D.. The 100 Road

James Hanish: couldn't get out all the time, so we'd go to Salem to get our check at the pulp mill then we'd buy maybe a month's or two's supply there. We didn't have a local Safeway to go to.

Bob Zybach: What kind of vehicle would you take into.

James Hanish: Any kind of a car, we had to wait for the flood waters to die, because you see this creek over here it. . . it practically travels on the top of the ground and you noticed that road that goes in, they put a pan on there. That used to be right on top of the road, it would maybe get that deep and you couldn't get out. I remember the creek that used to be where we lived, it would make such a roar at night you couldn't sleep when the heavy rains. No, that was the way it was, we did go into Salem to get our check and then we'd buy food that would last maybe a month or two.

D. The 100 Road

Bob Zybach: We're here by stop one on the historical tour, let's look off to the east first, do you recall whose barn that is there?

James Hanish: I would say that's Mr. Tandy's barn. That's where the Tandys lived.

Bob Zybach: Where was their house located?

James Hanish: The house was just this side of the barn. The house is gone.

Bob Zybach: The Tandys, did they have any children?

James Hanish: No, I don't think so. No. He was one of what they called the skinners that worked at the Coote's sawmill.

Bob Zybach: So he was a Coote's employee?

James Hanish: Yeah, Coote's employee.

Bob Zybach: What did that house, this was a the Tandy place then, not the Tandy house, would that be correct?

James Hanish: Now, see I don't know how they got the property or how it was named. But the Tandy's lived there in that area.

Bob Zybach: Was there any other structure between the Tandy's and the school house?

James Hanish: Yeah, there was a family called the Cornutts. They lived between here and that bridge.

Bob Zybach: Okay, so their. . . between Tandy's and the bridge there was another family. So they lived pretty close together the Tandys and the Cornutts.

James Hanish: That's right.

Bob Zybach: Did the Cornutts have any children?

James Hanish: Oh, yes. I think about three or four or more.

Bob Zybach: Did. . . where did Mr. Cornutts work?

James Hanish: Re also worked with Mr. Coote, he was a brother-in-law.

Bob Zybach: Cornutts and Coote were brother-in-laws?

James Hanish: Yeah.

Bob Zybach: Did that lead to any jokes or plays on names or anything?

James Hanish: No.

Bob Zybach: What did the mill workers do for recreation?

James Hanish: Drank beer, go hunting.

Bob Zybach: So hunting was kind of community, would the people who live here part time socially and associate with the people that lived here year round?

James Hanish: Yeah, they used to have a community get togethers.

Bob Zybach: The mill workers?

James Hanish: Yeah, once in awhile somebody would say bring some whiskey or bring some beer and cake and I'll have a fiddler and the house would be big and they'd have a dance and some women would drink coffee and cake and the men would go out in back and sip a keg of whiskey.

Bob Zybach: What.

James Hanish: They had to have something like that or they'd go nuts.

Bob Zybach: Would. . . who's homes would they go to. . . to do that?

James Hanish: Well, any house that was big enough to hold them. Burkes, they had a big house, they were down there just the other side of the bridge. Burkes, they had a farm, he had about a couple hundred acres. And they'd have people coming there and have a good time.

Bob Zybach: So the Burkes house would be like maybe a major.

James Hanish: Almost like a community place. It was big enough; it had big rooms and everything.

Bob Zybach: Would anybody ever go over to Sulphur Springs?

James Hanish: No, they never went over there.

Bob Zybach: It would just be local get togethers?

James Hanish: Everybody kind of stayed in their own area.

Bob Zybach: Would you say this was more of a milling community while you lived here rather than a farming community?

James Hanish: Well, it was a mix. See, now Dickeys, they had a farm. And Brinkley that lived over the hill, he had a lot of land down there. I used to drive a tractor for him. And of course, they had their wood lots and things. It was a mixed community, mixed farming and everything.

Bob Zybach: Did the farmer kind of associate more towards the grange and mill workers associate more towards the mill or did they mix?

James Hanish: No, they were all friendly. They'd all mix together socially.

Bob Zybach: So the farmers would go to the dances too?

James Hanish: As well as the sawmill workers.

Bob Zybach: Do you remember any of the people that played at these.

James Hanish: No, I don't know.

Bob Zybach: Do you remember what kind of music they played?

James Hanish: Either the fiddle or the accordion.

Bob Zybach: Square dance music?

James Hanish: Oh, it's square dance music just like they used to have in Pedee.

Bob Zybach: Would they have get togethers out here maybe at the school or was that strictly school and church?

James Hanish: I don't think they had any at the school, I think it was mostly . . . no, because they had hard liquor and I don't think the school board would like that.

Bob Zybach: Do you remember who made the hard liquor? It's too late for them to get arrested today.

James Hanish: Too late now. Oh, it was mostly only home made beer and stuff like that.

Bob Zybach: Do you know what. . . would certain families specialize in it or did everybody kind of make their own?

James Hanish: Well, I couldn't really tell you, not that I'm afraid to, but I couldn't tell you who brought the stuff. It just all at once it was there.

Bob Zybach: People were kind of were a little bit discreet about it then.

James Hanish: Yes, they were.

Bob Zybach: From here can you see where the Polks used to live?

James Hanish: They lived on the other side of bunch of fir up against that . . . they were up against that hill, the main hill.

Bob Zybach: The main hill over there, east most.

James Hanish: The top is shrouded in fog.

Bob Zybach: And that was Polk Hill?

James Hanish: That's what we called Polk Hill. And that had a lot . . . not this first bunch of trees but way out there it the Joe Smith farm area. There used to be a lake out in there at one time and then he drained it. Where the second row of trees are is where the Joe Smith family lived.

Bob Zybach: Where we can see buildings now, that was the Joseph Smith place?

James Hanish: Yeah, that was the Joe Smith's place.

Bob Zybach: And there was a lake between here and there?

James Hanish: Yeah, there used to be a lake . . . lot of water drained into it, it was a big marsh and ducks and stuff through there. Now, they've drained that and use it for farm land.

Bob Zybach: Domestic ducks or wild ducks that stopped there?

James Hanish: Oh, wild ducks.

Bob Zybach: So that was part of the fly way through there?

James Hanish: Yeah.

Bob Zybach: Were there a lot more ducks and geese in those days?

James Hanish: We didn't have many geese out here at all, their main travel route was in the valley and they'd stopped, there wasn't green much here for them.

Bob Zybach: But the ducks would come through?

James Hanish: Yeah, we'd get occasionally what they call a beta wood duck. They'd come up the creek, but now there's no.

Bob Zybach: How about through that area then that we just passed, was there a creek or anything that flowed through there?

James Hanish: No, I never discovered any creeks of any kind.

Bob Zybach: You recall. .

James Hanish: What I think it was water come out of the ground, big spring.

Bob Zybach: Do you recall any Indian sites or any Indian artifacts in the area we just traveled?

James Hanish: No. I never discovered anything over there.

Bob Zybach: So this is basically a cattle country on this side [north side of 100 road]; over here [south side] this was basically mill.

James Hanish: Yeah, up in that . . . from this road that way was mostly mill. This was general mixed farming and they had a hard time making a living, I'll tell you that. The soil was poor, now like for instance on the forty acres we lived on, we had a red shot soil around the house and then back away from the house there was about two inches of top soil and shale underneath. The shale was all streaked with black streaks like it one time contained oil. And then down in the creek bottom there was a red hard rock like a red granite that was exposed by the water. It had little tiny crystals in it. It had the feel of rock, of course we had this burned out rock we used to call it, and it looked like iron rock.

Bob Zybach: This road that came through here, was this a rock road at that time?

James Hanish: This road was always like it was.

Bob Zybach: And how did. . . what kind of rock, where did the rock come from?

James Hanish: I don't know where they got the crushed rock, but it was always rock on it.

Bob Zybach: So everything back then looked, except for these building being missing now, everything looked pretty much the same.

James Hanish: The same, in fact they could drive by and I could recognize it right now.

Bob Zybach: That's interesting. On Joseph Smith place, those buildings that are out there now, getting fogged in, do you think those are the same buildings, did that look about the same?

James Hanish: I recall that was approximately the site where the house was but I don't know . . . he had a nice home.

Bob Zybach: Were the trees that tall at that time?

James Hanish: Yes, they were.

Bob Zybach: So the skyline looked about the same. How big was the lake about?

James Hanish: Oh, it covered about ten acres.

Bob Zybach: Ten acres.

James Hanish: As I recall it as a natural, kind of like a marsh. And it had a lot of dead trees in it and stuff.

Bob Zybach: So that lake came in after trees did? So maybe the farming had caused the lake?

James Hanish: I really don't know, I can remember it was always there though.

Bob Zybach: Summer time too?

James Hanish: It would dry up pretty well in the summer but in the winter it would fill up. I think what it was it was a low area and the water couldn't get out. And then it would fill up a great deal in the winter and in the summer it would just gradually fade away.

Kevin Sherer: [KEVIN] Did the children play on that if it froze over in the winter?

James Hanish: I couldn't tell you, I never went down there when it froze. I don't remember severe freezing up here. The only real . . . we had snow and some cold but it never froze anything solid like it does like in town. Frozen water pipes, we never had that.

Bob Zybach: Now this creek through here, did you fish it?

James Hanish: Yes, we used to fish it a lot. Catch nice trout.

Bob Zybach: Do you remember what kind?

James Hanish: Oh, I used to just call them brook trout fish.

Bob Zybach: Brook trout.

James Hanish: Them days we didn't worry about technicalities about things. We just . . . it was a fish.

Bob Zybach: So you don't know if it was a cutthroat or a rainbow?

James Hanish: It wasn't a rainbow, it might have been possibly a cutthroat. They had a dark spots in their.

Bob Zybach: How big were the fish?

James Hanish: Oh, about six to ten inches long.

Bob Zybach: Did you ever catch any big ones?

James Hanish: Yeah, I'd catch one that long . . . from .

Bob Zybach: About a foot?

James Hanish: About a foot.

Bob Zybach: They'd go up to about a foot. I asked Glender on the other hill and. . . other side of the hill and he said he caught one once thirteen and a half inches.

James Hanish: Oh, boy.

Bob Zybach: So it made an impression. On this creek can you recall salamanders or frogs?

James Hanish: Yes. A lot of salamanders, frogs, and snakes.

Bob Zybach: What kind of snakes, garter?

James Hanish: Whatever snakes that would swallow a frog.

Bob Zybach: Large snakes?

James Hanish: Yeah, they were about that big.

Bob Zybach: About an inch and a half diameter?

James Hanish: Yeah.

Bob Zybach: About maybe how long?

James Hanish: About that long.

Bob Zybach: About three foot? Would that be a common garter snake or a different kind of snake?

James Hanish: No, I recall a common garter snake was black, but these were light colored.

Bob Zybach: Light brown?

James Hanish: Light brown. In fact, one time I had an experience. I heard something go peak-eap-eap. I was walking along the creek and I wondered what in the sam hill that was. I went down there and there was a frog, he was tugging away and the darn snake had a hold of his leg and was trying to do something to get started to swallowing him, so I just reached down and pinched the side of that snake's jaws and he released the frog. And the old frog jumped into the water and threw the snake in the brush. That was kind of an awful noise the frog made when it was in distress.

Bob Zybach: Oh, you'd never heard that noise before?

James Hanish: No.

Bob Zybach: I see. You said there was a lot of pheasant in those days was that all through here?

James Hanish: Down in this area here. China. And once in a while they'd come up in here, but they were mostly down here. We used to . . . raise the grain crops like oats, barley, wheat, and it used to be heavy in birds and grass seed and stuff, very heavy.

Bob Zybach: But that would be further to our east here?

James Hanish: Yeah.

Bob Zybach: This up in here is pasture because there's more cattle up through here, for cows?

James Hanish: Yeah.

Bob Zybach: Can you recall any homes off to the left here, say out where those horses are or anything through this field here that's to our northwest?

James Hanish: No, I think it was all like it is.

Bob Zybach: Do you recall who owned it?

James Hanish: Recall what?

Bob Zybach: Do you recall who owned this field through here?

James Hanish: Let's see. In fact they didn't have a gate. I think I do, I think Joe Smith owned a lot of this land up in here. In fact that's where we got a hold of the forty; it was his land. And I think he rented this land out.

Bob Zybach: To other farmers ?

James Hanish: Yeah.

Bob Zybach: Now he lived back over in that hill there that we've just been looking at, but he owned a lot of this land.

James Hanish: He owned a lot of this land. Like I say, it's different loggers that lived on houses and I wouldn't be surprised if maybe somebody built the house, they weren't very expensive houses just clapboard built, very flimsy and I wouldn't be surprised if he rented these to loggers around.

Bob Zybach: On these cheap houses that were in here, were they pretty old when you lived here or were they.

James Hanish: Ours, when we moved in ours, it was quite old.

Bob Zybach: So they might have been twenty or forty years old?

James Hanish: Well, according to some of the garbage, you know, stuff we found around the place.

Bob Zybach: But they were kind of. . . weren't main farm houses or anything, they were just more quick built short term houses?

James Hanish: Yeah. For people to live. . .well, like Tandy's house, they had a house and a barn, maybe he built the house and barn, we never found out whether he bought the property or not. But he had a pretty nice place.

Bob Zybach: He had a pretty nice place, but some of the other places then would be just.

James Hanish: Just plain. Nothing to brag about.

Bob Zybach: I see. Now over here I think you mentioned a Mennonite settlement.

James Hanish: Mennonites had a graveyard up on top of that hill there someplace.

Bob Zybach: Now that's what you call Brinkley Hill?

James Hanish: Yeah. There was a pioneer graveyard there was about two or three graves. When we left here, they were just about hardly distinguishable. Yeah, the Mennonites at one time lived here once and they moved out.

Bob Zybach: Do you recall when they lived here?

James Hanish: I couldn't tell you. Just like I say, see when you move into a neighborhood first thing I started do is ask questions what legends, about old treasure and stuff like that and things gradually keep coming out. Found out about the Mennonites and they moved over to Albany.

Bob Zybach: Do you have any feeling for what years they lived here?

James Hanish: I don't know. It was a long time ago when they lived here.

Bob Zybach: Or how many there were?

James Hanish: There was a colony but I couldn't tell you how many.

Bob Zybach: So it was a whole colony. Do you know about where they were located?

James Hanish: They were in this district here.

Bob Zybach: On both sides of the road?

James Hanish: Yeah, they lived in houses and some farmed and . . . but they moved out.

Bob Zybach: So this was kind of a wide spread Mennonite colony through here?

James Hanish: It might have been possibly, yes.

Bob Zybach: Could they have moved out even before the turn of the century or would it have been closer to.

James Hanish: I couldn't tell you anything about that no, see I never took too much interest except what I heard.

Bob Zybach: Now, on mentioning legends did you ever hear legend of the gold filled boot?

James Hanish: No.

Bob Zybach: Do you recall any legends of any treasures through here?

James Hanish: Oh, there was supposed to have been some treasures up on this pass, they used to call it Stage Coach Road or some kind of a road.

Bob Zybach: What did you call this road when you lived here?

James Hanish: We just called it the county road.

Bob Zybach: The county road, but it used to be called the Stage Coach Road [See Tampico Road], you heard it called that?

James Hanish: I've heard it called that and there's supposed to be a stage robbed up in that top of that summit someplace. But they don't where . . . there was supposed to be some gold hid somewhere up in the woods, but nobody ever found it.

Bob Zybach: So, do you recall any other tales of gold or any gold mines, anybody trying to mine gold