This year’s Bohemia Mining Days theme is “Rivers, Rails and Reels,” a phrase that brings together three important parts of Cottage Grove’s story: the waterways that shaped early life, the railroads that moved people and resources, and the films that helped put our community on the screen.
The first inspiration for the theme is the 100th anniversary of Buster Keaton filming The General in Cottage Grove. Released in 1926, The General remains one of the most famous silent films ever made. It also includes one of the most memorable stunts of the silent film era: a real steam engine crashing from a burning railroad bridge into the river below. That single moment brings together all three parts of this year’s theme. It crossed the Row River, used the railways and a working steam engine, and was preserved through the art of film. Without the “reels,” many people today may never have known that this remarkable piece of movie history happened right here.
Although The General is now 100 years old and tells a story set during the 1860s, it is still worth watching. Keaton’s work shows how powerful visual storytelling can be. It is a reminder that our town has played a meaningful role in American film history.
The “Rivers” part of the theme begins with the Coast Fork of the Willamette River and the Row River, two waterways that meet just north of town. Long before modern roads, reservoirs and town streets, these rivers helped shape where people lived, traveled and gathered. The Row River area was once connected to Kalapuyan life, including Chief Halotish near what is now the Dorena Dam area. These river valleys later became home to pioneer settlements, farms and small communities that helped build the foundation of Cottage Grove.
Two of those communities were Hebron and Star. Hebron, now beneath Cottage Grove Reservoir, was once a small farming community and social hub. The construction of Cottage Grove Dam between 1940 and 1943 created Cottage Grove Lake and required remaining residents to move to higher ground. Star, located up the Row River, was an important logging camp stop along the Oregon Southeastern Railway. The Dorena Dam project, built between 1941 and 1949, led to the relocation of that community as well. Today, parts of this history rest beneath the reservoirs, where traces of old foundations and roadways can still be seen when the water is drawn down.
The “Rails” part of the theme recognizes the importance of railroads in moving timber, gold, people and supplies. Cottage Grove’s history is closely tied to mining and logging, and those industries depended on transportation. Before railroads, Willamette Valley travel routes followed Native trails that paralleled the river, avoided marshy ground and crossed tributaries upstream. These early routes helped shape later roads and rail lines.
When the Oregon & California Railroad began building south from Portland in 1868, the line followed practical routes that reduced construction and operating costs. The railroad reached Cottage Grove in 1871, Roseburg in 1872, and was completed through to San Francisco in December 1883. For Cottage Grove, the railroad opened doors. It connected local industries to larger markets and helped turn a small settlement into a working town with regional importance.
The “Reels” part of the theme celebrates Cottage Grove’s long connection to film. Our town may be small, but it has appeared in many productions over the years. The General is the most famous example, with scenes filmed in and around Cottage Grove, including the Mosby Creek area and the Row River location of the famous train wreck. In 1978, Animal House used Main Street for its climactic homecoming parade scene. Stand By Me, released in 1986, used nearby railroad settings east of Cottage Grove, including scenes along what is now the Row River Trail. Emperor of the North, released in 1973, also used local rail yards and regional railroad settings for its freight-train story.
That film connection continues today. In 2026, Eat Your Heart Out, a production by Taylor Morden, came to town with a story about a small community preparing for a music festival while facing a zombie outbreak. Cottage Grove’s historic buildings, natural scenery and rail history continue to make it a place that filmmakers notice.
There is also room in this story for local independent film. In 2020, I produced a short film titled Merchants of the Great Plague, using local talent and the historic Currin Covered Bridge. The film starred Dylan Fix-Carter as Dan Royale, a man forced to face the consequences of his own mistakes during a strange outbreak caused by a bad batch of drugs. Projects like this show that Cottage Grove’s film story is not only something from the past. Films are still being produced locally by me, Dylan Fix-Carter, and other local creators such as Daniel Hill. With Oregon Arts and Film also working toward making Cottage Grove the future home of a movie museum, the “Reels” part of this year’s theme points not only to our film history, but also to the creative future still being built here.
“Rivers, Rails and Reels” is more than a clever theme. It is a way to look at Cottage Grove through three lenses. Our rivers carried history. Our rails carried industry. Our reels carried our image to audiences far beyond town. Together, they tell a story of movement, creativity, work and memory. That is the story Bohemia Mining Days is proud to celebrate this year.
-Matthew Hewlett