Milepost 26.9

The town of Vida is the second community on the McKenzie River named after the child of its postmaster. The town was named Gate Creek in 1874 and it served as a lunch and horse-changing station for stagecoaches and wagons that ran between Eugene and McKenzie Bridge.

The historic red barn that used to serve as the place to change the horses out is still stands on the north side of the highway. In 1898, due to the name confusion with a town called Gale Creek, postmaster Francis Pepiot changed the name of the town to Vida, his daughter’s name, which was most likely pronounced with a hard e sound [ve-da].

Benjamin Minney established his family farm at the edge of the community in 1895 buying the huge red barn from the Pepiot family. The barn sometimes acted as a school, sometimes a store, and sometimes a place for community dances. From 1908 to 1911, Vida had a state salmon hatchery. The eggs came from fish racks placed across the entire river near where Leaburg Dam is now. After the eggs were harvested many of the salmon remains were given to Indians who came from Eastern Oregon, setting up camp and drying racks on an island in the river. The community now offers the Vida Cafe, a gas station and market, a real estate offices, post office, and a fire station.

One of the only roads off the highway in Vida, Thomson Lane, leads to the McKenzie/Vida Community Center and Helfrich boat landing. Near the boat landing, a historic swinging bridge stands; it is now on private property but leads to the old Thomson homestead, once home of the historic Thomson Fishing Lodge.

In 1942, Ben and Klysta Dorris donated land to the State for a park. Today, the Ben & Kay Dorris State Park is maintained by Lane County. Dorris acted as the president of the Blue River Mining Company in the 1890s. Marten Rapids, the best known rapids on the McKenzie River, runs through this part of the valley. The rapids are named after T.M. Marten, a state legislator and Civil War veteran who acted as postmaster in 1874.