Oregon Field Guide: River of the Rogues

[weezy]

I watched with interest last night's topic that provided viewers with a capsulized version of Rogue River's historical record. It was disappointing to not see modern day suction dredgers in action.
However, Kerby Jackson, either with a sampling pan in hand or standing beside a stamp mill, tells the story of the early days of gold mining in the area. His commentary seemed unusually short, given the magnitude of mining's impact on the region.
Instead the show, being only 30 minutes in length, featured the pristine beauty of the upper and lower reaches of the Rogue River, providing us with narratives by the show's producer, Pat Kruis, and others not in the credits at the end of the show. Other segments of the show included tales about the numerous conflicts between early white settlers and hostile Indian Tribes which eventually led to the Indian wars in the Rogue River Valley that forced the Tribes off the Rogue River, moving them onto the Siletz and Grand Ronde Reservations.
Included in the TV production is an exciting story about the reshaping of the Rogue River by fishing guide, Glen Wooldridge, which was narrated by his Grandson, who told us about his daring Grandfather dynamiting truck-sized boulders to clear a navigable channel to the Pacific Ocean. Glen Wooldridge and a friend were the first men to make the perilous 95 mile voyage down the River from Grants Pass to Gold Beach in a $6 wooden boat in the 1930's.
In another segment, Laurel Gerkman lauds the actions of monopolist Robert D. Hume, the "Salmon King of Oregon" and self-appointed regulator of all activities in his domain starting at Gold Beach. Hume was granted rights to the tidal basin extending inland for 15 miles on both sides of the Rogue River. It was he, who first realized that unfettered taking of Salmon would eventually deplete his supply of Salmon for his cannery, and force him out of business.So Robert Hume established the 1st fish hatchery in Oregon and developed methods for the propagation of hatchery-reared fish stocks, starting way back in 1872.
Original film footage of the removal of the Savage Rapids and Gold Ray dams was included in the show, as well as a film clip of former President Lyndon Johnson signing into law the Wild and Scenic River's Act in 1968.
Unfortunately, most of show seemed to be dominated by the commentary of ODFW officials or a former ODFW employee, Jim Martin, supplemented by reflections of days of long ago told by Agnes Pilgrim, an Elder of the Takelma [Indian] Tribe.
Far from providing viewers with a neutral presentation of all of the facts, the show's producer, Pat Kruis, presented her viewers with scenes of recreational fishing, white water rafting, and families picnicking beside the river, leaving viewers with the impression the Rogue River still has Wild and Scenic River status, and all mining activities are detrimental to it's survival.

[vaughn]

Detrimental My ass!! We miners leave the river cleaner than it was before we got there!!


V

[weezy]

Most placer miners leave the areas of creeks, tributaries, and rivers where their activities take place in better condition than when they found it, quite often having to repeatedly pick up the broken bottles, food wrappers, soiled diapers, etc., etc., left by others who indiscriminately trash the river banks, campsites, and other public areas for their own flavor of amusement.
We have to, since the blame is often leveled against the blameless.

[Rickster]

All through my adult life I've enjoyed travel/destination shows, such as California's Gold with Huell Howser hosting ( he recently died) , and Wild Nevada produced in Reno. I briefly volunteered at NPB's studios in Reno, and met the Wild Nevada crew. After moving to Bend Oregon in 2007 I was disappointed to see Oregon Field Guide as not a travel/destination show but a propaganda platform for environmentalism.Their agenda is completely anti-logging, anti-mining, anti-dams, anti-farming, anti-fishing,anti-any land use at all..need I go on?

[Gold Nuggets]

Someone is getting paid a lot of "influence" to run that kind of programming Rickster......JUST LIKE some of the
folks in the Oregon Legislature are getting "influenced" to try to pass some of the BS legislation that they are trying to ram thru as Emergency Legislation to eliminate mining and land use rights. When is it gonna stop?