Disclaimers: 
Photos courtesy of Alma Spicer

Exclusive copy of Life on the Rogue written (in 1996) for "Catch the Spirit (a Shady Cove Regional Community Publication) by Paul Becker, Trustee of the Ginger Rogers Estate, who at the time of Ginger's passing lived in Shady Cove; he is now the Mayor of historic Jacksonville, OR

Life Magazine cover photo was taken at Betz hole, at the north end of Ginger's 4-ranch.

Ginger Rogers  Life on the Rogue ...

GINGER ROGERS,100^th Birthday would have been July 16, 2011.   Numerous Upper Rogue communities celebrate the life and spirit of this magnificent woman last year.  Her legacy will never go away.  Read all about her below....

Hollywood has always had a love affair with the Rogue Valley and Ginger Rogers was no exception. Always a private person, Rogers and her mother Lela, sought out Oregon to put distance between Ginger's public persona and her private life.  Following her Oscar winning performance in "Kitty Foyle", Ginger purchased her Rogers ' Rogue River Ranch (4-R) in 1940.  The 4-R, located on Highway 62,  is just 3 miles south of Shady Cove; Ginger called the 4-R home for 50 of her 70 year career.  Ginger used Eagle Point as her mailing address and kept the Eagle Point post office busy for fifty years with fan mail arriving from around the world.  

There was little comparison between Ginger's famous image on screen and her modest, unpretentious home life...

Ginger ran the Rogers' Rogue River Ranch as a business venture, not as a bright young movie star; she grew corn, assisted in irrigation of oat fields, enjoyed her horses, chickens, turkeys, pigs, cattle and the areas' abundant wildlife ... Ginger stocked her 4-R with purebred Guernsey cattle, bringing them down from the Tillamook dairy country of Northern Oregon to introduce a new breeding strain into the Rogue Valley's agricultural industry.  During World War II, milk from the Rogers ' Rogue River Ranch helped supply the need to thousands of men and women who called Camp White their home during World War II.    

Also, During World War II , America 's entertainers, its actors, actresses, comedians and musicians, did what they could to boost morale for the nation's troops.  Stars of varying intensity came to Camp White to cheer on the men and women training there.  Such visits were anticipated and long remembered.  The brightest star related with Camp White was a civilian patriot named Ginger Rogers.  Ginger was active in fund-raising and could often be counted upon to help the local war effort.  Living nearby and making regular neighborly visits, Ginger was perceived as the Valley's own star.  Locals remember her "familiar face" at the bond sales booth on Main Street in Medford .  Army nurses undertaking their military training, bivouacked overnight on Ginger's Ranch setting up pup-tents and making their coffee and meals (pictures are displayed on the walls at the Camp White Military Museum, in White City). 

Ginger, herself, took camping trips on the vast 1,000 acres without ever leaving her Ranch.  Two and one-half miles of Rogue River flowed through the 4-R; after riding, Ginger would tent out sliding into a sleeping bag after her day of riding and fishing for dinner.

Ginger was an avid fly fisher; one of her biggest thrills was hooking a 6 3/4 lb steelhead she caught on a drift boat trip with the pioneer whitewater river runner, Glen Wooldridge.  In author Florance Arman's book, entitled: "The Rogue: a River to Run" she quotes Glen Wooldridge, "I think one of the best guests we ever had on a trip was Ginger Rogers."  The trip was written up in a Hollywood Screen Magazine with pictures showing Ginger and Glen, with Ginger holding her big steelhead.  The six and three-quarter pounds was the biggest steelhead caught on the Rogue that season, but Hollywood made it even bigger, saying it was a 63-pounder!  That trip included a group of eight with one being Jackie Cooper.  

Ginger's home was often the focus of national attention. From issues of Life and Look magazines to newsreel footage, the American public was informed of Ginger's home in Oregon on the Rogue River .  Famous visitors and friends frequented her ranch and she introduced them to Shady Cove as well as fishing and rafting down the Rogue River . The list speaks for itself:  Ann Miller; George Montgomery (her leading man in Roxie Hart); Jackie Cooper, David Niven. Margaret Sullivan (one of Ginger's dearest friends).  Mario Lanza who used the ranch as a health retreat to slim down for a film (during the fifties).  In 1978, Kurt Russell was here with his father Bing who was a character actor (the sheriff) on Bonanza.  

Lucille Ball was another guest and visitor.  Lucy and Ginger went way back together at RKO Studios.  Lucy credited Ginger's mother, Lela Rogers and Ginger with saving her career back in the thirties and they remained good friends for the rest of their lives.  

Alfred Vanderbilt was a frequent visitor.  He proposed marriage to Ginger on more than one occasion.  Another suitor was the famed Hollywood attorney Greg Bautzer who proposed to Ginger while rafting though the town of Shady Cove on the Rogue River .  Even on a raft Ginger was the object of marital pursuit.  Indeed, if the river could talk, it would have some interesting stories to relay.  

No other movie star's name carries the resonance of Ginger Rogers.  Ginger was honored at the 1992 Kennedy Center, for the Performing Arts, in Washington, DC.   On April 25, 1995, at the age of 83, Ginger passed away, in Rancho Mirage, CA.

Ginger Rogers performed in 73 films.  She was noted for her dancing role with Fred Astaire; the memorable dance duo performed in 10 films.   They remained friends throughout their careers.  Sadly, one of the biggest media events took place when Fred Astaire died.  Ginger woke up in the morning with a knock at her ranch door, only to look out at a sea of reporters and news organizations.  Exhausted from having just returned from a tiring journey to Europe on business, she nonetheless held an impromptu press conference right on her doorstep which become a front page item around the world.  

For fifty years, Ginger was a spokeswoman for life in and around Shady Cove ... she was one of our region's first tourism ambassadors.  When one thinks of her international fame and status, as well as her sweet image in both personality and character, it is apparent how fortunate we were to have her in the midst of Shady Cove and the Upper Rogue region...  

Through 65 years of show business, Ginger Rogers sang, danced, and acted her way into the hearts of movie and stage goers.  She's a 14-Karat Gold Legend - still dancing in our hearts ...