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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Hersey Street in Ashland, Ore., is named for a Michigan family that liked Ashland so much they never left. They even convinced their grandparents to move…
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Jump Off Joe Creek, 11 miles north of Grants Pass, Ore., refers to an accident involving 29-year-old Joseph McLoughlin, son of Dr. John McLoughlin,…
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The tallest peak in Josephine County, Ore., is Grayback Mountain at 7,050 feet.Historians are unsure about the origin of the name, which dates from the…
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Williams, Ore., started as a mining community in 1859. It was first known as Williamsburg, after nearby Williams Creek.The creek’s name refers to Captain…
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Dutchman Peak, west of Mount Ashland, was named for a German immigrant who died on the mountain in about 1870. A ranger in the Applegate District, Lee…
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Using modern technology, the Ashland Woodlands and Trails Association has uncovered one of the oldest trails in the Ashland Watershed.Association members…
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Every August, about 200 runners from across the country scramble up 13 miles of watershed trails from Lithia Park to the top of Southern Oregon’s…
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Built 100 years ago, the Dollarhide Bridge on the Old Siskiyou Highway was one of the first two bridges constructed in 1914 by the new Oregon Department…
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On the wall of the 1912 Sunset Schoolhouse in Fort Rock, Ore., is an Oregon map from the 1920s. It shows the major towns of Ashland and Medford along the…
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In order to reduce fuel consumption and pollution caused by idling vehicles, the City of Ashland in 1982 discouraged businesses from using drive-up…
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Rodney Glisan has a major street named after him in Portland, Ore., and his personal book collection generated the first library at the Oregon Health and…
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There was trouble in Port Orford in 1855. Lt. August Kautz, a German-born officer in the U. S. Army, had arrested a civilian for harassing Indians on the…