Elliott State Forest History

The history of the Elliott State Forest has been best told and documented in book form by Jerry Phillips, Aileen Rickard (deceased), and Lionel Youst. Those books have all been generously made available for this website by Phillips and Youst and by David Gould, nephew of Aileen Rickard and a Gould-McClay family historian. In addition to their books, the authors and Gould have also provided dozens of historical maps and photographs, correspondence, family diaries, newspaper articles, student reports, and other historical materials focused on the Elliott, its history, prehistory and possible futures.

Oral Histories: During Fall 2017, the Oregon Department of State Lands (ODSL) collaborated with Oregon Websites and Watersheds Project, Inc. (ORWW) to record and document a series of three oral history interviews with Jerry Phillips and Dr. Bob Zybach regarding the history and management of the Elliott State Forest. This agreement was authorized by Jim Paul of ODSL and Wayne Giesy of ORWW. The project resulted in 15 hours of audiotape-recorded interviews, a detailed GIS map, and several dozen photographs taken during the three different tours of the various road networks and historical locations on the Forest. ODSL Property Managers Amber Ross and Randy Wiest provided transportation and GIS mapping during each of the three field trips and were instrumental to their success. David Gould, descendant and family historian of the Elkhorn Ranch pioneer homesteaders, and Roger Johnson, reforestation forester of the Elliott for many years, participated in separate tours that focused on each of their knowledge of the Elliott. A separate one-hour interview was recorded with Bob Jacobson at the Coos Bay History Museum regarding West Fork Millicoma fishing history. All recordings are now in the process of being digitized and transcribed, at which time they will also be made available online. This ORWW educational website is a direct result of the "Elliott Forest Oral History Project" and will be an online location for future transcriptions, recordings, maps, texts, and photographs as they become available.

"I'd been vaguely aware of the Forest’s existence since attending Oregon State College, where it was described in college literature as an undeveloped State-owned forest of young timber lying between Coos and Umpqua Rivers, dedicated to educational purposes." (Jerry Phillips 1998: iii)