Siskiyou County (pronounced
SISS-kyoo) is a county located in the far
northernmost part of the U.S. state of
California
, in the Shasta
Cascade region on the Oregon
border. Yreka
is the
county seat. Because of its
substantial natural beauty, outdoor recreation opportunities, and
Gold Rush era history, it is an
important tourist destination within the state.
History
Siskiyou
County was created on March 22, 1852, from parts of Shasta
and Klamath Counties, and named after
the Siskiyou
mountain range
. Parts of the county's territory were given to
Modoc
County
in 1855.
The county
is the site of the central section of the Siskiyou Trail, which ran between
California's Central Valley
and the Pacific
Northwest. The Siskiyou Trail was based on Native
American footpaths, was expanded by
Hudson's Bay Company trappers in the 1830s, and was expanded still
further by "
Forty-Niners" during the
California Gold Rush.
In 1851,
after the discovery of an important gold strike near today’s
Yreka,
California, thousands
of prospectors flooded the area. This era and setting was
described in detail in the semi-autobiographical novel,
Life
Amongst the Modocs, written by poet and novelist
Joaquin Miller.
The construction of the
Central
Pacific Railroad along the path of the Siskiyou Trail in the
mid-1880s led to a first wave of tourism, as visitors came to “take
the waters” at the county’s many
summer resorts, and to enjoy the
hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreation
activities. The
Southern
Pacific railroad (successor to the Central Pacific) promoted
the scenic beauty of the area by calling its rail line through the
area “The Road of A Thousand Wonders.”
In the early 1940s, Siskiyou County was home to the semi-serious
State of Jefferson movement,
which sought to create a new state from several counties of
northern California, and several counties of southern Oregon.
The origin of the word
siskiyou is not known. One version
is that it is the
Chinook Jargon word
for "bob-tailed horse." Another version, given in an argument
before the State Senate in 1852, is that the French name
Six
Cailloux, meaning "six stones," was given to a ford on the
Umpqua River by
Michel LaFrambois and a party of Hudson's
Bay Company trappers in 1832, because six large stones or rocks lay
in the river where they crossed.
According to some, the Six
Cailloux name was appropriated to this region by Stephen Meek, another Hudson's Bay Company
trapper who was known for his "discovery" of Scott Valley, in
regard to a crossing on the Klamath
River near Hornbrook
.
Geography
Siskiyou County is geographically quite diverse.
From towering Mount Shasta
(elev. 14,179 ft/4,322 m)) near the
center of the county, to lakes and dense forests, as well as
desert, chaparral, and memorable waterfalls, the county is home to
world-famous trout-fishing rivers and streams, such as the
Sacramento and
McCloud Rivers.
The county is dotted
as well with lakes and reservoirs, such as Castle
Lake
and Lake
Siskiyou
.
Mount Shasta itself has a
winter
sports center. Pastoral
Scott
Valley in the western part of the county has many wide,
tree-lined meadows, supporting large cattle ranches. The basins of
northeastern Siskiyou County, including Butte Valley, Lower Klamath
and Tule Lake basins, have some of the deepest and richest soils in
the state, producing alfalfa, potatoes, horseradish, and brewing
barley. Butte Valley nurseries are the leading source of premium
strawberry plants in North America. Much of the county is densely
forested with
pine,
fir,
incense-cedar,
oak, and
madrone; these natural resources are most
often used these days for skiing, snowboarding,
hiking,
mountain
biking,
camping, and wilderness
recreation, as historic logging practices have been largely
discontinued due to Federal and State environmental regulations.
The county’s water is viewed as sufficiently pure and abundant that
the county is a source of significant amounts of bottled water,
distributed throughout the country. A large Crystal Geyser plant is
located at the base of Mt. Shasta near Weed, CA.
While it ranks fifth in area among California counties, with some
6,347 square miles (16,440 km
2), it only ranked
44th in population among California’s 58 counties; as of 2000, the
population was 44,301.
The county seat
is Yreka.
Cities over 5,000 population
Cities over 1,000 population
Cities under 1,000 population
Unincorporated towns and CDPs
Adjacent Counties
National protected areas
Transportation Infrastructure
Major Highways
Public Transportation
Siskiyou Transit
And General Express (STAGE) operates buses connecting the more
populated areas of the county.
Amtrak trains
stop in Dunsmuir.
Amtrak
California motorcoaches operate from Sacramento and Medford,
OR, with stops in Yreka, Weed, Mount Shasta, and Dunsmuir, for
passengers connecting to and from
Amtrak
trains in Sacramento or Stockton.
Airports
Siskiyou
County owns and operates Butte Valley Airport
, Happy Camp Airport
, Scott Valley Airport
, Siskiyou County Airport
and Weed
Airport
(all general aviation). Dunsmuir
Municipal-Mott Airport
and Montague-Yreka Rohrer Field
are also located within the county.
The
closest airports where commercial domestic planes depart from is
Rogue Valley International-Medford
Airport
north of the county in Medford, Oregon
, Klamath Falls International
Airport, northeast of the county in Klamath
Falls, Oregon
,and Redding Municipal Airport
south of the county in Redding,
California
.
Demographics
Age distribution (2000 census)
As of the
census of 2000, there were 44,301
people, 18,556 households, and 12,228 families residing in the
county. The
population density
was 7/sq mi (3/km
2). There were 21,947 housing
units at an average density of 4/sq mi (1/km
2). The
racial makeup of the county was 87.07%
White, 1.31%
Black or
African American, 3.90%
Native American, 1.19%
Asian, 0.13%
Pacific Islander, 2.76% from
other races, and 3.65%
from two or more races. 7.57% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race. 13.5% were
of
German, 12.0%
English, 9.8%
Irish, 9.5% American and 7.1%
Italian ancestry according to
Census 2000. 91.7% spoke English and 5.7%
Spanish as their first language.
There were 18,556 households out of which 27.6% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 51.7% were
married couples living together, 10.1% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 34.1% were non-families.
28.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.8% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the county the population was spread out with 24.0% under the
age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 22.7% from 25 to 44, 28.4% from 45
to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age
was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males. For
every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.1 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $29,530, and
the median income for a family was $36,890. Males had a median
income of $31,936 versus $22,650 for females. The
per capita income for the county was
$17,570. About 14.0% of families and 18.6% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 26.6%
of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.
Flora and fauna
Substantial amounts of the county are forested within the Siskiyou
and Cascade Ranges, including significant
oak woodland and
mixed conifer forests. Siskiyou County
is the northern extent of the range for
California Buckeye, a widespread
California endemic.
The Klamath National Forest
occupies of land which includes elements in
Siskiyou County as well as Jackson County, Oregon
.
Politics
Presidential election results
| Year |
GOP |
DEM |
Others |
| 2008 |
53.6%
9,288 |
43.7% 7,575 |
2.7% 466 |
| 2004 |
60.6%
12,673 |
37.7% 7,880 |
1.7% 346 |
| 2000 |
61.6%
12,198 |
31.9% 6,323 |
6.6% 1298 |
| 1996 |
47.3%
8,653 |
38.4% 7,022 |
14.3% 2618 |
| 1992 |
32.2% 6,660 |
39.9%
8,254 |
27.9% 5765 |
| 1988 |
50.9%
9,056 |
47.0% 8,365 |
2.1% 376 |
| 1984 |
58.3%
10,544 |
39.4% 7,130 |
2.4% 427 |
| 1980 |
55.8%
9,331 |
33.8% 5,664 |
10.4% 1743 |
| 1976 |
48.4%
7,070 |
48.3% 7,060 |
3.3% 485 |
| 1972 |
51.5%
7,563 |
43.8% 6,434 |
4.8% 699 |
| 1968 |
46.1%
6,334 |
45.6% 6,260 |
8.3% 1138 |
| 1964 |
36.2% 5,186 |
63.7%
9,126 |
0.2% 23 |
| 1960 |
43.0% 6,279 |
56.4%
8,245 |
0.7% 96 |
|
Siskiyou is a strongly Republican county in
Presidential and
congressional elections. The last
Democrat to win a plurality in the county was
Bill Clinton in
1992. Siskiyou is
part of
California's 2nd
congressional district, which is held by Republican
Wally Herger. In the
state legislature Siskiyou is
in the 2nd Assembly district, which is held by Republican
Doug LaMalfa, and the 4th Senate district,
which is held by Republican
Sam
Aanestad.
On Nov. 4, 2008 Siskiyou County voted 60.1 % for Proposition 8
which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex
marriages.
Notes
- List of Siskiyou County lakes
- http://www.dof.ca.gov/HTML/FS_DATA/stat-abs/tables/a1.xls
- C.Michael Hogan (2008) Aesculus
californica, Globaltwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
- Siskiyou County factsheet
See also
External links
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