User:Easnyder77/Tolo, ORegon

Tolo is a defunct city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States, located between the present day cities of Central Point, Gold Hill, and Sams Valley. Originally named Willow Springs, the town was envisioned to be one of the big cities of southern Oregon. The city of Tolo was platted in 1888, but was virtually abandoned by the year 1918. In 1986, the Jackson County Commission returned the plat to public ownership.

History
Prior to the arrival of settlers in mid-1800s, Shasta, Takelma, Latgawa, and Athabaskan Indians lived in the Rogue river valley. Early Hudson's Bay Company hunters and trappers, following the Siskiyou Trail, passed through the area in the 1820s. In the late 1840s, settlers (mostly American) following the Applegate Trail began passing through the area. By the early 1850s, the Donation Land Act brought many white settlers into the Rogue Valley and in conflict with its native people. These often violent clashes prompted the signing of the Table Rock Treaty on September 10, 1853.

The Table Rock Treaty established the fist reservation in the Pacific Northwest, which encompassed both Table Rocks, Present Day Sams Valley, and the entire Evans Creek and Sardine Creek Watersheds. The treaty also called for a fort to protect the Indians from the ambitions of the white settlers. Fort Lane was constructed in 1853 in what was to become Willow Springs, and occupied by two companies of the U.S. Army's 1st Dragoons under the command of Captain Andrew Jackson Smith. The fort was used to maintain the peace between the pioneers and native peoples. However, tensions and violence continued to mount, leading to the Rogue River War of 1855-1856. General Wool, commander of the Army of the West, along with Joel Palmer, Oregon Superintendent of Indian Affairs ordered the removal of the Indians of southwest Oregon to the Coast Reservation of northern Oregon. Fort Lane became the Army headquarters for the removal.

After the removal of the Indians, Willow Springs continued to grow. The Willow Springs Post Office was opened in 1864. Mines, quarries, and mills sprang up in the area. In 1871, the Department of the Interior relinquished Fort Lane, which was subsequently purchased by investors.

In 1886, the name Willow Springs was officially changed to Tolo. Popular belief is that the intended name was to be Yolo in tribute to Yolo County, California. However, the postal authorities misread the "Y", mistaking it for a "T", thus naming the Post Office "Tolo". Another possibility is that the residents intended for the name to be "Tolo", which was Chinook Jargon speak which denoted a windfall or payday, possibly relating to the hopes that Tolo would become one of the larger cities in Southern Oregon.

In 1888, Tolo was platted by lawyer, and Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Paine Page Prim.

Tolo began to dwindle around the turn of the century. The Tolo Post office closed in 1897. Around that time, two brothers from New York, Colonel Frank H. Ray, and Doctor Charles R. Ray began developments in Tolo. The Post Office re-opened in 1898. The Ray brothers opened a rock quarry, which lead to Tolo's nickname of "Construction City". From 1902 to 1904, the Ray brothers constructed the Gold Ray Dam, the first hydro-electric plant in Southern Oregon, bringing electricity to the region.

By 1915, it appeared that Tolo was not going to become the large city envisioned by its founders. The population remained at a low 150, and the momentum for growth was lacking, despite the city having a brick plant, quarry, saw mill, and gold mines. In 1918, the Post Office closed for good, along with the railroad depot. In 1986, the Jackson County Commission returned the plat, which contained 474 building lots, along with public streets, to public ownership.

The Future
The Tolo area is designated by Jackson County Commissioners for future industrial development, along with the Medford Industrial Park in White City.