5. Skeahan Bar: Mile marker 95.5

Skeahans Mine Photo courtesy US Forest Service, Yreka

• Originally named Virginia Bar, this was a mining claim worked by John Skeahan and Joe Davidson in the late 1800s. They were hard rock miners who dug deep tunnels in search of gold.
• Until 1966 when Iron Gate Dam was built approximately 20 miles upriver, pelicans actually fished this section of the river for steelhead and salmon.
• On Sundays during the depression era, local teenagers speared salmon and sold them to onlookers for 25¢ to $1 each.
• The first traffic access to the north side of the river was across the 1910 bridge, one mile east. The abutments remain, though the bridge was wiped out by a doodlebug dredge that broke loose at Humbug Creek during a flood.
• One mile east of this site is the Cayuse turnout where a public phone is located. Rock hounds can explore the tailings, and nature lovers can observe wood ducks, kingfishers and western pond turtles in the nearby pool.

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6. Honolulu School and Gottville: Mile marker 93.9

Herbert Hoover fishing in Klamath River, 1933 Photo courtesy Siskiyou County Museum

Freshour Ferry at Gottville Photo courtesy Siskiyou County Museum

• In 1857, William Gott built a home and post office at the mouth of Lumgrey and Empire Creeks, establishing the town of Gottville to serve the growing population of miners in the area. At one time, some 3,000 people lived in this narrow canyon.
• Honolulu School was built in memory of the Kanakas, a group of Hawaiian miners, many of whom ventured into the area after a shipwreck on the coast. The first Honolulu School was built near Empire Creek in the late 1800s and burned down in 1912. A replacement was built shortly after.
• Mail was sent across the river in a basket via cable. Children attending school also rode across three at a time when high water prevented them from using their boats.
• Hotels, stores and saloons received supplies by pack train which had to cross the river on one of the five ferries in the area.
• While fishing for steelhead on the Klamath River in 1933, former President Herbert Hoover visited the Honolulu School and learned of Elsie DeAvila's lunch program, "the soup kettle." Hoover's first donation was $40. He continued his yearly donation from then on and considered this school his personal charity. This is believed to have inspired the country's school lunch program.
• The school and a barn lay in the path of the new road being developed in the late 30s. They were torn down and a third Honolulu School was built below Lumgrey Creek which operated until the late 1960s when it became a private residence.
• Betty Freshour was the postmistress at Gottville from 1929 to 1942 after which the post office was moved downriver to the site of the existing Klamath River Post Office. At that time, some wealthy property owners of the area greatly influenced the name change from Gottville to present day Klamath River.