Welcome To Josephine County Oregon TTTP Genealogy and History

Don Kelly, district, state and county administrator   1850 gold was found here near eight doller mountain. Mining claimes laid out along the Rogue River, with the worst danger being Indians along the waterway. Even ocean beaches sandnear river mouths were gold mines. TOWNS AND CITIES Cave Junction Grants Pass Redwood

Josephine County History Society Passport To History Rogue River Indian Wars 1850 - 1855 The Umpqua Indians of Douglas County looked down with disdain on their southern neighbors. They referred to them as "Shasta" a name for Bad Indians. When the Rogue groups asked the Umpqua Chief to go to war with them against the white man, the chief refused, and noted that the white man had caused his group no trouble, and they were friends, and settlement was inevitable. He must have been a wise chief. History: Summary Commercial activity during the territorial period was gold mining and supplying gold miners around the Rogue and Illinois valleys. By late 1850s gold mining declined and miners moved south to fields in California or north to new fields in British Columbia. The U.S. government owns the majority of the land within the county  with the Bureau of Land Management owning 28% of the lands within the county boundaries, most of which are Oregon and California Railroad lands, and the Forest Service owning 39%. Grants Pass is now the departure point for most Rogue River scenic waterway guided fishing and boat trips. The Illinois River, one of the Rogue's tributaries, has also been designated a scenic waterway.   Neighboring Counties: Curry County, Oregon - (west) Jackson County, Oregon - (east) Douglas County, Oregon - (north) Del Norte County, California - (southwest) Siskiyou County, California - (south) Protected Areas: Oregon Caves National Monument  Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Part of Curry County was founded on December 18, 1855, from the southern part of Coos County.