LaGrange Mine, 3 miles east of Junction City on Hwy 299.
Miners in the late 1800's and early 1900's washed away entire mountains
with continuous spray through monitors or giant hydraulic nozzles like the
one displayed here. This section of highway is the only one in California
where the state highway department, CALTRANS, contracted with a mining
company to cut out a road bed. Driving along Hwy 299 one sees many areas
of exposed red dirt. These are the results of hydraulic mining activities.
Many smaller sites are now overgrown with vegetation.
Junction City
Another monitor is displayed next to the Junction City Store and Post
Office. Junction City, population 200, was the junction of trails
connecting Weaverville, Hayfork, "Downriver," and the Canyon Creek Mines.
Bagdad/Helena
Bagdad is believed to be the name, probably chosen for it's exotic,
far-away connotations. It may have been chosen by Craven Lee, a practical
jokester and one of the founders of
Helena, then called
North Fork). It referred to town dwellings on the east side of the North
Fork where "Jungfrau, Madmoiselles, and Senoritas" resided along with a
Chinese population. Helena still stands as a ghost town. Brick buildings
are from the 1850's,and made from local clay. Helena is on private land.
Do not trespass without permission by caretakers who live in a mobile home
at the site of Helena Meckel's hotel. Helena is 1/8 mile from Hwy 299.
Rich Bar
Keep driving on East Fork Rd. past Helena 3 1/2 miles and Rich Bar will be
on your right. A historical marker is scheduled to be placed here at the
Sesquintenial Rich Bar Festival on September 25, 1999. In 1850 Josiah
Gregg, a government surveyor, led an expedition to the coast in search of
a less expensive route to supply Trinity Miners with provisions. The
expedition resulted in the discovery of Humboldt Bay, and in the founding
of Eureka, and Uniontown (now Arcata). The Mad River was named when tired
crewmembers refused to take Gregg's surveying equipment across the swollen
river in borrowed Indian canoes resulting in choice words spoken by Gregg.
Big Flat/Big Bar
Frequent use of the word "bar" in place names does not refer to a tavern,
but to a gravel or cobble flat above the usual channel of the river. These
bars contained gold, and provided flat areas to build on. Big Bar, now 3
miles west, was originally right across the river from Big Flat. The
creek, just around the bend to the west is still called Big Bar Creek.
Though not the first settler in the area, John Weaver came in 1850 and,
according to Isaac Cox, in his 1858 book called "The Annals of Trinity
County," Weaver, together with 5 partners, put $10,000 into building a
flume on Big Bar Creek and in that same year pulled out $100,000 worth of
gold.
Elizabeth Walton, according to Cox, was the first woman in Trinity County.
She baked the first Johnny Cake, and was a frontier woman who, when seeing
her husband accosted by Indians in near their house, got out her rifle
and, as Cox put it, "dispatched several Indians to their happy hunting
grounds."
If you look across to the old site of Big Bar you will notice that it is
lower than the Big Flat side. During the flood of 1861-62 the town washed
away, and relocated several miles downstream.
Cedar Flat
At Cedar Flat Picnic Area the Creation Story of the Chimariko Indians and
other information is given on an interpretive plaque. Cedar Flat was the
site of a Cedar Grove and of a Chimariko Indian Village. The Chimariko
were a small tribe when the whites arrived, living in the steep Trinity
River Canyon. They called the Trinity River the Chiti, or great river. The
Chimariko spoke a language of an entirely different language group, Hokan,
than either the Wintu to the east (Penutian), or the Hupa to the west
(Athabaskan). This is like the difference between English, Chinese, and
Swahili.
The staple foods of the Chimariko were Salmon, Acorn flour, and wild game.
Many other plants were eaten.
The art of basket making was highly developed, as it was with other nearby
tribes. They had no ceramic pottery, but baskets were woven so tightly
that they could be used to cook in and eat out of. They were also formed
into hats and other clothing as well as many other uses.
Looking along the river one can see many of the materials used in basket
making. Next to the water are willows and alders. Strands from young
willow chutes, or alternately Hazel were used for the fibers going
lengthwise in the basket. Pine roots, Gray Pine, Ponderosa, and others,
were used as fibers wrapping around the basket. These root fibers were not
only strong, but also expanded when wet to make a waterproof seal. A
decorative overlay of geometric designs was often used. The inner bark of
the Alder formed a reddish dye applied to strands from large Woodwardia
Ferns. Delicate Maidenhair Ferns supplied black fibers. Bear Grass gave a
light, Buffy color. Sometimes Porcupine quills were also incorporated.
Salyer Rest Stop
This stop tells about pack trains. Travel was difficult in the Trinity
River Canyon. There was no road west of the North Fork until 1923.
Everything was carried in on foot or on pack animals. During the winter
rains, side streams became swollen making travel dangerous. Mail carriers
were required to go out in all conditions. One mail carrier named McDonald
had to borrow a boat during flood stage to cross the Trinity, and
frightened by a close call, raised money to build four swing bridges over
the Trinity River.
Tell me what you think about my web site. I welcome all of your
comments and suggestions.
Name
E-mail
Tel
FAX
Please contact me as soon as possible regarding this matter.
