The Lore of John Day
The City of John Day is a small town with a rich history in eastern Oregon. Once home to mining, lumber, and ranching industries, the town has struggled in recent decades to retain jobs and skilled workers. Recently the City attempted to revive John Day’s fortunes by attracting new residents and visitors - a sensitive endeavor requiring deep and genuine engagement with existing community members. Straw to Gold, the creative agency hired to lead this initiative, spoke to dozens of local residents and quickly realized the town was brimming with intriguing lore and legends. They asked me to illustrate a children’s book that brought some of these best-loved stories to life - for longstanding residents and newcomers alike to enjoy and take pride in.
ILLUSTRATION
DESIGN DIRECTION
“Rosie, really pleased with the work and do hope and expect we will work together again. It’s been great to hand out books this week in John Day and people are thrilled to receive them.”
Benjamin Ariff
Creative Producer & Principal, Straw to Gold
“The Lore of John Day” includes a story about a turkey whose feathers turn to gold, a mischievous toddler who is always escaping, and an abandoned fawn who saves a gold miner’s life. Some stories are true, some are not, but together, they paint a picture of the many faces that make up John Day’s history - from Doc Hay, the beloved Chinese immigrant who ran the local apothecary and kept the townspeople healthy, to the fearsome ‘Grim Sprawl’ who terrorized local kids.
The Kam Wa Chung was an apothecary run by Doc Hay...
... who set off wonderful fireworks at Chinese New Year...
... and gave children candy in exchange for fish they caught in the river.
One day, a local child fell from her horse and became gravely ill.
Doc Hay cured her with his herbs...
...and soon she was back to fishing with her friends.
Grim Sprawl guarded his marionberries fiercely and hated when children played in the river on his land.
One day he was terrorizing some children...
... but local trapper Jimmy Rabbit came to the rescue!
Columbus was out collecting firewood one day when an abandoned fawn caught his attention...
...the bleating fawn was warning him of a mountain lion, about to pounce!
He cared for the fawn until it was old enough to rejoin its herd.
Mischievous Marley was always getting into trouble...
... and his favorite place to nap was in the pigsty!
Mary and her family were just passing through John Day in search of gold...
... but sleeping under the stars, she knew they had found home.
Kenny was in charge of looking after the turkeys on his family's farm...
... all he talked about, day and night, was turkeys!
Little Ruthie LOVED to eat!
One day bandits came to the town, and Ruthie's family ran and hid...
... but she snuck out to go home and finish dinner!
This group of high school friends loved to go on road trips.
They camped in a secret spot at Castle Rock.