HISTORY OF WEASKU

The story of the Weasku Inn began in 1924, when Bert and Sarah Smith built a rustic fishing lodge along the Rogue River just upstream from Grants Pass. The timing could hardly have been better. Construction of Savage Rapids Dam in 1921 had helped create exceptional fishing immediately downstream, while writers such as Zane Grey were already helping make the Rogue famous among sportsmen. The Smiths' daughter is credited with giving the lodge its memorable name—a play on the words “we ask you in.” In 1927, after three demanding years operating the lodge, the Smiths sold it, along with six rough-hewn riverfront cabins, for $7,500 to William “Rainbow” Gibson and his wife Peggie. Rainbow was already an accomplished fishing guide, and under the Gibsons the Weasku evolved from a promising riverside lodge into one of Southern Oregon's most celebrated retreats.
 

The Gibson years created the legend that survives today. During the 1930s, '40s and '50s, Hollywood personalities came north to fish the Rogue and escape the machinery of celebrity. Historical accounts associate the inn with Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Bing Crosby, Walt Disney, Jackie Cooper, Gabby Hayes, Ann Sothern, Robert Sterling and David Niven. Gable's connection is especially well supported: the Oregon Encyclopedia confirms that he repeatedly returned to Oregon and particularly enjoyed staying at Weasku and the Wolf Creek Inn, including visits with Lombard before her death in 1942. The Southern Oregon Historical Society account states that Gable continued vacationing at Weasku until his death in 1960 and records the famous story that he secluded himself in Room Four following Lombard's death. Importantly, that particular Room Four account should be presented as local legend rather than indisputable documented fact. The story of Gable's seclusion in Room Four remains one of Weasku's most enduring local legends, though the precise details have grown with the telling.
 

After the Gibsons' era, the Weasku entered a long period of change. Interstate highway development diverted travelers away from old Highway 99, ownership changed repeatedly, and an ambitious plan to redevelop the property as a larger resort was defeated by the economic conditions and high interest rates of the early 1980s. By 1993, the once-famous lodge had deteriorated considerably and had even been used as a real-estate office. That year the property was acquired for restoration, beginning a five-year effort that culminated in September 1998. The historic lodge's five rooms were rehabilitated, eleven cabins were constructed, and an existing A-frame cabin was remodeled while the character of the original building was preserved. A century after its construction, Weasku still stands beside the Rogue. Its importance is therefore larger than its association with Hollywood: the inn survived the rise and disappearance of the people who made it famous, becoming a physical link between the Rogue River's early sporting culture, Golden Age Hollywood, and Southern Oregon today.