Definitely a Fun Friday!

Another photo with a lot of detail. The man on the right must have lifted his arm to display his "six shooter".

L.E. on 20th January 2017 @ 8:49am

The rails have a stub switch rather than a tapered rail. Only one rail to the right would make this a derail for a car out of control..

Kenn on 20th January 2017 @ 9:51am

The entrance to my Grandpa's mine up in the Elkhorn Mountains was about the same size as this one, but he didn't have a rail cart.

Bill Seaton on 20th January 2017 @ 9:56am

As I mentioned in one of the first Conser photos, his mother's family was a pioneering family from where I grew up. Here is some history from his father's side of the family
Earl's father was Wesley Shannon Conser. His grandfather was Jacob Conser.

"....In 1848, Jacob and Nancy Conser and their two children traveled the Oregon Trail, following the Barlow Trail route to Oregon City and then taking up residence at the forks of the Santiam River near Scio. The Consers would eventually have ten children, eight born in Marion County. Conser’s experience in millwork served him well in Oregon. After one season at Santiam Forks, he moved downriver to Santiam City, where he established a sawmill in 1849. Santiam City, however, was susceptible to flooding—a flood in 1861 practically wiped out the town—so Conser took up a 640-acre claim in 1850 at the site of Jefferson, upriver from Santiam City. At Jefferson, Conser joined with James Bates, whose land claim abutted his, to build a substantial mill and millrace, which diverted Santiam water about two miles upriver from the town site. Conser also established a ferry at Jefferson in 1851, which quickly became the main crossing on the Santiam for wagon traffic south from Oregon City. By 1852, Jefferson had become the principal town on the river.
Conser contributed substantially to building Jefferson, including the donation of land in 1856 for the Jefferson Institute, a private school for local children that emphasized classical education and continued until the formation of a public school district in 1899. He also participated in elective politics, serving as a Democrat in the Territorial Council in 1849 and in the House from 1852 to 1857. He was Marion County commissioner from 1850 to 1853, and he was Jefferson’s mayor in 1870 when the city was incorporated. Conser was also an incorporator of the Oregon Central Railroad Company in 1867...."

The home that Jacob Conser built in Jefferson in 1854 is on the National Register of Historic Homes. You can see a photo here.
http://buildingoregon.org/catalog/oregondigital:df67mw150

L.E. on 20th January 2017 @ 6:17pm

There is a comment in the Rogue River Courier of Grants Pass Oregon April 30, 1903 that Earl Conser, who has been occupying the position of assistant cashier at the First National bank, left on Thursday to take a position with the
O. R. & N. engineering corps.
That date is a couple of years later than the photos we have been viewing.

L.E. on 20th January 2017 @ 7:45pm

Thanks L.E. I believe Earl Conser was a student working in the summer with the OR&N when he made this album. It sounds like he became a cashier after that, then found a full time position with the OR&N before settling back into a career in banking in eastern Oregon.

Arthur on 21st January 2017 @ 11:41am

The joints between the crosspiece and uprights of the timbers making up the portal facing have some pretty precise looking joint work. I would not have expect to find good joinery in this location.

Longshot on 22nd January 2017 @ 6:19am

Nice joint work above the portal to give stability to the side timbers.
I wonder what the dark spot to the right of the portal is.
The man on the right picked a bad time to straighten his hair or hat.

Kenn on 23rd January 2017 @ 8:15am

Conser was important enough in Jefferson that the beautiful concrete arch bridge over the Santiam is named after him. it is located adjacent to and just upstream from the 1851 Conser ferry.

Kenn on 23rd January 2017 @ 8:24am

The way the brush and leaves are covered, it appears that there was a sandstorm?

As we say....history is based on who writes it. The above article about Jacob Conser says they travelled via the Barlow Trail.
Found another article that gives a description of their arrival in The Dalles, too late to take the Barlow Trail, and the decision to travel down the River.

http://www.gremmert.com/getperson.php?personID=I30308&tree=ardeneva

L.E. on 23rd January 2017 @ 9:26am

The two horizontal timbers over the portal are separated by rocks to vent and avoid rot between them, I had not seen this before.
This reminds me of concrete piers, as under the HR RR bridge, being capped with rock to avoid chafing of the concrete.by vibrating steel.

Kenn on 24th January 2017 @ 8:24am

I wonder if just possibly this could be in the area of Heppner?
Earl's wife, Willetta Leezer was from a prominent family in Heppner and they maintained a home in Heppner even though Earl was working in Burns.
There are mines in the Heppner area and Willow Creek, the site of the Heppner flood in June of 1901 has mines on it.

L.E. on 24th January 2017 @ 10:52am

I was asked about my comments of concrete RR bridge piers being capped with rock. An example can be seen by driving up the dirt road on the east side of the Hood River under the RR bridge. A bit farther south one can turn around at the remaining approaches to the two earlier highway bridges.

Kenn on 27th January 2017 @ 7:05am