Midland, Oregon is about 9 miles south of
Klamath Falls on Highway 97, and is the location of the Midland
Visitor Center and rest stop. In the early 1900’s a
huge stockyard was located where the Visitor Center is now.
Midland Beginning
Midland had its beginnings with the
decision of the California Eastern Railroad, operating out of
Weed, to push north around Mount Shasta, into the Klamath Basin
to Klamath Falls, then eventually into the Willamette Valley.
The first stage was to
continue the logging road around the north side of Mt. Shasta
to Grass Lake. This was accomplished by year, 1906. It was now
possible for a daily stage coach connection at Lairds Landing.
From Grass Lake over Mt. Hebron to Macdoel was finished by
1907. At this point, a change of ownership was at hand,
Harriman brought the railroad and it was known as the Southern
Pacific Railroad after that.
Corrals were built and cattle
that were usually driven to Grenada were shipped from Macdoel.
Records indicate that 32 cars were loaded out in one day. Plans
were already in effect for Midland.
The road cut through
the hill at Dorris and followed the hill with deep cuts and
fills, reaching Ady in December of 1908. At Ady, (on the west
side of the roadbed) docks had been built to accommodate the
freight that would be loaded onto the steamer and taken into
Klamath Falls. Freight for places as far away as Paisley and
Lakeview awaited shipping there. The piling for those docks can
still be seen on the west side of the railroad tracks at Ady.
Able Ady had purchased long
stretches of land, on the north end of Lower Klamath Lake,
including the area where the railroad tracks were to go. He did
all the surveying and marking for the right of way. Southern
Pacific did not want to pay what Able wanted for the land but
decided it would take too long to go through the courts, so
they paid the price.
At Ady, the Klamath
Straits had to be bridged. The straits is a natural channel
drain for Lower Lake. In the winter, too much water came down
the river, it would push into the lake and then back out. Over
the years, that action cut a channel about 75 yards wide and 20
feet deep. The Bureau of Reclamation made an agreement with the
railroad to place a concrete structure in the straits to
control the flow of water from the Klamath River. The railroad
levy formed a dike and thereby drained the lake of over flow.
In January, 1909, a
large dredge was assembled at Teaters Landing to dig a large
drain on the west side of the roadbed, deep enough for
navigation. Two smaller dredges were placed on the east side.
Midland was reached in March of that year.
Crews of up to 300 men
were working on the roadbed and cuts at Texam. (Roundhouse
Hill) J. Frank Adams had already completed the roadbed across
Lake Ewauna in 1907. The first work train reached Klamath Falls
May 3, 1909. From that point on, everything began to fall into
place.
At Klamath Falls, the
morning of May 20, over 100 people boarded the Steamer Klamath,
to go to Ady by way of Keno, so as to be the first passengers
to arrive in Klamath Falls by train. All of them brought sack
lunches and ate them on the dock and piles of railroad tie.
Some of the people walked around the government experimental
station on the south side of the hill where the Flowers ranch
is now. A few minutes after 12 A.M. the train pulled in and was
loaded within 15 minutes. The train was decorated and a band
played. Thirty-seven minutes later, they arrived in Klamath
Falls. Work came to a halt that day, stores, schools and
businesses closed the doors. Some 2000 people were on hand to
celebrate the arrival of the first passengers.
Make no mistake about it, this was (and
ever will be) the greatest event in the history of Klamath
Falls.
Midland, Oregon
Midland, Oregon, built on the north shores
of Lower Klamath Lake, about 1908, is eight miles south of
Klamath Falls, Oregon. Midland was built to be a railroad
shipping point for livestock and other farm products. Corrals,
a livestock loading chute, depot, and section houses for the
railroad workers were built. The land in Midland was covered
with sagebrush and thousands of ducks and geese inhabited the
adjacent swampland.
Although the townsite
was subdivided into lots and streets planned, the town was
never incorporated. When the railroad arrived in 1908, the town
became a boom town. Before Midland, cattle from Southern Oregon
had to be driven to the Yreka area in Northern California to be
loaded on trains. For many cattlemen, Midland cut the trip in
half. And, did Midland grow - two general stores, a hotel with
a saloon, a livery stable, a warehouse for grain and a
telephone office that never was used were built.
Thousands of cattle and sheep
were driven to Midland to be shipped by train to market. Cattle
came from Eastern Oregon and Northern California - some as far
away as Paisley and Lakeview, Oregon, and Alturas, California.
One time the ZX Cattle Ranch had three thousand head in Midland
waiting to be shipped. Because it took many days and nights to
load the livestock through the single loading chute, the cattle
had to be held and fed on nearby ranches while waiting their
turn to be loaded. A corral one mile east on Spring Lake was
also used. The Harry Witherow corrals and scales were built
adjacent to the Southern Pacific corrals to help handle the
livestock. Many a rodeo was held in these large corrals.
Grain, hay, and
potatoes raised in the Henley, Merrill and Malin areas were
also shipped. Martin Brothers operated the warehouse and bought
and sold grain.
The Midland Hotel and
saloon was a busy place, feeding the men and selling whisky to
forty or fifty cowboys and sheepmen. Many of them stayed
several days waiting their turn to load. Drunken cowboys and
fights were a common sight. The Hotel only had nine rooms, most
of which were occupied by cattle buyers, station agents and
other people. The cowboys usually slept outside somewhere. From
1919 to 1925 Mrs. C. R. Patterson operated the hotel; Jim Shaw
was the livestock inspector. Midland School was built in 1909
so twenty to thirty children could learn their ABC's in the two
room schoolhouse. In 1927 H. Largent started bussing the
children from Miller Island to Midland to school and taking the
high school kids by Spring Lake and on to high school in
Klamath Falls. In 1933 Midland grade school was closed and
children were bussed to Altamont.
Midland was a
prosperous town until about 1927 or '28. The railroads were
built north and east and farm products and livestock that had
been shipped from Midland were loaded at other shipping points.
Midland died. The only business was the store and post office
operated by Edna Travers, shipping the grain and livestock
raised locally, and the making and marketing of bootleg whiskey
that was produced locally or imported from Northern California.
There was a good market for selling whiskey to the hundreds of
loggers working in the woods and mills around Klamath Falls.
Because of the prohibition laws, the only source of supply was
from the many stills located in Southern Oregon and Northern
California. The Great Depression was on. Many farmers and other
people made their living making and selling whiskey. Midland
had its share of stills and much of the whiskey coming from
California was stored on nearby ranches or in the tall
sagebrush of the area. Later it would be picked up and sold
when needed. The wholesale price was about $4 a gallon and
retail, $2 a pint.
The last use of the Midland
Hotel was as a speakeasy or drinking parlor. The federal agents
raided the hotel and broke everything inside - tables, chairs,
dishes, windows, etc. The hotel was sold and torn down. Soon
after prohibition laws were repealed, Cal- Ore night club was
built north of Don-is, California, on Highway 97. Many people
from Klamath Falls went there for entertainment. The road
between Midland and Cal-Ore became a death-trap. Many people
were drowned in the deep irrigation ditch at the edge of the
narrow graveled road. Many cars wrecked at the sharp corner
when the homebound people arrived at Midland. One New Year's
Eve four people drowned in the ditch, two were killed near the
State Line and seven cars wrecked at Midland. Almost every
Saturday night, half drowned, almost frozen, or injured people
would be brought to the Midland Store. Mrs. Travel would take
care of them and send them on their way home. In a couple
years, Highway 97 would be oiled, widened and go through
Midland eliminating the sharp curve. Midland Grange was
organized in 1931, held meetings at the Midland School with
Burnett as master. The grange became the social center of
Midland and many dances, box socials were held. In 1933, the
Midland School was closed. The Grange acquired the Miller High
School and is still holding meetings there in their new hall.
Between 1928 and World
War II most of the buildings were destroyed or moved. The depot
moved one mile south on Henzel Brothers Ranch and the section
house - one and one-half mile south on Lower Klamath Road.
After World War II,
Midland started to recover. The community-minded people decided
that a town needed a park and community hall. Land in the
center of town was donated by Ed Travers, George Andrieu,
O'Conner family and James Flowers. Thousands of hours of
volunteer work has built a beautiful park and hall. Visit if
you are in the area. Inside the hall are many interesting
pictures of old Midland.
Electricity finally
came to Midland. The power company wanted $1500 to bring power.
The people couldn't afford the cost and used gasoline and
kerosene light. A. H. Patterson, a public spirited farmer,
found that if he installed an irrigation pump on the farm,
electricity would come to Midland. Because of him, Midland then
had lights and running water.
For years after the herds of
cattle stopped coming to Midland, large bands of sheep were
shipped to market. Some of the sheepman were O'Keefe,
MacCartey, Cox, O'Conner, Dolan, Fitzgerald, Quinlin and many
others.
In the 1950's and 60's many
people decided that Midland was the best place to live. Midland
was reborn. This time it became a residential community.
Several hundred people live there. The Old Midland Store burned
down and was rebuilt, a service station and cafe is north of
and across the road. Cheyne Brothers have a large potato cellar
and ship thousands of sacks of potatoes every year.
The cowboys are gone.
The thousands of ducks and geese that lived there have
vanished. The Midland tourist rest center is where Witherow
corrals used to be. The Oregon State Gas Commission operates
the adjacent swamp land west of Midland as a public hunting
area for hundreds of hunters to hunt the few remaining Travers
ducks and geese. Most of the roads in Midland that used to be,
dust in the summer and deep mud in the winter,are now paved or
graveled. Nothing of old Midland remains. Try to imagine what
old Midland used to be - the sage brush covered with cattle and
the sky filled with ducks and geese. — Verland L. Huff,
with the assistance of Winston Patterson, George FLowers, and
James Flowers.
