There's gold in them thar hills!!! In 1863, gold was discovered in the Bohemia Mountains west of Cottage Grove and there are still active mining claims in the area.
My time in Oregon has provided such close and easy proximity to all types of natural beauty. The more I see and experience the more fail to understand how science can ever be separated from God. Everytime I see God's handiwork, from the snail trail on the sidewalk at the park to the several glaciers crowning the top of Mt. Hood, I'm am astounded.
As I was researching information to set the stage for my Cottage Grove visit, I came across a piece of their history that fascinates and intrigues me. It involves a young lady named Opal.
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| mural on building in Cottage Grove |
Opal Whiteley was born in 1897. She grew up in the logging towns of Oregon but more especially in the Cottage Grove area. As a 5 year old child Opal was already recording her observations and thoughts in a homemade journal created from miscellaneous scraps of paper. Each page expressed her love and amazement with the natural beauty that surrounded her. Her teacher claimed she had genius and was at least 2 years ahead of her peers in school.
In 1915 she was acclaimed as a magnetic teacher and youth leader blending science and faith (this is the part that hooked me) in lectures to thousands . In 1920, her childhood journal was published as The Story of Opal: The Journal of an Understanding Heart. and quickly became the #2 best seller in the world read by presidents and kings. At 22 Opal was a major international success. Unbelievably, just a year later, her book was out of print and she was accused of literary fraud and lying about various aspects of her family life.Opal left Oregon, never to return. In 1948 she was placed in an asylum in London and after her 1950 lobotomy she never wrote again. Sadly, she remained here until her death in 1992.
All her life Opal's greatest desire was to share the intrinsic beauty of nature with children through the written word. On her tombstone is written "I spoke as a child"
Opal's story continues to intrigue. Plays, musicals, and movies have been created to tell her story. In recent years, interest in finding the truth regarding Opal Whiteley has resurfaced and many think the "fraud" allegation has been proven false. What was once labeled schizophrenia is not rethought to be Asperger's syndrome.
So the debate, continues and that mystery may never be solved. However, none of this takes away from the fact that Opal's writings are a delight to all who enjoy the song of a bird, the rich blue of lavender in the height of its bloom, or the scent and cool shade of the fir trees.
The following link gives info regarding Opal and a copy of writings.
http://www.efn.org/~caruso/fairyland/
Now, get this, as I was reading about Opal I came across an interesting website that tells about a woman, Nan Gurley, whose interest in Opal Whitely led her to write a one woman play telling her story. Nan's performance of this play actually won an award at Charleston's Spoleto Festival. As I read Nan's words and continued to peruse the website I learned that Nan Gurley lives in Brentwood, Tn. So there I was, sitting in Oregon, reading insights to Oregon's Opal, written by a woman in Brentwood, Tennessee. Amazing....the world gets increasingly smaller.
Nan's words are at:
http://opalwhiteley.com/
