USA > California > Siskiyou County > History of Siskiyou County, California > Part 16
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In 1860 the name of Shasta Valley township was changed to Butte township, the officers being elected as such, as appears in the list given in the history of the courts.
The township of Table Rock was created on the twelfth of August, 1862, and officers were elected at
the general election in September. The following were declared to be the boundaries :-
All that portion of Yreka township lying north and east of Shasta river, and bounded as follows, to wit: Commencing at the mouth of Shasta river, and running thence up said river to the crossing of the township line dividing Yreka and Butte townships; continuing thence east, on said line, to the eastern boundary of Siskiyou county; thence north to Klamath river; thence down said river to the place of beginning.
August 8, 1865, a portion of Table Rock town- ship was restored to Yreka township, being that portion lying
Between Shasta river on the south and Klamath river on the north and west and a line commencing twenty rods above the ford on Shasta river, known as the town ford (and being about one-fourth of a mile ab >ve Yreka creek), and extending north to a point on Klamath river about one-half mile above the ferry of Groat & Lopez.
This section with a little addition was again specifically set off to Yreka township, February 4, 1867 :--
That portion of Table Rock township lying east of Shasta river, known as the Willow ercek country, commencing at a point on Shasta river near the head of Schleditz's mill-race, and running thence easterly, in a straight line, to the head of Willow creek, and embracing all the country north thereof to the Klamath river, be added to Yreka township.
The growth of the settlement in Surprise valley, in the extreme castern end of the county on the other slope of the mountains, rendered it necessary in 1864 to establish a township there for judicial purposes. Accordingly, on the twenty-first of November of that year, the board of supervisors took the follow- ing action :--
Ordered by the Board that that portion of Surprise valley lying and being in Siskiyou county, be known as Surprise Valley township, and that the same be declared in Supervisor District number three (3).
Also ordered that J. A. Wise and B. A. Farmer be, and they hereby are, appointed Justices of the Peaceof said Surprise Valley township, to serve as such until the next general election, npon their ta ing the oath of office and filing an approved bond in the sum of two thousand dollars.
Also ordered that R. J. Watson and H. H. Dickinson be, and they hereby are, appointed constables of said Surprise Valley township, to serve as such until the next general election, upon their taking the oath of office and filing an approved bond in the sum of two thousand dollars.
These gentlemen dil not qualify, and the new township had no officers until after the general election in September, 1865.
The exact location of the boundary line between California an.1 Oregon was not definitely determined upon until the fall of 1868, when the line was run by the surveyors of the United States government. In a number of localities bordering upon the line, and especially on Beaver creek, the collection of taxes, either by this county or Jackson county, Oregon, had been for some time a matter of difficulty. Sev- eral attempts were made by the county surveyor, by order of the board of supervisors, to determine whether or not the Beaver creek settlements were in the county, but to little purpose. The estalishment of the line by the government settled the point beyond all controversy, and monuments now mark the spots where the line crosses the traveled high- ways and other points of importance.
Another township was created in what is now Modoc county, November 3, 1869. A strip along the western end of that territory was erected into Big Valley township at that time, but officers were not
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
elected until the following year. The following boundaries were defined for the new township :-
Beginning at the top of the Blue mountains, at the point where the Oregon line crosses the same; running thence in a sontherly course along the top of said mountains to the southern end thereof, and continuing thence in a southerly course, in a straight line, to Boiling springs; thence due south, to the southern boun- dary of Siskiyou county; thence in a westerly course, along the said southern boundary of said county, to the divide from which the waters of the MeCloud river How; thence in a northerly course, along the divide, leaving the territory drained by McClond river in Butte township, and continuing along the divide separating the waters which flow into Shasta and Klamath rivers on the one side, anl Butte valley on the other side, to the Oregon line; thence in an easterly course, along said Oregon line, to the place of beginning.
On the fifteenth of March, 1870, Butte township was ablished, and made a part of Yreka township.
A portion of Table Rock and Cottonwool town- ships was also a'lded to Yreka township, February 6, 1871, as follows :-
Commencing at or near the head of Willow creek; running from thence to what is known as "Ike's corral." on the Orego.1 line; thence in a westerly course, along the Oregon line, to the head of Jenny creek; thence down said Jenny creek, in a sonth- erly course, to its confluence with the Klamath river-and that the same be declared a part of Yreka township.
Still another township was set off in the Modoc country, embracing the considerable settlement in Hot Spring valley, November 6, 1871. To this judicial district was given the name of Hot Spring township, and a justice of the peace was appointed. The following boundaries were declared :-
Commencing at the summit of the Sicrra Nevada mountains, between Hot Spring valley and Surprise valley, on the line between Lassen and Siskiyou counties; running thence weste. ly, along the Lassen county north line, to the summit of the mount- ain dividing the waters from Hot Spring and Big valleys; thence northerly, along the summit of the mountams, until passing the head of Rush creek; thence north-Westerly, along the dividing ridge between Stone Coal valley and Big valley; thence across Pit river to the emigrant road coming fromn the north, on the west side of John Phihp Miller's place; thence northerly, along said emigrant road, until it strikes the foot of Tule lake; thence up Tule lake, on the west side of the island; thence north to the Oregon line, thence east, along the Oregon line, to the summit of the Sierra Nevada mountains; thence following the summit of tbe Sierra Nevada mountains, to the point of starting.
A new township was created in the western end of the county, July 15, 1871, and called Mountain township. No justice of the peace has ever ser ved in this township, but a constable qualified in 1873 and in 1875. The township was originally set off May 1, 1871, but the boundaries were definitely declared on the fifteenth of the next July, and are as follows :-
Commencing at the junction of Scott and Klamath rivers; thence following the dividing ridge between said rivers, in an easterly direction, to the head of Mckinney creek; thence fol- lowing the dividing ridge between Indian and Birkhouse creeks; from thence to the head of Little Humbug creek, the dividing ridge of Little Humbug creek and the north fork of Main Hum- bug creek; thence following to the head of Vesey creek; thence down Vesey creek to its mouth; thence across the river; thence in a direct line to the mouth of the west fork of Beaver creek; thence up the west fork of Beaver creek to the Oregon line; from thence, following the State line, to a point due north from the junction of Scott and Klamath rivers; from thence due south to the point of starting.
This was made a portion of supervisor district, No. 2.
The next change in the composition of the county was a very important one, being no less than a cutting off of the whole eastern end, to form the new county
of Modoc. In order to understand fully the reason for this and the steps that led up to it, it is necessary to go back a number of years and follow its history.
In 1863 there was a controversy between the State of California and the new Territory of Nevada as to the location of the boundary line. The settle- ment at Susanville, in Honey Lake valley, had played quite an important part in the organiza tion of Nevada. It was on the eastern slope of the Sierra, and was supposed to be beyond the limits of this State. As early as 1859 a provisional govern- ment was formed in Western Utah, and Hon. Isaac Roop, of Susanville was electedI governor, and when the Territory of Nevada was organized in 1861, the county of Lake, now called Roop, was formed, embracing Honey Lake valley, with the seat of justice at Susanville. The authorities of the county of Plumas, in this State, laid claim to the beautiful and fertile valley, and undertook to collect taxesthere, which action resulted, in the winter of 1862-63, in a conflict of jurisdiction, and a reference of the difficulties was made to a joint commission appointed by California and Neva la. Still further south the same uncertainty existed. The town of Aurora, in Esmeralda county, Nevada, was so near the line that it was made the county seat of that county and also of Mono county, in this State, an l officers were elected there for both counties. The same year quite a mining excitement sprang up in the eastern end of this county, and the town of Trilake City was laid out near the boun lary line. The silver ledges attracted a great many people, who lived in blissful ignorance of to which their proj er allegiance was due, California or Nevada. The sur- vey of the boundary line in the fall of 1863 located Aurora in Neva la and Susanville and Lake City in California. The new county of Lassen was formed, with Susanville for the county seat.
About this time settlers begin to enter the ex- treme eastern end of Siskiyou county. Attention was first attracted by the discovery of quartz led yes by the irrepressible prospector, as has been the almost universal rule on this coast, but the fertile val- leys once known were too inviting to be resisted, and the prospector was succeedled by the settler. Stock- raising was the first and is still the leading industry. Luxuriant bunch grass grew in abundance, forming a veritable stockman's para lise. Gra lually Goose Lake valley, Surprise valley, Big valley, Warm Spring valley, Pit river and all the large and small valleys and fertile spots in eastern Siskiyou and northern Lassen became settled. The distance from either Yreka or Susanville, where all county and legal business was transacted, rendered the gov- ernment of this region by Siskiyou anl Lissen a matter of great difficulty and expense to the county, and annoyance to the people.
As soon as population became sufficiently dense to support a county government without too severe a tax upon the people, the question of the formation of a new county was discussed. To this end the people of Surprise valley petitioned the Legislature to create a new county, taken from the north end of Lassen an I eastern en I of Siskiyou and Shasta counties, with the county seat in that valley. A counter petition was presented by the citizens of Big valley and Fall and Pit rivers, who could not see
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
that this move would solve their difficulties, as it still left them at a great distance from the county seat. The measure failed, and as a relief the Legis- lature of 1872 empowered the judge to hold court at Lake City, the first term being opened there July 8, 1872.
The project was not abandoned, and Assembly- man Cressler introduced a bill, in 1874, to create the new county of Canby, out of the east end of Siskiyou and the north end of Lassen. It was bit- terly opposed by the people of Lassen county, with the exception of the two hundred who lived in the section to be segregated. The total population of that county was but thirteen hundred, the assessment roll $1,200,000, and the county debt $31,000. It was claimed that if the county was deprived of this territory it would not be able to maintain a gov- ernment, and would have to be disorganized. The people in the extreme north-eastern portion of Siski- you county also opposed it for local reasons. & They knew that if a portion of Lassen county was taken in, the population in the southern portion of the new county would be in a sufficient majority to have the county seat settled among them, and so they, also, wanted Lassen county to be left unshorn. The people of western Siskiyou were perfectly willing to part with the territory under consideration. It cost the county all or more than the revenue from it amounted to, to govern the section, and they were contented to let them go in any shape that seemed to their best interests.
The bill was defeated in consideration of the ina- bility of Lassen county to spare any of its territory, and another bill to meet the requirements of the situation was immediately framed by Mr. Cressler. This provided for the formation of the county of Summit out of the eastern portion of Siskiyon. In this shape the bill passed the Assembly and went to the Senate, where it was amended by changing the name to Modoc county, and then passed. Feb- ruary 17, 1874, it received the signature of the gov- ernor and became a law.
It provided for the creation of Modoc county out of that portion of Siskiyou lying east of the line between ranges four and five east of the Mount Diablo meridian. Five commissioners were to be appointed by the governor to organize the county aud provide for the election of officers and to canvass and declare the vote. Dorris' Bridge, now called Alturas, was made the temporary county seat. It also provided for the appointment of two com- missioners each by the counties of Modoc and Siski- you, to ascertain the amount of the debt of the latter county that should be assumed by the former, for which Modos county should issue ten-year bonds at ten per cent. interest to Siskiyou county; also, to ascertain what porportion of the money in the hos- pital and school funds of Siskiyou county properly belonged to the segregated portion, which amount was to be paid in cash to the treasurer of Moloc county.
The governor appointed William McCormick, Sr., W. A. MeClure, George Townsend, Columbus Dorris and W B. Swearinger as commissioners to organize the county, and Julius Holleman as county judge. The commissioners called an election for May 5, 1874, at which time a full set of county
officials was chosen, the county scat located at Alturas, and the county fully organized.
June 20, 1874, the Supervisors of Siskiyou appointed Franklin B. Hogeboom and Homer B. Warren as members of the joint commission. J. J. Dorris and G. F. Harris were appointed by the Modoc county supervisors. On the fifth of August they all met at the court house in Yreka, examined the books and vouchers and agreed upon the follow- ing report :-
Total Indebtedness $57,770 43
Assets. 24,970 26
Actual Indebtedness $32,800 17
Total Assessment of 1873 .$3,698,683 00
Total portion set off to Modoc .. 1,105,825 00
Modoe portion of debt ... $ 9,806 53
Delinquent List 1872-73
and 1873-74 charged to Modoe .. . 4,377 09
One-half of witness fees. . . 3 30
Total amount due Siskiyou. .$14,186 92
Cash due Modoe county School Fund. $3,223 40
Hospital
911 70
Road 122 00
Delinquent Taxes
4,377 00 -- $3,634 19
The report was approved by the supervisors of both counties and acted upon. Mo loc county bonds were issued to Siskiyou county, to the amount of $14,000, in twenty-eight bonds of $500 each, leav- ing a balance due in cash of $186.92. Up to Janu- ary 1, 1881, ten of these bonds hid heen redeemed and Moloc had paid Siskiyou $12 500.98. Of this sum $5,000 were principal; $7,314 06 interest, and $186.92 the cash balance unprovided for by bonds.
The census of 1880 gives Mo loc county a popula- tion of 4,383.
Following upon the heels of the departing Mo loc came a section of Klamath county, thus adding to Siskiyon on the west nearly as much as was taken away on the east. The stock ranges of the eastern slope were exchanged for the auriferous burs and ledges of the Salmon. Quite a history appertains to the acquisition of this new territory.
As early as 1871 the question of the disorganiza- tion of Klamath county was widely discussed by the newspapers of the northern portion of the State. The majority of the people of that county were in favor of the action. The population had become so reduced, and the assessment valuation was so low, that it was a great burden upon the people to maintain a county government, and an impossibility to pay the debt, that already amounted to twenty thousand dollars and was annually increasing. Under these circumstances it was deemed best to disorganize the county and to annex the territory to the surround- ing counties as would be the most convenient and for the best interest of the citizens. A bill to sub- mit the question of disorganization to a popular vote of Klamath county was introduced into the Legisla- ture of 1872, but failed to pass.
The matter remained in abevance, a'though being more or less discussed, until the Legislature again met in 1874. A petition of the citizens of Klamath county was then presented, praying that the county
HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
DAVID HORN,
Eldest son of Hardman and Jane (Dudgeon) Horn, was born near Waynesfield, Auglaize county, Ohio, on the first day of January, 1843. His parents were among the pioneer settlers of Ohio, and were engaged in farming. Young David was kept at home working on the farm in summer, but attended district school during the winters of his boyhood.
At the age of nineteen, being persuaded that he could better his condition by going westward, he fixed upon California as his destination, and on the eleventh of May, 1862, in company with ten friends, took the ship Northern Light at New York for Panama, and having reached the Pacitie, boarded the St. Louis for San Francisco, where he arrived the tenth of April. He removed at once to Trinity county and engaged to work three months on the Shasta and Weaverville toll-road, for which service he did not get any pay. This not being a very encouraging outlook, at the end of his time he hired himself to the California Stage Company for a year, as collector of tolls. He afterwards was engaged in mining at Trinity Center, but without success. But
these reverses did not dishearten him. At this time
he began driving a team for Wm. McConnell, and
continued at this labor for three years. In April, 1867, he purchased a livery stable at Fort Jones, which business he ran until 1875, when Mr. A. A. Beem bought him out. Mr. Horn then bought the farm on the island which he now owns. In 1873 he was in the employ of the government during the Modoc troubles, and made very successful ventures in contracting and teaming. This work was the most profitable he had done on the coast. Since buying his farm, he has devoted his time to farming and stock- growing, carrying on also a thriving butchering business. His farm contains 480 acres of as good land as can be found in Scott valley. His residence is in Fort
Jones. Adjoining it he erected, in 1878, a two-story concrete block, fifty by sixty feet, one-half of which he now occupies with a meat market. The other
half contains a hardware and tin store. The sec- ond story is divided into fine rooms for offices. The cost of the building was over $6,000. He is also inter- ested in a large stock range ten miles east of Henly, on Klamath river, where he has 150 head of horses and 700 or 800 cattle. This is perhaps his best pay-
ing property. On the sixth of March, 1870, he was
married to Miss Clara J. Hutchinson, daughter of William and Susan Hutchinson, of Chandlersville, Ohio, who had removed to Scott Bar in this county. By this union five children were born, four of whom are still living. Their names are: Dora Anna, born February 13, 1871; Clara Belle, born July 6, 1873; Hardman, born March 31, 1875; Susan Jane, born October 9, 1877; David Marshall, born December 10, 1879. Clara Belle died May 29, 1874. Mr. Horn is a member of North Star Lodge, No. 91, Free and Accepted Masons, at Fort Jones; Cyrus Chapter, No. 15, at Yreka; Fort Jones Lodge, No. 115, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows; Ancient Order of United Workmen, of Fort Jones; Scott Valley
Encampment, No. 39, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows. He has held all the offices in the Odd Fel- lows, and all but master in the Masons. In religion he is Protestant ; in politics, Democratic. Mr. Horn
came to the coast without means, and in the few years he has resided here, has, by temperate habits, strict attention to business and unswerving integ- rity, accumulated a handsome competence, besides earning the esteem and confidence of all his neigh- bors. He has always been an earnest worker in matters pertaining to the public welfare, and espe- cially has he been active in the cause of education.
ADAM BAKER CARLOCK,
Son of George M. and Margaret E. (Rohr) Carlock, was born in Dark county, Ohio, February 8, 1833. When eight years of age he moved with his parents to Adams county, Illinois, near the city of Quincy, and in 1845 to Van Buren county, Iowa, near Farm- ington. For some time he was possessed of a desire to come to California, and when nineteen years of age his father gave him his time, and the young man started across the plains full of hope and energy, with James Denny and Charles Cook and wife, arriving in Shasta in August, 1852. After paying for his supper and breakfast, he had just seventy- five cents left, and gladly availed himself of a job to cut cordwood, paying his last cent for an axe handle, the man for whom he was to work going security for the axe. A few days later he joined a company to work on the Trinity river, and started over the mountain, all his worldly goods strapped upon his back in a blanket. He worked diligently for three months, when he took what money he had saved, went to Sacramento with a man named Wilkinson, and bought four mules, which they loaded and began a packing business to Weaverville. Wilkinson soon sold out, and Mr. Carlock formed a partnership with Solomon and Daniel Kingery. In the fall of 1854 the train was divided, and Mr. Carlock con- tinued packing alone till the spring of 1856, when he located in Deadwood, in this county, then a flourishing camp, and opened a store with John Williams. His partner soon died, and Mr. Carlock remained alone till 1860, when he formed a partner- ship with S. E. Stone, and built the store in Fort Jones in which his office now is. A year later he bought Mr. Stone's interest, and has been alone in business ever since. In the winter of 1862-63 he was appointed postmaster by President Lincoln, and retained the office seven years. He made application for a telegraph office to be located there in 1864, boarded the operator one month while learning to receive and transmit messages, and then took charge of the office for the next five years. In 1879 the telegraph office was again moved to his place of business, and in 1880 the post-office also, H. M. Carlock being postmaster. Wells, Fargo & Co. established an express office at Fort Jones in the fall of 1865, and Mr. Carlock has been their agent continuously. Having commenced a small banking business in 1867, which kept increasing yearly, and his health being affected by too much work, he sold his merchandising business to H. M. Carlock and R. D. Stone in 1876, and has since con- fined his attention to banking, express, telegraph and insurance business. Although a public-spirited man and identified with movements for local improve-
HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
ment, he held no public office other than serving the town in various capacities, till 1879, when he accepted the Republican nomination for Senator from the twenty-eighth district, embracing Trinity, Shasta, Modoc and Siskiyou counties. No Repub- lican had been sent from this district for fifteen years, and Mr. Carlock's election by a small majority was a pleasant surprise to himself and friends. He sat in two regular and one extra sessions, and was a member of several important committees, where, by his hard labor and sterling business principles, he achieved a reputation as a sound and upright legis- lator. He was a charter member of the first Independent Order of Odd Fellows lodge in Fort Jones, and one of the founders of the Farmers' mill. Mr. Carlock was married April 5, 1863, to Miss Lizzie, daughter of P. and Catherine Markey, born August 2, 1844, at New Bedford, Mass. They have been blessed with two sons and two daughters, of which only Nellie C., a bright little girl of ten years, is now spared to them. She was born Novem- ber 9, 1871. Mr. Carlock is still in the prime and vigor of manhood, and will in the future make him- self felt in the material advancement of Siskiyou county, as he has in the past.
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