By Pat Edwards

558 pages

In 1913, the first shovelful of dirt was turned by Oregon Governor Oswald West on the Siskiyou Pass to mark the beginning of the construction of the long-dreamed-of Pacific Highway through Oregon. At the time, the whole State of Oregon had only 25 miles of paved road. Even after construction of the highway had begun, it was mainly dirt and gravel for quite some time. Federal money did not pour into the project until 1921. Up to that time, it was up to the individual counties along the route to come up with the funding to build the roads through each of their areas. By its completion in 1926, however, it was adopted as U.S. Highway 99 and was declared the longest improved highway in the country by 1928. Actually, the history of the highway began long before 1913. This book will cover how the route for the Pacific Highway was determined through its use by Native tribes and later by trappers, miners and settlers who used portions of the California and Applegate Trails in their journeys, and eventually by the stage lines and the railroad. It will also show how each of the settlements along its route were formed and grew into prospering cities, small rural communities and some that are now ghost towns. Join us on our journey through these communities as we wend our way north from the California border where the Pacific Highway first started from that shovelful of dirt. You’ll learn about some of the interesting, but lesser-known, aspects of their histories and the people who were instrumental in making them what they are today.

$22.00 plus $5.00 shipping

By Patricia Ann Edwards

274 pages

Originally published in 1987 as Sawdust and Cider; A History of Lorane, Oregon and the Siuslaw Valley, this book is a major revision. Published in September 2006, From Sawdust and Cider to Wine has grown from 165 to 269 pages. It contains over 230 black and white photographs, 100 family histories and 6 maps from the community of Lorane, Oregon, located southwest of Eugene in Lane County, Oregon.

“But, if I’m not from the Lorane, Oregon area, why would I want to read your book?”

You don’t have to have any connection to Lorane or, for that matter, Oregon, to find this book of interest. For the “Baby-Boomer” generation, it will evoke memories of the days before television, computers and cell phones, when communication came across the airwaves of the family’s wonderful Zenith radio or via the crank telephone’s party lines. It will bring forth memories of vacations taken in the family car when “getting there” was half the fun! You’ll remember how you and your friends picked daisies and watched propellered airplanes fly overhead as you lie on the lawn during long slow days of summer vacation, dreaming of adventures that you would encounter when you “grew up.” It will bring back the realization that the “good old days” were not always easy or untroubled, but they were far less complex.

For many, it will bring back the stories told to us by our parents and grandparents of the World Wars, the Depression, the “horse and buggy days” and the pioneering spirit that formed our great nation.

Yes, this book is based on the little community at the south end of Lane County, Oregon – a former timber community now internationally known for its production of fine wines. But it also chronicles the fairly recent history of the pioneers who braved the elements and the unknown and traveled the Oregon Trail and the Applegate Trail to carve out – hopefully – better lives for themselves and their families.

$25.00 plus shipping

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By Patricia Ann Edwards, Nancy Seales O’Hearn and Marna Hing

156 pages

(Out of Print)