Fort Jones - The Fort

With the advent of the California "Gold Rush," Captain Edward H. Fitzgerald of the 1st Dragoons was ordered to establish a fort in present Siskiyou County. In 1852, he selected a site in "Beaver Valley" (Scott Valley.) By 1855-56, Indian conflicts subsided and Fort Jones became little more than an outpost. In 1858, orders were received to evacuate the fort.

Until the end of the Civil War, the fort was used by local militia, but by 1870, the structure had begun to decay. Some time after the turn of the century, remaining fort structures collapsed.

Today, an historical marker on Eastside Road and the town of Fort Jones are the only evidence that the fort ever existed.      

Fort Jones - The City

In 1851, Brown and Kelley built a cabin in Beaver Valley. Eventually O.C. Wheelock purchased the cabin and established a trading post and "house of public entertainment". His business was frequented by soldiers stationed at Fort Jones half a mile away. The place was known as Wheelock.

By the 1880's it had 4 stores, a semi-weekly newspaper, a church, 2 hotels (dance Hall and Western Hotel), Beem's Livery Stable, telegraph, express office, 2 blacksmiths, flour mill, meat market, shops, saloons and dwellings. The post office was established as "Ottitiewa", the Indian name for the Scott Valley branch of the Shasta tribe. It was also known as Scottsburg and Scottville. The town's name changed to Fort Jones around 1860. In the 1880 census, there were 400 people.