What is Southern Oregon
We received a Since You Asked question that I think we've all wondered about, but now I wonder if anyone has an answer. The question is: At what point to the north of here does Southern Oregon become Southern Oregon? I don't know if there is any historical precedent in defining the region, but thought someone in this group might have an idea. Thanks in advance.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by George Kramer on -
I would suggest the divide between the Umpqua and Willamette valleys. Umpqua is still southern Oregon, in my mind, while the Willamette is clearly not.
I think the the more interesting question is the boundary east and west.
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Permalink Reply by Bob Hunter on -
I've always thought that it started around Drain, on I-5 after you've wound through that pass this side of Cottage Grove. To the east, I think you include Klamath, but not Lake County (even though Lake is attached at the hip to Klamath). Probably could make a good argument that Klamath is really Central Oregon, since it's on the other side of the Cascades.
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Permalink Reply by Erin O'Rourke-Meadors on -
Interesting question...Perhaps, indeed, one can refer back to the first time that term was used to discover the/an answer...Was such term used during the time before statehood?
Being simply an armchair history buff, I am not readily aware of any officially adopted point of demarcation-though indeed, we know governmental agencies do divide our state into districts or regions. However, would the boundaries of the "state of Jefferson" denote a more recent cultural boundary?
In thinking a bit beyond, am not able to readily recall the term "Northern Oregon"-generally, one hears Southern Oregon, Central Oregon, Eastern Oregon, the Willamette Valley and Portland.
On a personal basis, somehow, sense the northern boundary of Southern Oregon being Douglas County.
Will enjoy observing that which is shared.
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Permalink Reply by Jeff LaLande on -
You could draw or define it many different ways, but I've long considered it to be the Willamette/Umpqua watershed divide (or at the Lane/Douglas county line) where "Southern Oregon" begins. It was a term coined early by Willamette Vallety residents for the territory to the south of them, and somewhat removed from and different than their home locale, hence the Willamette Valley's Lane County (although much of it is actually within the southern half of the state) isn't part of Southern Oregon in my book. I'd definitely include Douglas, Josephine, Jackson, and Curry counties, as well as Coos. Klamath is kind of "both/neither" fish/fowl. Historically, it would have been considered by many as part of Southern Oregon for much of the period between the 1870s and 1910s, but with that Cascade east/west divide, and Klamath's increasing "independence" after 1909 with its own north-south rail line (and then Hwy 97, and also the Natron Cut-off linking KFalls rails direct with Eugene via Willamette Pass and points north), Klamath County moved out of the Southern Oregon orbit and became part of the "pine and sagebrush empire" east of the Cascades. Personally, I don't consider it So. Oregon anymore.
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Permalink Reply by terry r on -
I think its basicaly a math question for example: if there are 400 miles from washington to the california state lines, then a mark @ 200 miles in would seperate north from south, I know that makes sense, but I also know we can over think it.
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Permalink Reply by George Kramer on
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By the above logic, "southern Oregon" would begin about 150 miles south of the Columbia and north of Califorina, meaning around Cottage Grove. And, depending on how you define it, Cottage Grove is nearly the border town closest to the divide between the Umpqua and Willamette valleys. Perhaps in this case "math" works.
I, for one, would not put "Cottage Grove" in southern Oregon, but could see it being among the first towns you reached after you left Southern Oregon.
Perhaps we can approach it that way...is Oakland in Southern Oregon? Is Rice Hill?
FWIW, Wickipedia, that font of all things suspect, defines "southern Oregon" as:
"Southern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon south of Lane County and generally west of the Cascade Range, excluding the southern Oregon Coast. Counties include Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, and Josephine. It includes the Southern Oregon American Viticultural Area, which consists of the Umpqua and Rogue River drainages. As of 2007, the population in the four counties is approx. 455,000." Wiki includes Klamath Falls, for reasons not nearly as erudite as Jeff's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Oregon
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Permalink Reply by Bob Hunter on
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Again, I think you hit Southern Oregon when you come out of that winding stretch of road south of Cottage Grove. That would put the "line" about 10 freeway miles or so this side of Cottage Grove. That also would put it about where the exit is for Elkton and the coast.
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Permalink Reply by George Kramer on
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This would be the "driving" definition. (And I don't disagree with you. I don't think you are "in" southern Oregon in Cottage Grove, but you clearly are by the time you make the drop into the Elkton valley).
I don't think I like being defined by an ODOT off-ramp though. Historically, though, shouldn't the line more geographical, say at a river, or in this case at the ridge of a mountain range?
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Permalink Reply by Bob Hunter on
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I agree that an I-5 exit is not a good defining point (but I bet everyone knows where that is). Of course, the Applegates would have been confused if someone gave them that as a demarcation line -- "You know what I'm talking about, Jesse, the freeway interchange where the wagon tracks split and head for Scottsburg."
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Permalink Reply by Vicki Anne Bryden on -
I tend to agree that it is genrally Umpqua south, Willamette north. Drop into Sutherlin or just north. East-west is the ridge of the Cascades.
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Permalink Reply by Mica Cardillo on -
Love this topic.
I think the North boundry is pretty clear. There seems to general agreement that the ridge dividing the Umpqua from the Willamette watersheds is the place where people "feel" like they're entering a different region. Cottage Grove is a tough one because they get a lot of that rain and less sunshine than Southlin, but local residents there would probably make the case that they still feel geographically and politically connected to the Umpqua areas. It seems like if you were from Cottage Grove, you would make the argument that the greater immediate area around Cottage Grove includes both watersheds.
The south boundary is mainly a political boundary, although the Siskiyou Crest east-west land bridge has also been a topographic landmark for entering/leaving the Rogue country. I imagine that Peter Ogden and his trappers probably felt like they were entering "Oregon" upon crossing the crest and dropping into the Applegate Valley, and subsequently the pioneers on the Oregon-California trail.
The west boundry, I believe, depends on how well "Southwestern Oregon" shows up as a separate regional identity. I think people have always thought of the Rogue and Umpqua rivers as an extension of Southern Oregon all the way to the ocean. Now, I would argue that geographically, Brookings and the Chetco River barely make it in to S. Oregon because its on the California's side of Chetco watershed. This area seems like it would have been populated by tribes more closely related to the Yurok/Kurok groups. But politically and for commerce, I think that Brookings is become more aligned with the population centers of Grants Pass and Medford, rather than Arcada/Ereka.
To the east, I would argue that Klamath Falls could go either way, but that Jeff is right that many residents in "South-Central" probably try to define themselves as separate. The Klamaths, Modocs, and Latigwa seasonal rounds would have all overlapped and crossed the Cascades into the greater Rogue watershed during the summer and early fall. Similarly, I think Klamath Falls and Medford have experienced significant cross-migration and commerce over the years and by proximity, seem to be related. Also, the television market has something to do with providing a sense that Klamath Falls falls under the same regional category as the Rogue Valley.
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Permalink Reply by Sally Buttshaw on -
I agree George, the divide between Willamette and Umpqua Valleys seems right. as to east and west i would say halfway through the Cascades ? Good to read your stuff here, I havent seen you in a couple of years, at those meetings about downtown at the Medford Library
George Kramer said:I would suggest the divide between the Umpqua and Willamette valleys. Umpqua is still southern Oregon, in my mind, while the Willamette is clearly not.
I think the the more interesting question is the boundary east and west.
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