How does a cook separated from his kitchen feed 40 hungry people while traveling in the mountains in a covered wagon train?

The discovery and publicizing of Crater Lake came about in fits and starts in the mid-1800s, as stories of a great body of water emerged from a variety of sources.

Samuel Handsaker quit school at the age of 11 and emigrated from England to Alton, Ill. He lacked a formal education, but was a gifted writer and observer.

Since 1953, the town of Rogue River, Ore., has held a rooster crowing contest every June. Shade Combs got the idea from an article he read about rooster competitions among Welsh miners.

The one-room Rock Hill School on Old Hill Road southwest of Lebanon, Ore., has served as a school, church, and community center.

Ten-year-old Pete Scott won $25,000 and a role in a TV commercial in August 1981. Born and abandoned in New Jersey, Pete had been adopted when he was young and moved with his family to Central Point, Ore.

Lorane, Ore, a Lane County community established in the early 1850’s by settlers seeking free land, was connected to Southern Oregon by the Applegate Trail which passed close to nearby Cottage Grove to the East.

The State of California ratified its constitution in 1879. Its Article One, Section Eight required that each county form and summon a grand jury at least once a year. The idea was to bring together discreet and thinking men to protect and defend the public interest.

Born in Hartford, Conn., in 1867, George S. Calhoun moved West with his parents in 1888, eventually making Grants Pass his home where he operated a grocery store.

Shasta, once known as the Queen City of Northern California, was the business and transportation center of pack strings and freight wagons.