Humboldt County

History

History of Humboldt County California - Historic Record Co., Los Angeles, 1915

CHAPTER XII.
Topography, Climate and Scenery.

        Sometimes it has seemed strange that Humboldt county was not settled by white men until many years after the sweet-toned bells of Carmel and other missions had rung their messages to the aborigines of the south. The Spanish priests not only preferred the milder climate of the south, but it would have been exceedingly difficult for the missionaries to have overcome the natural barriers of mountain and forest, savage Indians, and climatic conditions isolating Humboldt from the world—barriers that are still unbroken during the winter season, in the absence of a completed railroad.

        It has already been shown that the early sea voyagers discovered no sea opening to the county, and the view they obtained was mountainous and forbidding. The county is the farthest north but one in the state, while Cape Mendocino, its most western point, is within a few miles of being the most western point of land in the United States.

        George A. Kellogg, for many years secretary of the Humboldt County Chamber of Commerce, thus describes the physical appearance of the county:       "Humboldt county is situated nearly in the extreme northwestern part of California, its northernmost point being about thirty-two miles from the southern boundary of Oregon, from which it is separated by Del Norte county. Its southern boundary is the parallel of forty degrees north latitude, making its length north and south one hundred and eight miles, with a width averaging about thirty-five miles. Its area is 3,507 square miles, or in acres, 2,244,480.

        "In physical features it is a mountainous district, with over a hundred miles of coast line, a commodious harbor nearly midway therein, with numerous rivers flowing in a. general northwesterly direction, and a prominent headland—Cape Mendocino.

        "Viewed from the sea, the entire county appears covered with an almost unbroken forest from the ocean beach to the mountain summits of its eastern boundary, although actually less than half of its area is forest proper, though much of the remainder is covered with a tangled and matted wilderness of brush.

        "Along or near the coast is the redwood belt—a dense and almost continuous forest extending through the entire length of the county north and south, with a varying width averaging some ten miles. To some extent included in this belt, but principally to the eastward thereof, are considerable forests of pine, oak, spruce, fir, alder, and madrone, making up an area nearly equal to that of the redwood. Still further to the eastward, and also in lesser degree within this forest region, are large tracts of bald hills covered with native grasses, which furnish the best of grazing lands."

        It is estimated that the redwood forests originally covered 538,000 acres. More than forty billion feet of this, board measure, is still standing. Its value is so great that it has been estimated that if a circle forty miles in diameter were to be drawn from Eureka, the eastern half of it would contain more wealth of natural products than can be found in any similar area on the globe, not excluding the gold mines of the Rand. Of course, the western half of this circle would be the ocean.

        The surface of the county is for the most part hilly, even mountainous. The elevations begin almost immediately from the shore, increasing to the eastward until many of the peaks attain an elevation of from four to six thousand feet. From Mendocino to Trinidad Head the elevations are more gradual. In this depressed part of the county are found the largest bodies of rich, level land in the county. Here also exist the principal harbors, the mouths of the two most important rivers, most of the principal towns, and the greater part of the population. It should be said, however, that the completion of the through railroad, the development of Fort Seward as the metropolis of southern Humboldt, and some other events will change these conditions within the next five or six years so as to equalize the distribution of population.

        Humboldt county's coast line is one of rugged beauty, its aggregate windings north and south being about one hundred and fifty miles. In an air line it is one hundred and eight miles long and an average of thirty-five miles in width. It contains 3,507 square miles of land, or 2,244,480 acres. Its resources and possibilities make up a section teeming with wealth and opportunity. Del Norte county lies between Humboldt and the Oregon line.

        Humboldt bay lies about half way between the northern and the southern boundary of the county. The bay has one of the best harbors on the coast, the most important but one in the state. Its tidal area is twenty-eight square miles; its lineal channel is twenty-six miles. The numerous rivers and streams of the county flow in a northwesterly direction. There are many beautiful valleys in the county. Eel river, Mad river, Trinity river, Klamath river, Mattole river, Bear river, Van Duzen river, Elk river, Maple creek, and Redwood creek are all streams of importance.

        There is nothing mysterious about the climate of Humboldt county, which differs greatly from the climate of other portions of the state, especially from the climate of Southern California. Places adjacent to the coast are never so hot as those locations either in or close to the great interior valleys. It should be clearly understood, however, that Humboldt county is directly influenced by the primal causes that give the entire state its equable temperature, freedom from cyclones, sunstroke, blizzards, and other unpleasant and destructive climatic disturbances.

        There is a wide range of temperature during the summers of Humboldt county. Eureka and the section for a few miles back of it have the coolest summer climate in the United States, the least yearly range between summer and winter not exceeding 37 degrees. Hot days are unknown in this favored section. A temperature of 80 degrees is regarded as high. In the valleys and hills, however, the thermometer reaches true summer proportions. The redwoods, moreover, conserve moisture and the woods are always cool. Like the rest of California, Humboldt county is free from summer rains. The prevailing winds from the west give the county that sea air which is the delight of the coast resorts in particular. The absolute highest temperature ever known in Eureka was on June 6, 1903, which was 85.2 degrees above zero. The lowest temperature ever recorded was on January 14, 1888, 20.3 degrees above zero. The average daily range of temperature in twenty-five years was 10.7 degrees. The average annual rainfall is 44.92 inches. The average winter temperature is 47.4 degrees above zero ; spring, 50.2 ; summer, 55.3; autumn, 53.4.

        Thousands of persons ask "What gives California her mild climate?" without seeming to have the slightest idea what the cause is. For many years it has been taught that the Japan current is responsible for our weather. Everything pertaining to the verdure-clad hills of early spring, to the skies of blue and gold, and to the purely Californian skies, has been attributed to the Japan current; but the expert climatologists regard this current as more of a myth than a reality. To give the cause of the climate in a sentence it might be said that the prevailing winds from the west are the fundamental cause of our immunity from excesses of heat and cold. The winds from the great warm Pacific are our salvation from the ills that afflict our eastern neighbors. Add this to the peculiar topographical advantages, and the question is solved.

        The Federal Government has given us a scientific explanation. In "Bulletin L," a discussion of the climatology of California, issued by the Federal Government in 1903, Prof. Cleveland Abbe, of the Central Weather Bureau, Washington, D. C., says: "The prevailing easterly drift of the atmosphere in temperate latitudes, causing the well-known winds from the west, is one of the prime factors in modifying the climate of the coast of California. The coast line, stretching through ten degrees of latitude, is subject to a steady in-draft of air from the west. In this movement, together with the fact that to the west lies the great Pacific ocean, lies the secret of the difference in temperature between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts at places of like latitude."

        Incidentally, the rotation of the earth on its axis, in the whirl of more than a thousand miles an hour from west to east, determines the easterly drift of the winds in the northern hemisphere. The prevailing winds from the west, say at Chicago, bring the breath of winter from the fields of snow and ice. In the summer months the same winds from the west, fresh from hot and arid regions, bring sunstroke and melting heat, cyclones, and the many rigors of severe seasons. It is different on the coast because of the origin of the winds, which sweep over many thousand miles of the Pacific, whose average temperature is 55 degrees above zero, Fahrenheit. The explanation is simple.

        Aaron H. Bell, the official weather observer at Eureka, reports that the air off shore from Humboldt county is warmed by the ocean, this being due to the prevailing movement of the air currents from the ocean to the land. Proximity to the ocean is the principal cause of abundant rains and the absence of severe cold. When the air from off shore comes in contact with the cooler land currents, we get cloudiness or high fog, even when we fail to have rain. Mr. Bell continues as follows:

        "The mean temperature of the ocean water along the northern California coast averages about 55 degrees, while the mean temperature of the air at Eureka is 51 degrees. A few miles back from the coast the climate is different. There, the temperature is higher and the weather mostly sunshine and delightfully pleasant.

        "The most important climatic elements are temperature and precipitation and the single element that appeals most directly to the sensations of the human body is temperature. The average seasonal temperatures at Eureka are as follows: winter, 47 degrees ; spring, 50 degrees; summer, 55 degrees ; autumn, 53 degrees. The mean annual temperature is 51 degrees, and the average daily range of temperature is 11 degrees. The warmest month is August, which has an average temperature of 47 degrees. February has practically the same temperature as January. The highest temperature recorded at this station during the past twenty-five years was 85 degrees, and the lowest 20 degrees."

        Those unacquainted with the weather of Humboldt county should understand that the approach of winter is never heralded by fear; it is welcomed with feelings of joy. Summer wanes gradually, sometimes lingering like the Indian summers of the east until the halcyon days of October, or even until the soft brown tints of November tell that cooler nights and rains are near. Possibly then a gentle wind springs from the southeast, rushing toward a climatic disturbance in the northwestern part of the Pacific, possibly from off British Columbia. Soon a gentle shower begins, sometimes more like a mist than rain—sometimes a driving storm driven by a steady gale, but always without thunder, and never with cyclonic violence. Then, after a day or two of gentle rains the sun peeps forth from cirrus clouds, the air becomes clear, the foothills and mountains loom into view through the lens of clarified air, the birds sing, the flowers bloom, and often the most charming weeks of all the year follow the benign winter rains that mark the short days.

        It was not realized until comparatively recent times that the wild scenes abounding in the mountain fastnesses of Humboldt county are likely to be one of the greatest assets in its future industry, this by reason of the rapidly increasing tourist trade. In olden days, travel was too tedious to prove encouraging, but with the coming of better roads the conditions of yesterday are doomed to pass away.

        There are many movements under way to build better roads than have ever been thought of in the past. Chief Engineer Burrell, of the Federal Bureau of Highways, has made several visits to the county and outlined a system of roads that, sooner or later, will give the public a wonderful view of the spots of scenic grandeur.

        Every conscientious writer has always found it difficult to portray the splendid scenes abounding along the coast and in the mountainous interior of counties like Humboldt, Del Norte, and Mendocino, without appearing guilty of over-statement; yet to become merely statistical in the presence of the sublime would be much like adding a column of figures during the rendering of a Beethoven symphony or during a performance of grand opera. The man who goes forth to picture the lights and shadows of the redwood forests, the beauties of the coast, will find it necessary to deal in colors. Nature, during the summers of Humboldt in particular, is full of high lights and minor chords.

        Of the delights of Humboldt county, volumes might well be written, for it is thronged with striking features. Most of the county is still little known to the masses who live within its borders. As a whole, it is a picturesque region as little known as any in the Golden West. It is a land of dreamy retreats. The isolation of some of the more rugged portions is almost as great as that of some of the remote fastnesses of Canadian North America, where primitive trapping and hunting constitute almost the only vocation among the hardy pioneers.

        Many parts of Humboldt county suggest such scenes as are portrayed by Fenimore Cooper in his descriptions of the early American frontier, barring the Indian warfare. Most of the remoter areas present a wide expanse of mountain solitudes, where long-bearded cabin dwellers amuse themselves by pursuing bears and mountain lions, by fishing and general sports—where venison, either fresh or jerked, is the staple article of diet, and where steel-heads and mountain trout, grouse and quail, are as plentiful as when Junipero Serra established the Franciscan missions in the South.

        Surely Portola, Ortega, Cabrillo, Ferrero, and Sir Francis Drake beheld scenes that were not much more primitive than some of those now common in Humboldt's wilds. Of course there were Indians when Winship discovered the great Humboldt bay in 1806, but the face of nature is in many places as virgin as of old.

        Nowhere on the American continent can more primeval surroundings be found than in some of the remoter portions of Humboldt. Some of the old masters of wood lore are still unacquainted with the barber. They are at home with nature and the stars. These guardians of the primitive forests are often excellent companions and entertainers. The visit of a tourist from the great outside world spurs them to become generous hosts and guides. Their rude tables are frequently laden with delicacies from forest and stream, tree and vine. Around their cabins grow luscious fruits and vegetables—food as delicious as any ever eaten in secret places. These brawny men of the generous west are at home amid scenes that impress the casual visitor with awe, or lure him like visions of Paradise.

        In a little book entitled, "Humboldt, the Playground of the West," the writer of this chapter has tried to portray some of the striking features of the scenery of the county. It impressed him forcibly that painters and poets in common with lovers of nature, and men and women weary of the narrow life of cities, find rest amid the scenes that make Humboldt the Switzerland of North America, the playground of the Golden West. Such visitors stand entranced in the presence of peaks that kindle with glowing lights, or fade in the dissolving purples of afternoon.

        To become a sentinel on some of the crags overlooking the mighty Pacific, to behold the yellow shafts of morning light illumine the valleys, and watch the day march westward until it fades in the gloaming and departs over the sunset sea, is to become intoxicated with such day dreams as soothe weary nerves in a land of sleep and rest.

        To read of scenes that "set the pulses leaping" may please the timid and the sedentary, but the peaceful art of fireside exploring does not appeal to that large and increasing number of eastern and foreign tourists who have fallen under the lure of the Golden West, who feel toward this new land much as the first men felt under the spell that led them to eat of the earth and call it delicious.

        To travelers in search of experiences that give an insight into primitive grandeur, Humboldt county, which Bret Harte called America's uttermost west, offers the luring variety of ancient redwood forests, mighty canyons, great mountain peaks, long stretches of thundering sea coast, and the solitary haunts of big game. Everywhere the prospect is wild and pleasing.

        There is an absence of monotony, for every turn of the trail reveals the unexpected. There is every variety from fertile valleys and bird-haunted spots of mystery to rugged mountains and roaring cataracts ; from the tempered light of the woods, "like perpetual morning," to the noisy sea-cliffs of picturesque old Trinidad. The vast forests alone are worth a voyage across the sea, for no other wooded area on the globe approaches them in extent and magnificence.

        The greater part of the county consists of virgin wilds, remote from railroads, and far from beaten paths. The summers in the forests are not only climatically perfect, but they are revelations of beauty, silence, and grandeur. Painters have noted the fact that the wonders of light and shadow here work their most luring spells. There is every tone from rosy dawn to melting sunsets and the sheen of moonlight nights. The songs of birds, the winds murmuring in the high branches, the music of unseen waterfalls, and the call of the wild beast to his mate, come over the morning hills of a world that is new and clean.

        Amid haunting mysteries of forest and mountain the visitor stands entranced with a picture that melts in strange weird lights. Now and then one catches the glint of flashing waters in cascades and pools amid the tangled wildwood of mountain retreats. It is not unusual to come upon untrodden Edens of mystery among the valleys and high plateaus ; but at the very moment when one fancies himself alone, he is likely to meet with pleasant surprises, for amid the solitudes of scenic glories, lowing kine and bands of sheep now and then thread their way over little valleys that dip and rise until purling streams or crystal springs are reached.

        All forms and colors revel in the great empire of the ranges. Massive domes and sky-reaching peaks here and there suggest the mighty face of El Capitan, with phantoms of miniature Shastas and Hoods in the graceful distance—countless gorges and little Yosemites arresting attention along the way.

        From some viewpoints, especially in the vicinity of Trinidad, one may behold gray sea-lines afar, or cloud-capped peaks that lift their hoary heads toward the stars—wild prospects that stretch beyond the limits of human vision, the entire spectacle unfolding vast panoramas from the yesterdays of geologic time. Many of the cycles in countless world-building processes—great cataclysms that changed the face of the globe—lie in strata piled upon strata, until the mind is bewildered in contemplation of Nature's restless forces of the long ago, and the changes wrought by erosion and millions of storms beating out their carvings through the long ages of the past. Here and there are mountain-high scars made by ancient glaciers, deep rents torn by primeval earthquakes, rock trenches, and the sculpturing of prehistoric floods.

        But over it all, like the mingling of the dawn and the dew, brood the gentle influences of thousands of years of forest life—for the great redwoods hide the geologic faults, and mantle the most rugged scenes with a majesty that cannot be forgotten. The spell of ancient forests is the unique and permeating influence of the characteristic landscapes of California's great northern wonderland.

        Those who like picturesque coast scenery will find it in its awful majesty here. One must stand on the sand spits of the lagoons where the giant swells, coming through sixty feet of water, plunge in one mighty breaker as they roar and bound a hundred feet high on the beach. This is the edge of the world, the Niagara of the mighty Pacific. The concussions rattle windows a mile away, and the booming disturbs slumber.

        Yet just back of these scenes are the mighty redwoods, tranquil in their hoary age. In the background are splendid trout streams that rush into the sea, plunging through canyons or rippling through peaceful valleys on their way.

        The world's greatest forest lies a mile or two from Dyerville near the South fork of the Eel river. This is known as the Bull creek forest. There are about forty trees to the acre—more than 4,000,000 feet of lumber. The trees are the largest in all the redwood belt. The redwood, or the Sequoia Sempervirens, grows in a limited area on the Pacific coast. This region extends from the southern boundary of Oregon to Punta Gorda in Monterey county. These wonderful trees are limited to the fog belt of the coast, rarely growing more than thirty miles from the sea or at an altitude above three thousand feet. Some of the largest trees reach a height of three hundred feet. The diameter at the base of the largest specimens runs from eighteen to twenty-eight feet. While the Sequoia Gigantea trees of the famous Calaveras Grove are taller and greater in age and diameter than the redwood, the redwoods are far more graceful. In some of the redwood specimens the diameter is great for a long distance—a hundred feet or more from the base of the tree. Their age carries one back at least a thousand years, before Columbus discovered America.

        In the one hundred twenty miles of rugged coast line of Humboldt county, with a land-locked bay consisting of twenty-eight miles of tidal area, with half a dozen rivers and scores of mountain streams flowing into the sea—rivers and streams fed by copious rains and always filled with fresh water, one finds all the favorable conditions for the sport old Izaak Walton loved so well that he wrote a famous book on the subject.

        In the springtime the smaller streams are a veritable Mecca for the lovers of the rod and reel. The wonderful brook trout are fitting objects of pursuit. Each of the small streams flowing into or near the bay teems with finny beauties running from six to twelve inches in length. One or two hours' run from Eureka brings the angler to Salmon creek, Elk river, Ryan's slough, Freshwater, or Jacoby creek. From any one of these streams many well-filled creels are the reward of the angler throughout the early months of the season. Yager creek is also a noted stream, and a favorite of the anglers.

        Farther away, toward the north, Mad river, Lindsay creek, Little river, Maple creek, Redwood creek, Prairie creek, and other streams are within from half a day to a day's journey. Each stream offers the finest sport known to fly, to troll, and to bait fishermen. To name the rivers and streams is to call up a train of delightful memories. The game fish in these streams are larger than those in the tributaries of the bay. Cut-throat trout sixteen inches long are common.

        Big lagoon, Stone lagoon, and Freshwater lagoon—three large brackish lakes, about forty miles north of Eureka—are delightful for those who enjoy fishing. Ordinary trout abound, but the lagoons are also filled with steel-heads from twenty to thirty inches long and weighing from five to fifteen pounds each. Rainbow trout of marvelous size and delicacy abound near the mouth of Maple creek. These are from twelve to thirty inches long and may be taken on the fly or the troll. These handsome fish are also found in Stone lagoon.

        South of Humboldt bay there are many excellent trout streams. Bear river and the Mattole, the Van Duzen, Lawrence creek, Larribee creek, the South Fork of the Eel and its many branches offer the very best of early season sport, and most of the streams named continue to yield splendid fish throughout the open season.

Fly fishing for steel-head trout in Eel river is the incomparable sport of the county's anglers. The season begins in July and extends to the end of September, which is accounted the best month for this pastime. The steel-heads swarm the countless river pools. The open, broad river and the glorious background appeal to lovers of a real outing. The steel-heads, fresh from the ocean, are strong and vigorous. The fight they put up before being conquered by the angler is worth a long journey by land and sea. These fish run from half a pound to twenty pounds in weight. Ordinary trout, salmon trout, chub salmon, King salmon, and some other varieties abound. Greig's, Weymouth, Fortuna, Alton, Scotia—these names bring pleasant memories to devotees of rod and reel.

        The remarkable fact in Eel river fishing is that the prize may weigh anywhere from two to forty pounds.

        Humboldt bay abounds in rock-cod, flounders, smelt, herring, perch, tom cod, Alaska pickerel, sea trout and salmon. In the ocean are caught rock-cod, halibut, sea bass, hake, salmon, and some true salmon.

        Three or four varieties of clams abound in the bay—soft-shell varieties, razor backs, butter clams. Mussels are found on the rocks all along the coast, but those at Trinidad are famous for their size and delicacy. Little river clams are noted for their delicacy.

        With the first rains of autumn come the runs of salmon on Eel river, Mad river and the Klamath. The net fisherman's season then begins. Crabs abound in the waters of the bay and ocean.

        The following list of the birds of Humboldt county was supplied by J. F. Smith, a prominent ornithologist of Eureka : Ducks—Mallard, gadwall, widgeon, baldpate, green winged teal, blue winged teal, cinnamon teal, shoveler teal, pintail, wood-duck, redhead, canvasback, scaup-duck, lesser scaup-duck, ring-neck, goldeneye, bufflehead, old squaw, harlequin, ruddy. Geese—Lesser snow-goose, Ross's American white-fronted, Canada goose, Hutchins, white cheeked, cackling, black sea brant, emperor, whistling swan. Birds—American coot, California slapper-rail, Virginia rail, Wilson snipe, long-billed dowitcher, knot, marbled godwit, greater yellow-legs, long-billed curlew, Hudsonian curlew, black-billed plover, kildeer, black oyster-catcher, mountain partridge, California partridge, sooty grouse, Oregon ruffed grouse, band-tail pigeon, and mourning dove.

        William Rotermund, a prominent taxidermist of Eureka, gives the following list of animals to be found in Humboldt county : Coon, fox, martin, mink, otter, fisher (a carnivorous animal of the weasel type), civet-cat, weasel, wildcat, lynx, coyote, panther, black bear, brown bear, gray squirrel, ground squirrel, deer, elk, mountain beaver (almost extinct), mole gopher.

        One of the greatest improvements of modern years in Humboldt county is seen in the picturesque Trinity highway. It will be possible in the summer season to reach either Redding or Red Bluff in the Sacramento valley, in from twelve to sixteen hours by automobile. In other words, the tourist may leave Eureka after breakfast and be in Red Bluff for a late dinner. He can then catch a train from Portland to San Francisco and be in the metropolis for breakfast the next morning. Or he can leave Redding or Red Bluff in the morning and be in Eureka in the evening.

        The scenery along this highway is pronounced as noble as any in America. In crossing the South Fork mountain an, altitude of more than four thousand feet is reached, the summit itself being at least two thousand feet higher than the road. The Trinity highway begins near Mad river, mounting steadily until a panoramic view of great splendor unfolds itself beneath the tourist, in the background, or beyond his entranced vision amid the glories of towering peaks.

        There is not an opportunity here to specify the peaks and special points of the landscape in detail, but it should be said that King's peak, Yallo Bollas, Rainbow Ridge, and Lasseck's peak stand out in distinctive glory. Mountain lovers do not like to miss these remarkable elevations. Big game, wonderful fishing, and all that great scenery implies may be found in the vicinity of these landmarks.

        Both President Jordan, of Stanford University, and Dr. Gilbert, his associate in icthyology, declare Humboldt county the paradise of America for those who enjoy the sport of fishing. There are all sorts of opportunities for ensnaring the fishes of the streams and rivers with rod and line and net.

        Amid scenes of this character there are vast areas that offer the lure of adventure and the certainty of fortune, or at least worthy rewards, to men of foresight and industry—brawny men who ask only a fair chance. One who once falls under the spell of this land can understand why the legends of Gautama tell us that the first men ate of the earth and found it delicious. These Humboldt acres, beautiful yet rugged, hold hidden and awaiting fortunes for thousands who may soon seek the west for a permanent field of horticultural and agricultural activity.

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.