Siskiyoutopia

The City of Yreka has paid for some interesting studies concerning Yreka’s downtown economic development. I was given the results of one of these studies quite a while back and I’ve been pondering the data for some time. I’ve also been noticing lots of vacancies downtown. If you’ve been thinking about opening a shop on Miner Street there are a number of opportunities right now. I do not know if all of these shops are actually “available” but they certainly are vacant!

Vacant storefronts in the 200 block of Miner Street:

Vacant storefronts in the 300 block of Miner Street:

Then there’s the infamous Black’s Building - still standing - still empty. Also vacant is the Franco American Building, which seems to be undergoing some renovations. There are also a number of vacancies just off of Miner Street to consider.

So if you’re thinking of opening a business you may be interested in the study that the City paid to have done. It’s from 2003, so somewhat outdated, but still very valid and informative. Here are just a couple highlights from the report. (click ‘more’)

• Read More »

Catherine J. Fry

216 Third Street

James Place

Catherin J. Fry House, a Queen Anne-style house built in 1899. With soaring gable and high roofs it reflects the carefree period of the Gay Nineties. She started the first nursing home in Yreka, which wasn’t very successful. She believed that old people needed to be isolated and studied, so it could be determined what nutrients they have that might be extracted for our personal use. At that time, all the windows of the house except the top floor had irons bars to prevent the old folks from escaping. The broken spokes of the wagon wheel ornamentation at the house’s peak are where several old timers attempted to escape through the only window without bars. After the failure of this business Mrs. Fry moved back to her family’s dairy farm in Wisconsin. The dairy farm also failed soon after her arrival.

Louis Wetzel

327 Third Street

The Louis Wetzel House

In 1896 Louis Wetzel was Yreka’s most famous bigamist. He married women in several eastern states and finally settled down to live in a monogamous relationship in Yreka with his wife Sharon. On his honeymoon with Sharon to San Francisco, he hits it big on the roulette, winning several thousand dollars, more than enough to build this house and a little mountain summer vacation home on Deer Mountain. News of his winnings were wired from San Francisco to New York and soon all the major back east papers were carrying the story of his honeymoon gambling success. Seven of his wives showed up in Yreka to obtain their shares of the winnings. Sharon, very upset, forced Isaac to sleep in the backyard in a tree house. All eight women shared this house until the last wife, Elsie Francine Laurie Dewhurst, died in 1937. Louis immediately moved back into the main house and never spent a night in the tree house again.

~~ — ~~ — ~~ — ~~ –

And stay tuned to continue our tour of the hidden, wild and sometimes fictional lives of early Yreka residents! ………….

By the way, if you are interested in ‘non-fictional’ history, check out the Yreka History Blog.

• Read More »

I had a chance to meet Jane Hall recently. Jane is one of our local renowned artists and the proprietor of Blue Skies Pottery. Jane has an interesting background. Besides earning a degree in art, she had a very successful career in quality control for a large seed processing company. When she had the opportunity to leave her job and pursue her dream of working with ceramics, she took it and she is now one of those lucky souls that get to do what they truly love all the time. LUCKY!!!

What strikes me about Jane’s work is how unusual it is. When you hear the word ‘ceramics or pottery’ you usually think of brown stripy bowls or mugs (like the popular 70’s stuff), but Jane’s work stretches those bounds ~ alot! She creates pieces that seem to be influenced by her “seedy” background:) They are natural, plant like, works of art. Some pieces make me think of lichen, some seem like tree bark and others are reminescent of seed pods, sea shells or some other interesting bit of nature the normal eye may not pick up ~ but Jane does! It is so spontaneous and beautiful!

Jane’s work is truly amazing! Wouldn’t it be great to give someone one of her pieces as a Christmas gift?! It’s never too soon to be thinking about it:)

Jane’s work can be found regularly at the Siskiyou Gallery & Frame shop on Miner St. in Yreka. She will also be featured in art shows at the Klamath Siskiyou Art Center in Happy Camp on October 31st and at The Silver Spoon Bistro Art Fair in Yreka on November 9th.

• Read More »

Yreka has a new success story. It is Siskiyou Gallery & Frame. When this little business first opened the owner had some pretty odd pieces displayed in the front window. Although the framing part of the business was booming, I had my doubts about the business staying open because the front window display was full of what appeared to be thrift shop items. But months later I noticed that the window displays changed and hope was renewed that this business may just make it after all. Now there are beautiful glass pieces, interesting wire art, photographs, ceramics and jewelery in the window ~ very nice!

I popped in one day and visited with the “new” owner, Daniel Wettstein Jr, and he explained that he had bought the business from the previous owner. He also explained that all the art in the store is provided by local artists. I had no idea! Did you?! With that little bit of information I took a closer look and discovered that we have a lot of local talent here in Siskiyou County. Not to mention a great framer ~ you don’t have to go to Medford anymore to get your framing done - Yea!

This is just a few of the local artists represented at Siskiyou Gallery & Frame. I think it is so cool that we have a marketplace in Yreka for all these talented people.

Elsie Vogt

*** ———— ***

Marilyn Ellis

*** ———— ***

Loree Dieckmann

*** ———— ***

Spiritina Jewelry

There are many many more! Stop in and browse for a while. It really does take a little time to see it all and I think you will be pleased to see how much quality work there is to be found right here on Miner Street!

.

Learn more about Siskiyou County artists!

• Siskiyou Arts Council

• Liberty Arts Center

• Klamath Siskiyou Art Center

• Read More »

Mount Shasta ~ to many it’s just a pretty mountain one sees out the car window as one drives up and down the I-5 corridor. To others Mount Shasta is holy, a place of mystery and the keeper of secrets, ancient and unspoiled.

The Mountain has always had a way of drawing the adventurous and young at heart to its snowy slopes, in search of something higher than themselves. With these adventurous few, tales of secret societies and fantastic creatures have been brought up along with their pioneering spirits. I have found that these stories in a strange way make you appreciate the land that is Siskiyou County and look at the mountains in a different way.

The many stories of Bigfoot, the Lemurian, Dragons, and the hidden societies that create the legends of the area must have a birth point, a beginning. So with a beginning needed let us touch briefly on the creation of Mount Shasta.

The aboriginal peoples believed that the mountain is the creation point of the world we dwell in. The belief is that the great Creator parted the clouds and from ice and snow created Mount Shasta. The God Waka then stepped down from the heavens and placed the people around the mountain. A strange truth about the peoples of the area ~ they were different from the rest of the tribes out side the valley, tall and lean with light skin and even some with light to red hair.

The first Europeans to come in contact with the mountain are the ones who named it, but was originally Saste’, the Russian word for pure white. The mountain has always been held sacred; for the volcano is in an isolated area, hard to reach due to the rugged mountains and thick forests that surround the area, and therefore thought of as a sacred spot. It is due to ancient lore and its seclusion, that the mountain has drawn all types to its slopes, from those seeking enlightenment, to those trying to find a connection to the land, and purpose to their life.

No matter what the reason for people being drawn to Mount Shasta, one thing is clear, it is a symbol to all that live in the area, and the world as a magical spot, a representation of mystery and wonder, and peace of mind in a world that has become obsessed with modernization and consumption.

This is the first of many articles to come, so if you have an interesting Ghost story or a run in with Bigfoot or stumbled across a top secret alien government installation in the area, please by all means share your stories so we can bring forth understanding and enlightenment to the mysteries that surround us.

* _________________________*_________________________ *

submitted by Rev.J.R. Norris

Golden Grotto Silkscreening

• Read More »

Jennie B. Nichols

204-208 Miner St.

Jennie B. Nichols Building (Also part of Baldwin Block)

Needing to pay back some gambling debts, Jennie B. Nichols decided to burn down this block for the fire insurance. Her plan, which involved several local children innocently setting off thousands of fire crackers given to them by Jennie, ended up burning down much of the town. The fire insurance money she received allowed her to retire in luxury back in Chicago, until she met her final demise, ironically, in the great Chicago Fire of 1871.

Gerald Brown

216 W. Miner Street

After 1871, this became an auction house owned by a certain Gerald Brown, who was from Oakland. Since Brown was from the East Bay, he called his business East Bay Auctions, later shortened to EBay Auction House. Just 15 years ago a small internet start up borrowed this same name - EBay! Another remarkable Yreka connection!

~~ — ~~ — ~~ — ~~ –

And stay tuned to continue our tour of the hidden, wild and sometimes fictional lives of early Yreka residents! ………….

• Read More »

The fair hasn’t quite come to an end yet but I have to tell you that I’ve had enough fair food for an entire year to be sure!!! I’m just home from another day at the fair ~ I have a headache, my feet are sore, and my stomach is a little weak. I’m back to salads - thank you!!! The following is a pictorial of all the food I’ve eaten over a course of three visits to the fair. You can add one sausage to this list - ate before I remembered to take a picture. It was yummy! Also some snippets of fair action….

We had a lot of fun at this year’s ‘fair food fest’! Next year tune in for the ’see how much free stuff you can get fest’ and/or ‘how many rides the kid can go on in one day without puking fest’.

• Read More »

If you live in Yreka you’ve probably noticed the car wash coming back to life. OK, so the paint job is pretty crazy. I can’t tell you how many times I drove by this place and just shook my head in absolute wonderment at the concept of using such an odd color! What were they thinking??! This color is good for striping roads it must be good for buildings too?!

But, aside from that I can say that my husband had an oil change done and he said it was truly refreshing to go in and get JUST an oil change. There was no high pressure upselling and I can say that is HUGE for most people that have left the typical oil change places with an ad in one hand that says $34.95 and a bill in the other that says something like $113.54. WTHeck!!?? And you get a car wash with every oil change. Very cool! And who doesn’t like going through the automatic car wash? Have some fun and take your dog or your toddler! Now, that’s entertainment!

So, after you’ve been parked in the dusty parking lot at the Fair all day, zip over to YAC and get your car sparkling again. Weeee!!

• Read More »

It’s not good — it’s not bad — it’s FAIR!!! If you are new to these parts there is one lesson you will learn quickly this time of year - the Siskiyou County Fair is a BIG DEAL and there is nothing you can do about it!

Having come from Southern Oregon I was not very enthusiastic about going to the fair. I thought “so what, it’s just the fair, a few rides, some smelly animal pens and lots of sweaty people….” I soon learned that if you plan on fitting in in this community you either go to the fair or go to h—! (maybe a slight exaggeration - but not much)

Businesses will close their doors for the whole week for fair. Shop owners are busy busy busy just before the fair. Kids save their money all year for the fair. People come from every backwoods location far and wide to go to the fair. The town morphs - it is all about the fair!

So, I have since learned to enthusiastically embraced the fair. Cotton candy, funnel cake, corn dog, curly fries, indian taco, sno cones — carnival rides, country music, award winning livestock, vegetables, and art — My favorite is the GIANT animals booth. Usually only costs 50 cents to see the World’s Biggest Pig or the the World’s Biggest Horse or the Worlds Biggest Alligator. This is the best money spent at the fair - I tell you the truth!!!

So hold on to your suspenders - here it comes - The Siskiyou County Fair!

See you there!  You will find me here:

11am Funnel Cake or mini donut line

12pm Terriyaki on a stick line

1pm Indian Taco, Pulled pork BBQ sandwich or Cattlewomens Hamburger line

2pm Sno Cone line

3pm Cotton Candy line

4pm Giant Pickle line

5pm Terriyaki on a stick again!

6pm Dots line……….

7pm Pepto Bismo !!

Eeeeee!!! I can’t wait!!!

• Read More »

I’ve been wanting to go back to Martin’s Dairy Campground for some time now. We went through Montague to Airport Road then took Sylva Rd. to Willow Creek to York - from there you can follow the signs to Martin’s Dairy.

Along the way you may see some buffalo that belong to Four Eagles Farm ~ cute little devils (but don’t try to pet them!)

It takes some time to get to Martin’s Dairy. Even though its only about 30 some miles from Yreka give yourself about 1 1/2 hours to get there. The road goes from pavement to gravel and back to pavement a couple times. It’s such a beautiful drive! You see the wide open plains of the valley and then into the forested mountains with amazing vista views along the way.

The forest is so beautiful ~ like something you’d see in a story book. As a matter of fact we’re quite convinced that this must be home to the rare Western Gnomes and Western Fairies (as opposed to the Eastern ones who obviously have different dress, differnet cuisine and a slightly different language). You cross over quite a few cattle guards which is why you don’t get see them - too easy to hear you coming! Our imaginations go wild up here!

Just before the campground you will see Sylva Cabin sitting solitary in a beautiful meadow. I don’t know the story about this cabin, but it’s an amazing sight to see!

A short ways along and you will pass by a Quaking Aspen grove. It seems so out of place up here amongst all the pines ~ but it’s fun to stand in it while the breeze blows and the leaves shiver! The last time we were here we were so taken by these trees we planted two in our yard!

The campground itself is really nice. It’s most striking feature is the Shasta River headwaters flowing through the beautiful open meadow highlighted by dots of colorful wildflowers. The water is often stocked with trout and the campground is kept really clean with great facilities.

So why is it called Martin’s Dairy? There used to be a dairy and creamery here at Martins Ranch before 1900. Look, there are still cows to prove it (this would be the reason for the 8 cattle guards we crossed to get here)! Do you touch glass and lift your feet for good luck when you cross the cattle guard? You’ll get pretty tired of doing that on this trip:)

You can go to the Klamath National Forest website for campground details. We practically had the place to ourselves this day, but come hunting season the campground really fills up! This is one of my favorite day trips - it was great getting a break from the smoke - the air was clean and the sky was blue - so nice!

mmmmoooooooo!:)

• Read More »

Another fun day was had in Siskiyou County! We took the kid to the Montague Airport this morning because they were having the Young Eagles Flights. This is a really neat group that is headed up by Harrison Ford, of all people, to encourage young people to be interested in aviation.

The Young Eagles organize a free flight day once a year for kids ages 7-17. A volunteer pilot takes each child on a short flight and teaches them a little about flying and aviation. Really cool program and great volunteers!

‘Pilot Don’ took our kid up in a Yankee A1-AA for about a 15-20 minute flight. If you could bottle the glow on that kids face when she landed it’d be worth about a million bucks!

I gave her the camera so she could capture the moment! Here are a few of her shots ~ great pics kiddo!

You can get more information about EAA Young Eagles on their website.

• Read More »

Eva Braun

200-202 Miner St., Yreka (part of Baldwin Block, 1882)

First beer hall in Yreka

Called “The Cavern Club” it was modeled on a 17th century beer hall in Munich, Germany made famous by the Beer Hall Putsch of Adolf Hitler in 1923. Hitler never visited Yreka. Eva Braun, however, who eventually married Adolf Hitler in a very short lived marriage, visited her cousin in Yreka in 1928, calling Yreka “sehr gut!” She also is quoted as saying “Ich bin ein Yrekan.” She actually got up on stage and sang a famous German song “Er Liebt Mir, Ya, Ya, Ya,” which translates “He loves me, yeah, yeah, yeah” which the Beatles used to begin their careers.

________________________________________________________________

Sherwood Forrest

122 Third Street, Yreka

The Cummins-Forest House

You can see the proud Palladian type window above the porch. The first owner, Jedidiah Cummins, was a minister at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church for several years until he gave a sermon where he told his congregation that you don’t have to look for God in a church, that God was everywhere. So naturally, everyone stopped going to his church and he was fired. The second owner, Sherwood P. Forrest, lost a great deal of money in the Panic of 1893 and subsequently began a career of robbing local stage coaches, where he often gave his victims his calling card - a poem that read as follows: “Yes indeedy, yes indeedy. Rob the rich and feed the needy,” signed Sherwood Forrest, Robin Hood of the West.

~~ — ~~ — ~~ — ~~ –

And stay tuned to continue our tour of the hidden, wild and sometimes fictional lives of early Yreka residents! ………….

• Read More »

I saw these guys on the front page of the Siskiyou Daily News tonight and I had to know more. They are part of the Stormtrooper Ranch. Their mission: to dress up like Star Wars characters and support local charity events. This is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time!!!! What a great idea!!! I LOVE it! Check out their website for the 411. This appearance was at the Relay For Life in Weed this weekend.

Apparently the group was started by a group of police officers, firefighters and chefs. Ironically, I was introduced to the comedic side of the Star Wars Stormtrooper by Greg Benson at Mediocre Films ~ my favoritest film producer. Warning - it’s not G rated. The irony is that Greg Benson also produces a series called The Retarded Policman - it’s pretty tasteless with a bit too much bad language, but I laughed myself silly the first time I saw it! The video below features an appearance by a Stormtrooper ~ so silly too!

___________________________________________________

Byyyyeeeee!!

• Read More »

I know it seems like I’ve just gone coo coo for McCloud, but I just wasn’t expecting the great shops!  So I would like to just give you a quick teaser of the other attractions downtown McCloud.  Go see them!

In the McCloud Mercantile Building there is a boutique called Shasta Reflections.  It is packed with beautiful clothes and jewelry.  The clothes were of a somewhat distinct style ~ I’d call it modern renaissance ~  it’s very pretty and the prices were really reasonable.

Across the street is a fantastic gallery and gift shop called Brown Dog Gallery and Gifts.  When I left this shop there was one word that screamed in my head - COLOR!!!  Wow!  This shop is soooo colorful, beautiful and fun!  They had incredible hand woven rugs, glass pieces and paintings that absolutely popped from the walls.  I loved this place!!

We were also able to visit the Heritage Junction Museum.  One thing McCloud has is history, especially logging and railroad history.  A great stop!

So this is a quick run down of some of the great attractions in downtown McCloud.  You have to try the water while you are there.  It is always flowing and it’s great! No wonder Nestle wants to bottle it ~ but I’m not going there:)  You may debate amongst yourselves now.

What I haven’t covered are the natural attractions around McCloud.  I know our neighbors’ favorite fishing hole is the McCloud Resevoir and one of our favorite attractions are the McCloud Falls ~ just beautiful!  But that will all have to wait for another day…..

• Read More »

McCloud has the sweetest candy shop in Siskiyou County! All I can say is that when I think of McCloud, I think CANDY ~ and I can help but get excited! I love candy - especially the sour stuff ~ my favorite!!

I wish Yreka or Montague had one of these! I think it would be a big hit! The Candy Shoppe is in the McCloud Mercantile Building.

Have you heard the Halloween routine by Jerry Seinfeld ~ classic!!

Candy Candy Candy - get more candy!!!

• Read More »

While we were visiting McCloud for the Lumberjack Fiesta I was quite surprised to find as many shops as we did. I was pleasantly surprised to find the McCloud River Mercantile was still doing a good business since the last time we were in. The Mercantile has really fun things ~ gifts, clothes, wine, decor and more. The latest addition to the Mercantile is the lodging facilities upstairs. We heard from one of the guests that the rooms are very nice. Well, just check out their website. I’d say they are very nice! Wow!

You’ll also find The White Mountain Fountain restaurant next door. They were really busy and serving what looked like really good food. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to stay and eat but did peak at the menu ~ I’m going back to try the fish tacos sometime soon (I’ll let you know how they are).

I’m really excited about the entrepreneurship of this business model. It’s retail, lodging and food rolled into one very cool package. It’s brilliant and seems to be done so well. I can’t wait to go back and that’s just how a customer should feel (and I wasn’t even a customer this time).

• Read More »

We zipped over to McCloud this weekend to see the McCloud Lumberjack Fiesta. We didn’t know where Hoo Hoo Park was, but we followed a group of kids who were walking down the street ~ note: when in doubt, follow the 10 year olds - they know where the fun is! What a great park! When we pulled up there were slo-pitch softball games going on, horseshoes being tossed and a mess of kids (and grown-ups) lined up to go down one of those fair-style bumpy slides. Super fun!!!

We were there pretty early, but apparently not too early for beer! They were breaking open short cases at 10:30 in the morning. We had a fun visit with the air-brush tattoo fellow. He is from New Zealand. When we asked how he liked the area he said, “it’s great, but the people here are pretty crazy!”. Well, if they start at 10:30 you can just imagine what the evening festivities are like! Wow!

We got our tattoos and feeling pretty stylin’, headed into town to catch the parade. The parade was short, sweet and LOUD!!!

I don’t have any idea who these guys are, or represent, but they were sure having a good time! They had a bunch of straw hats and their “job” was to shoot them up before handing them out. WTHeck?! This was one of the strangest parade events I’ve ever seen ~ we were cracking up (so were they for that matter)!!

So, McCloudians are a pretty kooky group o’ folk ~ maybe it’s the water…….;)

• Read More »

I just watched a gem of a movie. Be Kind Rewind, starring Jack Black. Now, I wouldn’t normally use this blog to plug a movie, but this one suits Siskiyoutopia for the following reasons:

1. What happens in the little video store in this movie is a great business model ~ give the people what they want!

2. There’s a great dialog in this movie that TOTALLY reminds me of conversations I’ve had with people in Yreka:

Jerry: “You’re going to be stuck in this dump the rest of your life”

Mike: “What’s a dump?”

Jerry: “The whole city is a swamp. When you get stuck here you’re stuck for life.

Mike: “What is so great about this town, huh? ~ The people!”

Jerry: “The people?! The only reason there’s anybody here is because they have no where to go!”

Don’t be discouraged, despite this little soundbite the movie has a charming story line with an inspiring ending ~ just like our little Yreka may have someday:)

3. and 4. Analog is rad!! Be Kind Rewind glorifies the pre-digital days of VHS and cassette tapes. Old school rules, baby! Did you know that you could volunteer at our local TV station? You could swede your own flick! I volunteer for our local channel 4 - it’s analog heaven!!! I encourage you to try it. You can make your own show, star in your own show, show your own show - it’s a show, fo sho!!:)

Here’s the trailer -

_________________ ______________________ ___________________________

Here’s another tribute to all that is true and analog in this world - this site is called CASSETTE FROM MY EX. It’s akin to FOUND MAGAZINE but dedicated to customized cassettes that people have saved and the stories behind them - pure entertainment!

• Read More »

Siskiyou County is teaming with women in business. So many of our local entrepreneurs are women it seems only fitting that some of these women get together and have a ‘girly event’ ~ On July 26 in Montague join your girlfriends for ‘all things feminine’ ~ A Midsummer Affair.

Sponsored by Surroundings, Natural Selections, Silver Spoon, and Clarity Medical Spa. They will have fashion, decorating, skin care, great food and mojitos!

2-4pm Montague Community Hall / tickets $25

• Read More »

Wow! Four big dogs! The biggest one, second from left, is the male. The rest are girls. Doesn’t he look happy?!!!

• Read More »