From the Guide:
Left from Jefferson on a graveled road, to MARION, 1.5 m. (315 pop.), where on the outskirts is the VIVA LA FRANCE MONUMENT honoring a Jersey that at one time held three world championships for milk and butter-fat production. - Oregon: End of the Trail, 1940, page 311
The marker was moved from it's original location at some point after 1940. Here is the story of how I found the marker:
Over the last year, I periodically searched for this monument; I really enjoy finding these roadside markers and reading the history they provide. The old guidebook gives enough information about the original location of the marker that I think the approximate spot can be inferred.
Since "Tour 2" in the guidebook arrives in the town of Jefferson from the south, I made the assumption that in order to go "Left from Jefferson" as the book states, this must refer to the location where the Jefferson-Marion begins, a left turn from the intersection of "North Avenue," next to the railroad tracks (44.724248, -123.007055).
Since the community of Marion is more than 4 miles NE of that point, we can conclude that the 1.5 miles referred to in the guide is the actual distance from this intersection in Jefferson to the location of the Vive La France marker along the road to Marion. Today that road is paved, but in 1940 it must have been a gravel surface. Using my vehicle's odomoeter (and verifying with Google Maps), I determined this location to be at approximately the intersection of the Jefferson-Marion Road and Parrish Gap Road (44.736675, -122.985375). This would have been a relatively prominent location for a marker in 1940. I searched about a half mile in each direction and did not find a marker. The led me to conclude the marker was either moved or stolen.
Nearly a year after my search, while reading local entries in the Roadside America website, I happened across a write-up for the Vive La France marker! It turns out that it is now located 15 miles north of it's original spot! It can be seen near the NE corner of the Poultry Barn (by the Livestock Barn), at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem. It is unclear when the marker was moved, but it's clearly the original marker, given the style of font and engraving style, which I've found to be used on many grave markers and other monuments related to World War I, from the same time period.
Moving the marker to the state fairgrounds made a lot of sense as many thousands of people with an interest in agriculture have had a chance to see it, rather than the occasional passerby that would have seen the marker at it's original location in rural Marion County only by chance.
An article about the famous dairy cow was printed in The Oregon Countryman, a publication of the Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University).
The text of the marker reads:
Vive La France No. 31916
THE WONDER COW
Held 3 World Records
at one time.
Produced in 6 years
Test 5332 Lbs. Fat
Grand Champion P.1.
Portland, Ore. 1919
Pickard Bros. Marion Ore. |
Click a photo to enlarge
