Year: 1878

This is one of the northwestern cour-
ties of the State, ther; being but one
county north between its boundary and
the State line, and one between it and the
ocean. 1t lies wholly within the Coast
Range of mountains, and embraces all
the territory drained by the waters of the
Trinity River above the junction of the
main stream and its South Fork. Below
the South Fork junction the stream ent-
ers the territory of what's now Hum boldt,
formerly klamath county. Its resources
are almost entirely mineral, gold placer
mining being the chief industry of the in
habitants, though in some of the valleys
farming is successfully carried on, and
the extreme southern part of the county
has recently assumed some prominence
as an agricultural and grazing section.


OF its settlement and early history little
is known, ard that little is so mixed up
with tradition that it is not always easy
to tell where the one begins and the other
ends. The first authentic record of its
being visited by whites dates from lS45,
at which time the late Major Pearson B.
Reading visited the head waters of its
main river, and spent Some time success
fully in trapping. He gave the river the
name it bears, believing it emptied into
Trinidad Bay. In this, however, the
Major was mistaken, as the Trinity emp
ties into Klamath river, between twenty
and thirty miles below the county line
In 1913, some six months after the dis
covery of gold by Marshall at Suffers
mill, the Major organized another part~,
aud crossing the dividing ridge below
Shasta, followed down the little creek
which has since borne his name, aud
mmcd with great success on Readings
Bar. His party was mainly composed OF
Sacramento valley Indians and they were
al treated with great kindness by the In
dians here. A party of Oregonians on
their way from that Territory to the
mines, heard of the Majors discovery
and repaired hither, and although there
we,e thousands of acres of rich ground
along the river unclaimed, they threat
ened to make trouble to the Majors par
ty on account of his Indian help, upon
which the Major broke up his mining
operations, and with his party returned
to the Sacramento Valley.


At first mining was confined to the bars
and bed of the Trinity river, so it was not
until the Summer of the following year
that the cosrser gold deposits were dis
covered. Even then the country did not
fill up with miners as fast, proportionally,
as other places. The distance from the
places where the various necessaries of
mining life could be procured, Joined
with the difficulty Of traversing the high
range of mountains which separated the
Trinity miners from the Sacramento val
ley on the one hand and the ocean on the
other, operated as a great drawback to
the settlement and development OF the
county. Steamboat navigation on the
Sacramento at first rcnched no higher
than Colusa. then to Monroevile, and f.
nally, in 1858, to Red Bluff Even Mt
this last named place, there still remained
journey of eighty miles to be made with
saddle animals, while all freight was
brought over on pack mules. The first
printing press was brought over in this
manner in the fall of 1854, and the Trini-
ty Times established. Such imperfect
modes ol communication could not fail
to retard immigration, and keep up high
prices. SO late as 1858 -four retailed as
high as from twenty to thirty cents and
other necessaries were in proportion. In
| 1857 a charter was obtained for the Weav-
erville and Shasta Wagon Road Compa-
ny, and road built over the mountains
This at once made great reduction il
the cost of living, ETC., and during the toll
lowing year until the great flood Of 1861
this county received great accessions o
population, and many mining companie.
were set on foot to aid its development.


Upon the organization of the State
Government the county was attached tC
Shasta county forjudicial purposes. The
following year it was organized as a sep
arate county, including within its bound.
all the territory comprised in the countie:
of Del Norte, Hum boldt, and the late
disorganized county of Klamath. The
| diversity OF interest soon led to the di-
vision of this large scope of territory, and
that portion along the coast was set of
and made into anew county, HCmboldt,
and the part drained by the Klamath
river, with the coast adjoining became
klamath county. Trinity has since re-
tained the bounaries then adopted, though
for the last two sessions Of the Legisla-
ture petitions have been before that body
to transfer portion of the territory next
the MendOcino line to Mendocino and
| Hum boldt counties. The distance from,
and the difficulty Of communicating with
| the county seat at certain seasons of the
year, are the reasons given for asking the
desired change. The territory thus sought
to be transferred has only lately assumed
prominence as an agricultural and graz
ing section, the hostility Of the resident
Indian tribes having greatly retarded its
! exploration and settlement.


We have said that placer mining is the
chief industry of the country. And such
will continue to be the case for many
years. The difficulty of transportation
which marked the earlier years OF settle.
ment prevented an overplus of popula-
tion, consequently the mines are not so
much exhausted as is the case in more
favorably situated places. The constant