Oakridge Pioneer Museum: Before there was Oakridge, there was James Sanford

By SHEILA CHITWOOD/for The Herald  —  In 1853, Josiah Sanford and his two sons, James and Richmond, rode horseback across the plains from Virginia to California during the gold rush. After getting their gold stake, they traveled to Grand Prairie (Eugene) to begin their career as cattlemen.

In 1860, to avoid being drafted into the civil war, James and Richmond loaded up their belongings on pack horses and left Eugene for Big Prairie, a beautiful, wild and untamed land with unlimited pasture.

Here they built a ranch and continued their cattle business. They eventually owned over 1000 acres of land that is now known as the City of Oakridge, the Circle Bar Golf Club and surrounding areas. They were the very first white settlers here.

James married Hale Burton in 1862 and brought his wife to the new ranch. He had no children.

James was regarded as a fine person, honest and upright. Not book educated (he signed his name with an X), he was an astute cattleman and business person. He was a hard dealer when it came to money matters and it was said that “he could squeeze the almighty dollar until it cried for mercy.”

James led a colorful life and was often the plaintiff in court battles. But one time he was the defendant. He was charged with breaking into his brother-in-law’s house with intent to commit murder. He was, in the end, acquitted.

As old age came, James sold most of his property to Ernest Hyland and Charles McFarland. The Hyland share became the town of Oakridge and was jokingly referred to as “a thousand-acre cow pasture.”

James died in 1913 and was buried near his home on the Sanford Ranch (now Circle Bar Golf Club) and later moved to the Pleasant Hill Cemetery.

There was a rumor going around that before he died, he buried several gallon jugs of gold coins on his property.