A county slogan from the past

In 1919, Grants Pass began using a slogan, “It’s the Climate” to draw attention to their community and had much success with it. Other Oregon communities began adopting slogans. The idea of choosing a slogan for Douglas County was birthed by the Roseburg Chamber of Commerce (RCC). In 1926 they introduced a slogan contest. The contest was open for 10 days to any resident to submit as many slogans as desired. The prize to be awarded was $10 (equivalent to about $157 today). Initially the RCC asked that the entries be “20 words” or less; calling attention to Douglas County’s climate, soil, resources, or some other outstanding feature. Many entries began arriving. Initial entries were determined to be too long and the RCC corrected their contest rules, two day later, to read “20 letters” or less. RCC also offered some additional guidance by pointing to other examples. Again, near the contest close, they revised the rules again to read “22 letters” or less. By the contest's end, they had a total of 483 eligible slogans and had rejected over 100, most being too long. The RCC judges reviewed them and announced that all slogans had been rejected, as none were deemed entirely suitable for the County slogan. However, one slogan was selected as the best offered, and was declared the winner of the $10 prize. The winner is named only as “K. Dirk” and their slogan was “The End of the Homeseekers’ Trail”. Despite being deemed as not fulfilling the requirements and not desirable for county advertising, the slogan did catch on. Beginning in June 1927, the Roseburg News-Review began pasting the slogan in the upper-right corner of each cover page for the next 15 months. Some merchants also used the slogan in their advertisements, through 1944. In 1932, the RCC reversed their rejection and embraced the slogan multiple times, in a full-page ad relating to a planned Roseburg Soldiers Home. The slogan did not stand the test of time and was likely replaced, in the late 1950s, with the slogan “The Hundred Valleys of the Umpqua”. However, in October 1934, the Roseburg News-Review published an original poem by a local named, Pearl Rose Robinson. Pearl expanded on the then 8-year-old slogan and gave it context, revealed the charm, and imbued life into that slogan. The poem was placed on page 3 of the edition and received no additional coverage. No reviews. No awards. No recognition. Yet over 87 years later, it does stand the test of time. If you read the words, it can render the pure emotion of fulfillment of those who had reached… “The End of the Homeseekers’ Trail”. #douglascountyoregon