homesteaded and improved upon. As late as 1957, Lou Martin was hired to caretake the mining claim near the cabin. He inhabited and improved the cabin with a solar heated shower and a double-walled, sawdust-insulated pantry. Lou died in 1977, at the age of 83, after spending most of his last years at this cabin along the Rogue River.
Some of Lou's recollections on life in the canyon include: "You learn to do things for yourself when you're in the hills." "It was always a custom in the hills that whoever came by you'd have a cup of coffee. If we heard something was wrong, we'd go right now, night or day. Otherwise, maybe once a month you'd poke your nose around. That's enough--an hour and a half. You never stayed too long or you'd wear your welcome out. You soon learned that in the hills."
Whisky Creek Cabin is located within the Rogue National Wild and Scenic River corridor, approximately 37 river miles below Grants Pass, Oregon. It can be reached by hiking 3 miles downstream from Grave Creek (the start of the wild & scenic Rogue River) on the Rogue River National Recreation Trail. All of Whitewater Warehouse's hiking guests stop here to view history and to take a break by the beautiful creek that flows nearby.
