Front matter

JAMES HANISH Biographical Sketch And A Tour Of Berry Creek Benton And Polk Counties, Oregon: 1930-1938 Oral History Interviews by Bob Zybach and Kevin Sherer Soap Creek Valley History Project Monograph #6 OSU Research Forests 1994

Cover Photo: Courtesy of Myra Moore Lauridson and the Soap Creek Schoolhouse Foundation. Pictured is the Moore family farm on Soap Creek, taken about 1899 or 1900 by Mrs. Lauridson's father, Samuel H. Moore.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Soap Creek Valley History Project was authorized by, and is under the direction of, Dr. William Atkinson, former Director of the OSU Research Forests. Funding for the project is provided by the OSU College of Forestry. Lisa Buschman, former OSU Research Forests secretary, transcribed recordings to computer files and assisted with draft editing, formatting, and indexing. Holly Behm Losli and Tami Torres, OSU Research Forests text editors, completed final formatting and indexing under the direction of Pamm Beebee, OSU Research Forests Office Manager. This project could not have been completed without the help of these people.

THE SOAP CREEK VALLEY HISTORY PROJECT The Soap Creek Valley History Project was undertaken by the Oregon State University's Research Forests in 1989 for the purpose of better understanding the history, ecology, and culture of an area that has been directly impacted by OSU land management practices for nearly seventy years. An important part of the project has been the location and publication of existing recorded oral history interviews with individuals who have had an influence upon the valley's history. New recordings have also been made with significant individuals who have not been previously consulted, as well as "follow-up" interviews with a few people who have continued to contribute to our understanding of the Soap Creek area. The publication of these interviews as a series of cross-referenced monographs has been undertaken in an effort to make them available to resource managers, researchers and educators. An additional use is accurate and available references for a planned written history of the area. One of the primary accomplishments of the project has been the creation of a computerized concordance file, currently on IBM Word Perfect 5.1. This was made possible through the assistance and expertise of Bonnie Humphrey, of the Homer Museum staff, Lisa Buschman, secretary for the OSU Research Forests, and Holly Behm Losli, text editor for OSU Research Forests. The file allows for both the efficient and systematic indexing of the monographs in this series, as well as providing a method for cross-referencing other research materials being used in the construction of a scholarly history of the Soap Creek Valley. Wherever possible, that history is being assembled from the written and spoken words of the people who made it and lived it. The use of the concordance file allows information from the journal entries of botanist David Douglas, the transcribed words of Kalapuyan William Hartless, the memories of pioneer "Grandma" Carter, and the recordings of James Hanish to be systematically searched and organized. The index of this monograph is an example of the applied use of the file. Citations should mention both the OSU College of Forestry and OSU Research Forests.

INTRODUCTION The following interviews with Jim Hanish were conducted as part of the Soap Creek Valley history project. The interviews took place on OSU Research Forest properties in January and April of 1990 in the vicinity of Berry Creek and Forest Peak of the Dunn Forest tracts. James Hanish is an outwardly happy man and is extremely agile, being able to walk the brush-laden hills and travel the steep and rugged terrain with the enthusiasm of a much younger man. This pipe-smoking man of eighty years of age lives with his wife, Grace, in Corvallis, where they care for his mother, Connie. [See title page photo and note.] The first time out in the field with Jim, the weather was against us. Jim had alluded to Native American sites that he had become familiar with when he was younger. In search of these sites we encountered a thick fog that prevented us from locating sites on the summit of Forest Peak. In fact, we were even unable to locate the peak. A February attempt to locate the site by Jim and I, (which was not recorded) resulted in a better orientation, but we were still unable to reach the correct summit. The potential significance of the features described by Jim, and later confirmed during field surveys, is obvious. The rock-lined pits described in this report may be the product of windthrown trees or may correspond to the Native American practice of cooking the camas bulbs in rock-lined pits or "camas ovens." Or even been the result of other human activities. In addition to the information concerning Forest Peak, Jim's contribution to other areas of the Forest has yielded the mapping and subsequent recording of Native American sites with the State Historic Preservation Office, the assignment of names to local landmarks and the general location of a pioneer cemetery. The information and subsequent field confirmation a project of this nature provides attests to the importance of programs that include oral histories as part of the survey process. Kevin Sherer May 13, 1991 Corvallis, Oregon

Map of January 13 and April 10, 1990 tours of Forest Peak and Berry Creek neighborhoods. Names associated with house symbols are from the early 1930's. Depression era sawmills are symbolized with a half circle over a rectangle.