1863 Military Road 1: Highway 140 and Obenchain Road
This marker indicated a point on the Old Military Road from Jacksonville to Fort Klamath, built by the U.S. Army in 1863. The marker was located on Obenchain Road near the military road intersection with Highway 140. Obenchain Road is a left turn from about mile post 8.4 on Highway 140, coming from Highway 62 in Medford. It was knocked over at some point in the recent past, and the top portion with the plaque is missing. The upright is laying on the ground
This marker was reported by Ron Walsh of the sheriff's department. He recalled reading it several years ago, and that it marked the route of the old military road from the Rogue Valley to Fort Klamath.
Addition: May, 2020
On a later visit to the site, the upright portion of the historical marker had been removed. It was probably a SOHS marker similar to the one on the 700 Road off the Twin Ponds Road.
Information from the National Register of Historic Places (National Register Number 79002068) led us to find that a preserved section of the Jacksonville-to-Ft. Klamath Military Road, built in 1863, existed in Section 35, Township 35 South, Range 1 East. The section is about 1.5 miles long and is on BLM land. Entrance to the section can be obtained by driving approximately 1.8 miles up Obenchain Road from Highway 140. The entrance point is at:
GPS coordinates: N 42 degrees, 28 minutes, 38.3 seconds
W 122 degrees, 40 minutes, 26.6 seconds