[or-roots] Jump off Joe -- Merlin???

[cklooster at aol.com]

Bill...my former husband's grandfather, Dale Bonney (who was a long-time resident of Drew, OR) was giving me some family information and mentioned that he had a cousin who lived near Grants Pass; "down around Jump off Joe".  He didn't refer to it as Jump off Joe Creek...but more as the place name of an area. I have always had a curiousity about the name and have a lot of skepticism about the story of Joseph McLaughlin.  For one thing, there are such a number of places in Oregon and Washington called Jump Off Joe. I have wondered if it might have been a popular slang term of the time or if it referenced the nickname of a specific person.  When you look at the historic tendancy to bestow nicknames ("Lighthorse Harry" Lee; "Swampfox" Francis Marion, etc.) it seemed possible to me that there was actually someone whose nickname was Jumpoff Joe.  A few years ago I found reference to Jumpoff Joe McAlester (or McAllister...he is listed under both spellings) who was involved in the Modoc Indian uprising.  Food for thought...

Carla






-----Original Message-----
From: Chris & Bill Strickland <lechevrier at earthlink.net>
To: or-roots mail list <or-roots at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Sent: Fri, Feb 19, 2010 4:28 am
Subject: Re: [or-roots] Jump off Joe -- Merlin???


Merlin, Oregon History,  by Dennis Hotchkiss --  http://www.webtrail.com/history/merlin.shtml



The Southern Pacific Railroad established the Jump-Off Joe Station in the early 1880's. The name Merlin came from a railroad employee named David Loring after seeing the area inhabited by pigeon hawks also known as merlins. Mr. Loring's imagination is also responsible for naming several other towns as well, including the city of Medford. Postmaster Lanterman changed the name of the post office to Merlin on March 21, 1891. Following Lanterman as postmaster were George A. Guild, followed by his daughter, Mattie. Ruth Lendberg was postmaster from 1930 to 1967, serving seven presidents. Mrs. Lendberg's little green house served as the post office and it still stands with flagpole on Pleasant Valley Road, just down the street from the present day post office.
Merlin had two school districts in 1886: the Jump Off Joe School District had 54 children educated at a cost of $77.00; the Louse Creek School District had 26 pupils with a cost of $63.00. These two districts combined to form Merlin School District #24 in May of 1894. There was a brick school house built in 1912 on the spot where the present day elementary school sits. A bell from an older school was placed in the brick building and when it was demolished in 1963, it was given to the Merlin Community Baptist Church where it hangs today.

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