"The Hotel McCredie Springs"
by Kathy Matthews
The hot springs are still there on Salt Creek, but the historic hotel no longer is. This post will tell you all about it though.
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| Oregon Hot Springs Map Courtesy of The Oregonian |
The Hotel McCredie Springs
"Frank Warner"
In 1878, a trapper named Frank Warner
discovered a series of hot springs as he hiked an Indian trail on Salt
Creek in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Frank staked a claim and
built himself a cabin, living there until the early 1900's. He probably
would have stayed there, living happily ever after, if the U.S. Forest
Service had not come into existence and kicked him off of his land.
Dang! It was public domain at it's best; such a piece of property was
claimed for public use instead of private. (I don't know if the
picture above is of Frank's cabin, but it could be. It was in the group
of McCredie Hot Spring historical photos that I am using courtesy of
The Lane County Historical Society.)
"John Hardin"
If you were pretty smart and a developer
from Eugene, you could still figure out how to get your hands on that
land though. This is exactly what John Hardin did in 1911. Knowing
that the law allowed you to file a mineral claim if there was salt
around, he did just that, on land at Salt Creek near the hot springs.
Come to find out, Mr. Hardin never did intend to become a salt miner, he
just wanted to build a resort. It seems that he leased the land from
the Forest Service and got to work. By 1914, the hotel was completed
and open for business.
"Walter 'Judge' McCredie"
Two years later, in 1916, John Hardin
let go of the resort and a certain baseball player named Judge, from
Portland, eventually took it over. (One account says this happened in
1916, another states 1926.)
Quite a character and owner of a
semi-professional baseball team (The Portland Beavers), Walter "Judge"
McCredie bought the hotel with the idea of using it as a baseball camp.
Judge brought his baseball team members up frequently to relax, soak in the hot water, and to just enjoy themselves. The name McCredie Springs stuck.
You could get to the hotel by car, but
by 1923 the train was an easier option. The resort was a favorite of
those living in Eugene and Portland, and was at its most popular during
the 1930's. The train stopped up to five times daily to drop off and
pick up travelers.
"The Madam"
By the
1940's the resort had changed hands several times, and began to fall out
of favor as a destination resort. In the late 1940's it was managed by
a madam, and actually became a bordello. There were three shifts of
prostitutes working daily. The woman gave the Forest Service and local
sheriff fits, but they failed to close down her operation. She
threatened them with guns, and would always seem to make bail and get
right back to work. When her work was finally complete at the resort in
the 1950's, she left without any trouble. (I still need to research her
and learn more of her story, which shouldn't be very difficult and
quite interesting.)
"George Owen"
A
man named George Owen took over the resort next. Poor George would be
the last owner. The hotel burned to the ground in 1958; and then a
major flood in 1964 wiped out the bridge that crossed Salt Creek; how
you got to the lodge. After the flood, the Forest Service took the
lease back from George Owen. They burned the remaining buildings, removing nearly every remaining trace of the establishment. The pools are now primitive soaking pools along the river.
(I paraphrased much of this information from Jeff Birkby's book,
"Touring Washington and Oregon Hot Springs" c. 2002, p. 90-91. Jeff has
a whole chapter full of interesting facts about this cool spot to
visit.)
"Present Day"
Cary
and I like to stop there and stretch our legs when we travel to
Eugene. I have done several posts with photos of the river before, and
you can see them if you would like by "CLICKING HERE" and by " CLICKING HERE: "Naked in Nature", and here: "Road Trip, May 2010.
The area was flooded again in 2010, and
the river has changed course. It wiped out some of the pools. We
stopped there on Wednesday, and I was very surprised at how different
things are now. There are three main pools, and two are super hot. The
big pool is not as muddy as it used to be. Here are some of the
pictures that I took that day:
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
I found this live video of Salt Creek and McCredie Hot Springs on You Tube ...
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_qhll3belCw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Kathy M.
