Spring Chinook Salmon Considered for Endangered Species Protection
February 2018
The Salmon River Restoration Council and the Karuk Tribe jointly petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to extend Endangered Species...
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Salmon River History Timeline: 1849-present
Prior to 1849
Summer 1849
Summer 1850
1850 - circa 1918
9th September 1850
March 1851
Summer 1851
1851
1852
1852
starting in 1850s
1854
January 1855
1855
Arrived on Salmon River 1856 - died 1906
1856
1858
30th Jul 1859
1860s
1860
14th June 1860
1st December 1861
25th January 1862
20th May 1862
1864
8th November 1864
26th July 1866
Circa 1870 - 1920s
13th August 1870
10th May 1872
28th March 1874
1876-1934
15th June 1877
6th May 1882
Arrived on Salmon River 1854 – died 1919.
circa 1886 - circa 1918
19th March 1886
3rd April 1890
1891
1892
1895
17th January 1896
October 1897
21st January 1898
1st June 1900
From creation of world by Coyote until the Gold Rush
1st February 1905
Spring 1905
6th May 1905
circa 1908
1908
circa 1910
1st March 1911
September 1911
1913
1917
1918
June 1919
1921
1921
4th November 1924
1925
April 1926
1931
1932
1933
25th July 1935
1936
1936
1938
1942
15th August 1944
1951
1951
22nd December 1955
12th June 1960
September 1962
July 1963
3rd September 1964
22nd December 1964
January 1965
27th June 1966
1968
2nd October 1968
1969 - present
1st January 1970
1971
18th October 1972
1973
1973
28th December 1973
1976
1976
1977
January 1977
Late Summer 1977
1978
4th Nov 1980
19th January 1981
Post WWII - early 1990s
May 1981
September 1984
1986
August 1987
January 1988
1990-1994
1992 - present
1992
26th November 1992
1994 - present
Summer 1994
September 1994
1995
March 1995
Winter 1995 - 1996
1997 - present
1st January 1997
1997
18th June 1997
2000
2000
2002
9th June 2002
September 2002
8th January 2003
2005
28th December 2005
Summer 2006
Summer 2006
2008
20th June 2008
1st October 2008
2009
6th August 2009
February 2010
March 2010
28th December 2011
1st June 2012
31st July 2013
Spring 2014
21st May 2014
29th Jul 2014
December 2016
June 2017
1938 - 2017
February 2018
Land, Water, & Fisheries Management
People
The Salmon River Snipers
1938 - 2017
Formed in 1938, the Salmon River Snipers band was anchored by the McBroom family and played music for nearly 80 years.
MoreFires, Floods, & Landslides
Wildfires Burn 66,832 Acres in Salmon River Watershed
Jun 2017 - Oct 2017
The summer after the wettest winter on record in the Salmon River watershed proved to be a fiery one. In all, 66,832 acres burned in the watershed in...
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Wettest Winter on Record
Dec 2016 - Mar 2017
In a definitive break from the recent dry winters, the winter of 2016-2017 was the wettest winter on record. The Salmon River rose above historic...
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July Complex Fires
29th Jul 2014 - 27th Sep 2014
In the late afternoon and evening of July 29, 2014, a slow-moving and mostly dry thunderstorm moved across Siskiyou County. Over 950 cloud-to-ground...
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Klamath Restoration & Dam Removal Legislation Introduced, Never Voted On
21st May 2014
U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced federal legislation to enact three...
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Record Low Snowpack
Spring 2014
The Salmon River area came in with about 8% of normal snowpack (snow water equivalent) on April 1, a record low. By May 1, all measurement stations...
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Arson Wildfires Burn 37,000 Acres in Salmon River Watershed
31st Jul 2013 - 26th Sep 2013
Arsonists lit multiple fires on the Salmon River and North Fork Salmon River on the night of July 31, 2013.
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Court Rules Endangered Species Act Trumps Mining Law
1st June 2012
A lawsuit brought against the Klamath National Forest's approval of mining operations on the Klamath River resulted in a decisive ruling that the 140...
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First Wild Wolf Since 1924 Enters California
28th December 2011
After a more than 300 mile journey south through Oregon, wolf OR-7 crossed the border into California, making history as the first wild wolf in the...
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Landslide Closes Salmon River Road for Two Months
Mar 2010 - May 2010
A landslide at Grants Bluffs demolished the Salmon River Road at its narrowest and most precarious point, near milepost 8 on March 4, 2010,...
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Historic Klamath Dam Removal & Restoration Agreement Reached
February 2010
The Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement and companion Klamath Hydropower Settlement Agreement were signed in 2010, outlining a path for removing four...
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Suction Dredge Mining Banned In California
6th August 2009
A controversy over suction dredge mining on the Salmon River escalated to the point where the California legislature outlawed the practice in the...
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Backbone & Red Spot Fires on Trinity River Burn into Salmon River Drainage
2009
Two large fires burning in the Trinity River watershed crested the Salmon Mountains, burning 6,324 acres on the South Fork Salmon River side.
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SRRC Coordinates Whites Gulch Dam Removal Project
1st October 2008
SRRC coordinated the removal of significant barriers to fish passage on Whites Gulch, a key tributary to the North Fork Salmon River. On October 1,...
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Ukonom Complex Fires & Caribou Fire
20th Jun 2008 - 1st Oct 2008
Despite a wet spring, a thunderstorm started several fires on the Salmon, Klamath and Trinity Rivers on the evening of June 20. These fires burned...
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Local Currency Introduced
2008
The Klamath Knot coin is introduced in a 10 Knot denomination, following the popular trend in establishing local currencies in the U.S.
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Uncles Complex Fires
Summer 2006
An array of wildfires along the lower mainstem Salmon River, Wooley Creek, and Little North Fork burned 48,085 acres in the watershed. The Somes...
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Leave No Junker Behind
Summer 2006
SRRC coordinated the "Leave No Junker Behind" project in the Salmon River watershed, removing and recycling 332 junk vehicles, 625 tons of scrap...
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New Years Flooding
28th Dec 2005 - 2nd Jan 2006
Another flood over the New Year, this one with flows of 30,000 to 60,000+ cfs over a seven day period on the Salmon River.
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Salmon River Ranger District Merged with Scott River Ranger District
2005
Forest Service budget cuts resulted in the merging of the Salmon River and Scott River Ranger Districts and the elimination of one District Ranger's...
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Orleans Mountain Lookout Added to National Historic Register
8th January 2003
Joining other Salmon River fire lookouts, the Orleans Mountain Lookout, built in 1914, was added to the National Historic Lookout Register.
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Klamath River Fish Kill
September 2002
An estimated 80,000 salmon died on the Klamath River on the upriver migration.
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Forks Fire
9th Jun 2002 - 17th Jun 2002
A human-caused fire in Forks of Salmon spread uphill, burning 1,387 acres around Forks of Salmon before Forest Service firefighters were able to...
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Salmon River Subbasin Restoration Strategy Released
2002
In 2002 the Salmon River Restoration Council and Klamath National Forest co-authored the "Salmon River Subbasin Restoration Strategy: Steps to...
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Kayak Exploration of Salmon River's Smaller Tributaries
2000 - 2002
With the easily accessible sections of river and stream already explored in the Salmon River watershed, kayakers turned to exploring ever smaller and...
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Salmon River Fire Safe Council Established
2000
The Salmon River Fire Safe Council was formed in 2000 in order to increase cooperation between managing agencies and the local community on fire...
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Coho Salmon Listed as Threatened Species
18th June 1997
Due to dramatic declines in abundance over the past several decades, the Southern Oregon-Northern California Coasts ESU coho salmon were listed as...
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SRRC Begins Water Monitoring Program
1997
SRRC began monitoring stream temperature and flow on the Salmon River and its tributaries in order to provide data needed to develop and prioritize...
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1997 New Years Day Flood
1st January 1997
This was the first major flood after the road-building and logging boom of the late 1960s-1990s, and damage to the roads and forest were extensive.
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Spotted Knapweed Eradication
1997 - present
Two new noxious weeds, spotted knapweed and diffuse knapweed were first discovered on the Salmon River in 1997. Both probably arrived in the watershed...
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Windstorm Rips Through Mountains, Causing Extensive Blowdowns
Winter 1995 - 1996
In the winter of 1995-1996, high intensity windstorms swept the high terrain along the Salmon-Trinity divide, shearing the tops and breaking the boles...
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Fire Lookouts Added to National Historic Register
March 1995
Two fire lookouts on the Salmon River, Blue Ridge and Eddy Gulch, were added to the National Historic Lookout Register in March 1995.
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Salmon River Restoration Council Obtains Non-Profit Status
1995
The mission of the organization is to assess, protect, and maintain the Salmon River ecosystem with the active participation of the local community,...
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Northwest Forest Plan
September 1994
The Clinton Administration adopted the Northwest Forest Plan as a compromise to lift injunctions prohibiting logging while conserving habitat for the...
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Specimen Fire
Summer 1994
The Specimen Fire burned 7,500 acres, mostly in the Little North Fork watershed.
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Watershed Education Begins in Salmon River Schools
1994 - present
The Salmon River Restoration Council believes that informed, caring people are some of the most effective stewards of our watershed. Our community is...
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Forks of Salmon General Store Burns to Ground
26th November 1992
The historic building housing the Forks of Salmon General Store burned to the ground on Thanksgiving Day.
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Salmon River Community "Poach Eggs Not Fish" Campaign
1992 - 1993
In response to rising concern over the decline of spring Chinook salmon, a group of Salmon River community members received support from the Klamath...
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Salmon River Cooperative Fall Chinook Surveys
1992 - present
The Salmon River Restoration Council has participated in and led Cooperative Fall Chinook Spawning Surveys since 1992.
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Elk Reintroduced to Salmon River
1990-1994
After non-Indigenous settlers extirpated elk from the Salmon River watershed in the late 1800s, a coalition of government agencies and a conservation...
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Forest Service Evicts Residents from Federal Mining Claims, Burns Homes
January 1988
Policy changes at the US Forest Service triggered a process to evict people living on federal mining claims on the Salmon River.
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1987 Fires
Aug 1987 - Sep 1987
A lightning storm in late August sparked off thousands of fires in Northern California. Approximately 90,900 acres burned in the Salmon Complex. Nine...
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Karuk Tribe Gains Federal Recognition
1986
The Karuk Tribe began the effort to receive federal recognition in 1978 and was finally granted the rights and standing of a sovereign nation in 1986....
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California Wilderness Act of 1984
September 1984
Twenty years after the enactment of the Wilderness Act, the Trinity Alps and Russian Mountains join Marble Mountain in the National Wilderness...
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Otter Bar Lodge
May 1981 - Dec 2020
Seeking to draw business rooted in the spectacular nature of the Salmon River, Peter Sturges opened Otter Bar Lodge near Forks of Salmon in 1981 and...
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The Logging Boom
Post WWII - early 1990s
Logging replaced mining as the mainstay of the Salmon River’s economy beginning with the building boom following the Second World War and continued at...
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Salmon River Designated as National Wild & Scenic River
19th January 1981
In his final hours as Interior Secretary, Cecil Andrus added the Salmon River, the North Fork, South Fork, and Wooley Creek to the National Wild &...
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Voters Approve North Coast River Protections
4th Nov 1980
In a statewide election, California voters approved Proposition 8, granting water resource protections to the Bay Delta and to North Coast wild...
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Evolving Wildfire Management Policies
1978
The US Forest Service replaces its "out by 10 A.M. or 10 acres" fire management policy with one that allows for tactics other than complete fire...
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Hog Fire
Late Summer 1977
1977 was an exceptionally dry year and the Salmon River saw 50,000 acres burn in the lightning-caused Hog Fire around Forks of Salmon. One home was...
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Drought & Low Snowpack
January 1977
California was in the grip of a drought in 1977, with very little snowpack in the mountains to provide summertime flows for the rivers.
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Salmon River Herbicide Wars
1977 - 1991
In response to concerns over extensive aerial spraying of herbicides by the US Forest Service, local citizens throughout the region began protesting...
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Federal Land Policy & Management Act Passed
1976
Formalizing and expanding on the concept of "multiple use" management of public lands, this law combined several existing laws into one and made...
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National Forest Management Act of 1976
1976
The National Forest Management Act (NFMA) substantially rewrote the rules of management for National Forests.
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Endangered Species Act of 1973
28th December 1973
The Endangered Species Act was passed in order to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and...
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Offield Mountain Fire
1973
The Offield Mountain Fire, in the lower reaches of the watershed, burned 8,277 acres.
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Ent Forestry Cooperative Formed
1973
A group of Salmon River residents formed Ent as a means of increasing employment opportunities in the watershed. Ent took on contracts with the US...
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Clean Water Act
18th October 1972
The Clean Water Act is the nation's foremost law governing the quality and health of streams, rivers, and lakes.
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First Klamath National Forest Timber Sale Appeal
1971
In 1971, residents of Black Bear Ranch Commune filed an appeal of the White Bear Timber Sale, which was planned for the Black Bear Creek watershed.
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National Environmental Policy Act
1st January 1970
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) laid the framework for public participation in federal land management and helped put the consideration...
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The Green Rush: Marijuana
1969 - present
As in many other areas in rural America, marijuana has become an integral part of the economy on the Salmon River.
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Wild & Scenic Rivers Act
2nd October 1968
In recognition of the fact that many rivers had been dammed and diverted, Congress passed the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act to create a system of rivers...
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Black Bear Ranch Commune Founded; Hippies Flock to River
1968
In 1968, 30 hippies arrived on the Salmon River intent on living communally on the Black Bear Ranch, the property once owned by John Daggett during...
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Sacred Society of the Eth
27th June 1966
The Sacred Society of the Eth, a religious cult with its compound in Forks of Salmon, formally incorporated as a religious institution.
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Historic Sawyers Bar Burns in Arson Fire
January 1965
One of only three historical Gold Rush towns in California to still be inhabited with most of its historic buildings, an arson fire destroyed the...
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1964 Flood
22nd December 1964
The largest flood on record caused widespread damage throughout the Klamath River watershed, leaving the Salmon River cut off from the outside world...
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Wilderness Act of 1964
3rd September 1964
The federal Wilderness Act created the legal definition of wilderness and designated the initial 9.1 million acres of land to be included in the...
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Sawyers Bar Burns for First Time
July 1963
A fire starting in the restaurant burned part of the downriver side of Sawyers Bar, covering nine acres. Several historic buildings and residences...
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Beat Poet Lew Welch Resides on the River
Sep 1962 - Nov 1963
Considered by some to be one of the most significant poets of the 20th century, Lew Welch spent 14 months on the Salmon River as a form of catharsis...
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Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960
12th Jun 1960 - 25th Sep 1984
A bellwether of change in National Forest management, the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act for the first time gave equal importance to conservation as...
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Land, Water, & Fisheries Management
Salmon River Dam Removals
1951
The California Department of Fish & Game initiates an aggressive program to remove abandoned mining dams.
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Massive Dam Planned for Klamath River Would Flood Salmon River
1951
At the height of hubris, the Bureau of Reclamation proposed the massive concrete Ah Pah Dam to impound the Klamath, Trinity, and lower Salmon River in...
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First Aerial Photo Survey of Klamath National Forest
15th Aug 1944 - 17th Aug 1944
The Klamath National Forest performed its first ever aerial photo survey of the National Forest.
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Fire Lookout Used in War Effort
1942
The Offield Mountain Lookout, the westernmost of the Salmon River's lookout towers, was used by the U.S. Army's Aircraft Warning Service to monitor...
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Forks of Salmon - Cecilville Road Completed. Next Section to Go Over...
1938
The CCC completed work on Cecilville Road between Matthews Creek and Cecilville, connecting that town and Forks of Salmon with a road for the first...
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Inventory of Salmon River Dams & Diversions
1936
A report by Paul S. Bartholomew noted 17 dams without fish ladders, 6 dams with ladders, 58 diversions without fish screens, 6 diversions with...
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Hydraulic Mining Limited on Klamath River and Tributaries
1936
In 1936 the Quinn Bill prohibited hydraulic mining on the Klamath River and its tributaries from July through November.
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Road to Offield Mountain Completed
25th July 1935
The Forest Service completed a road to Camp 3 and the Offield Mountain Lookout. The lookout no longer exists and the road is now used primarily as a...
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CCC Works on the Klamath National Forest
1933 - 1942
The Civilian Conservation Corps, the nation's Depression-era public relief work program worked on the Klamath National Forest as road and bridge...
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Salmon-Trinity Alps Primitive Area Designated
1932
Following the designation of the Marble Mountain Primitive Area the previous year, the 196,420 acre Salmon-Trinity Alps Primitive Area was designated...
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Marble Mountain Primitive Area Designated
1931
Using new regulations from 1929, the Forest Service designated the Marble Mountain Primitive Area in 1931 "to maintain primitive conditions of...
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Wooley Creek Association Formed
April 1926
Future president Herbert Hoover and others formed the Wooley Creek Association in 1926, sharing their love for the Salmon River area and good times.
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Somes Bar & Forks of Salmon Connected by Road
1925
The Salmon River Road was completed from Forks to Somes, requiring the use of dynamite and courage to notch in the roadbed across sheer cliffs above...
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Voters Outlaw Dams on Klamath River from Shasta River to Ocean
4th November 1924
Ballot Proposition 11, passed by California voters, outlawed the construction of any dams on the Klamath River downstream of the Shasta River...
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Sawyers Bar Townsite Granted
1921
Like many of the inhabited areas in the Salmon River watershed, the town of Sawyers Bar was situated upon public land. For decades, the federal...
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Fish Planted in Salmon River
1921
Fish planting on the Salmon River Ranger District is initiated in response to declining salmon stocks.
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Start of Cooperative US Forest Service/US Army Air Patrols
June 1919
A confluence of events led to the initiation of the first air patrols for forest fire detection and control, including flights over the Salmon River...
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Eleven Fires Burn in the Watershed
1918
Eleven fires were reported in the Salmon River watershed, with the three largest burning approximately 56,000 acres.
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Klamath River Salmon Blocked by Copco Dam
1917
The first of several hydropower dams on the Klamath River was constructed, blocking salmon from reaching the Upper Klamath Basin.
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Hallie Daggett, the First Female Fire Lookout in U.S.
1913
Hallie Daggett was hired as the first female U.S. Forest Service field employee and served 15 years as the Eddy Gulch fire lookout.
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Forest Ranger's Father is Shot
September 1911
The local Forest Service Ranger stumbled across his dying father about 20 miles from Sawyers Bar, the victim of a mysterious gunshot wound to the...
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Start of Coordinated Fire Suppression
1st March 1911
The passage of the Weeks Act laid the framework for federal and state cooperation to fight fire aggressively together, starting the era of rigorous...
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First Automobiles Come to the River
circa 1910
The wagon trail from Etna to Sawyers Bar was traversed for the first time by a car sometime around 1910.
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Removal of Karuk Cultural Treasures
1908 - 1911
A wealth of ceremonial items and other "specimens" of Karuk culture were purchased and removed from the area by Grace Nicholson, an amateur...
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Electric Power for Sawyers Bar & Area Mines
circa 1908
By 1908, the Salmon River Power Company's hydroelectric plant on the upstream end of Sawyers Bar was in operation. Built to power local gold mines,...
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Klamath Forest Reserve Established
6th May 1905
President Theodore Roosevelt established the 1.9 million acre Klamath Forest Reserve by use of a presidential proclamation authorized by the Forest...
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Sawyers Bar School Burned by Student in Arson Fire
Spring 1905
In the first of three documented arson incidents in Sawyers Bar's history, an angry student burned down the school in the spring of 1905. It was soon...
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U.S. Forest Service Created
1st February 1905
Congress transferred the Bureau of Forestry from the Interior Department to the Agriculture Department and renamed the agency United States Forest...
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The Lost Konomihu Tribe
From creation of world by Coyote until the Gold Rush
The Konomihu were the original inhabitants of the Forks of Salmon area but were forced out so quickly upon arrival of the miners that very little is...
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1900 Census: 1,092 People Living on Salmon River
1st June 1900
The 1900 U.S. Census counted 1,092 people living on the Salmon River. This was about 6% of Siskiyou County's total population.
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Brother Shot in Cold Blood
21st January 1898
Miner Morris Cronin shot and killed his brother Patrick over a mining claim dispute.
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Telephone Service for the Salmon River
October 1897
The Siskiyou Telephone Company brought telephone service to the Salmon River in October 1897, providing a rapid means of communication in a time when...
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Miner John Windler "Blew Out His Heart" in Gruesome Suicide
17th January 1896
John C. Windler had enough of this life and committed suicide near Sawyers Bar using a stick of dynamite.
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Road to Black Bear Mine Completed
1895
A road from Sawyers Bar to Black Bear Mine was completed as part of John Daggett's investment in the mine.
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State Reports 1,000 Miners in Siskiyou County
1892
A state report estimates a total of 1,000 miners working in Siskiyou County with 400 of these being Chinese miners.
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Etna-Sawyers Bar Wagon Road Completed
1891
After nearly 40 years of being connected only by a pack trail, several years of construction concluded in 1891, linking Etna and Sawyers Bar with a...
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Miner Martin Olsen & His Horse Killed
3rd April 1890
Miner Martin Olsen and his horse were killed in an evening horseback riding accident on the trail downriver from Sawyers Bar to his hydraulic mine.
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Sawyers Bar Chinatown Destroyed
19th March 1886
Likely not the first, and definitely not the last accidental or intentional fire to burn in Sawyers Bar, this one on March 19, 1886 destroyed...
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W.P. Bennett & Co.'s Hydraulic Mining Around Forks of Salmon
circa 1886 - circa 1918
Hydraulic mining in Forks of Salmon was perfected by W.P. Bennett in the late 1800s and early 1900s, forever altering the river bars and riparian land...
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Politics & Gold, the Life of John Daggett
Arrived on Salmon River 1854 – died 1919.
Perhaps there is no more famous Salmon River figure than John Daggett.
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Chinese Exclusion Act
6th May 1882
The Chinese Exclusion Act was the legislative expression of widespread disdain and animosity toward Chinese immigrants in the U.S.
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A Terrible Accident: Miner Killed on Mule Along Sawyers Bar-Forks of Salmon...
15th June 1877
The roads and trails on the Salmon River have always been dangerous.
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Commercial Fishing and Canneries on the Klamath River
1876-1934
George Richardson and Martin V. Jones, two early settlers of Crescent City, started the first commercial fishery on the Klamath in 1876.
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Klamath County Dissolved, Salmon River Becomes Part of Siskiyou County
28th March 1874
The only county in California to ever be dissolved, Klamath County's jurisdiction was divided between Humboldt and Siskiyou Counties after much public...
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General Mining Act of 1872
10th May 1872
Expanding the scope of earlier mining laws, the U.S. Congress passed a far-reaching bill permitting and regulating mining on public land. With few...
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1870 Census: 770 people living on Salmon River
13th August 1870
According to the U.S. Census, the Salmon River's population dropped by 35% between 1860 and 1870.
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The Era of Hydraulic Mining
Circa 1870 - 1920s
Nothing changed the Salmon River more than hydraulic mining. In about 50 years, nearly every bit of river bar and hillside throughout the watershed...
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Mineral Grant of 1866
26th July 1866
The 39th U.S. Congress formally allowed hardrock mining on public lands and the patenting of mining claims.
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Voting in the High Country: 1864 Presidential Election
8th November 1864
The 1864 Presidential Election was held in the high country of the Trinities at a place that came to be known as Election Gap.
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Ongoing Skirmishes on Salmon River
1864
White miners and settlers continued to fight with Native Americans who were attempting to defend what little was left of their ancestral homeland and...
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Homestead Act Signed
20th May 1862
President Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, offering up 160 acre parcels of federal land to settlers, eventually including land on the Salmon River.
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US Mail Routes in 1862
25th January 1862
Mail was delivered by horseback to the Salmon River once a week in summer and biweekly the rest of the year.
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Floods of 1861-62
1st Dec 1861 - 12th Jan 1862
Nearly all of California was devastated by a series of floods in late 1861 and early 1862. The bridge over the Klamath River near the confluence with...
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1860 Census: 1,179 People Living on Salmon River
14th June 1860
The first U.S. Census since the Gold Rush began and California obtained statehood, counted 1,179 people living on the Salmon River.
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Black Bear Mine
1860
The richest gold mine on the Salmon River was started in 1860, however, it took many years before it became a profitable, long-term business.
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Wildlife Still Abundant on Salmon River
1860s
"My grandmother, Katherine Ferris said when she was sixteen in the 1860’s, they used to camp out at Salmon Summit and one fall she saw 30 plus bear...
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Robbery & Murder on Salmon Mountain
30th Jul 1859
Millions in gold was packed out over Salmon Mountain over the years but according to John Daggett, there was only one robbery on the mountain in all...
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First Two Post Offices Open on River
1858
Still open today, the Forks of Salmon Post Office was founded in 1858. Early mail service reached Forks of Salmon by mail riders who rode in on varied...
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First Pioneer Garden on the Salmon River
1856
Born in Indiana in 1832, Jonathon Lyons arrived in Forks of Salmon sometime around 1852. Like others, he sought gold. But he soon realized his calling...
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The Legacy of William Porter Bennett
Arrived on Salmon River 1856 - died 1906
William Porter Bennett was a central figure in the development of Forks of Salmon and of Salmon River mining and provisioning in general.
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St. Joseph's Catholic Church Built in Sawyers Bar
1855
Made from whip-sawn lumber in 1855, the church is the only original structure remaining in Sawyers Bar today and one of the oldest structures on the...
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Red Cap War
Jan 1855 - Jun 1855
Tensions between Indians and whites were high in the mid-1850s following the destruction of Indian villages, murders on both sides, and an ongoing...
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Assemblyman Elected on Promise of Tunnel to Scott Valley
1854
J.J. Arrington of Crescent City, California was elected as the state assemblyman representing Klamath County (including the Salmon River) in 1854.
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Non-native Grasses Introduced to Klamath Area by Settlers
starting in 1850s
Annual grasses such as dogtail, Kentucky bluegrass, rattlesnake grass, European hairgrass, ripgut brome and soft chess are introduced to the Klamath...
MoreFires, Floods, & Landslides
Floods of 1852-53
1852 - 1853
Four floods this winter destroyed nearly all mining improvements, wing dams, ditches, and bridges on the Salmon River.
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Village of Panamnik Burned, Town of New Orleans Bar Founded on Ashes
1852
After burning the Karuk village Panamnik, whites founded the town of New Orleans Bar on that site.
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Treaty to Create Klamath/Salmon Indian Reservations Signed, Never Ratified...
1851
U.S. Colonel Redick McKee and Indians sign treaties to create Indian reservations on the Klamath River and Scott Valley. The U.S. failed to ratify...
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Indian Villages Burned by Miners
Summer 1851
At least as early as the summer of 1851, white miners and settlers burned multiple Native American villages along the Klamath and Salmon Rivers.
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Salmon River Starvation Times
March 1851
The first winter for white miners on the Salmon River was a tough one, with many near starvation and without supplies.
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Era of Pack Trains
1850 - circa 1918
As soon as gold was discovered on the Salmon River, miners needed supplies and, lacking any roads in the area, pack trains were used extensively from...
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Salmon River Gold Rush Begins
Summer 1850
Within a short span of time in early summer 1850, prospectors found gold in the South Fork, North Fork, and mainstem Salmon River, starting the Salmon...
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First Prospectors Arrive on Salmon River
Summer 1849
Some of the first prospectors to arrive on the Salmon River left without a major gold discovery but soon returned.
MoreNative Americans
Before the Gold Rush
Prior to 1849
Although written history of the Salmon River begins in 1849, Native Americans populated much of the watershed as well as the Klamath River corridor...
More1849
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