Continued from Part 2
The name Keswick may be familiar to many of you, from the dam. But did you know it had a British influence? Originally founded in 1897 by 2 beer bottlers from Redding, a group of British bachelors came to “Kezzick” by train, bringing cricket, lawn tennis and fox hunting with them.
River cities, like so many others of that time, thrived or declined because of the railroads. Construction crews founded many river towns. These flourished when construction on the railroads stalled. When construction resumed, however, many towns were abandoned.
The history of Shasta – the lake and the county – is full of such stories. Though much of our history is under water or razed in the name of progress, the stories remain. There are tales of controversial cemeteries, battles, and more. History can be fun, if you know where to look.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Rising From the Lake Part 2
Continued from Part 1
A graveyard had survived more than thirty years under Shasta Lake, robbed when the waters drew back because of drought.
Imagine a boat pulling up, late afternoon or early evening. Several men get out. With a few tools, plenty of sweat and struggle, they pull the black sleek metal from its long embedded sanctuary. Did they think about the people buried there as they stole the boundary marking their final resting place? Or was this simply easy pickings – an opportunity to get cheap fencing? We’ll never know – no one saw them with their plunder.
Other things showed up that year. More than a hundred prehistoric Indian sites were revealed across the dried-up lakebed. Many of these had been along the original rivers and creeks. According to a retired archeologist of the Forest Service, some sites dated back more than 500 years!
Among the many artifacts found by the Forest Service were milling stones, net weights, things that go back as far as 4,000 years. When looting became rampant, many disappeared. The Forest Service later removed the artifacts, establishing collections at both Shasta College and at the Visitor’s Center at Shasta Lake. Many of these can still be seen.
Sad to say, much of our local history has disappeared. Though pictures remain, we forget the rich tapestry of lives and events that happened within the past hundred years.
A graveyard had survived more than thirty years under Shasta Lake, robbed when the waters drew back because of drought.
Imagine a boat pulling up, late afternoon or early evening. Several men get out. With a few tools, plenty of sweat and struggle, they pull the black sleek metal from its long embedded sanctuary. Did they think about the people buried there as they stole the boundary marking their final resting place? Or was this simply easy pickings – an opportunity to get cheap fencing? We’ll never know – no one saw them with their plunder.
Other things showed up that year. More than a hundred prehistoric Indian sites were revealed across the dried-up lakebed. Many of these had been along the original rivers and creeks. According to a retired archeologist of the Forest Service, some sites dated back more than 500 years!
Among the many artifacts found by the Forest Service were milling stones, net weights, things that go back as far as 4,000 years. When looting became rampant, many disappeared. The Forest Service later removed the artifacts, establishing collections at both Shasta College and at the Visitor’s Center at Shasta Lake. Many of these can still be seen.
Sad to say, much of our local history has disappeared. Though pictures remain, we forget the rich tapestry of lives and events that happened within the past hundred years.
Rising From the Lake Part 1
Graveyards rising from the lake. Looting in broad daylight.
The year was 1977. Having been plagued by drought for seven years, the river arms that fed Shasta Lake dried up. Manzanita trees withered and died. The lake fell to its lowest level ever and, in the process, a lot of history got revealed.
An old cemetery emerged near where the once thriving town of Kennet used to be. Kennet itself is now so deep under the lake that it never gets exposed.
Lola M. Schwartz - Librarian for the Shasta Historical Society - and her husband, Jim were boating on Lake Shasta that summer and saw this amazing sight.
“It was very exciting”, she remembers. There was a black wrought-iron fence all around that cemetery. It looked brand new – the water had preserved it. And you could tell where the graves were. Those that had been moved were sunken and those that (remained) were smooth.”
Throughout that summer, Lola and Jim visited the cemetery often. In a later visit, Schwartz found the fence was missing – someone had stolen it!
The year was 1977. Having been plagued by drought for seven years, the river arms that fed Shasta Lake dried up. Manzanita trees withered and died. The lake fell to its lowest level ever and, in the process, a lot of history got revealed.
An old cemetery emerged near where the once thriving town of Kennet used to be. Kennet itself is now so deep under the lake that it never gets exposed.
Lola M. Schwartz - Librarian for the Shasta Historical Society - and her husband, Jim were boating on Lake Shasta that summer and saw this amazing sight.
“It was very exciting”, she remembers. There was a black wrought-iron fence all around that cemetery. It looked brand new – the water had preserved it. And you could tell where the graves were. Those that had been moved were sunken and those that (remained) were smooth.”
Throughout that summer, Lola and Jim visited the cemetery often. In a later visit, Schwartz found the fence was missing – someone had stolen it!
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