Rogue River Ranch: A Living Museum

The Rogue River Ranch, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is nestled in the heart of the Rogue River National Wild and Scenic River's wild section near Mule Creek canyon. If you raft, kayak or hike the Rogue you will have an opportunity to experience this unique "living museum."

A little background on the site...Between the bustling years of 1903 and 1930, the Billings family's "Trading Post" grew to become the center of social life for 75 - 100 residents of the Mule Creek-Marial area. Settlers came by foot from miles around to attend dances and church services on the site. The photo above shows just the main house on the site. The Billings Trading Company played a significant role in the colorful era of the people of the Rogue Canyon.

Around 1930, George Billings closed the store and sold out to Stanley Anderson for $5,000. The Andersons used the ranch as a recreational homesite. In 1970 the Andersons sold the ranch and properties (199.95 acres) to the U.S. Government. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is currently restoring and maintaining the buildings to prevent further deterioration.

Travelers are welcome to visit the Rogue River Ranch. We ask Whitewater Warehouse guests to tread lightly during their visits here...history is fragile and irreplaceable.

1860's Whisky!

History of the white man in the Rogue River canyon dates back to the late 1860's. The Whisky Creek Cabin is one of the few remaining relics of the Rogue River gold rush era. The others have fallen victim to vandalism and the ravages of time. The cabin and surrounding area remains isolated and inaccessible except by river or trail, much like it was when early pioneers first inhabited the area.

In 1973, the Bureau of Land Management purchased the deed to the cabin. Today, Whisky Creek Cabin is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the oldest known standing mining cabin in the remote lower Rogue River canyon.

Browse around and reflect on the rugged way of life that has long since vanished from this area; but please respect this historic site. Earlier this summer, we just happened to photograph two smiling Whitewater Warehouse clients enjoying their visit to this "living museum."

Historic Whisky Creek Cabin

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.

Rogue Steelhead

Isn't this a spectacular Steelhead? Bob Meister, owner of Whitewater Warehouse, caught this beauty on the fourth day of fishing the wild Rogue. Caught on a bead-head nymph. Reports for 2008 are filtering into our offices and guide friends tell us that this year is a HOT fishing year! With several bad fishing years on the Rogue River in the recent past, 2008 is a breath of fresh air for the avid fisherperson. Some guides report that it is the best fishing year they have ever seen!!!

Give us a call and we can hook you up with Bob. He'll be happy to talk fishing and even assist you in booking a trip on the wild Rogue! 1-800-214-0579

Here's a link to an article printed in the Medford, Oregon, Mail Tribune about Half-Pounders or small steelhead The Rogue River is famous for its "steelie" runs in the fall so we are all excited that the runs are looking very healthy this year.

Lucicous Summer Blackberries

These beauties are just beginning to pop to life on the river banks of the Rogue River! We don't know anyone who doesn't LOVE Oregon blackberries--especially in the yummy homemade jam that Marial Lodge (located on the wild and scenic Rogue River) serves with their freshly baked bread each evening to our rafting, kayaking and hiking guests.

This year we served Oregon Blackberries--both fresh and in the form of a unique Blackberry Jelly--at our Rogue River riverside lunch table. Both the fresh berries (purchased from a local farmer) and the deep blue-black jelly were a hit....with adults and kids alike!

This fresh-from-nature experience is what we specialize in on our famous Rogue River trips. So check us out at Whitewater Warehouse...

Early fall on the Rogue River

Such a beautiful time on the Rogue River. Whitewater Warehouse still offers fall camp trips where you can leisurely float the river, view the incredible changing colors of the forests, and even try your luck at fishing for the famous Rogue River half-pounder fish (small steelhead) and salmon. We recently read an incredible passage by Canadian author Roderick Haig-Brown who describes the beauty of the ebb and flow of the Rogue River's fall season...

They come to the spawning gravels in all their brilliant colors--reds, browns, greens, gray and black and golden. Like the autumn leaves above them, they have their time of fierce glory. Then the frosts and the rains and the winds come. The leaves become torn and sodden and dulled, and in their time they fall, covering the ground, drifting with the stream currents, piling against the rocks and shallows. But within the trees, life is still strong and self-renewing.

As the winds stir and drift the dying leaves, so the waters stir and drift the dying salmon against the gray-brown gravels of the the streambeds. But under those gravels life is strong and secret and protected in the buried eggs, the real life of the race. Fungus grows on the emptied bodies; they collect in the the eddies and strand on the gravel bars, and the bacteria of change work in them to make a new fertility. In spring, life will burst from the gravel as it bursts again from the trees in the massive yield of the new cycle.

Ahhh, fall on the Rogue River. And another life cycle begins....