J. D. Nunnally was a traveling man. In July 1877, his travels had taken him to Roseburg, Ore. From there, he wrote back to his San Francisco newspaper, the Pacific Rural Press:
“People look and act sleepy here.” he wrote, “Truth is they can live too easily; don’t have to work hard enough to give them energy. The farmers plow and sow their grain, then sit down until its ripe, then harvest the grain, then sit down again until it’s time to plow. They haven’t time to plow or even prune their orchards. I haven’t seen a well taken care of lot in the city yet. Dog Fennel, a weed, grows luxuriantly.
“At the celebration of the Fourth of July, 1500 persons were present. The people were far more quiet than I am accustomed to. There was no cheering during the speech or during the day except on the arrival of and during the stay of the ‘Plug Uglies’ [a trained animal act]. They were comical indeed.
“The Reading of the Declaration of Independence by Miss Lockwood of this city was good.
“The people were very distant and reserved to a stranger. They seemed to dislike Californians.”
Source: Nunnally, J. D. "Notes from Oregon." Pacific Rural Press 4 Aug. 1877 [San Francisco, CA] . Print.
The SOHS Library is OPEN to the public at 106 N. Central Avenue in Medford, with FREE access to the SOHS Archives, from 12:00 - 4:00 pm, Tuesday through Saturday. Appointments are not necessary. Please contact library@sohs.org, or call 541-622-2025 ex 200 to ask questions or request research.
Traveling Man Writes Home about Roseburg, Ore.
Episode
2702
Date