Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1903-01-01
OREGON'S GOLD INDUSTRY
Has Grown Quietly-Now Attracts
the World.


In territory as vast as the United
States each particular section des
ignated by the name of state or
group of states becomes associated
inseparably in the mind with some
natural product. When the name of
California is mentioned the thought
at once is of gold; Texas means
cattle; Minnesota means wheat; Mis-
sissippi or Alabama suggests cotton (;
Oregon and Washington make one
think of lumber. But these impress
sions, although they are fixed pretty
firmly in the minds of most of us,
may be misleading. And this is
particularly so in the case of Oregon,
for lumber is only one of its resources,
and not the least of these is the pro-
duction of gold. This is a unique
condition, for here is tremendous in
dustry that has been moving forward
quietly through many years, attract
ing only now and then the attention
of the public, yet constantly growing
in importance. There is single vein
of gold in southern Oregon 10 miles
long which has produced more of the
yellow metal than any zone of its
length in the world; This is called
the Cracker district, and it alone en-
titled Oregon to high place among
the gold states.
If it were not for the overshadowing
reputation of California, Oregon
would perhaps be known as the gold
state of the Union. If the Forty
miners" had not gone to California,
but to Oregon first, and mad opened
there their first camps and lad made
among the rich veins of Oregon Is
mountains the large fortunes which
have since been made there, then the
stories and romances Of the gold craze
would have arisen from Oregon Had
Bret Harte and the others who have
painted the picturesqueness of the
early mining days Of California taken
their inspiration from the gold fields
further north, the impression which
is now in the public mind might have
been different. The Mackays, the
Floods and the Fairs, who made mil
lions in California, are known all
over the world. The men who nc
quired their wealth in the gold fields
of Oregon retired to enjoy their for
tunes in privacy, building splendid
homes, travelling about the world
wherever they wished, giving Of their
surplus to help those who were less
fortunate. But all this they did
quietly and without ostentation.
They are unknown mining kings of
the West, but kings nevertheless. And
all the while the world was reading of
the bonanza miners and their fabulous
wealth.
The situation finds "A parallel in
other branches OF American industry.
There are those whose names are in
every ones mouth. about whom some
thing appears in every issue Of the
daily papers. Sometimes these men
see the notoriety which comes to
them, while ostensibly they endeayor
to avoid it. Sometimes they become
conspicuous By accident, and, having
once become so, they continue to be
followed and watched and talked and
written about. Some Of them are
presidents Of great corporations, and
Of them it is told that they rose from
the bottom by their own struggles.
They are called captains of indus.
try" and they are feted and dined by
kings and emperors. At the same
time the papers and the people know
nothing Of the unknown captains OF