YOU ARE NOW ENTERING …

DROMGOOLE’S

for March 25, 2012

Formerly the P.Y.M. ™ Puzzler

BUMMER

WHY DO THEY CALL IT BUMMER GULCH? (Oregon)?

ANNOUNCING the creation of the interim STEPHANIE’S YOUNGSTER MEMBERSHIP, and

PRESENTING the NEW face of the P.Y.M. ™ PUZZLER w/ interim leadership by S.V.C.H.

BUT FIRST …..

WELCOME TO

Population: 1

GREETINGS!! Player, and Welcome! to S.Y.M.-Zonia –

WOW!! the roll-out issue of the interim Stephanie’s Youngster Membership (S.Y.M.), -- and an emergency extension of your subscription from the Globe Press and erstwhile P.Y.M., brought to you courtesy of E.G.S. Larue Al-Harouchhe, and the ever-observant, O.M.I.G.O.d.. Weird, huh? “What’s S.Y.M.-Zonia?” you may be asking. Good question. We’re not sure, however. But HERE IT IS!!! And here’s some of the preachy text we received from corporate:

S.Y.M.-Zonia is someplace you will encounter only in driving down one of the back-roads of your mind – a sort of lost habitation, and in many cases one not on the map – at least, not on the one in your glove-compartment, and probably not on Gargle map. Like the State of Jefferson, it may have a certain geographical focus, but it is more than just a memory, and more than a state of mind: it is a certain project, a certain community, that you, Player, actuate yourself, within yourself, when you enter.

And how lame is that? Good grief. And it goes on: …

So, with the exception of you, there is no one else here. And S.Y.M.-Zonia always has a Population of about one (1) – namely, you the Player. So you better be able to co-exist. And you, Player, can drive through at high speeds, if you choose, without concern about traffic cams and the like, or you can stop, turn the engine off, and get out and ramble around, and maybe crunch some fresh gravel under your shoes – and maybe compose a thought or two, and in doing so, even hear yourself thinking them. You might want to leave some of those thoughts here – totally unobserved by others – where, when you come back, they will also be memories, as well as thoughts. In that way, S.Y.M.–Zonia wll help make the present, past.

In S.Y.M.-ZONIA there are no “back-doors” and no “trap-doors” – at least, not the electronic surveillance kind. Likewise, in S.Y.M.-Zonia there is – as conceived -- no access to Gargle, twattle, or fakebook. And here, as a rule, even our “hotlinks” will be dead –

But, dear Player: take note, that with all this in mind, S.Y.M.-Zonia is indeed a “total surveillance society” – with the difference being, that here, YOU, PLAYER, and you alone, are the unique WATCHER who can see all that passes under your eye: you know all and observe all that is observed in S.Y.M.-Zonia …..

Gag reflex actuated. More on all this later... Meanwhile:

Well, we’ll do our best to live up to the standards of the P.Y.M. ™ Puzzler, but perhaps with an added touch of class and feminine grace, as shown by such attention to detail as lavender colored fonts -- which Design has chosen as a color that will most likely appeal to Ass. Dr. Beckon herself, who has not yet approved the “new look” –as she has not been located, nor has she come w/in cell range.

HOWEVER – we know you Players are hooked on the kick-ass delivery of the P.Y.M. ™ Puzzler, and it may take a few weeks for you to learn to love S.Y.M.-Zonia as much as we already do, so we’ve prepared the form at right, to help ease the transition. Just can’t see yourself “getting in” to S.Y.M-Zonia – certainly not every week!! Just clip and mail

ASS. DR. BECKON SEEN (last year) AT SADDLE MOUNTAIN ! IN THE NEWS!!!

PLAYERS !!!

The photograph in the attached article is for reference only. Be advised that Ass. Dr. Beckon has not recently been sighted near Saddle Mtn. in Clatsop County, nor is Saddle Mountain an area of focus for searchers. The photograph is only included because it shows the make, model and vintage of Ass Dr. Beckon’s VW van – and the distinctive step she uses to get in; and because it shows perhaps the only known image of Dr. Beckon’s twin sister, Sally Beckon – believed to be the one in the back seat, in this photo.

Saddle Mountain – the only volcanic summit in the Oregon Coast range (See, So You Think You Know Your Volcanoes, Do You, Eh? (May 22, 2011) is also not an area of great interest to S.Y.M.-Zonia, generally, nor is it believed that there is any hidden treasure there.

With all that’s going on, we hardly have a moment’s time to

recapitulate the field research events, or give a blow-by-blow of the emergency meetings of the O.M.I.G.O.d. leading up to the minute: including direct contacts with the staff of E.G.S. LaRue Al-Rahouuche, but only to tell – breathlessly -- WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW!!! For now, Al-Harouchee has decided that since Stephanie cannot be reached by cell phone, and is thus in no position to object, that it is as good as time as any, to place upon her the much vaunted honor of the Y.O.I.Y.M.L. (Yoke Of Interim Youngster Membership Leadership). The ceremony was conducted in private. Conjoined services established the interim S.Y.M.

The article from the Review of Books (above) shows a continuity of interest in the wandering exploits of our new, interim S.Y.M.L. (S.Y.M. Leader) appears concentrated in the literary community, who recognize the role of Ass. Dr. Beckon, as a “missing link” in the location of the missing MS novella of John Fitzhugh, known only by it’s title “The Beckoning Hand.” It is widely thought by the “innerlektuals” and related literati, that one of the heirs of Mr. Fitzhugh, presumably the elder sister, our own Ass. Dr. Stephanie Beckon, may be in possession of, or know the location of, the long-lost text.

Comparisons with the Missing Report of a Geological Survey of Oregon and Washington Territories of the elusive Dr. John Evans, are inevitable. See, e.g., the last few issues of the P.Y.M.™ Puzzler

An Alphabetical Trail? Meanwhile, the Book Review article quoted the County Sheriff as making reference to the “Alphabetical names” of Polk County (Oregon) , identifying Peedee, Seekay and Arrel as examples. To illustrate his point, the sheriff also quickly sketched a map of the area, which S.Y.M.-Zonia has obtained and here reproduces!! Sheriff Ralph’s map shows the town of Peedee, as well as the “whistle-stops” of Seekay and Arrell – as all located on the Valley & Siletz Railway – and all mysteriously lying just within Polk County, near it’s southern border with Benton and Lincoln counties. The Sheriff added some other notes to help searchers for Ass. Dr. Beckon orient in the unfamiliar landscape:

Seekay (C.K.) Arell (R.L.) and Pedee (P.D.) are the “alphabetical” names referred to by the Sheriff, which he circled with a yellow highlighter. Look real close or enlarge the page …

Sheriff Ralf’s map

Then, there’s the Abie reservoir …..

A Portion of the G.R.I.R.O.T.? However, we here in San Francisco, Motel 6, wishing we could get in to S.Y.M.-Zonia, to assist in the search for Ass Dr. Beckon, we can’t help but wonder if the Sheriff’s analysis – trenchant, and well-meaning though it is, and calculated only to further the search for Ass. Dr. Beckon, yet may it not be just a trifle simplistic: and we want to get this OUT THERE, as the Sheriff has highlighted the role of the alphabetical place names of this corner of S.Y.M.–Zonia, may have failed to consider that Stephanie B. may be headed to the G.R.I.R.O.T. Could it be?

Uh oh …. Sorry, Players!!!

We’re out of space in this issue. We’ve got to get on with this week’s S.Y.M.-Zonia. Darn. Maybe more on this matter next week ?

AND NOW!!!

WHY DO THEY CALL IT BUMMER GULCH? (Oregon)?

ROGUE RIVER VALLEY WINES now enjoy a reputation for excellence, being well-received and served in establishments of hospitality -- almost worldwide. Wines of the Jump-Off Joe Wining District are especially sought-after, by those in-the-know. But the earlier history of this Southern Oregon wine-growing region, and some of its pre-eminent Pioneer Wines, are not so well known. This vintage matured in 1894!

NOTE: The images shown in this story, are from R.E. Ivans, M.E., C.E., unique manuscript Map of the Placer Mining Properties .. on Jump Off Joe Creek (1898). This map could be copyrighted !!! – and we don’t mess with legitimate copyrights. See, e.g., How Do You Explain the Shipwrack of David Fasold’s Noah’s Ark? [Last week – Ed.] so we’re only going to show a miniature, and a few bits and pieces – just to be honorable. Players!!! Rest assured: this has nothing to do with withholding the true location of the real Bummer Gulch and Henry Wine’s claim. Or his hidden cache ….. Because – who would guess that they switched the names around, on later maps !!!! Meanwhile, most of the events related in this story took place up Jump-Off Joe, about 4-5 years before this humdinger of a map was made.

But the story began earlier... much, much earlier ….

Mining Laws of the Wines Camp Mining District

Charming, industrious Henry Wines was just one of the many hundreds of miners who emigrated into Southern Oregon in the 1860’s. Wines himself pitched his tent and published notice of his gold claim …. at Wines’ Camp. You can still find it on Gargle – but they’re gonna wanna change the name after this story gets out … Anyway: as it turned out, Wines’ gift for locating a gold seam were proven keen: the diggings at Wines’ Camp were good, and others moved into the area. Almost immediately the miners of the region had organized themselves into an immediate unit of self-government, and called themselves the Wines’ Camp Mining District. In the Spring of 1867, by-laws for claim-holding were agreed upon, and written up, and adopted by vote. They were as follows:

These are in the Oregon Historical Quarterly.

Note, Article 16, which recognized that Henry Wines’ as “the discoverer of this mining camp shall be entitled to a Discovery claim in the Creek and one in the Gulch.” Such provisions were standard in early mining camp bylaws, and served to encourage prospecting and exploration by recognizing priority often with a double claim. Here, at Wines Camp, Henry Wines received two Discovery claims in addition to the three claims allowed to any miner – e.g., one on the Hill, one in the Creek and one in the Gulch, per Article 4. So, by consent of his fellow miners, and per the Wines Camp bylaws, Henry Wines was authorized to hold up to five claims at Wines Camp – and her certainly held at least four.

In addition, Wines’ priority at the site was recognized in the bylaws, where exceptions were carved out in the rules, for a deed of sale that Wines had executed, to M. Osterberg, dated December 10, 1866 – fourth months before the other miners “discovered” Wines camp. This deed is referenced in Articles 6 and 14 – which provided:

Art. 6. Resolved that all bills of sale given prior to the adoption of these mining laws shall be void in this Mining Camp with the exception of the bill of sale passed between M. Osterberg and H. Wines dated the tenth day of December, eighteen hundred sixty six.

Art. 14. Resolved that the sale or transfer of a claim in the miners camp shall not be valid unless said claim is first recorded, except the sale of M. Osterberg to H. Wines.

Henry Wines priority at Wines Camp was universally recognized ….. until … A month or two passed, and some new miners from Jacksonville staked claims at Wines Camp, and were voted kin as new officers.

Oregon Sentinel May 18, 1867, p. 2

The litigation referenced in the Sentinel, was to address Henry Wines’ claim, that under conventional mining rules – and the rules adopted for the Wines’ Camp Mining district, he – as the discoverer of the gold -- was entitled to hold and work a “discovery claim”: that is, an extra claim along with the routine one, entitling him to work a double claim within the Wines’ Camp Mining District. As the camp itself had come to be known as Wines’ Camp, that might sound like a reasonable enough proposition….

This early business meeting of the Wines’ Camp membership was noticed on May 7, 1867, and held at Plymale’s four days later. Plymale ran the livery stable at Jacksonville, Oregon, which was still, in 1867, the epicenter of mining activity in the region. As noted, among the items on the agenda, was Henry Wine’s claim that he was the original discoverer of gold at Wines’ Camp Mining District, and so was entitled to “discovery claims” in the district. Mr. Wines’ claim to double claims had been challenged by other miners within the District, and the matter was to be adjudicated by a District panel:

Oregon Sentinel May 18, 1867, p. 2

All provisions of the Wines Camp Mining District bylaws that recognized and protected Henry Wines Discovery claims, and the priority of his deed from Osterberg, were repealed. In fact, the first meeting of the newly restricted Wines camp governing body, there was apparently no business conducted, except to strip Henry Wines of his Discovery claims, and any ownership rights he had acquired from his prior deed of purchase and sale, from Osterberg.

Wines lost his claim to a discoverer’s claim. His reaction is not reported. Hmmm. Players!!! How do you think he felt?

Two other matters were decided on that remote May 11, 1867: a fourteen year old boy evidently asserted entitlement to a “miner’s claim” after hearing himself referred to as a minor. And in his case the Wines’ Camp Mining District laws were amended to specifically exclude his claim: a bit of ex post factor frontier justice.

Another matter was the repeal of the 14th article of the Mining District laws!

The Oregon Sentinel did not report the substance of Article 14, but the Laws of the Wines Camp Mining District survive, and are repinted above. Courtesy of the Oregon Historical Quarterly. Players!! What’s in Article 14??

Crisis in the Coyote Creek Mining District Henry Wines’ story entered a sort of “Chapter 2”when Wines’ relocated to Coyote Creek, in the neighborhood of Golden, Oregon. Coyote Creek lies midway between Wolf Creek to the north, of which it is a tributary, and Grave Creek (or Leland Creek) to the south, in the extreme northeast corner of Josephine County.

As the story re-opens up Coyote Creek, the miners of the region – as was routine; and as had been done in the Wines’ Camp Mining District -- had already organized themselves into the Coyote Creek Mining District, with its own by-laws for claim-holding….

Sound familiar?

Just as in the Wines Camp Mining District, in the inception of the Coyote Creek Mining District, there was a watering of the grapes of wrath. [p. 169] The charming German miner, Henry Wines, had been the first – or one of the first – among the placer miners on Coyote Creek. And when, in the late 1880’s, the Coyote Creek Mining District (CCMD) was organized, Henry Wines (or Wine, sometimes) had been one of the organizers. As such, Wines demanded of the CCMD that he personally be allowed two mining claims, saying he was the discoverer of gold on Coyote Creek. Of course, it was the custom in mining circles, to allow an extra claim to the discoverer of gold in a new district, and it was on this basis that Wines demanded – or claimed -- the extra claim. The CCMD rules committee, however, had reliable evidence that another winer was the discoverer of the gold on the stream, so they refused to allow Wine(s) to have two claims. (No actual documents of the CCMD or its decisions are extant today.) This decision angered Wine(s), and he threatened to get even with the rules committee, [S]aid he, “I’ll get even with you fellows, see if I don’t .[”]

By this time, Wines was known to have a mean disposition, and the miners were inclined to keep an eye on him when he was seen prowling about with a gun in his hand. This would be expected It was not however known, that Wines was probably what we would refer to today, as paranoid psychotic. Or that he had the potential to become a serial killer.

The Jump to Jump Off Joe [p. 170] Sometime later, Wines sold off his claim on Coyote Creek, and moved his outfit to Jump Off Joe Creek, and staked out a mining claim.

Jump Off Joe Creek flows into the Rogue River in the neighborhood of Hugo and Merlin, in S.Y.M.-Zonia, Oregon. Wines, however, staked his claim upstream, near the headwaters of Jump Off Joe, beyond Jack Creek, formerly Jacques Creek, or – as the miners sometimes referred to it -- Jacques-Off-Joe Creek. As time went on Wines appeared to be increasing his holdings up Jump Off Joe, until he was in possession of four claims. Discovery claims? Or recovery claims?

A SPECIAL S.Y.M.-ZONIA CHALLENGE –

PLAYERS!! !! A special S.Y.M.-Zonia Challenge:

What’s an ARASTRA? And no fair using Gargle !!!!

The men who had been in possession of the three other claims had DISAPPEARED, and as some miners thought, in a mysterious manner. When asked about the men who had been working the claims, Wines would reply that he bought their claims, and they had left the creek. Two more miners disappeared, and to all questions concerning them, Wines gave the same answers[.] When pressed for more details as to where they went, Wines would get angry, and remark,

“Didn’t I tell you fellows -- I bought them out –and they left the creek, that’s all I know.”

The miners of the district had now become suspicious of Wines, and the opinion was expressed that he had murdered the missing men. Efforts were made to find some trace of the missing men, but without success. [p. 170-A1

This was a bit of a bummer – but hardly enough to name Wines’ Place “Bummer Gulch” Right?

]

But what do you think, Players?

Then, two men from the east bought a claim some distance above or below the Wines cabin, in Brass Nail Gulch. Their names were Robinson and Jack Holcomb. Now, I haven’t mentioned yet, that I worked for Robinson and Holcomb, the spring of 1895, on Brass Nail, which is the first gulch below -- or above -- Bummer Gulch (can’t rightly remember which… and the maps sometimes differ) and while working there, Jack Holcomb and I became friends, and he told me of the trouble he had had with Wines. That is how I learned the story.

1 The type size on pp. 170-A and 170-B, is very similar to, but perhaps a little smaller than, that on the other pages. – Ed.

Now, Jack and his partner located on Brass Nail, and at first, could not get enough gold with only a rocker to live and get the mine opened up so it would pay, so Jack left his partner there do what he could in the mine, while Jack went to Grants Pass and got a job to lay in a grub stake for the next winter. He worked for a month in Grants Pass, but when he did not hear from his partner, he went to the mine to see what was wrong. But his partner was gone, and his cabin was burned – so he went back to Bummer [Gulch] to see if Wines had seen his partner.

Wines said “yes,” he come there and left his [W]inchester and good shoes and said he was going out to look for work, and did not want to take his gun and good shoes with him.” That made Jack suspicious and he was sure Wines had killed him, but he could not prove it, so he went back to work and wait and see if his partner would show up, which he was satisfied he would do, if alive. He had not returned to his home in the east.

Jack, later, went back and built another cabin.

Now, old Henry had an old army musket that we used [p. 170-B] to call a Yauger, and in walking down the trail one morning, Jack discovered a String2

Now Henry had an old German staying with him, and he said to Jack, “If I were you, I would not make Henry Wines too mad, for he is a bad man when he is mad.[”]

across the trail, and in following the string into the brush, found it was tied to the trigger of old Henry’s musket, and the musket was loaded with buck shot, and if Jack had caught his foot on the string, he would have got the benefit of that load.

3

2 Probably a simple “string” is meant, as appears from the rest of the sentence: but the word is capitalized in the original. – Ed.,

3 No close quote in original. Wines, by this time was probably totally “mad”, as in paranoid psychotic, but may have been more of a berserker when provoked. The text is not entirely determinative – Ed.

Jack told him he was not afraid of Wines, for he had a Spook that followed Wines around, and then came and told Jack everything that Wines did, and Jack told the old German to tell Wines that he could have the old musket if we would come Jack’s cabin and identify the Gun, [sic] but Wines never laid claim to the gun.

Wines was very superstitious, and Jack had learned to fight Wine’s superstition with its own power: Jack thought the Spook story kept Wines afraid to do anything, or Wines would have killed him.

Meanwhile, the disappearance of this man, Jack Holcomb’s partner, Robinson, added to the mystery of Bummer Gulch, and also to the suspicions of the miners. One Sunday morning a party of miners from an adjoining [sic] creek went over to Jump Off Joe, to look around for some sign of graves. They did find where digging had been done, but not having any shovel with them, they could not dig a hole to satisfy their suspicions.4

Shortly after this two men travelled up the creek, with the intention, so they said, of doing some placer mining up toward the head of the creek. Their names were Al Palmer and Jack Blair, and here stories diverge….

Speaking of the occasion, a member of the party named Albright, said that Wines was watching their every move. With a rifle in his hand, he could be seen peeping at them from behind trees. Albright said it made him uneasy, for although all the men were armed, Wines had an advantage, he could pick one or two of them off before they could take shelter behind trees.

BUT WAIT !!! For we have already run seriously beyond our space limitations, for this week’s inaugural of S.Y.M.-Zonia!!

And so, here our story must end for now, until next week.

YOU ARE NOW LEAVING

Population: 0

COME AGAIN

Or maybe the week after –?? Because, come to think of it, we’re already committed for next week, April 1, 2012 … why, that’s April Fool’s Day!!! … to running the now long-awaited, much-anticipated, hold-your-breath-abated …. SOLUTION SUPPLEMENT to the memorable MISSING PERSONS P.Y.M. ™ Puzzler of March 11, 2011, Can You Explain the Abrupt Vanishment of Falls City (Oregon) Tent No. 2 Knights of the Maccabees ?? Gracious ..

It already seems like aeons ago, that Puzzler does.

And after a week in S.Y.M.-Zonia, I’m already feeling a bit homesick, for the vaunted P.Y.M. ™ Puzzler ..

Were you there when?

4 The miners had not planned ahead to bring a shovel, or perhaps had not been able to locate one. Or perhaps it was considered a violation of the miners’ Sabbath, to use a shovel on Sunday. – Ed.