USA > California > Del Norte County > History of Del Norte County, California : with a business directory and travelers guide > Part 8
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Happy Camp is situated ninety miles east of Crescent City, in the Siskiyou mountains. The warm gulf-stream
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CLIMATE --- INHABITANTS.
of the ocean, which has such a great influence on the climate of the rest of the county., has little effect on that of Happy Camp, and during the winter season it is some- times very cold there, snow frequently falling to a consid- erable depth. The surrounding mountains are covered with snow during a greater part of the winter, and the trail between Crescent City and Happy Camp is sometimes. covered to the depth of fifteen or twenty feet. During the summer months it is much. warmer than at Crescent. City, the heat of summer being more intense than the cold of winter.
Having thus given a brief description of the scenery and climate of the county, we will now notice the
INHABITANTS,
Who hail from all parts of the Union and from various foreign countries, besides the native population, known as Digger Indians.
Del Norte county has a population of 2,669; including. Indians and Chinese, The last census shows that on the first day of June, 1880, there were within the Twenty- fourth Enumeral District of the Third Supervisor's District: of California, comprising Crescent, Smith's River and Mountain Districts, 1,980 inhabitants. Of this number 214 were Indians, 179 Chinese and 2 Negroes. In addition to the above, there were residing in the so-called Klamath Reservation 82 Indians. Of this number 32 were bucks and 30 squaws over ten years of age, and 9 bucks and 11 squaws under ten years of age. The report of the Census Marshal states that said Indians live by hunting, fishing and working for the whites. In the District comprising Happy Camp there were 597 inhabitants, 57 of whom were Indians, 230 Chinese and 5 Negroes. Total, 2,669.
The voting population is 697, and an examination of the Great Register discloses the fact that they came from East
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HISTORY OF DEL NORTE.
and West, from North and South; from the forests of Maine, from the tropical clime of the South, from the Northern and Middle and Western states; and from the far-off lands of England, Australia, Nova Scotia, France, Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden. Other countries are also represented, and Del Norte may claim as cosmopolitan a character as any county in the State.
Of the voters of foreign birth Ireland furnishes 51; Eng- land and her possessions, including Wales, Canada and Nova Scotia, 57; Germany, including Prussia, Bavaria and Baden, 49; France, 5; Russia, 2; Australia, 2; Chili, 4; Scotland, 6; Switzerland, 5; Austria, 4; Sweden, 8; Denmark, 5; Norway, 3; Mexico, 1; Spain, 1. Among the occupations, farmers and miners take the lead, there being 127 of each. Next come loggers, numbering about 75; next, carpenters, of whom there are 30, including cabinet makers. There are 25 dairymen, and other occu- pations are well represented.
The white population, as a class, are well-to-do, but unfortunately for themselves are not overburdened with that spirit of enterprise which has contributed so largely to the prosperity of other portions of the State. Morals are no worse, and perhaps better, than in other counties in the State. A criminal act is of rare occurrence, and the Courts have but little business to attend to.
Of the Chinese population it is not necessary to say much. We of the Pacific Coast are too well acquainted with their vile habits, their thieving ways, and their con- taminating influence, to render a description of the same either interesting or profitable. There are in this county about three hundred natives of the Flowery Kingdom, a majority of whom are engaged in mining. The principal part of these are at and near Happy Camp. Crescent City has a Chinese population of between fifty and one hundred. It is difficult to estimate the Chinese population correctly, because crowded as they are into filthy dens, there is no
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THE CHINESE POPULATION.
means of estimating their number by the number of houses they inhabit, and since the last census their number may have been augmented or decreased without any perceptible change in the appearance of Chinatown. As in every town in which they congregate, they have sought the most central part of Crescent City; and on the principal streets of the town their sign-boards point the way to wash-houses or dens of iniquity. As a general rule their shanties are surrounded by mud, filth and garbage of every kind ---- fit surroundings for such a degraded class. And to crown all, the perfumes ---- not of Arabia, but of China- town ---- the 1001 different and distinct smells of Chinatown, rise up in one grand, overpowering stench, And to their discredit be it said, those people of Crescent City who are the loudest in their denunciations of the Chinese are the very ones to give them employment. While erying down the evil of Chinese immigration, they lend it their aid by employing Chinese.
There are seven Negroes in the county, but one of whom resides at Crescent City. He is named after a celebrated poet, Byron, and in politics is a " black Republican."
The native population, the Digger Indians, are worthy of a more extended description. Their numbers are few, and they are rapidly diminishing under the hand of disease and death. And whatever their ancestors may have been, it is certain that Cooper's ideal is not to be found among these Indians at the present time. But there are many evidences that their former life, in comparison with that of to-day, was freer, happier, and more independent. Like all unlettered people, they have handed their history down in traditions, more or less superstitious, and tinged with that belief in Good and Evil Spirits which has always found a place in savage minds. These traditions point directly to the fact that years ago, before the white man set his foot on their hunting grounds, the Indians inhabit- ing the Northern coast were brave in war, fearless in the
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HISTORY OF DEL NORTE.
chase, independent, and possibly more intelligent than at the present time.
And it is an interesting fact that contact with the whites has served to sink them deeper and deeper into the mire of sloth, ignorance and superstition. Their present life is the most abject, the most degraded, that it is possible to conceive. Living in filthy huts, they keep from starvation by catching and drying salmon in the fall, and by killing sea-lions A few of them also occasionally work a day or two for the whites. Sometimes a dead whale comes ashore on the beach, when the Indians come from far and near and cut it up and carry it to their villages.
Their are several Indian villages in the county, the principal one being situated near Crescent City. To one not familiar with their way's, a visit to their village is full of interest. The writer in company with several others. visited the Indian village at Crescent City during the pro- gress of a " ten night's dance."
We were carefully picking our way among the collection of huts and mounds, toward the one in which the dance was being held, when our attention was attracted by loud and monotonous sounds issuing from a hut on our left. We turned aside and approached this hut, where, we were told, a "war-dance " was being conducted. Looking in through the open door, (for unlike the majority of their cabins, this had a plank floor and a good-sized doorway.) we saw a score or more of Diggers, of both sexes, fantas- tically decked with feathers and bedizened with paint. After the momentary lull case:l by our presence, the In dians joined hands and formed a ring, and coummenced a queer kind of a hopping dance, at the same time uttering a course, guttural sound, interspersed with hideous yells. Presently, a big buck, gay in feathers and bright paint, darted into the ring, dancing from side to side, keeping time to the monotonous music, and then darted out again. In a few minutes the same performance was gone through
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THE INDIANS OF DEL NORTE.
with again, and we were informed that this was kept up the whole night, without any change or variation.
Proceeding to the hut in which the "ten night's dance " was being held, we found that it, like most of the others in the village, was built after the true Digger style. An excavation had been made, somewhat similar to a cellar, and around the sides of this excavation had been placed on end boards and plank, the dirt being thrown up against them on the outside. Other plank had served to make a roof, and a hole had been left in the middle of this to allow the smoke to escape. In one end a small aperture did duty as a door.
Stooping and entering through this hole in the wall, we found ourselves in the midst of a curious scene. . Around a fire in the center of the dirt floor, was a motley collection of Indians and white spectators. At one side of the room a long pole stretched from one end to the other. Behind this pole was a kind of platform or shelf, built close to the wall; and on this shelf was something which looked, in the indistinct light, so like a coffin, that an in- voluntary shudder crepit over one. It seems that when a female of this tribe reaches the age of puberty, a ten. night's dance is held to invoke the blessings of the Great Spirit upou her future life. And in this box, which at first glance we took to be a coffin, we were informed the object of the ceremonies lay. With joined hands, forming a line in front of this box, outside the pole, with their backs to the fire, stood forty or fiity Indians, of both sexes. They were bare to the waist, and stood as motionless as statues. Suddenly a big buck at the head of the line uttered a low, humming sound, and instantly the whole line took up the note, at the same time slowly swaying with one accord from one end of the room to the other. The monotonous sound increased in volume, growing faster and faster as it grew in sound, the swaying bodies keeping time in their vibrating motion, until it reached its greatest height,
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HISTORY OF DEL NORTE.
when it slowly descended so low that it could scarcely be heard. Then the whole performance is gone through with again, and this is kept up for ten nights in succes- sion, without intermission or variation. On the morning of the eleventh day the Indians form in rings of eight or ten, with one in the center, and in this manner dance round and round until they reach the seashore, where they plunge into the surf, cleansing themselves of sin and dirt at one and the same operation.
Were it not for the unbearable fishy smell which per- vades the hut, one might stay for hours watching the cu- rious scene. And it would require a better pen than mine to describe it as it deserves -- the monotonous chant of the dancers; the long, swaying line keeping time to the rude music; the smoke from the fire lazily ascending toward the aperture in the roof; the group of spectators; the fire, fed by some savage hand, now flashing up brightly, disclosing as if by a calcium light the bare backs of the dancing Indians, the earthien walls, and the shelf before which the dancers stand -- now dying slowly out, trans- forming the swaying bodies into ghostly forms, and peopleing the shadowy corners with dusky shapes of evil; bringing visions of Dante's " Inferno " vividly to the mind, and impelling a glance toward the doorway, half expecting to see. inscribed above it, " Abandon hope, all ye who enter here."
The other principal Indian rancherias in the county are situated at Happy Camp and Smith's River. There is also an Indian rancheria on the Yontocket slough, which empties into Smith's River about a mile below the village.
The chief characteristics of all these Indians are filth, superstition, ignorance and degradation, There are a few exceptions as regards intelligence, but even the most intelligent among them do not rise above the level of the lowest of the whites. One of the Crescent City Indians, the Indian Doctor, seems to be a sort of second Denis
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THE INDIANS OF DEL NORTE.
Kearney, so easily does he dupe his followers. Whether this particular M. D. resorts to politics, medicine, or religion to pull the wool over the eyes of his people, I know not; but I am inclined to think that he is a sort of Priest among them, with power to cast out devils, forgive sins, and by incantations and magical ceremonies " cure all the ills that flesh is heir to."
Perhaps the Doctor has borrowed some of his cunning from his brethren of the Catholic Priesthood, for he evi- dently makes free use of that most powerful factor in the Catholic religion ---- superstition. He is fond of promenad- ing the streets of Crescent City with a string of little bells jingling from his clothing, and a bone through his nose. His face is like parchment, and his whole appearance is that of an animated mummy. His eyes have a shrewd, cunning expression, and he is possessed of more intelligence than a majority of his tribe.
The customs of the Del Norte Indians are full of inter- est, and if space permitted, a long account might be given of their manner of living and traits of character. They have a code of laws independent of the laws of the whites, which has probably been handed down from generation to generation from time immemorial. The gist of their law is, that one who does an injury to another shall suffer to a like extent, and that money shall be the panacea to smooth all wounded feelings. and compensate for all wrongs less than murder. If an Indian kills another, whether right or wrong, according to their established custom, his life must pay the forfeit. If he wrongs another, no matter how trivial the offence, he must make amends to the sufferer by a liberal donation of " a la-ka- chick," the medium of trade among the Indians.
From the fact that this Indian money has been used by them as long as the whites have had any knowledge of them, we may infer that when they were strong in num- bers and divided up into many tribes. a considerable trade
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HISTORY OF DEL NORTE.
must have been carried on between them. Money sprung from the necessity of commercial nations to possess a con- venient representative of value, to facilitate trade and business exchange between different countries; and as the representative of property, it has existed among all people and in many various forms. The Indian money is a kind of shell, obtained from the ocean, and it is said to be almost as hard to find as the white man's gold.
The Indians of this county have acquired but few of the virtues of the whites and many of their vices. They drink whiskey whenever they can get it, they will gamble away the clothes from their backs, and they are not excessively honest. They take a deep interest in the 4th of July and election day. In fact, the Smith's River In- dians have endeavored to imitate the whites by electing a Chief, Lieutenant and Captain. The elections are held in Brooking's Hall, Del Norte, and are conducted in the fol lowing manner: Squire Brooking sits at his desk, a small box at his right, a cup filled with black beans, white beans and buttons at his left. The Indians are seated on the benches in front of the Squire. Three candidates for Chief announce themselves. Then Squire Brooking ex- plains to them that the white bean stands for one (naming him) the black bean for another, and the button for the other. The Indians then walk up to the stand and each place a bean or a button into the box, and when all have voted the result is ascertained by counting the number cast for each candidate. The defeated candidates look almost as blue as their pale-face brethren who run for office and go up " Salt River," and their successful oppo- nents are apparently in high spirits.
The estimated number of Indians in the county is 270, besides 82 on the so-called Klamath Reservation.
A few years to come will see the last of these Indians, who once roamed the forests and mountains of Del Norte in large numbers, and who could then truly boast that
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THE INDIANS OF DEL NORTE
they were " monarchs of all they surveyed." Flying be- fore the march of civilization like chaff before the wind, they have rapidly been reduced in numbers, until at the present time, a mere remnant of the earlier tribes are left to go down with the setting sun of their declining strength.
CHAPTER VI.
TOWNS AND BUSINESS HOUSES OF DEL NORTE COUNTY.
The following description of the towns and business houses of the county has been prepared with a view to accuracy rather than for effect. It has been said that " to overestimate a thing is worse than to underrate it." Fully impressed with the truth of this saying, I will not attempt to give a false coloring to the condition of the county or the enterprise of its business men. If the pres- ent condition of the county is not what it should be, if its trade languishes on account of the narrow-minded views of its merchants, it would be folly to cover up the fact by an account of enterprise which does not exist. The first and most important place in the county is the county seat, the town of
CRESCENT CITY.
The tract of country in which Crescent City is situated is somewhat remarkable by its location immediately at the foot of the Coast Range of mountains, which elsewhere, from San Francisco to Columbia River, with few exceptions rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean without leaving more of low bench land than here and there a sandy beach, or the bottom grounds of a river that finds an outlet in the On the right-hand, running due north with the ยท sea.
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TOWNS AND BUSINESS HOUSES OF DEL NORTE.
Humboldt meridian, is the Redwood ridge, from three to six hundred feet high, forming the first bank or tier of the Coast Range, which, after passing Smith's River, turn to the left to close up again with the ocean.
That part of the plain, thus singularly isolated between the mountains and the sea, on which Crescent City is sit- uated, is thus described by N. Scholfield, a surveyor and geologist, who passed along the coast in 1854, and whose observations were afterwards published:
"Crescent City is situated on the southerly side of a low promontory extending from the great Coast Range; the extremity of this promontory forms Point St. George, and consists of table land, elevated some fifty or sixty feet above the surface of the ocean. This table is underlaid by igneous unstratified rock, which appears mostly in boulders, as shown by the bluff's where they have been denuded by the disintegrating action of the sea, and by boulders composing a reef extending outward. On the north side, this promontory consists of low sands, and in the interior is a shallow laguna of considerable size. The southerly side, at the site of the town, consists of low timber land, scarcely elevated above the possible reach of running tides."
The harbor of Crescent City affords good shelter in summer, when the wind generally blows from the north- west; but it is open and unprotected against the southerly gales which prevail during the winter months on this coast, and which at times cause a heavy swell to set in from the south-west, dangerous to vessels in the harbor. It is conceded by all that this danger might be obviated by closing up with a breakwater the gap, half a mile wide, between the headland of Crescent City (Battery Point) and the rocks south of it. Vessels can find good anchor- age in five or six fathoms of water, and if needed improve- ments to the harbor were made it would be safe at all seasons of the year. The harbor has no bar, being an
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HISTORY OF DEL NORTE.
open roadstead. It is situated 280 miles north of San Francisco, about midway between it and the Columbia River. Resolutions have repeatedly been introduced in Congress for building a breakwater here, but have resulted in nothing more than to cause the harbor to be surveyed two or three times by the Government.
Perhaps the best evidence of the dangerous character of the harbor during the winter months, and the necessity for improvements, could be furnished by the Underwriters, who lose large sums every winter on account of vessels that part their lines and go ashore on the beach at Cres- cent City. The smooth character of the beach saves vessels going ashore there from becoming total wrecks, but the heavy surf pounds them against the ground until they sustain severe damage, costing large sums to repair. Scarcely a winter passes away without seeing one or more vessels on the beach here, and this of itself should be enough to call for the aid of the Government.
Although it is estimated that it would require $3,000,000 to build a complete breakwater here, a much less sum, say $500,000, would suffice to make such improvements as would render the harbor safe at all times.
Crescent City, as seen from the ocean, does not present a very attractive appearance. The buildings are nearly all low, one story, or one story and a half, and as seen from the deck of an approaching steamer, the town looks like a collection of huts. The place improves on a nearer view, and perhaps it is the grandeur of the sur- rounding scenery which gives it such a dwarfed, poor appearance at first sight.
It is well laid out and compactly built. The buildings are nearly all of wood, superior lumber being manufactured here for building purposes. Spruce and fir are mostly used for building, redwood not being suitable for that purpose. There are twelve brick buildings and one stone ware house.
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TOWNS AND BUSINESS HOUSES OF DEL NORTE.
Crescent City contains a population of about 1000, and the district polls a vote of'305.
There are two churches, one Catholic and one Metho- dist.
Several secret societies flourish here, namely, the Odd Fellows, Freemasons, Good Templars and Ancient Order United Workingmen. The Masons have a fine hall, the largest building in town, and the order is in a prosperous condition. The Odd Fellows have a strong lodge, and the Good Templars are flourishing. The United Workingmen, but recently organized here, are rapidly increasing in numbers, and are likely to prove a strong and prosperous lodge.
The schools of Crescent City are among the best in the State, and at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, Crescent City received credit for the best exhibit of work done in the schools of California. From the report of the public schools of Crescent City for the mouth ending December 22, 1880, by H H. Heath, Principal, it appears that the whole number of children enrolled in the school is 120, viz: Enrolled in Principal's room, 33; enrolled in 1st Assistant's room, 41; enrolled in 2d Assistant's room, 46; total, 120. The total number of children in the county, between five and seventeen years of age, entitled to school money, is 477. The amount of school money ap- propriated to Del Norte county in 1880 by the State School Superintendent was $629.64, giving to each child in the county $1.32.
Of the business houses of Crescent City, three are gen- eral merchandise stores, one groceries and provisions, one fancy goods, books and stationery, two stoves and tin ware, one boots and shoes, one harness and saddleryware, one drugs and medicines, one bread and confectionery, and nine saloons. There are two barber shops, two tailor shops, one millinery shop, three shoemaker's shops, one cabinetmaker's shop, two watchmaker's shops and two
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HISTORY OF DEL NORTE.
blacksmith shops. There are two livery stables, and one feed store. There are three hotels, and one restaurant.
The largest stores in Crescent City or in the county are those of Hobbs, Pomeroy & Co., and J. Wenger & Co. Both stores are in fire-proof brick buildings. In the rear of Hobbs, Pomeroy & Co.'s store is a large frame ware- house, with room for the storage of many tons of merchandise. The firm carry a ten thousand dollar stock of general merchandise, besides doing a general commission business. They have two other ware-houses, one stone' and one brick, where goods to be forwarded by them to the interior are stored. The company also own the Elk River Mill and box factory, employing a large number of men in the manufacture of lumber and boxes. This alone is sufficient to give them a large trade, and together with their other business foots up many thousand dollars a year.
J. Wenger & Co. carry a four thousand dollar stock of general merchandise. This firm own the Lake Earl Mill.
The Crescent City Wharf and Lighter Company, John- son & Malone, own the wharf at Crescent City. They have in connection with it commodious ware-houses on Front street, in which goods are stored till delivery. Owing to the rocky character of the ground in which the piles are driven and the heavy swell which strikes the wharf during the winter season, a portion of it has been several times carried away by the sea, and the owners have been put to great expense in repairing damages to the structure. The railroads of the Elk River and Lake Earl mills extend to the end of the wharf, where vessels load with lumber from the mills.
There are two newspapers published in the county, the Crescent City Courier, Silas White, editor and proprietor, and the Del Norte Record, J. E. Eldredge, proprietor. Mr. White, a stalwart Republican, publishes a neutral paper, and the Record, published by a strong Democrat,
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