USA > California > Siskiyou County > History of Siskiyou County, California > Part 59
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Soon after?White became proprietor, a post-office was established with him as postmaster. The office has always been kept in the hotel, and is now held by R. M. Hayden.
Callahan's now contains two stores, post-office, telegraph office, express office, blacksmith shop, hotel, school house, Catholic church, a hall, and several residences. The trade is principally with the adja- cent mines and the surrounding farms.
Near Callahan's are two valleys in the mountains. One of these, Plowman valley, is a beautiful spot owned by Alexander Parker, who also has large mining interests on the river, and business interests at Etna. The other is Noyes, or Norris valley, owned by Hayden Brothers.
QUARTZ VALLEY.
This little valley, about two by five miles in extent, lies in the mountains at the lower end of Scott valley. W. J. Evans took up a small ranch here in the fall of 1851, and mining was commenced the same fall. In 1852, there was considerable quartz excitement here, and John M. Shackleford and Robert Waldrup built an eight-stamp quartz- mill, on what has been since known as Shackleford creek. In 1853, B. Johnson built a saw-mill on Shackleford creek, and Edmond Bean, Johnson, and the Shores brothers, built a grist-mill in 1854, called the Lafayette, or Shores mill. It is now owned by Camp & Co., who purchased it of Bean & Julien, in 1877. There were a store, hotel, and blacksmith shop, besides the mills. The hotel was a large house, kept by the Shores brothers. The first store was opened by Edward Wicks.
The town or post-office here was called Muggins- ville, and in 1860 nearly three hundred votes were polled, the majority being by quartz miners in the vicinity. Asa Howard was then postmaster, and kept a store and hotel. Another location in the
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
valley was called Pinery, at which was a store kept by Aaron Bar, a hotel, and several saloons. There is not now a saloon in the valley.
Among the men early interested in quartz here, were John M. Shackleford, John Hill, Robert Wal- drup, David and Nathaniel Burt, Augustus Kepler, Clark Taylor, Benton D. Howard, Asa Howard, John Meamber, Edmund Bean, J. C. Shores, Will- iam Shores, B. Johnson, Samuel, George and Joseph Rice, Edward Wicks, and J. W. Jones. For a long time Mrs. Asa -Howard and Mrs. B. Johnson were the only ladies in the valley.
There are two quartz-mills in the valley now, Johnson's and Turk's, and Camp & Co.'s saw-mill and grist-mill. Considerable wheat is raised here, and flour finds a ready market on Scott river and down the Klamath. Dairying is a leading industry, and a great deal of butter is made here annually.
ORO FINO.
The village of Oro Fino has been for years the center of a prosperous mining community. It lies on Oro Fino creek, a tributary of Scott river, and in the mountains at the lower end of the valley. Like most mining camps, it is but the shadow of its former self, and has a store, hotel, and post- office, with a small population. Two hydraulic claims are being worked, and a small quartz-mill is in operation.
DEADWOOD, AND MCADAMS CREEK.
The old town of Deadwood stood in the forks made by the junction of Deadwood and Cherry creeks. These two united form McAdams creek, which flows to Scott river.
Mining was first done on Deadwood and Cherry creeks in the summer of 1851, and the location at the forks, known as Deadwood, was the general headquarters for the miners who lived in tents, brush shanties and log cabins along both streams. The number of men working here in the spring of 1852 can be judged by the fact that an election precinct was then established, at which one hundred and one votes were cast. William Davidson had a store and butcher shop in 1853, and William Pool a trading-post. In the spring of 1854 C. H. Pyle opened another butcher shop in Pool's building. At that time, in the town proper, there were two log houses and one shake house.
It was in the spring of 1854 that a Scotchman named McAdams, who was living in a tent against a log a short distance below the town, found rich diggings on the main stream, which has since been known as McAdams creek. This resulted in adding materially to the number of miners in the vicinity, and soon made Deadwood second only to Yreka in importance. Mr. Pyle built a butcher shop of hewn logs, which still stands. Caleb Gartrell opened a trading-post, and with Nathaniel Sawyer erected a stone building which is still existing. Mr. Maxy opened a boarding-house, Alexander Owens a livery stable, S. E. Stone a store, A. B. Carlock a store, and others had shops, saloons, etc.
The town increased so that in 1856 it cast +75 votes, and the next year was the scene of a county convention. It then had three stores, two stables,
three saloons, two hotels, a blacksmith shop, a butcher shop, a bakery, a dairy and a few residences. The town did a large business, but was itself small. Few resided in the town, but the miners lived for several miles up and down the creeks.
Below Deadwood, about two and one-half miles, at Hi You gulch, was a little place called Hard- scrabble, after a claim by that name which was taken up in the fall of 1854. It had a wagon and blacksmith shop and a milk ranch.
The glory of Deadwood began to fade in 1858, and the town of Fort Jones, in the valley, to grow up and take its place, so that in a few years the old town had diminished to alnost nothing. Early on Thursday morning, December 26, 1861, a fire caught in an adobe building, built for a store-room by Zenas Archer and Alexander Owens, and burned nearly all the town, including the store of M. Rosen- berg, the principal merchant. Other fires soon after destroyed nearly all that was left of the original town, leaving Deadwood a thing of the past. Fort Jones is now the trading point for the miners still left on McAdams creek, though there is a post-office called McAdams, of which J. B. Tonkin is post- master, and a small store still on the creek.
Many of the events of Deadwood history have found their place in other portions of the volume. The small-pox scourge of 1854, which carried off a number of men, should not be overlooked, nor the fact that in 1855 a vigilance committee cleared the town of many bad characters. Also there was a miners' trial in April, 1854. Allen Chamberlain shot and killed a drunken man, who had attacked him in Pool's trading-post, and a miners' court at once tried and acquitted him, a result that calls for special comment.
INDIAN CREEK, AND HOOPERVILLE.
Although but a short distance fromn McAdams creek, this stream, except by an occasional pros- pector, was not worked until June, 1854, although work had been done in gulches as early as 1853. At that time, W. G. Rider went over from Deadwood and prospected along the creek, satisfying himself that there were good diggings to be found. He found a few negroes already at work and living in a rude, brush tent. Besides these there were no miners on the creek, but a Boston company was working in a gulch and had a cabin there. There was also a cabin in Grizzly gulch occupied by Joseph Barker. Returning to Deadwood, Rider communicated his opinion of the richness of Indian creek to Horace Knights, who immediately took a pack-train over to the creek, unloading his goods at the mouth of Hi You gulch. He fixed up a tem- porary store-room with some boards under a large pine tree, and commenced to build a log house. Attention was thus attracted to the creek, and miners began dropping in and taking up claims on the creek and in the gulches.
Bears were quite plentiful, and frequently created a little diversion for the miners. One Sunday, the negroes started on a visit to the store, and unex- pectedly came upon a huge grizzly who made hostile demonstrations. This was enough. The sons of Africa suddenly discovered that their business at the store was more urgent than they had at first sup-
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RESIDENCE OF MARTIN ANDREWS, 1/2 MILES N. W. OF SCOTT BAR, SISKIYOU CO., CAL.
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
CONSTANTINE CHARLES O'DONNELL
Was born on Fourth street, in the city of Philadel- phia, on Saturday morning, October 8, 1855. When but three years of age his mother left him in Boston, Massachusetts, with some friends, his father having died in 1857, and she was unable to take him with her to California. In 1862, his step-father, Francis Riley, sent for him by a gentleman named W. S. R. Taylor, who started with him for California by steamer. During the trip he was taken sea-siek . and remained in this condition until he arrived in San Francisco, where he remained three weeks to recruit before starting for the mountains. He arrived in Yreka in the month of September, 1862. He went to where his mother was living, on Green- horn, who did not know him, and was compelled to pull down his shirt to find a mark on his shoulder, where he was scalded when but a baby.
In the year 1863 he started to go to school at Yreka, stopping with the teacher, Mr. Benedict, during school days, and returning home on Saturday mornings, and back to Yreka Sunday evenings. In 1865 his parents moved to Hawkinsville, where Mr. Riley had purchased a dwelling-house and store. Here he attended public-school until 1867, when he went to San Francisco with his mother, and attended a private school on Tenth street until 1868. He then returned home and helped his step-father in the store until 1870, when he started for San Francisco, and entered St. Mary's College, and finished a com- mercial course in 1873. On his return home he was made aware that his mother was dead, she having taken sick on the fifth of May, 1873, and died on the eighth, two days before his arrival. After that, he worked for Mr. Riley in the store until November, 1875, when he started for San Francisco to do some- thing for himself. He had in charge a prisoner for San Quentin, and had a rough time going down, being delayed a long time on account of high water in the Sacramento and Pit rivers, but arrived safely at his destination. On the first Monday in December, 1875, he started for Sacramento to get the position of copying clerk of the Assembly, but arrived too late. Atter stopping at that city for about a month, he went to San Francisco and worked in a corner- grocery store in that city for forty dollars per month and board, where he remained for two months. He then wandered around the city for a long time, with nothing to do, and finally received a job in a pickle and fruit factory, belonging to Code, Elfelt & Co., as receiving clerk, where he worked for small wages. He remained there until business slackened, and then went to work for Hawley & Elfelt, grocery- men, on Sutter street, as collector. Here he received but small wages and stayed but a short time, receiving a position in another house on Market street, in the undertaking business, owned by Flanagan & Gallagher, whom he collected for until 1877, when he returned to Yreka to help his father in the store, while he canvassed the county for the office of Sheriff. After Mr. Riley was elected sheriff, O'Donnell managed the store until May, 1879, when he bought the stock and has since kept the store himself. In August, 1879, he was married to Miss Annie Koester, of Hawkinsville. May 14, 1880, his first child was born, named William
Francis. His second boy, Frederick, was born July 16, 1881. He was elected a delegate to attend the Democratic convention held in Yreka in 1880, and acted as secretary of that convention. In June, 1880, he was appointed one of the enumerators of the tenth census for Yreka district. Mr. O'Donnell is an enterprising young man and a leader of public opinion in Hawkinsville, where by his energy and good qualities he has made for himself a good trade.
CHARLES FREDERICK LEOPOLD IUNKER,
Son of Leopold and Anna Iunker, was born in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, Germany, February 26, 1825. His father had charge of the forests in the employ of the government. Charles attended the common school until twelve years of age, and then entered a school for artisans, from which he went to learn the brewing and distilling trade. In 1848 he emigrated to the United States, sailing from Antwerp to New York. Going to Quincy, Illinois, he started a vinegar and soda factory, and remained until January, 1852, when he came to California with his wife via the Isthmus, landing in San Fran- cisco, May 28th. He took charge of an extensive brewery belonging to his uncle, A. Schuppert, for three years, and in 1855 came to Yreka and started a brewery on the lot now owned by him and occu- pied by Mr. Winckler's store. In 1858 he pur- chased that and the Bella Union property for $17,000. In 1861 he erected the two-story brick residence on Center street, a view of which can be seen on another page. The house has a cellar its entire length, and gas and water on the first and second floors, and cost $10,000 furnished. The brewery then stood in his yard, but in 1865, in company with John Hessenauer, he purchased his present brewery on Oregon street, from John Miller, who had bought it of G. Gamble, its founder. In 1870 he became the sole proprietor, and has since operated it. About 300 barrels of beer are annually made here and sold throughout the county. He is seere- tary of the Empire quartz mine, incorporated Jan- uary 10. 1878, eapital $50,000, and by his energy has contributed largely to its development. Mr. Iunker has served the citizens of Yreka in several official capacities. July 29, 1851, he was married at Quiney, Illinois, to Miss Mary Anna Roth, daughter of John and Katharina Roth. They have had seven children: Charles Adam, born October 21, 1853, now traveling agent for Baker & Hamilton, of San Francisco; John Theodore, born Angust 31, 1855, died September 3, 1855; Katharina Anna, born March 10, 1857, now Mrs. James Kiernan, of Shasta valley; Maria Dora, born November 22, 1858, living at home; Emily Louisa, born April 11, 1860, living at home; Albert Edward, born January 9, 1862, living at home and learning tinner's trade; Helena Mary, born August 24, 1874, living at home. Mr. Iunker has always been identified with every movement to advance the prosperity of Yreka and Siskiyou county, and is both energetic and enter- prising, and interested in the welfare of his adopted country.
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
OLIVER WARNER GOODALE.
The subject of this sketch is the son of Alanson and Elizabeth (Wilson) Goodale, and was born in Ontario county, New York, April 3, 1831. When he was six years of age the family moved to Wash- tenaw county, Michigan, near Ann Arbor, where young Oliver worked on the farm from the time he was fourteen till he became of age. He came to California in 1852 by way of the Isthmus, and landed at San Francisco about the first of June .. He spent three months in Sacramento, and then mined on Auburn ravine, near Gold Hill. In March, 1853, he came to Siskiyou county and mined on Humbug till 1855. He went to Scott river in June of that year, and since 1857 he has been butchering for the Scott river market. In I863 he bought the ranch that Wicks and Pool took up in 1851, and commenced farming and stock-raising. There is a section in his home place and he also owns land elsewhere. He has always been more or less inter- ested in mining. May 31, 1860, he married Mrs. Ruth Chase, daughter of Peter Williams, of Wash- tenaw county, Michigan. She was born in Cayuga county, New York, 1831. He has two children, Alanson D., born June 5, 1861, and Carrie A., born June 16, 1864. Mr. Goodale is one of the substan- tial men of Scott valley and Scott Bar, and enjoys the esteem of all who know him. He has never sought political honors, preferring a life of quiet integrity and domestic comfort.
FREDERICK KOESTER.
Of veterans of the Mexican war there are about a dozen in Siskiyou county, one of whom is Fred- crick Koester, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Prussia, March 15, 1826, and in his youth learned the trade of making wooden implements. In 1844 he came to the United States, landing at New Orleans, from which place he went up the Missis- sippi to St. Louis and engaged in farming near that city for a year. He then spent a year in a sugar house at New Orleans, and in the spring of 1846 enlisted for a year in Company A, Light Artillery. He went to Santa Fe with General Kearny, and participated in the campaign therc. At the end of his term he re-enlisted for a bounty of twelve dollars and served in the Mexican campaign, receiv- ing his discharge at Independence, Missouri, in October, 1848. His army life had given him a taste for adventure, and the next year he started to California with eight companions, reaching the Sacramento valley by the Lassen route in October, 1849. He mined on Feather river that winter, and then went to Amador county. In the spring of 1853 he went to St. Louis, by way of Panama and New Orleans. September 17, 1854, he married Miss Pauline Krauser, and returned with her to California, via the Isthmus. He mined at Thomp- son's flat (Oroville) till the spring of 1855, and then went to San Francisco, to Crescent City, and then to Josephine creek, Oregon. He was mining there when the Indian war of the winter of 1855-56 broke out, during which his family suffered many
hardships and narrowly escaped falling victims of the savages. He determined to leave such a danger- ous locality, and the next year went to Yreka. After mining there a year, he went to Long gulch and mined till 1862, when he moved to Hawkinsville. He went to Idaho that summer, but came back in the fall poorer than when he left. He bought into a claim at Hawkinsville and continued mining until 1879, when he retired from active labor. Hc is now living quietly in his comfortable residence at Hawkinsville, enjoying with his wife the fruits of his years of toil. They have had thir- teen children, eight of whom are now living :- William, born September 7, 1855; Annie, May 12, 1857; Mina, March 16, 1859; Henry, January 4, 1861; Frederick, January 11, 1862 (deceased); Bertha, March 3, 1865; Louisa, April 6, 1867 (deceased); Sophie, December 3, 1869; Albert, September 24, 1871; three who died in infancy; Pauline, December 8, 1878.
JOSEPH W. JONES
Was born in Topsham, Orange county, Vermont, September 13, 1811. His father was David Jones, a native of Massachusetts and a farmer till his death in 1870, at ninety-four years of age, in Top- sham. His mother's maiden name was Abigail Gul- lison. She died ten years previous to her husband, aged about seventy-five years. Joseph's education was received in the public schools of his State dur- ing the cold winters of that rigorous climate. When twenty-four years of age, he married his present wife, Miss Atlanta Morrison, then at the age of sev- enteen. She was born at Groton, an adjoining township to Topsham, August 14, 1818. They were married at Groton, December 29, 1835. Three children were born to them: Lusetta, now Mrs. R. D. Stone of Scott valley, born June 12, 1839; Abbie A., now Mrs. O. V. Green, born March 26, 1841; and David W., born May 1, 1843, now living on a ranch adjoining his father's property. Shortly after the marriage of J. W. Jones he received fifty acres of timber and meadow land from his father in consideration of his having worked for him until that time. On account of ill-health he sold his farm of one hundred acres, in the spring of 1845, and left for the West, being by everybody supposed to be hopelessly gone with consumption. He settled sev- enty miles west of Chicago, in Boone county, on a farm of eighty acres, and his family arrived the next fall. Mr. Jones continued to farm there till 1860, all the time suffering from ill health, but too strong willed to cease his hold on life. In 1853 he had crossed the plains and taken up a section of land eight miles west of Fort Jones, returning to Illinois in December, 1854. In 1860 he recrossed the plains for a permanent residence on his land, his family ar- riving in the fall of 1863. The old gentleman and his son David manage the ranch successfully. They raise cattle for the market and carry on quite extensive dairying. A view of the place is given in this work. The climate of California has been very beneficial to his health, which at his time of life, seventy years, is very good.
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RESIDENCE AND MINING CLAIM OF MYRON K. THOMAS, SCOTT RIVER, 1/2 MILE N.W. OF SCOTT BAR, SISKIYOU CO., CAL.
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
posed. Each one thought his presence at the store an imperative necessity, and each one seemed imbued with the idea that he must get there before the others did, and all were unanimous in the opinion that they must get there before the bear did. The yelling of the men and the crackling of the brush as the frightened fugitives came crashing through it, brought the inmates of the cabin to the door in time to receive the guests with open arms. They all got there first. It is said that nothing but the curly hair enabled the men to recognize them as negroes, so pale were they from fright, and that it was some time before their wonted duskiness of complexion returned. The bear, disgusted with being treated in so cavalier a manner, had ceased all attempts to be sociable, and resumed his stroll in an opposite direction.
Miners kept coming in all the fall, and by Christ- mas there were some three hundred scattered along the creek, and in the gulches. Early in 1855 a store was built about three-quarters of a mile further down the creek, by Caleb Gartrell, and the new location soon eclipsed the old one.
The new business point was named Hoopersville, in honor of Frank Hooper, an old locator at that point. This became the business center of miners working along the creek, and remained such until the growth of Fort Jones took from it the trade upon which it lived. It has since lapsed into a store and one or two dwellings. Most of the claims on the creek are in the hands of Chinamen, though consid- erable quartz prospecting is being done.
SCOTT BAR AND VICINITY.
The history of the discovery and early mining of Scott Bar, in 1850, has been detailed at length in `another place, as well as the leading historical events that occurred along the river, and there remains but to briefly trace the career of Scott Bar and its im- mediate vicinity.
But few men spent the winter of 1850-51 on Scott Bar, many going below with the intention of returning in the spring. James Lindsay is now the oldest resident, having arrived early in January, 1851. Benjamin Jacobs and Sigmond Simon also arrived there among the first that came in the spring. Mr. Simon says that when he first landed there he invited his crowd of twenty-seven to take a drink. The treat cost him twenty-seven dollars. The price of other goods, however, was not so high. Among the first to arrive were John G. Berry, and Theodore F. Rowe, with a pack-train. They opened a store, but as every company that arrived was well supplied with provisions and tools, there was no market, and flour that it was worth fifty cents per pound to pack from Shasta, sold for ten cents. Capt. J. B. Pierce also had a store in a log cabin. , Rev. D. H. Lowry arrived in February with his wife, the first white woman to reside in the county, though white emigrants had passed through years before, and built a shake structure, in which Mrs. Lowry kept a boarding-house. A Sidney woman who came soon after also opened a boarding-house. In March the strain in the provision market was relieved by the rush for the new diggings at Yreka. Nearly every miner on Seott Bar went to the new mines in
person or sent his partner, and many of them re- mained there. Their places were soon filled by new arrivals, and Scott Bar became a bustling camp. Men were going and coming all the while; old miners left and new ones took their places. Judge. Steele lost his tools in a claim in February, buried by a cave, and they were unearthed a few years ago by the Magoffey Brothers, in their hydraulic work- ing of the same ground.
Early in the spring of 1851 an election was held at the bar for an alcalde, or, as termed at this elec- tion, a county judge. The candidates were R. B. Snelling and a man known as Buffalo John. It is asserted that John was elected, but that the men who canvassed the votes counted in Snelling, who was indebted to them. Snelling served for a time, but indignantly resigned when Judge A. M. Smith, who had a case before him, had him sworn, and then asked if he was interested in the case. The people at once elected Smith to succeed him. He was in turn succeeded by Dr. Cook. In June, 1852, the regular justices for Scott River township, Siski- you county, were elected. They were William A. Patterson and Grove K. Godfrey. The constables were James Stewart and George Townsend. At the time Snelling was chosen judge, Gen. R. M. Mar- tin was elected sheriff.
The original Scott Bar was on the opposite side of the river from the present town of that name, and a few hundred yards above, just below the present bridge. The town that was built in 1851 sprang up on the present location, because there was a better site and more mining. The main street was nearer to the river than the present one, and with its shake houses, log cabins, and canvas tents, the old town presented quite a contrast to the present one.
Besides Scott Bar there were for a few years a number of mining camps along Scott and Klamath rivers. Each bar had its name, and most of them had stores, saloons, and hotels. French Bar, just below Scott Bar, was a large and thriving place for a number of years, though now desolate and for- saken. Holmes Brothers, Lynch, and Pine each had stores tlere, and in 1856 a two-story saloon was built, the largest and finest on the river. Another important place was Johnson's Bar, still further down t e stream. Near this is the town of Simon- ville, named after Sigmond Simon in 1854 He opened a store there with Christopher Nentzel, which is still kept by Mr. Nentzel for the firm. E. H. Schofield had a boarding-house there for awhile. Other places on the river were, Poorman's Bar, Franklin Bir, Lytle Bar, Michigan Bar, Slapjack Bar, Junction Bar, and others. Whiting hill, named after Peter Whiting, who still lives there in a little cabin, was first worked by Gen. Joseph Lane, on Lane's gulch, early in 1851. The gulehes have been worked out, and now the ground is only suitable for hydraulic washing. A little is being done in this way by Whiting and others.
On Klamath river below the mouth of Scott river are a number of old bars, the principal ones being Mead's Bar, Hamburg Bar, China Bar, Walker Bar, Masonie Bar. Fort Goff Bar, Thompson Creek Bar. Below Walker Bar and on the opposite side of the Klamath is Sciad valley, where a little ranching is being done. A few miles below is Sciad post-office,
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
where Charles M. Bailey has kept a store since 1861. By far the most important place was Hamburg Bar. It lies a few miles below the mouth of Scott river, and was first worked in the fall of 1851. It was named by Sigmond Simon, and on the day of christening a flag was made of flour sacks and red and blue shirts, and hoisted on a pole. It was an important place for many years, and from 1856 to 1859 there were three stores, several saloons, and other business places in the camp. Dan Caldwell still keeps a store at Hamburg.
Above the mouth of Scott River are two small mining camps, Virginia Bar and Oak Bar, at the latter of which there is a post-office.
Scott Bar is now the center of all the mining on Scott river, the first and the last. It was a busy town, with several stores and saloons in the fall of 1855, when a fire destroyed all the business portion of the town except the store of Dejarlais & Brother, now the cellar of Simon's store. In this store A. Dejarlais and William Robinson shut themselves to fight the fire in the rear. The front was closed with iron doors. These became hot and the interior of the store soon approached the condition of a bake oven. The men fell insensible to the floor, and efforts were made by friends to rescue them. The door was forced open and the notorious Bill Fox and Washington Bruley rushed into the furnace within. On the counter, near the door, stood a keg of powder, that was being charred by the heat. Fox seized this, ran to the street and set it down care- fully in a pail of water. He then went back and helped bring out the two insensible men. One of Robinson's feet was badly roasted, while Dejarlais' lungs were so scorched from breathing the hot air that he died. The stores of Dejarlais & Brother, J. M. C. Jones, John Bostwick, Charles Yost, and several others were burned, as well as a number of saloons and shops. The town was rebuilt on the present street, on higher ground, the front of the stores being where the rear was before.
In 1857 a theater was built by John Brecken- ridge. It was a frame structure with gallery, stage, scenery, etc., and was visited by Lotta, the Chap- mans, Christie's Minstrels, and all the attractions that visited the northern end of the State. A com- pany was always sure of a large house at Scott Bar, for the miners came from all along the river.
The most serious time in the history of Scott river was the hard winter of 1852-53. The snow-storm commenced on Christmas and lasted for twenty-six days, the snow lying four feet on the flats and over thirty feet on the mountains. All travel and work were at an end. No provisions could be brought in, and the supply on hand was quickly exhausted. Dried apples and beans formed the staple diet until James H. Lindsay and a companion went hunting and killed sixteen deer. These were eaten without any salt or seasoning whatever. When the storm cleared up a party started to break a trail over the mountain to Johnson's ranch, now Meamber's. They
started in the morning, each man taking his turn in the lead until he was exhausted. When they had advanced two miles some of them returned to the bar, while the others camped for the night at Meam- ber's ferry. During the night two more feet of snow fell, but they started again in the morning. They made ten miles that day, some of the time crawling on hands and knees, taking turns in breaking the snow. At four o'clock in the afternoon they reached the summit, where a consultation was held. It was decided to push on, and about half of them reached Johnson's at nine o'clock that night, while the others came straggling in one after another till midnight. They each paid one dollar and a half for a meal of beef, bread and potatoes, and thought it a cheap luxury. Many staid in the valley several weeks until work could be resumed on the river.
The original crossing of Scott river was three miles above Scott Bar, on the trail that leads to Meamber's. A bridge was built there in the fall of 1851 by Joseph Archambault and Augustus Meam- ber, to take the place of the canoe which had been used when the river was too high to be forded. This structure was carried away by the floods of 1852-53, when a skiff was used, succeeded by a ferry-boat. In 1857, Joseph Pickering built a fine bridge, which also succumbed to high water in the winter of 1861-62. A ferry was again brought into requisi- tion until 1868, when the point was abandoned as a regular crossing. A bridge was built at the present location at Scott Bar in 1855 by Marfield, Jacobs, and Reinwald, the original purpose being to carry a ditch across the river in a flume. It was washed away in the winter of 1861-62, and a ferry took its place until 1875, when the present free bridge was built by subscription among the citizens. Below Scott Bar is a bluffy point known as Cape Horn, above which a suspension wire bridge was built by Mapleson & Swift in 1859, and a wooden bridge below. These stood until the floods of 1861-62 took them away. Since then travelers have forded the river in low water, and at other times crossed over the hill. A bridge recently built at the mouth of the river was destroyed last winter.
The largest piece of gold found on Scott river weighed 187 ounces, and was worth $18.74 per ounce, or $3,504.38. It was in the shape of a fish, seven inches long, and was found by James Lindsay and T. L. Wade, January 27, 1855, while running a cut into Whiting hill.
Scott Bar now consists of a hotel, two stores, butcher shop, drug store, blacksmith shop, saloons, and residences. Considerable. hydraulic and river mining is being carried on in the vicinity. The town is connected with Fort Jones by Tickner's express, which makes three trips a week with express, passengers, and mail. J. B. Leduc's saw- mill is also near the town. A fine school house, and a good 'bridge across the river, are both the result of public liberality.
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