Rogue River - Jimmy Coe
A short distance downstream from Zane Greys cabin is Missouri Bar, once home to one of the most reclusive characters on the Rogue, Jimmy Coe.
Jimmy was a wisp of a man who used abandoned mattresses from firefighters strewn about Missouri Bar as his sleeping quarters. In inclement weather, he had a small cabin constructed with materials scavenged from the river. Visitors to his abode were cautioned to wait 10 minutes by the big fir tree for Jimmy to appear, or risk stepping in one of the many bear traps placed about the bar.
Jimmy was basically lazy, and would even wait for a deer to approach the river upstream of his cabin, then shoot the deer and leave it to bloat for a few days. He would then push it into the river and allow it to float down to his cabin where he would skin and prepare the deer. He was convinced that Jack Mahoney had gold buried on his property on Hewitt Creek and was more than once invited to leave at gunpoint by Mahoney. This most likely contributed to Mahoney’s paranoia that led to the shooting at Battle Bar.
By 1953, Jimmy turned up at Marial where Marial’s husband, Manfred was building a barn. Lumber kept turning up missing and Manfred knew Jimmy was taking it. He left a note that stated: “Jimmy, keep your damn hands off my lumber”. The next day he returned to find more lumber missing and a reply to his note: “Manfred, go to hell! (Signed, Jimmy)
One thing led to another, and eventually Jimmy and Manfred got into an argument and Jimmy pulled out a gun. He pulled the trigger, but the gun misfired. In his embarrassment, he jumped out the window and disappeared. Manfred and Marial were understandably upset and contacted the police. Officers came in and arrested Jimmy and took him to town. Their plans were to let him cool off a bit, talk to him and send him back down the river. Just as a way to pass the time, they ran a routine check and found that Jimmy had escaped from a Georgia prison in 1927. After some discussion between the states, he was returned to Georgia, where by all accounts he remained a model prisoner until his death.
As you float by Missouri Bar, make sure you don’t leave anything . The ghost of Jimmy Coe just might steal it.
