One of the first babies born in Southern Oregon, John Griffin was brought into this world on Sept. 14, 1853, in Jacksonville. Over the next 86 years he became a woodsman and hunter known for his bear hunting dogs and his entertaining hunting stories published in regional newspapers in the 1920s and 30s.
Griffin had many hunting companions, including Ashland Mayor Robert P. Neil, and Griffin’s dogs, Trailer and Ranger.
Griffin traveled with five pack horses carrying food, ammunition and his 44 Winchester. They would camp on the way to bear country and shoot a few wolves, cougars, elk, or bucks, all depending on what crossed their path. Somewhere around the huckleberries on Mount Pitt, known today as Mount McLoughlin, the dog Trailer would take after a bear, tree it, and fight it when it came down until someone shot it. Griffin sold the surplus meat after a successful trip, and told the story to anyone who would listen.
Griffin was the recipient of one of the first old age pensions issued by the Jackson County Pension Board, amounting to almost $30 a month, the equivalent today of about $400.
