In Search of Gold Mountain

“Gam Saan”金山 in (Cantonese) Chinese means “Gold Mountain,” an anachronistic name for America, where Chinese migrants adventurously or sometimes desperately came to seek a legendary “fortune.” The City of Jacksonville was Oregon’s first major Chinese settlement. Local historian, Larry Smith, will tell the stories of these early immigrants in his presentation.

Larry Smith was raised on a small family farm in Phoenix, Oregon. A graduate of Phoenix High School, Smith earned an engineering degree from LeTourneau University, Texas and a BS and Masters in Elementary Education from Southern Oregon University. Smith taught fifth and sixth graders at Jacksonville Elementary School for 33 years, where he developed a number of outdoor education programs. He currently works as a substitute teacher for the Medford School District, and leads student field trips to Crater Lake National Park and to the goldmines of Historic Jacksonville. For over 20 summers Smith worked as a National Park Ranger at Crater Lake National Park. He presently serves as the Executive Director of the Jacksonville Woodlands Association.