Historic Elk City
Dedicated to Oregon Artist Delbert Loyd Hodges (1940-1999)
Who Lived on the Elk City-Harlan Road

     Hello fellow Internet surfer and welcome to a gem of a site dedicated to illuminating the onyx-like parallels unearthed from an otherwise beclouded and boring American and world historical perspective into its many hues and flavors, a spectrum inclusive of most light that makes up the untold stories, fascinating stories and journeys not quite attached or put together in this theatrical or holistic manner as you will find!
        I bring many years of personal and unique historical research, reading, collaboration, living, and writing experiences. I am a published historian, journalist, and genealogist, whose roots are in the Central Oregon Coast, the primary though not exclusive gathering or focal point of these stories.
    I am not professionally enamored by historicism in the classical sense, or any particular intellectual chains, other than the challenge to loosen the usual grip of white Western European, heterosexist and masculinist elitism! And yes, I believe in being politically correct, and am proud of it, that I still name the names! I am a student and practitioner of folk and established history, and am expanding my understanding of story, wishing to share some of those exciting findings and perspectives. I plan to update this site regularly with the little known gems and connections to "the rest of the story" usually relegated to footnotes I have uncovered from the current draft of our mammoth, interconnected, well documented history saga, Sovereigns of Themselves: A Liberating Historyof Oregon and Its Coast. I would welcome and appreciate hearing from you, comments, questions, suggestions, corrections, or other resources and I hope that you'll stick around long enough to get to know just a little bit more about what this cyber-historian has to offer.

     Quaint Elk City is said to have been the first settlement within the confines of present Lincoln County. It is also supposed to have been a roaring frontier camp for construction of the Oregon Pacific Railroad in the early 1880s. But now it dozes beside Yaquina River and "dreams" of past glories.

Elk City Covered Bridge 1958
Photo Courtesy of Julie Hendricks

     There are three routes leading to Elk City but removal of a bridge that has not been replaced at the east entrances makes the longer approach through Toledo the better way to visit this weathered hamlet at the headwater of navigation on the Yaquina. Travel distance from Toledo, mostly along the scenic Yaquina River, is about eight miles of winding through pastures and by sites of activities and discontinued lumbering operations.    
     Located in East Lincoln County, Elk City is said to have received its name from large herds of elk, observed in the region by pioneers. A first settlement was made in 1886 by the Yaquina Bay Wagon Road Company when it built a warehouse there, at the western terminal of a toll road from Corvallis.

     A school was established the next year. Then in 1868 Albitha Newton platted the place, which remained for some time the overland stage and mail terminus from Corvallis.
     For many years Elk City was a rendezvous for fishermen and hunters seeking big catches and big game. Travelers from the Willamette Valley to Yaquina Bay often came by the way of Elk City where water transportation was available either to Yaquina City of Newport.
     In early days Elk City bore the name of Newton to commemorate its founder. A post office was established on July 12, 1868, that received the name of Elk City on November 23, 1888. As Newton, the community had two hotels, one kept by Jim Dixon, the other Marsh Simpson. "Head of tidewater on the Yaquina River is becoming quite a place," said an Oregon business directory for 1881.
     Three years later Newton had really arrived as a construction camp for the Oregon Pacific Railroad, pushing overland from the head of navigation on the Yaquina River to meet another crew working eastward from Corvallis.

    During September of 1884, the railroad was extended from Yaquina City to Elk City, a distance of 20 miles.
Chinese labor, using dump carts and wheelbarrows were building Colonel T. Egerton Hogg's dream that stockholders for a while hoped would link the Oregon Pacific to Yaquina City with a transcontinental line in Idaho.
     For a time Elk City lived up to the best traditions of a railroad construction camp in the 1880s. After the first excursion over the Oregon Pacific tracks to the coast, July 4, 1885, Elk City settled down to a more placid existence. Fishermen and hunters still come, but by rail instead of by the old toll road.
     In 1903, the place had a population of 85 (not much different from today's estimate) and was considered a pleasant resort by the Oregon & Washington  Gazetteer. Then there was but one hotel, a grocery store, livery stable, justice of the peace and a Wells Fargo express agent, Edwin A. "Kit" Abbey. During World War I, lumbering gave Elk City a real boost and the population of 150 with two sawmills in operation. World War II was a similar benefaction.

Elk City Sawmill Owned by George Hodges  Elk City,Oregon 1909

     Although Elk City is somnolent beside the Yaquina River, old residents have not forgotten more illustrious times. The post office has been retained and there is a store where supplies and refreshments may be obtained. Fishermen, who moor their motorboats from a time out ashore and a visitation to the store, report fishing is still good in the Yaquina. Photographers, who may not care to fish or hunt, will find at Elk City one of the best examples of an old-fashioned, red covered bridge known to be still standing in Western Oregon. (Capitol Journal, August 9, 1958)

     On February 21, 2002, Elk City Store owner John Pung wrote:

     "...Thank you very much for your effort and if only people would know that  this area turned into a drug infested and criminal area in the late 80s and 90s. We have with stern determination turn this area into somewhat of what it was years ago. These people did not appreciate that the fact the elk city store was the oldest commerical building in Lincoln County. We hope people like the fact that they can enjoy the area without being here in fear. This is a beautiful area and should be enjoyed by all. If you what to go for a ride--enjoy. One of saddest parts of our lives is missing Delbert Hodges as no matter when we [saw] him...he was part of our family..."

     Some of the history of early Lincoln County can be read from the gravestones of Elk City Cemetery which is located just a few miles from the junction of Yaquina and Big Elk rivers.
     Elk City Cemetery was established as a burial ground before the birth of Lincoln County in 1893.
     The earliest grave discovered bears the epitaph: "Erected In Memory Of William Mosier Killed At Pioneer Quarry December 5, 1884."
     William Mosier's gravestone was carved from the native stone from the quarry. Several other gravestones are simpler and crude, although they are identified as having been fashioned from the same stone as Mosier's.
     There are a number of family burial plots which are fenced in. Some of the plots, identified by similar markers, list the father, mother, sister, and brother, etc. Others list one or two family members, strongly suggesting that the rest of the family moved away, and are buried elsewhere.
     Many names of families who still live in the valleys surrounding Elk City are listed on the markers in the cemetery, such as Hodges, Parks and Jacobson.

Elk Herd and Rams at Salem, Oregon
Sculpture by Delbert Loyd Hodges

     This pioneer cemetery, which is now over 100 years old, was once well tended by loving relatives. Now it has all but vanished from the scene. Those who stumble upon it, can hardly recognize it as valuable pages from the past in the history of the settling of one of Lincoln County's earliest towns.
    Located on a hill above the old farmhouse now owned by Evelyn Schriver, this beautiful brambled nook, which is sadly neglected, can now be reached by graveled road. (Lincoln County Leader, May 23, 1968)
     According to the late Evelyn Payne Parry, there was an earlier cemetery on the hill above the Bob Parks place in an area that was surveyed into streets and a ball park. (At Rest In Lincoln County 1978, pp. 17-21)

Abbey, --(?-? female) d/o Rich & Rosa; Abbey, Chas M (1858-? OR); Abbey, Frances M (1851-1871 OR); d/o  Miranda (1863-? KY) & Edwin Alden (1824-?) NY) sis/o Chas M (1858-? OR), Melissa E (1861-? OR), Alden  (1867-? OR) & Clara A (1870-? OR); Barber, Mary Ann (1844-1914-9-1) bur by Ms E E Casteel; Bevens, -- (?-? male)  infant s/o Commodore Perry & L V Parks; Bevens, Commodore Perry (1859-1913 OR) h/o L V Parks; twin b/o  Theodore; Bevens, Hudson J (1819-1902) KY) f/o Joice Ann Bevens Simpson; Bevens, Mary S (1821-1893 KY) m/o Joice Ann Bevens Simpson; Bevens, Ruby (?-1898) infant d/o Commodore Perry & L V Parks; Bly, Hattie M  (1833-1912-2-2); Cleveland, Jas C (1-30-1845-1912 WI) h/o Jennie McIntyre; f/o Lula Pollak; Cloakes, Alfred  (?-? bur Storrs); Cloakes, -- (?-? female; bur Storrs); Cloakes, Mahala (?-? bur Storrs); Dixon, -- (?-? female); Dixon,  Bertha (1876-1880) d/o W R & S E; Dixon, David L (1878-1881) s/o W R & S E; Dixon, Jas Chester  (1871-1932-12-22) f/o Jas Edw; Dixon, Jas Edw (1842-1924); Dixon, Julia E (1871-1880) d/o W R & S E;  Dixon, Wm W (1873-1881); Embree, Jas Benton (1869-1930 OR) f/o Orville & Reuben; Embree, Orville Lewis  (1902-1935) s/o Jas Benton; b/o Reuben; Endresen, Selma Dorothy (1887-1924) w/o Edw Preston; Gillespie,  Edw Preston (1864-1936); Gillespie, Flora (?-?) hs bur Eugene?; Gillespie, Hollister R (1890-1918) s/o Flora &  Edw Preston; Pvt WWI; Graves, E B (?-? female) small girl took medicine by accident; Hagen, Elden Maurice  (1908-1924) s/o Carl; Heady, Lucy Jane Babcock (8-18-1878-1937); Hill, Ann (1845-? OR) w/o Rbt; Hill, Rbt  (1826-? OH) h/o Ann; Rogue River Farm farmer (c1863); Hodges, Nadine Marie "Carol Nadine" (3-15-1939-1939-3-17 OR) d/o Geneva Claudine Hodges & Geo Adelbert Hodges II (bur Toledo Cemetery); sis/o  artist Delbert Loyd Hodges (1940-1999) & Ronald Wayne Hodges (1942-?); Hodges, Walter Warren (1895-1930); s/o Levina Sager & Geo Adelbert I; Hoffman, Frederick C (1847-1913-12-26 Denmark) h/o Rosa B Bly; Jacobson,  Ann Styris (1866-1933); Jacobson, Jacob E (1865-1942 Finland) foreman rock quarry at Morrison; Kruger, Ann  Elizabeth Spencer (1859-1916); Kruger, Wm (2-18-1868-1942-12-19); Mays, Ruby (?-?) infant d/o Sarah E (1846-? IL) & Chas B (1839-? IL); sis/o Edna Margaret (1862-1872 OR), Ida M (1864 OR), Grant B (1866-? OR), Noah M  (1868-? OR) & Troy M (1870--? OR); McDaniel, Ada Ellen (1931-1931-4-17) d/o Gertrude Chalmers &  Jas;  McDaniel, Gertrude Caroline (1932-1932); infant d/o Gertrude Chalmers & Jas; McDonald, Harriet E "Hattie"  Parks (1878-1915-7-?) d/o Queen Victoria Franklin & Leander; Miller, Marie Nelson (?-1932 bur Portland); d/o  Lambert; wf of Paer Anderson; Miller, Paer Anderson (1854-1915-9-9 Sweden); Morrison, -- (?-1914 male); Morrison,  Chelsey L (1859-1940) h/o Margaret Crahen; Mosier, Wm R (1854-1894) killed Pioneer Rock Quarry; left wife and  5 children; Palmer, Lottie Parks (?-?) d/o Ballard; wf of Henry; Parks, Chas Rice (1820-1911) Pvt Confederate  Army Civil War; Parks, Leander (1853-1935) h/o Queen Victoria Franklin; f/o Mary, Jos, Wm Hattie, Jas Verne &  Walter; Parks, Oscar C (1875-1902; Parks, Olive S (1884-1914) d/o Queen Victoria Franklin & Leander; Parks,  Queen Victoria Franklin (1858-1896) wf of Leander; Owens, Ernest (?-1932-12-29) stranger in the area who drowned. Elk City neighbors built casket and bur him; Ramsdell, David Barclay (1852-1920-8-7 OR) s/o Lovely J (1830-?  VA) & Rev Thms M (1822-? VT); Ramsdell, Rev Thms M (1822-? VT) h/o Lorilla J I (1830-? VA); f/o David Barclay  (1852-1920 OR), Margaret (1854-? OR), Cordelia (1853-? OR), Lorilla J II (1857-? OR), Thms M II (1859-? OR), Oscar (1862-? OR), Ann (1864-? OR), John (1866-? OR) & Frances (1868-? OR); Ray, Jas (?-1941-8-12 CA PUT 352  Aux RM Depot QMC WWI; Rochester, Olive A Simpson (1870-1892) d/o Joice Ann Bevens & Marshall  Winchester; Ross, Victor (?-?); Sharp, Lottie Harding (1872-1930) m/o Pearl Williams, Ora & Leslie; Sharp, Omer  Clyde (1904-1932); Sharp, Wm (1864-1942) f/o Pearl Williams, Ora & Leslie; Simpson, Joice Ann II  (1917-1925-1-20) d/o Joice Ann Bevens (1843-? MO) & Marshall Winchester (1838-? AR); sis/o Hettie (1860-? OR), Owen C (1864-? OR), & Olive Ann (1870-? OR); Simpson, Wm E (1881-1920) s/o Joice Ann Bevens (1843-?  MO) & Marshall Winchester (1838-? AR); b/o Hettie (1860-? OR), Owen C (1864-? OR) & Olive Ann (1870-? OR); Smith, Thms J (1846-1910-2-4 MO) s/o Jonathan; h/o Mida C; f/o Ralph E; Timmons, Hettie (1865-1925-9-?); Timmons, Thms E (1858-1917); Turnacliff, David (1812-1885) h/o Alisa Chitwood; IL 3 NF Civil War; Van Orden,  Jessie Lathrop (1875-1912) crippled & in wheel chair; Van Orden, Henry (?-?) h/o Olive; Van Orden, Marion (1888-1918); Van Orden, Olive Dixon (4-14-1850-1928-3-28) d/o Jas Chester; Warren, Bessie Van Orden  (1884 1917); Watkins, Frances (?-?) d/o Nancy Parks & John; Wilson, Jepie (1890-1906). (Lords of Themselves:  A History of Eastern Lincoln County, Oregon 1978, pp. 90-92)

     On December 14, 2001, Debby Miller of Newport wrote:

     "...I've been trying to find you for a couple of years!...I am desendent of Simpsons, Bevens, etc. from East Lincoln
County.  Your book Lords of Themselvesis [one third] or more about people I'm related to! My mom and I have done quite a bit or research on these families...tracing them back to before they came to Oregon. The person I'd like to get more information about is Maybel Woodford, married William Edgerton Simpson....both were sheriffs in Lincoln County in the 20s. I'm always amazed that it's so hard to find info about Maybel, considering she is the only female sheriff to serve in Oregon!..."

     On February 11, 2002, Nancy Schweikert of Scio wrote:

     "...Do you know if  there are any copies of the book about Harlan to be had anywhere? Need one for family research. I remember Claudine Hodges and went to school with both her boys.  At Christmas time, she came to our church at Toledo, and brought Delbert, who sang "Star of the East." He had a good voice. I have enjoyed seeing his work at the Library in Salem and at Salem City Hall. Too talented to die so young ... I am researching the Gray family of Lincoln County.  My interest is especially in the Sharp and Williams families. Ora Richard Sharp, who is buried at Elk City, was the husband of Mary Gray Sharp, my grandfather's sister.   Pearl Williams, was the sister of Ora Sharp. She and her husband Luke lived in a floathouse on the river between Toledo and Elk City.  I remember visiting them in the 50s. They had a little garden and an outhouse..."

A Tribute to Oregon Photographer Ben Maxwell

Oregon Photographer Ben Maxwell

Ben Maxwell was born in Salem on February 25, 1898 at 574 North 15th Street. His childhood home, of 1860's vintage, was razed in the 1930s. In his characteristic plain-spoken manner he explained his early interest in history by saying he was reared “in a family of old people who talked about old times.”

His father was I. N. Maxwell who came to Oregon from Tennessee in 1869. The elder Maxwell taught school at Eola in Polk County after being a lawyer and mining judge in Idaho. Ben’s mother was Medora Hayden Maxwell whose parents had arrived in Oregon in 1852.

In 1904, Ben Maxwell entered East Salem School (later known as Washington School) located at 12th and Center Street (the site of the present day Safeway Food & Drug.) When Washington School was razed in 1949, Maxwell photographed its final days with his Speed Graphic camera.

In 1917 he graduated from Salem High School (today the Meier & Frank department store occupies this property) and from Oregon State University in 1925. At college he studied history and journalism, followed by a year of “law training."

Ben and his wife Louise bought their home in 1926 and he started working for the Capitol Journal newspaper in 1939 on a free-lance basis. Steve Stone, former Capitol Journal city editor, once said, “Ben just came down and went to work” but wasn’t employed formally. “I just saw him breezing around the office and that seemed to be the way George Putnam hired people.”

Because Maxwell packed his camera on every quest for historical stories, he was able to illustrate the articles he wrote for newspapers including the Capitol Journal, the Oregon Journal, the Oregonian, and several magazines. He recorded on film at least thirteen governors, many old-timers now gone, covered bridges now missing, and several buildings and homes no longer standing. He copied hundreds of rare photographs, which, in turn, have been copied over and over by later researchers and feature story writers.

Ben's vocabulary added flavor to facts without loss of accuracy. He might refer to a certain politician as being “whittled down to a fine point” or to another early character as one who “could hang a gate or daub mud on the inside of a chimney, but could never write poetry." In describing early Salem hotels, he said: “In pioneer times, most so-called hotels were little more than flop-houses without facilities. The flea bag who scratched when he applied for a room was just as welcome as a dignified citizen who wore a plug hat and squirted tobacco juice through his whiskers."

Among his favorite stories were those of the coffin maker in Salem who, tiring, took a nap in a coffin where he was found by a shocked and grieving relative and of the keg of beer being delivered to hopeful gold miners on the Santiam River, only to have the keg fall from the wagon and split.

Another story recalled the christening of a ferry at Independence in October 1945, by Mayor Maurice Butler, who used a gallon of buttermilk instead of champagne. This dedication happened on the same day as a guillotine execution in France of Pierre Laval on charges of treason. As luck would have it, the Capitol Journal accidentally mixed some lines of type with the resulting story indicating that Laval’s head fell into the buttermilk.

About his hometown, Maxwell said “I’ve always regarded Salem as a good place to be born, a nice place to die in, but a dull place to live.” About history he said, “It is more comfortable to live in the past than in the present because you can eliminate what you don’t like about the past. You have to live with what you have in the present.” His self-evaluation was wrapped in one quip: “Accomplishments, small; hobbies, none; joys, few.”

When Ben Maxwell died in 1967, his vast collection of historic Salem photographs were donated to the Salem Public Library where the prints are being scanned into a computerized database, making this unique resource increasingly available to Salem citizens as work progresses.

Since the Maxwell's were childless, his widow, Louise, left to the library many boxes of artifacts including rolled panoramic photographs and drawings, ledgers, albums, poster-sized mounted collections of postcards, and personal papers. The library staff hopes to one day fully catalog and organize these miscellaneous local treasures. Maxwell's legacy will share this valuable collection of local history with those who live in Salem today and with future generations.

 

Oregon History Hot Links

Early Words and Sermons (1): An Online Ministry of Rev. Marilyn A. Riedel
Early Words and Sermons (2) Early Words and Sermons (3)

M. Constance Guardino III With Rev. Marilyn A. Riedel
M & M Club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin 2000

Introduction by Rev. Marilyn A. Riedel I  II
Oregon History Online: Volume I Volume II
Volume III Volume IV Volume V
 Volume VI Volume VII Volume VIII
 Volume IX Volume XOregon History CD Edition
1870 Benton County Oregon Census A-ICensus J-RCensus S-Z
1870 Polk County Oregon Census A-M1870 Census N-Z
Wild Women West: One-Eyed CharlieWestern Warrior Women
Black Pioneers Settle Oregon CoastYaquina Bay Oyster Wars
Wolf Creek SanctuaryRogue River CommunitiesGolden Campbellites
Murder on the Gold Special: The D'AutremontsTyee View Cemetery
Eddyville CemeteriesOlex CemeteryApplegate Pioneer Cemetery
Thomason CemeterySiletz Valley CemeteriesSiletz Indian Shakers
Glenwood, Harlan, Chitwood CemeteriesElk City Pioneer Cemetery
Eureka CemeteryToledo Pioneer CemeteryGuardino Family History
"So Be It" Autobiography by Mariano Guardino 
Dobbie-Smith Genealogy "Aunt Edie" by Harriet Guardino
Dobbie Obituaries and Letters
Historic Oregon Coast AlbumHistoric Grants Pass Oregon Album
"The Great Pal" by Harriet Guardino


 
  The Children of M. Constance Guardino III (Connie) and Delbert Loyd Hodges (Del)
( 1) Heather Dobbie Hodges Carmichael (2) Alexander Ferguson Hodges Michels
(3) Hilary Truitt Hodges (nka Ventura d'Luna Guardino)

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