Oregon History: Beeson Home circa 1870. Talent Oregon

Beeson Home circa 1870. Talent Oregon
Originally uploaded by JoeDuck

Although most of the Travelers on the Oregon Trail headed along the Columbia River and then south to the fertile valleys of the Willamette River Valley, the Applegate Trail, a southern branch, took tens of thousands to Southern Oregon where lumber, orchards and farming gradually replaced Jacksonville gold mining as the mainstay of the Southern Oregon economy.

This home has been remodelled but originally was probably the home of Welborn Beeson, an early Southern Oregon settler and son of John Beeson. John's "Plea for the Indians" was an influential book that criticized locals for poor treatment of Native Americans. John was "run out of town" and spent much time in the East including a meeting with then President Lincoln to advocate on behalf of Native American Rights. Beeson later returned to the area and is buried next to his wife in Stearn's Cemetery about a mile from this house.