Fort Dick, California
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Fort Dick is a small community in rural Del Norte County, California
. Fort Dick is around five miles (eight kilometers) north of Crescent City, California
, and around 15 mi (24.1 km) south of the California–Oregon state line. It is located on the U.S. Route 101 corridor on the Redwood Coast. A post office was set up in 1917.
The name Fort Dick was established prior to July 2, 1862. This can be proven by reading the letters transcribed in the book The War of the Rebellion by George M. Hanson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, who wrote on that date to Brigadier General George Wright, the Union Commander of the Department of the Pacific
. He uses the name Fort Dick in his letter. This proves it predates 1862. It is possible, but still conjecture, that it was established sometime between 1854 and 1862; there were settlers in Crescent City prior to its incorporation. One source states there was a mill built in Crescent City in 1853; however, if it were established between 1854 and 1862, it would be consistent with the passage mentioned earlier in the book California Place Names.
and Yurok Tribe of Native American peoples. Both tribes lived for many centuries undisturbed by outside influence. Numerous other registered and unregistered tribes of indigenous peoples
resided in the region.
entered the immediate area where the city of Fort Dick sits. In the book "Redwood National Park", Jedidiah Smith's party skirted the eastern edge of Lake Earl between June 14 to 16, 1828. During this time, not only did they explore the area, but they made clear contact, including trading and engaging in commerce with the Tolowa
Indians on the 15th. It details how Jedidiah Smith's party "skirted" the eastern shore of Lake Earl. Since his party was there in 1828, it predates the events that led the settler or farmer who owned the land called "Russell's Prairie" (later Fort Dick) by about twenty-five to thirty years.
The camp site of June 14 was on Elk Creek, one-fourth of a mile west of the junction of U.S. 101 and the Elk Valley road. Exactly one month later, while eating breakfast the morning of July 14, 1828, Jedidiah's party was attacked by at least one hundred Native American Indians. Everyone in the party except for Jedidiah and two companions died in the ambush. They escaped and headed directly to Fort Vancouver.
Due to continuous unrest between the white settlers and the Native Americans, the military was eventually called in, at the bequest of the Department of Indian Affairs, in 1862 to establish a military presence on the site known as Fort Dick in 1862. It appears from historical documents published by the US War Department in the 1890s that thirty years earlier, the west was abuzz with Union troops. The letters written during the Civil War were compiled and published in the 1890s by the Secretary of War.
While the civil war raged in the eastern United States, there was a very active military presence of Union Soldiers building and summarily dismantling rough military outputs, camps, and forts that dotted northern California. It is in this context that there was an order sent out to establish a military settlement to keep peace between the settlers at Crescent City and the Native American populations in a reservation near the city. Ultimately, the military did not listen to the suggestions, and selected a site at what is now known as Camp Lincoln. Camp Lincoln is three miles (5 km) east of Fort Dick and roughly ten miles north of Crescent City. The original buildings of Camp Lincoln were still standing during the 1950s and 1960s.
Two nations that are currently the closest are the Tolowa and the Yurok Nations. The federal government forced the large band of Yurok peoples onto a reservation they formed in 1855. The Yurok were moved around a few times for a variety of reasons. After a flood in 1862, the Yurok were relocated to the Smith River Reservation; however, it was closed down in July 1867. At that point, the American government relocated several of the coastal tribes onto the newly established Hoopa Valley Reservation. Among them were the Tolowa, Yurok, Mad River, and Eel River Indians. Presently, the Tolowa are the only tribe that have their ceremonial headquarters in Fort Dick; however, the Yurok, on their website, show a very vast region of land that included dozens of cities up and down that portion of the California coast.
Fort Dick is a small community in rural Del Norte County, California
Del Norte County, California
Del Norte County is a county located at the far northwest corner of the U.S. state of California on the Pacific adjacent to the Oregon border. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 28,610. The county seat is Crescent City, the county's only incorporated city. Del Norte is the abbreviated...
. Fort Dick is around five miles (eight kilometers) north of Crescent City, California
Crescent City, California
Crescent City is the county seat and only incorporated city in Del Norte County, California. Named for the crescent-shaped stretch of sandy beach south of the city, Crescent City had a total population of 7,643 in the 2010 census, up from 4,006 in the 2000 census...
, and around 15 mi (24.1 km) south of the California–Oregon state line. It is located on the U.S. Route 101 corridor on the Redwood Coast. A post office was set up in 1917.
Etymology
Fort Dick Landing is first mentioned in Civil War records. The "fort" was a log house, built by its inhabitants for defense against the Indians, and was probably named for a settler. In 1888, the four Bertsch brothers moved their mill to the area and named it Newberg. With the establishment of the post office in 1896, the old name was revived. Fort Dick did not acquire its name as the result of being a military outpost, although, evidence proves it was a candidate for being one. It appeared to have failed in favor of Camp Lincoln.The name Fort Dick was established prior to July 2, 1862. This can be proven by reading the letters transcribed in the book The War of the Rebellion by George M. Hanson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, who wrote on that date to Brigadier General George Wright, the Union Commander of the Department of the Pacific
George Wright (general)
George Wright was an American soldier who served in the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War.-Early life and career:...
. He uses the name Fort Dick in his letter. This proves it predates 1862. It is possible, but still conjecture, that it was established sometime between 1854 and 1862; there were settlers in Crescent City prior to its incorporation. One source states there was a mill built in Crescent City in 1853; however, if it were established between 1854 and 1862, it would be consistent with the passage mentioned earlier in the book California Place Names.
Pre-Settler contact
The heavily forested coast territory surrounding Fort Dick has been the ancestral homeland of the Tolowa NationTolowa
The Tolowa are a Native American tribe. They still reside in their traditional territories in northwestern California and southern Oregon. Tolowa are members of the federally recognized Smith River Rancheria, Elk Valley Rancheria, Confederated Tribes of Siletz, as well as the unrecognized Tolowa...
and Yurok Tribe of Native American peoples. Both tribes lived for many centuries undisturbed by outside influence. Numerous other registered and unregistered tribes of indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
resided in the region.
Jedidiah Smith's party reaches Lake Earl
Historical records state that a party travelling with Jedediah SmithJedediah Smith
Jedediah Strong Smith was a hunter, trapper, fur trader, trailblazer, author, cartographer, cattleman, and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the American West Coast and the Southwest during the 19th century...
entered the immediate area where the city of Fort Dick sits. In the book "Redwood National Park", Jedidiah Smith's party skirted the eastern edge of Lake Earl between June 14 to 16, 1828. During this time, not only did they explore the area, but they made clear contact, including trading and engaging in commerce with the Tolowa
Tolowa
The Tolowa are a Native American tribe. They still reside in their traditional territories in northwestern California and southern Oregon. Tolowa are members of the federally recognized Smith River Rancheria, Elk Valley Rancheria, Confederated Tribes of Siletz, as well as the unrecognized Tolowa...
Indians on the 15th. It details how Jedidiah Smith's party "skirted" the eastern shore of Lake Earl. Since his party was there in 1828, it predates the events that led the settler or farmer who owned the land called "Russell's Prairie" (later Fort Dick) by about twenty-five to thirty years.
The camp site of June 14 was on Elk Creek, one-fourth of a mile west of the junction of U.S. 101 and the Elk Valley road. Exactly one month later, while eating breakfast the morning of July 14, 1828, Jedidiah's party was attacked by at least one hundred Native American Indians. Everyone in the party except for Jedidiah and two companions died in the ambush. They escaped and headed directly to Fort Vancouver.
Shipwrecks near Fort Dick and Crescent City
The coastal waters near Crescent City and north are notoriously treacherous. Over the years, there have been many ships that sunk in the ocean close to Fort Dick and Crescent City.- 1850 - Paragon sunk
- 1851 - Tarquin
- 1855 - Steamer America burned in the harbor at Crescent City en route to Oregon and Washington
- 1865 - The Steamer Brother JonathanBrother Jonathan (steamer)The Brother Jonathan was a paddle steamer that crashed on an uncharted rock near Point St. George, off the coast of Crescent City, California, on July 30, 1865. The ship was carrying 244 passengers and crew with a large shipment of gold. Only 19 survived the wreck, making it the deadliest shipwreck...
hit an uncharted reef near Point George. - 1941 - SS EmidioSS EmidioSS Emidio was a 6912-ton tanker of the General Petroleum Corporation , which became the first casualty of the Imperial Japanese Navy's submarine force action on California's Pacific Coast. Emidio was sailing in ballast from Seattle, Washington enroute to San Pedro, California...
, an oil tanker, was shelled and torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. This was the first ship sunk by the Japanese off the American Pacific coast in World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Fort Dick Road (1862)
A civil war era letter indicates the existence of several roads heading to Crescent City; however, there is specific mention of a "Fort Dicks Road". The Union Quartermaster Swasey, who had written the letter, suggested it as the preferred path to travel north. Apparently, other roads existed at the time but were fraught with peril during times when the rivers were high.Fort Dick during the Civil War
Perhaps it is best noted that the area now known as Fort Dick was once used by indigenous peoples of the region in the normal way they used any land. There were several tribes in the Humboldt region, but by the time Crescent City was founded, the Caucasians were having battles with the Tolowa nation, as well as other Native American tribes. Many of these tribes were frequently in a state of conflict or involved in minor battles with the individuals who came to settle the parcel of land.Due to continuous unrest between the white settlers and the Native Americans, the military was eventually called in, at the bequest of the Department of Indian Affairs, in 1862 to establish a military presence on the site known as Fort Dick in 1862. It appears from historical documents published by the US War Department in the 1890s that thirty years earlier, the west was abuzz with Union troops. The letters written during the Civil War were compiled and published in the 1890s by the Secretary of War.
While the civil war raged in the eastern United States, there was a very active military presence of Union Soldiers building and summarily dismantling rough military outputs, camps, and forts that dotted northern California. It is in this context that there was an order sent out to establish a military settlement to keep peace between the settlers at Crescent City and the Native American populations in a reservation near the city. Ultimately, the military did not listen to the suggestions, and selected a site at what is now known as Camp Lincoln. Camp Lincoln is three miles (5 km) east of Fort Dick and roughly ten miles north of Crescent City. The original buildings of Camp Lincoln were still standing during the 1950s and 1960s.
Native American claim to Fort Dick
Long before the lure of gold, the age of the "Mountain Man", and fur trapping in the west, the vast miles of forest surrounding the unincorporated city of Fort Dick were once freely roamed by many tribes of indigenous peoples. Their first contact with non indigenous peoples would have been either Spanish or Mexican explorers as late as the 18th century. Several important events brought western peoples into the land of the indigenous peoples who inhabited the hundreds of square miles of forest surrounding Fort Dick.Two nations that are currently the closest are the Tolowa and the Yurok Nations. The federal government forced the large band of Yurok peoples onto a reservation they formed in 1855. The Yurok were moved around a few times for a variety of reasons. After a flood in 1862, the Yurok were relocated to the Smith River Reservation; however, it was closed down in July 1867. At that point, the American government relocated several of the coastal tribes onto the newly established Hoopa Valley Reservation. Among them were the Tolowa, Yurok, Mad River, and Eel River Indians. Presently, the Tolowa are the only tribe that have their ceremonial headquarters in Fort Dick; however, the Yurok, on their website, show a very vast region of land that included dozens of cities up and down that portion of the California coast.
Government
Fort Dick has very few autonomous governmental services and is largely under the rule of Del Norte County. The remainder of the unincorporated city is subject to various county, state, and federal agencies.Education
Educational services in Fort Dick are provided by the Del Norte County Unified School District, in conjunction with the Del Norte County Office of Education. At 1008 square miles (2,610.7 km²), with over 4000 students, they accomplish this by utilizing an elaborate public school busing network. The many district buses service eleven schools: eight elementary, one middle school, one high school, and one self-proclaimed "alternate" high school. Fort Dick is the home to only one of the district's eight elementary schools. One source states that the school is the only education facility in Fort Dick. Redwood Elementary School is classified as a "district" school, as opposed to the smaller pool of "county schools". Redwood Elementary is equipped to educate students from the K to 8th grades. The source stated a student population of 425 students, with a 21.8 student to teacher ratio. As the city's only school, the city's residents must use education facilities in neighboring Crescent City for anything higher than the elementary school level.Further reading
- The War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union, United States Department of War, Washington, 1880.