Grants Pass tourist information
Grants Pass Oregon
Grants Pass and it's surrounding valleys had a colorful past forged by the Native Americans, trappers, loggers, gold panners, celebrities, and writers who were attracted to the river and contributed to its legends.
The first inhabitants of the region were the Takilma and Shasta tribes. They comprised a number of linguistic groups.
Between 1825 and 1843, Hudson Bay trappers were the first white people to travel through the Rogue River Valley. Early settlers and trappers frequently referred to the local Indian tribes as "The Rogues" because of their willingness to fight for their rights.
In 1843 the Applegate brothers, Jesse and Lindsay, were part of a band of settlers traveling the Oregon Trail from Missouri. The young sons of both men died while crossing the Columbia River on a raft that was carrying all of their belongings. At that point the Applegate brothers vowed to backtrack and hopefully discover a safer, alternate route to Oregon and avoid the treacherous Columbia River. Beginning at Fort Hall, Idaho in 1846, they forged a new trail through Nevada, California and eventually through the Rogue Valley.
Josephine County was named for Josephine Rollins Ort, who came to Illinois Valley with her father in 1851. Her party was credited with the first discovery of gold in Southern Oregon. This event was the catalyst for a major migration to Southern Oregon of prospectors seeking their fortunes.
In 1852, sailors who had deserted their ship near Crescent City, started for the newly discovered gold fields at Jacksonville, but found rich deposits at a location in the Illinois Valley just 25 miles south of the present Grants Pass. The promise of gold caused Grants Pass to grow quickly. This discovery at "Sailor Diggin's" immediately became an important mining center with a population of several thousand. The name was later changed to Waldo in honor of William Waldo, brother of Daniel Waldo, a prominent figure in early Oregon history. In 1858, many miners left for new disoveries on the Frazier River of British Columbia never to return again. Nothing remains today of the many mining towns that sprang up in the Illinois Valley.
The valleys erupted in Indian wars between 1850 and 1857 as regular troops from Fort Jones, California and volunteers fought with the Indians. The final peace treaty was held on the Illinois River near Agness in 1855 prior to the last battle. After this final war, the Indians were moved to the Siletz and Grande Ronde Reservations on the northern Oregon Coast.
Grants Pass, in 1865 was selected to honor General Ulysses S. Grant's success at Vicksburg. Interestingly, until after 1900 our name still retained the original spelling of Grant's Pass, using an apostrophe. In 1894, Mary Peters "Indian Mary" applied for squatters' rights for land on which her father Umpqua Joe had built a cabin on the hill overlooking Hellgate Canyon. Her father had been an indan scout during the Rogue River Indian Wars. She received a 25 year deed and formed the smallest Indian Reservation in the United States. Josephine County eventually converted the land into the beautiful park we now call Indian Mary.
A local hunter, Elijah Davidson in 1874 stumbled upon an underground cave system when his dog disappeared into the side of a mountain while chasing a bear. He didn't realize it, but he had discovered what became known as the "Oregon Caves" and the first road to the Caves was opened thirty years later in 1904.
Grants Pass aerial map
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