Happy Camp Places
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Companies | Structures | Roads | Waterways | Other
Del Norte Mining Company - was a large producer that employed many Chinese. The Chinese built a ditch and flume that took water from Elk Creek to the mine, later known as Richardson Bedrock. In the 1960's it was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Turk who were using the property as a ranch.
Happy Camp Hydraulic Mining Company - Henry Doolittle sold his holdings to HCHMC in 1872. 298.92 acres in 1877 sold to Horace Gasquet. Patented in 1880. In 1884, Howard Gasquet sold Happy Camp Hydraulic Mining Company lands plus the Ferguson and Frazier patent (39.93 acres) to an eastern gentleman, excepting a strip of land on the east bank of Indian Creek. Purchased by Siskiyou Mining Company, a New York based firm. They operated the mine for ten years.
Siskiyou Mining Company - New York based firm. They operated the mine for ten years (probably the HC Airport site).
Staples Sawmill - 1/2 mile downriver on south side of Klamath River. Bought by James Camp Co. in 1875.
American House - aka. Cuddihy Hotel - probably built in the early 1850's by Henry Doolittle. Later sold to Henry Cuddihy. This structure still exists at the present time, at the corner of 2nd and Indian Creek Road (formerly called the corner of Bridge and Main).
 The American House aka. Cuddihy Hotel, July 2001.
Bridge over Indian Creek - built by James and Heil Camp and John Titus in 1883 sold to Del Norte County. Bill Mathews wrote: "One great feat of Gus's packing was taking some long irons into Happy Camp to build a bridge across Indian Creek. They were so long they had to be packed on the sides of mules at each end of the iron; so the mules were in pairs with irons on both sides. They had men and boys lead each mule so they could make some short turns without shoving each other over the dangerous bluffs." (Siskiyou Yearbook 1850)
2nd St. was called Bridge St. because of the bridge built by James Camp Co.
1st St. was China St.
Main St. ?? Not sure where that was. In the sixties it was still called Main.
Elk Creek - this is a wild, turbulent creek that comes out of the Marble Mountain Wilderness to the south of Happy Camp. There are at least two swimming holes that I know of - one near "Five Mile Bridge" and one on the foot trail out of the Sulphur Springs Campground, about 12 miles south of town. There may be more there (I have not used any of them). The bridge over the Klamath River is named "Elk Creek Bridge" and the road to the right (west, then south at the fork in the road) goes along the bank of Elk Creek.
Indian Creek - this creek comes out of the Siskiyou Mountains to the north, and empties into the Klamath River at Happy Camp. The town is built mostly on the east side of the creek, with a lot of housing and a few businesses to the west, including the old Happy Camp Elementary School, which is now the Karuk tribal community center. Houses line both sides of the creek where it flows through Happy Camp, though you can see from the picture below they are a safe distance from the stream bed, which flooded in 1964.
 Indian Creek, looking north from the bridge at 2nd Ave., July 2001.
Klamath River - this is the big river that flows from the lakes near Klamath Falls, Oregon, to the Pacific Ocean north of Eureka. The Klamath River flows past Happy Camp, with most of the town to the north, and a few homes and campgrounds to the south. There's a bridge over the Klamath in Happy Camp, originally built about 1920.
Del Norte County - Happy Camp was the first settlement in what was then Del Norte County, according to Vera Toleman's history published by the Siskiyou County Historical Society. It was one of four counties that Happy Camp has been part of. Toleman wrote, "...as one writer says, had a prospector settled on the site of Happy Camp in 1850 and remained there for 37 years, he could have claimed residence in four California counties - Trinity, Klamath, Del Norte, Siskiyou - without stirring from his doorstep." Del Norte County's eastern boundary is now about fifty miles west of Happy Camp. Del Norte County Migrations
Happy Camp Cemetery at the Find A Grave website. Please add an entry for each of your family members and friends if you have any buried there.
Klamath County - It was one of four counties that Happy Camp has been part of. Klamath County no longer exists.
Siskiyou County - Happy Camp has been part of Siskiyou County since about 1887. Siskiyou County Migrations
Trinity County - One of four counties that Happy Camp has been part of; the northern boundary is now south of Happy Camp. Trinity County Migrations
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