Siskiyou County ( ) is a county in the northwest of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,076. Its county seat is Yreka and its highest point is Mount Shasta. It is within the Cascadia bioregion.
Siskiyou County is in the Shasta Cascade region along the Oregon border. Because of its outdoor recreation, Mt. Shasta, McCloud River, and Gold Rush-era history, it is an important tourist destination within the state.
History
Many Native American peoples, including the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Modoc, Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla and Shasta, share geography with Siskiyou County and have lived in the area for millennia prior to colonization. Siskiyou County was created on March 22, 1852, from parts of Shasta and Klamath counties, and named after the Siskiyou mountain range. Parts of the county's territory were given to Modoc County in 1893.
The county is the site of the central section of the Siskiyou Trail, which ran between California's Central Valley and the Pacific Northwest. The Siskiyou Trail followed indigenous footpaths from Native People who share the geography with Siskikyou county, and was extended by Hudson's Bay Company trappers in the 1830s. Its length was increased by "Forty-Niners" during the California gold rush.
After the discovery of an important gold strike near today's Yreka, California, in 1851, colonizers flooded the area. This was described in detail by Joaquin Miller in his semi-autobiographical novel Life Amongst the Modocs.
In the mid-1880s, the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad along the Siskiyou Trail brought the first wave of tourism. Visitors were drawn by the county's many summer resorts, and to hunt or fish. The Southern Pacific railroad, the successor to the Central Pacific, called its rail line "The Road of A Thousand Wonders."
In the early 1940s, Siskiyou County was home to the semi-serious State of Jefferson movement, which sought to create a new state from several counties of northern California and the adjoining counties of southern Oregon. The movement has seen a revival in recent years.
The origin of the word Siskiyou is not known. It may be a Chinook Jargon word for a "bob-tailed horse" (ultimately originating in Cree), or as was argued before the State Senate in 1852, from the French Six Cailloux (six stones), a name given to a ford on the Umpqua River by Michel Laframboise and his Hudson's Bay Company trappers in 1832. Others claim the Six Cailloux name was appropriated by Stephen Meek, another Hudson's Bay Company trapper who discovered Scott Valley, for a crossing on the Klamath River near Hornbrook.
The county is home to the Black Bear Ranch, a commune started in 1968 with the slogan "Free Land for free people."
On September 4, 2013, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 1 to secede from the state of California.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.1%, is water. Also according to the U.S. Census Bureau, It is the fifth-largest county by area in California.
Siskiyou County is geographically diverse. From towering Mount Shasta (elev. ) near the center of the county, to lakes and dense forests, as well as desert, chaparral, and memorable waterfalls, the county is home to world-famous trout-fishing rivers and streams, such as the Sacramento and McCloud rivers. The county is dotted as well with lakes and reservoirs, such as Castle Lake and Lake Siskiyou. Mount Shasta itself has a winter sports center. Pastoral Scott Valley in the western part of the county has many wide, tree-lined meadows, supporting large cattle ranches. The basins of northeastern Siskiyou County, including Butte Valley, Lower Klamath and Tule Lake basins, have some of the deepest and richest soils in the state, producing alfalfa, potatoes, horseradish, and brewing barley. Butte Valley nurseries are the leading source of premium strawberry plants in North America. Much of the county is densely forested with pine, fir, incense-cedar, oak, and madrone; Siskiyou County is also home to the rare Baker's Cypress Tree, Cupressus bakeri, which grows in only eleven scattered locations in the world, five of which are in Siskiyou County. The county's natural resources are most often used these days for skiing, snowboarding, hiking, mountain biking, camping, and wilderness recreation, as historic logging practices have been largely discontinued due to Federal and State environmental regulations. The county's water is viewed as sufficiently pure and abundant that the county is a source of significant amounts of bottled water, distributed throughout the country. A large Crystal Geyser plant is at the base of Mt. Shasta, near Weed.
Flora and fauna Substantial amounts of the county are forested within the Siskiyou and Cascade Ranges, including significant oak woodland and mixed conifer forests. Siskiyou County is the northern extent of the range for California buckeye, a widespread California endemic. The Klamath National Forest occupies of land which includes elements in Siskiyou County as well as Jackson County, Oregon.
Adjacent counties Josephine County, Oregon - northwest Jackson County, Oregon - north Klamath County, Oregon - northeast Modoc County - east Shasta County - southeast Trinity County - south Humboldt County - southwest Del Norte County - west
National protected areas
Butte Valley National Grassland Klamath National Forest (part) Lava Beds National Monument (part) Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge (part) Modoc National Forest (part) Rogue River National Forest (part) Shasta National Forest (part) Six Rivers National Forest (part) Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge (part) Tule Lake Unit, World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument (part)
Transportation
Major highways
Interstate 5 U.S. Route 97 State Route 3 State Route 89 State Route 96 State Route 139 State Route 161 State Route 263 State Route 265
Public transportation Siskiyou Transit And General Express (STAGE) operates buses connecting the more populated areas of the county. Amtrak trains stop in Dunsmuir. Amtrak Thruway formerly operated between Sacramento and Medford, OR, with stops in Yreka, Weed, Mount Shasta, and Dunsmuir, for passengers connecting to and from Amtrak trains in Sacramento or Stockton; this service was discontinued in 2009. Greyhound buses pass through the county on Interstate 5 with a stop in Weed.
Airports Siskiyou County owns and operates Butte Valley Airport, Happy Camp Airport, Scott Valley Airport, Siskiyou County Airport and Weed Airport (all general aviation). Dunsmuir Municipal-Mott Airport and Montague-Yreka Rohrer Field are also within the county.
The closest airports for commercial domestic plane departures are Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport north of the county in Medford, Oregon, Crater Lake–Klamath Regional Airport, northeast of the county in Klamath Falls, Oregon, and Redding Municipal Airport south of the county in Redding, California.
Politics
Voter registration statistics
Population and registered voters Total populationU.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B02001. U.S. Census website. Retrieved October 26, 2013. 44,687 Registered votersCalifornia Secretary of State. February 10, 2013 - Report of Registration . Retrieved October 31, 2013.Percentage of registered voters with respect to total population. Percentages of party members with respect to registered voters follow. 25,582 57.2% Democratic 8,253 32.3% Republican 10,458 40.9% Democratic–Republican spread -2,205 -8.6% Independent 1,126 4.4% Green 196 0.8% Libertarian 264 1.0% Peace and Freedom 89 0.3% Americans Elect 1 0.0% Other 57 0.2% No party preference 5,138 20.1%
Cities by population and voter registration
+ Cities by population and voter registration City Population Registered voters Democratic Republican D–R spread Other No party preference Dorris 872 42.5% 30.5% 42.3% -11.8% 8.4% 22.4% Dunsmuir 1,663 56.2% 41.5% 24.5% +17.0% 13.7% 24.6% Etna 721 58.5% 29.1% 46.0% -16.9% 9.7% 18.7% Fort Jones 595 63.5% 30.4% 44.4% -14.0% 10.1% 18.8% Montague 1,510 47.8% 24.8% 44.6% -19.8% 12.3% 23.8% Mount Shasta 3,411 59.8% 42.6% 25.3% +17.3% 10.4% 25.3% Tulelake 981 24.9% 22.5% 54.5% -32.0% 8.6% 18.4% Weed 2,947 44.8% 45.6% 24.0% +21.6% 14.5% 21.7% Yreka 7,696 52.3% 30.8% 42.5% -11.7% 11.0% 20.3%
Overview Siskiyou is a strongly Republican county in presidential and congressional elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Lyndon Johnson in 1964; however, Bill Clinton won a plurality of votes in 1992.
Siskiyou County is in .
In the state legislature Siskiyou is in , and .
On November 4, 2008, Siskiyou County voted 60.1% for Proposition 8 which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages. Dunsmuir and Mount Shasta voted against Prop 8.
On September 3, 2013, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted 4–1 in favor of secession from California to form a proposed state named Jefferson. A similar move was made in 1941, but was shelved due to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Crime
The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.
Population and crime rates Population 44,687 Violent crimeOffice of the Attorney General, Department of Justice, State of California. Table 11: Crimes – 2009. Retrieved November 14, 2013. 183 4.10 Homicide 1 0.02 Forcible rape 18 0.40 Robbery 16 0.36 Aggravated assault 148 3.31 Property crime 447 10.00 Burglary 257 5.75 Larceny-theftOnly larceny-theft cases involving property over $400 in value are reported as property crimes. 467 10.45 Motor vehicle theft 82 1.83 Arson 3 0.07
Cities by population and crime rates
+ Cities by population and crime rates City PopulationUnited States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Crime in the United States, 2012, Table 8 (California). Retrieved November 14, 2013. Violent crimes Violent crime rateper 1,000 persons Property crimes Property crime rateper 1,000 persons Dorris 939 1 1.06 23 24.49 Dunsmuir 1,650 5 3.03 41 24.85 Etna 737 1 1.36 2 2.71 Fort Jones 841 0 0.00 14 16.65 Lake Shastina 2,460 0 0.00 0 0.00 Montague 1,443 2 1.39 6 4.16 Mount Shasta 3,396 5 1.47 79 23.26 Tulelake 1,010 1 0.99 5 4.95 Weed 2,970 18 6.06 125 42.09 Yreka 7,768 42 5.41 293 37.72
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 44,076. The median age was 48.5 years; 19.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 26.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.5 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 76.2% White, 1.1% Black or African American, 4.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.0% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 4.5% from some other race, and 11.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 12.5% of the population.
29.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 70.9% lived in rural areas.
There were 19,219 households in the county, of which 23.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 27.6% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 22,929 housing units, of which 16.2% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 66.4% were owner-occupied and 33.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 6.0%.
Racial and ethnic composition