Southern Oregon and Northern California’s botanical diversity includes the Canyon Live Oak, one of the earliest known oak species to evolve in North America.  Fossil records suggest the resilient and adaptable tree migrated to the region from Mexico.

Discovered in 1860, the Black Bear Mine was one of the most important quartz gold mines in Siskiyou County, Calif.  It was located along the Salmon River in the Liberty Mining District, nine miles south of Sawyer’s Bar.

The animal shelter in Jackson County, Ore., was handling up to 250 dogs a month in 1961 and running out of space.  The proposed budget contained $7,000 for building a new cement-block, heated structure to house dogs that were being kept only five days. Maxwell Thayer, owner and editor of the Rogue River Times had a better idea.

Born between 1814 and 1818 as a slave in Kentucky, Letitia Carson died in 1888 on her own Southern Oregon ranch with a two-story house, smokehouse, cattle, pigs, and an orchard of more than 100 trees.

The Rogue River Courier reported on two separate shootings in January of 1910 that created widespread interest in Grants Pass, Ore.

Twenty-seven miles west of Grants Pass is a small town once named Napoleon.  The town started out as Kerbyville, but is known today as simply Kerby.

In 1851, Ernest Kidder, a partner, and five mules were packing supplies to their mining partners on the Salmon River from Trinidad, Calif.  The trail was narrow and high above the river.

In 1929, George O. Knapp, a wealthy entrepreneur, announced plans to build a hospital at Crescent City, Calif.  He already had been instrumental in transforming the Santa Barbara (Calif.) Cottage Hospital into a premier facility.

A major business property owner, Charles W. Palm, was a familiar figure in Medford, Ore., often seen downtown with his wife, Callie, and their two cocker spaniel dogs.