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The name of the Metolius River was a translation from it's Indian name, Matoles. The word had two meanings; Light Colored Salmon or Smelly Water. Millons of salmon venutred upstream annually to lay their eggs. Once spawned they would begin the process to die. As they lost their color they became pale and pasty. Rotting fish littered the riverbanks, fertilizing the trees and contining the cycle of life. |
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Work in Progress This book will cover the history of the Metolius River from Camp Sherman to The Cove. 1846-1968 |
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Through some circmustance a man named Green Clark Rogers, who lived in Sheridan in the Wilamette Valley, discovered the canyon floor where the three rivers came together. The land was available for homesteading and in the 1870's he filed his homestead claim on a twelve acre parcel that straddeled the the easily forded Crooked River. It took on the name The Cove
The only access down to The Cove was a narrow path that was likely a game trail and frequented by local indians. Part way down the canyon (at the present Crooked River Day Use Area), the path turned northward and led down to the river's edge.
On the eastern side of the Crooked river was a flat land parcel that was about thirty feet higher than the river and nearby they found a spring. Rogers and his sn-in-law, George Osborne, cultivated some land and planted a garden and some fruit trees. |
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George rented a house in Prineville for his wife, Martha, to live in while he and his father-in-law made plans to build two houses. At a place near Grizzley they found suitable logs and loaded them on wagons. When they arrived at The Cove they had to lower each log by rope nearly a thousand feet to the canyon floor. Two years later they moved into their new homes.
The soil lived up to expecations and before long they were harvesting extra vegetables and fruit that they could sell. They loaded the surplus produce on pack horses and took the long trail up to the canyon rim. There they reloaded their cargo onto a wagon and began the thirty mile trip to Prineville.
By 1886 Rogers had completed the reqired improvements and received the patent on his land, signed by President Cleveland. Over the months he received frequent visits from T. F.McCallister, who was a cattle and sheep rancher and owned several ranches in the Prineville area. McCalister saw big ideas for the Cove and in 1888 he offered to swap a house in Prineville for the property. Rogers took he deal.
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To Be Continued...... |