1859 Sept | Oct 2012_opt

In-Grained in Tradition
written by Chelsea Fine
photo by Ezra Marcos
“I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO OWN a historical
building,” says Butte Creek Mill owner and operator,
Bob Russell, as he strolls through his water-driven mill
in Eagle Point. The retired sales manager from Portland
crossed over the battered metal threshold of the
once-dilapidated mill in 2005 and knew he was home.
Russell, who is also mayor of Eagle Point, and his wife,
Debbie, together run the Butte Creek Mill, mercantile,
and adjacent antiques store seven days a week.
“I have been a collector since I was 9 years old,” explains
Russell as he stands in his office, surrounded
by a lifetime of storied artifacts. “I always wanted a
country store to display my country store collection.”
When the couple bought the mill, they were the
fifth owners in the mill’s 140-year history. Listed on
the National Register of Historic Places as “the last
water-powered grist mill still operating this side of
the Mississippi,” the former Snowy Butte Mill still
grinds thousands of pounds of wheat with the original
2,800-pound mill stones imported from Paris in 1872.
A portion of Little Butte Creek flows through a
millrace to the basement of the mill, where a turbine
generates power for a series of belts and gears.
All of the mill’s products come from farms in Oregon,
Idaho and Montana.
Not only have the Russells renovated the mill
and surrounding buildings, they also cleaned up
the riparian zones around Little Butte Creek. Over
the past few years, salmon have returned to spawn
along the creek’s bed.
Find utte Creek ill flours, pancake mixes and
other products at the mill, at specialty stores or
online at buttecreekmill.com.