
Amy Couture
As It Was ContributorAmy Couture is originally from Loomis, California and Astoria, Oregon. She has a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Oregon, a master’s in teacher education from Eastern Oregon University, and a master’s in history from Minnesota State University, Mankato. In graduate school, she focused on 19th-century social and labor history. Her master’s thesis examined the origins of the labor union movement among Cornish hard rock miners in California’s gold country in the 1860s. Before moving to Ashland in 2010, Amy taught fifth grade and coached cross country in Stebbins, Alaska. She also taught history and education classes at Clatsop Community College and Treasure Valley Community College. She is the author of 14 historical vignettes in the book, Astorians: Eccentric and Extraordinary. Her husband, Patrick, is the assistant principal of Talent Middle School and they live in Ashland with their two young sons.
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Woodruff Meadow is a rare flat spot in a mountainous area of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, about 10 miles southwest of Prospect, Ore. The…
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The Greensprings Highway, officially State Route 66, heads east into the mountains from Ashland on a historic route in use for at least 160 years.In 1846,…
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In the late 1800's, the self-proclaimed “Poet of the Sierras,” Joaquin Miller, was known for his colorful dress, restless travels, and flamboyant writing…
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The community of Brownsboro east of Eagle Point, Ore., takes its name from an early settler, Henry Brown, who received a Donation Land Claim on Little…
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Today only a Forest Service wooden shelter from the 1930s remains at the Dead Indian Soda Springs historic site along Little Butte Creek east of Eagle…
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Robinson Butte rises southwest of Mount McLoughlin in Southern Oregon’s Cascades. It once was part of the summer hunting grounds of the Takelma Indians,…
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The Little Butte Creek watershed in Jackson County, Ore., has undergone many changes due to human settlement since the 1850s. The watershed extends from…
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A popular nickname for new settlements in the 19th century was Stringtown. The name referred to communities that were strung along a creek, river, stage…
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The territory of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians once extended from Crater Lake to the Willamette Valley, and south to the Rogue River watershed. But…
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The U.S. General Land Office hired Daniel Major in 1868 to survey the Oregon-California Line. Major used a sextant and a crew of 19 to locate the…
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Talent, Ore., farmer Welborn Beeson’s journal in 1860 mentioned that the valley was cold and foggy, but that it was clear up on the mountain top.Beeson…
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Beckie’s Café, in Union Creek, Ore., is a popular stop for visitors going or returning from Crater Lake on Oregon Route 62.Edmond and Nettie Beckelhymer,…