Klamath River, California

The Klamath River area was home to the Hupa (Hoopa), Karuk, Modoc, and Yurok Indian tribes. Native Americans relied on the river for its abundance of salmon and trout.

The California Gold Rush of 1848–1855 brought many miners to the Klamath River watershed. The miners caused disruption in the lives of the Native Americans of the area by damming and diverting water for mining purposes, which made it difficult for spawning salmon and other fish populations to survive. There are remnants of old mining sites along the river. The town of Happy Camp, first settled in 1851, was named for its fruitful yields of gold. The Klamath River was used by the Quicksilver Mining Co. in the late 19th century where they extracted mercury and cinnabar located up Beaver Creek. Tunnels that were dug to extract gold were later used by bootleggers of whiskey.

In 2022, the McKinney Fire destroyed most of the structures in the town, leaving only a handful of homes.[1][2]

Klamath River hosts the largest deer herd in California, and the largest concentrations of ducks and geese on the North American continent. There are also many black bear, elk, bobcat, mountain lion, raccoon, quail, grouse, pheasant, squirrel, kit fox, river otter, beaver, badger, porcupine, weasel, skunks, coyotes, a variety of toads and frogs, blue herons, bald and American eagles, along with over 200 species of birds. Historically, the Klamath River was the third largest salmon water-shed on the west coast.

The weather in Siskiyou County varies with the seasons, with summer temperatures of 75 to 105 °F (24 to 41 °C), while in the winter, it can drop as low as 15 °F (−9 °C) with a high of 65 °F (18 °C).

• Klamath River, California history