IN THE 1920s and 1930s, if you lived in the rocky wilderness along the upper Rogue River, or the mountainous area known as the Oregon Craggies, you lived in one of the most remote patches of the state.

There were no roads, only mule paths. Most folks didn’t make it into town more than once or twice a year. It was a 40-mile hike for most of them out to Gold Beach, or inland to the railroad station at West Fork, a tiny outpost that’s now a ghost town near the forks of Cow Creek.

But there was a mailman who came by every week or two with catalogs, packages, letters, and news from the outside world.

The arrival of that mailman would be a big event. Actually, the arrival of any visitor was a big event in that remote place. Tools would be put down, coffee would be put on the woodstove if it wasn’t already hot, and the mailman would be invited to sit down and rest ... and talk. (Agness and Illahe, Curry County; 1920s, 1930s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2406b.hathaway-jones-countrys-biggest-liar.html)