[1] Located along the Rogue River about 48 miles (77 km) from its mouth on the Pacific Ocean, the area was home to Takelma Indians, then to white and Karok settlers, before becoming part of a designated wilderness.

Buildings preserved at the Rogue River Ranch pioneer farm complex, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, represent the former center of Marial.

[5] The 36-mile (58 km) stretch of the river between Grave Creek and Illahe is designated Wild and Scenic and is "one of the best-known whitewater runs in the United States".

These pioneers, some of whom were former gold miners married to Karok Indian women from the Klamath River basin, established gardens and orchards, kept horses, cows, and other livestock, and received occasional shipments of goods sent by pack mule over the mountains.

In 1883, one of them, Elijah H. Price, proposed a permanent mail route by boat up the Rogue River from Ellensburg (later renamed Gold Beach) to Big Bend,[8] about 35 miles (56 km) upstream.