Hayfork Creek
Encyclopedia
Hayfork Creek is a tributary
of the South Fork Trinity River
in Northern
California
in the United States
. At over 50 miles (80.5 km) long, it is the river's longest tributary and is one of the southernmost streams in the Klamath Basin
. It winds through a generally steep and narrow course north then west through the forested Klamath Mountains
, but also passes through the Hayfork and Hyampom Valleys, which comprise the primary agricultural regions of Trinity County
.
The watershed
of the creek was originally inhabited by the Wintu
people. Human habitation in the basin goes back for more than 5,000 years. The first Euro-Americans arrived in the late 1820s, but the basin was not developed until the 1850s with the onset of the California Gold Rush
. The fertile soils and mild climate of the river valley led to it becoming the most prosperous agricultural
area of the county. Logging
began in the 1920s, and by the 1940s started to have an adverse impact on the ecology of the watershed, which includes once-abundant populations of Coho salmon
and steelhead trout.
, it receives the East Fork from the right. Five miles (8 km) downstream, it enters the Hayfork Valley, a large agricultural basin in the middle of the Klamath Mountains
. Here it receives Summit and Big Creeks from the right, while Salt Creek enters from the left. The stream also passes State Route 3 and the small town of Hayfork
.
Winding northwest out of the valley, the river enters a steep gorge, plunging over whitewater rapids and around giant boulders between narrow cliffs. At the Miners Creek confluence from the right, Hayfork Creek turns west and shortly afterwards receives Corral Creek, also from the right. Approximately a mile (1.6 km) above the mouth the river spills out of the mountains into the Hyampom Valley. It joins the South Fork of the Trinity just south of the town of Hyampom
, 30 miles (48.3 km) above the larger river's mouth on the Trinity River
.
on Hayfork Creek at Hyampom from 1954 to 1974. During the twenty years of record, the average discharge at the mouth was 552 cuft/s calculated from monthly mean discharges. The largest peak flow was 29400 cuft/s in December 1964. The lowest monthly average was 19.1 cuft/s in September 1960. There was also a gauge at Hayfork from 1956 to 1976. The mean annual discharge for this location was 119 cuft/s (1956–1965, as there was no data recorded for monthly flows after 1965). The maximum peak flow was during the storms of December 1964 at 7520 cuft/s. The minimum monthly average was 3 cuft/s in August 1959.
. Although the majority of the basin is covered by the Klamath Mountains, it also contains some of Trinity County's only significant amounts of arable land in the Hayfork and Hyampom Valleys. Elevations in the watershed range from 6400 feet (1,950.7 m) at Chanchelulla Peak, the basin's highest point, to 1276 feet (388.9 m) at the river's mouth. About 78.6% of the watershed or 298 mi2 lies within public lands, mostly owned by the U.S. Forest Service. The remaining 21.4% is private land, mainly used for cattle ranching and farming.
The Hayfork Creek watershed divide separates it from several other river valleys. The entire western boundary lies along the divide with the South Fork Trinity River. To the northwest lies the valley of the main stem of the Trinity River. In the east, a long ridge separates the Hayfork basin from the Sacramento Valley
, specifically the headwaters of a stream, Cottonwood Creek, which drains to the Sacramento River
. The mountains generally decrease in height from east to west, from over 6000 feet (1,828.8 m) along the eastern ridges to 4500 feet (1,371.6 m) on the mountains above the South Fork Trinity River. The headwaters of the creek itself lie at an elevation of over 5000 feet (1,524 m). The Hayfork Valley lies at an elevation of 2418 feet (737 m).
Significant towns along the creek are Hayfork, with a population of about 2,300; and Hyampom, with 714. Hayfork is the second largest town in Trinity County after Weaverville
, the county seat, and is central to the Hayfork Valley, the primary agricultural region in Trinity County. Other towns within the basin include Peanut
, which is located on Salt Creek, and Wildwood, situated near the headwaters of the Hayfork. The total human population of the watershed is more or less than 3,500 which amounts to barely more than 9 people per square mile.
s (in this case, a fragment of uplifted crust formed by tectonic activity on the Pacific Plate
) with the North American plate
. The resulting buckling stress caused the formation of the mountain ranges of northwestern California in stages. Hayfork Creek runs across the western part of the Hayfork Terrane, which was formed about 165 million years ago by pluton
ic activity beneath the Pacific Plate, and collided with the North American Plate sometime between 140 and 120 million years ago. By the mid-Paleocene
, approximately 59 million years ago, the Klamath Mountains first rose; erosion and orogeny
occurred over time continuing to this day, with the last great mountain-building period in the Pleistocene
, about 1.6 million years ago. It is believed that the present course of the stream had been established prior to the formation of the mountains – as they rose, the creek's erosional force cut canyons and valleys into the bedrock, maintaining its course.
The Hayfork Valley is an alluvial basin filled with sediments at least 300 feet (91.4 m) deep deposited by Hayfork, Carr, Barker, Big, Salt and other streams from the surrounding water. Approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) of the alluvium
dates from the Holocene
less than 12,000 years ago. The valley is underlain by the Hayfork Valley Groundwater Basin which ranges from 10 to 35 ft (3 to 10.7 m) below the surface.
Native American tribe (specifically the Nor-El-Muk or Hayfork Wintu, one of six major divisions of the tribe) have lived along Hayfork Creek for five or six thousand years. The range of the Wintu extended roughly through the highlands and mountains of the upper Hayfork Creek basin bordering on the Hayfork Valley, although archaeological sites comprising spearheads and arrowheads have been discovered as far downstream as Hyampom. The Wintu established permanent winter camps on streams, and during the spring and summer traveled to farther and higher-elevation areas to hunt. The staple food of the Native Americans was salmon
, which thrived in abundance in the rivers of the region. Other important foods included, acorn
various types of berries or small game.
The first outsider to see Hayfork Creek was fur trapper Jedediah Smith
in the dawn of 1828, who was leading an expedition from northern California into Oregon. Their route took them up Hayfork Creek, the South Fork Trinity River, and the Trinity and Klamath River
s before they arrived on the far north Pacific coast of California. However, the party did not stay in the area for long. The route along lower Hayfork Creek that Smith and his men had taken later became a trade path between the Central Valley and coastal Oregon.
Following the California Gold Rush
, in which gold was discovered along the Trinity River in 1848, Americans began to settle the Hayfork Valley and because of its abundant water, mild climate and fertile soils it quickly became the most productive agricultural area or the "breadbasket
" of Trinity County. Miners worked claims along the upper section of the creek and along some of its headwaters tributaries. In 1851, the town of Hayfork was first established, and was originally named Kingsberrys. The town boomed because of the valley's rapidly improving economy, reaching a population of 1,200 by 1860. The Hyampom Valley, while smaller than the Hayfork Valley, has similar qualities and the first permanent European settlements were built in the 1860s.
In 1852, a settler from Weaverville
, a town situated about 15 miles (24.1 km) northeast of the Hayfork Valley, was reportedly killed by Native Americans and his herd of cattle stolen. After his body was found, a searching party tracked the natives to their camp on the confluence of Bridge Gulch and Hayfork Creek, the former of which is spanned by a natural bridge made infamous from the impending events. About 70 whites set out from Weaverville within a week of the murder, and killed 153 of the 155 Native Americans in what became known as the Bridge Gulch Massacre
.
streams of the Trinity River basin. Agricultural runoff since the late 1800s has hurt the ecosystem of the creek downstream of Hayfork, which comprises the largest farming region of the watershed. Logging
, as well as land clearing for ranching and grazing, has caused increased amounts of sediments to wash into the stream, clouding the water and endangering fish populations. The upper section of the creek is polluted from acid mine drainage
, most notably from the Kelly Mine on McCovey Gulch, which issues significant amounts of chromium
and arsenic
. In recent years, the temperature of the creek near the mouth has risen above 85 °F (29.4 °C) in dry summers, posing fatal conditions to fish. Records show a high mortality rate of female salmon and recurring fish kill
s, probably caused by the high temperatures and the clouding of water by contaminants and sediments that wash down from agricultural and built-up areas.
One of the biggest problems for the watershed is the loss of forested lands. Although timberland loss is more pronounced in the South Fork Trinity valley than the Hayfork basin, suspended sediment loads in the creek have been rising above ecologically safe limits since 1944. The underlying rock in the Hayfork Creek watershed is generally stable, but erosion has increased because of the construction of roads. There are several species of endangered or threatened animals that live within the watershed, including the Northern spotted owl
and peregrine falcon
. The Hayfork Creek valley also provides a major component of the flight path of migratory birds travelling between the Pacific coast and the Sacramento Valley
.
For experienced kayakers and rafters, the upper and lower thirds of Hayfork Creek are filled with rapids ranging from Class III to V. Especially in the lower portion of the creek, large boulders and waterfalls require strenuous portages; and high flow fluctuations (the river has no dams and only a few diversions) cause the stream to range between 50 cuft/s and 10000 cuft/s in any given year. Boating is safest at flows of 400 cuft/s.
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the South Fork Trinity River
South Fork Trinity River
The South Fork Trinity River is a major tributary of the Trinity River, in the northern part of the U.S. state of California.It is part of the Klamath River drainage basin. It flows generally northwest from its source in the Klamath Mountains, draining about of mountainous terrain...
in Northern
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. At over 50 miles (80.5 km) long, it is the river's longest tributary and is one of the southernmost streams in the Klamath Basin
Klamath Basin
The Klamath Basin is the region in the U.S. states of Oregon and California drained by the Klamath River. It contains most of Klamath County and parts of Lake and Jackson counties in Oregon, and parts of Del Norte, Humboldt, Modoc, Siskiyou, and Trinity counties in California. The drainage basin...
. It winds through a generally steep and narrow course north then west through the forested Klamath Mountains
Klamath Mountains
The Klamath Mountains, which include the Siskiyou, Marble, Scott, Trinity, Trinity Alps, Salmon, and northern Yolla-Bolly Mountains, are a rugged lightly populated mountain range in northwest California and southwest Oregon in the United States...
, but also passes through the Hayfork and Hyampom Valleys, which comprise the primary agricultural regions of Trinity County
Trinity County, California
Trinity County is a large, rugged and mountainous, heavily forested county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of California, along the Trinity River and within the Salmon/Klamath Mountains. It covers an area of over two million acres , and as of the 2010 census its population...
.
The watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
of the creek was originally inhabited by the Wintu
Wintu
The Wintu are Native Americans who live in what is now Northern California. They are part of a loose association of peoples known collectively as the Wintun . Others are the Nomlaki and the Patwin...
people. Human habitation in the basin goes back for more than 5,000 years. The first Euro-Americans arrived in the late 1820s, but the basin was not developed until the 1850s with the onset of the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
. The fertile soils and mild climate of the river valley led to it becoming the most prosperous agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
area of the county. Logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
began in the 1920s, and by the 1940s started to have an adverse impact on the ecology of the watershed, which includes once-abundant populations of Coho salmon
Coho salmon
The Coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". It is the state animal of Chiba, Japan.-Description:...
and steelhead trout.
Course
The Hayfork rises on the west flank of Brushy Mountain some 7 miles (11.3 km) south of the hamlet of Wildwood. Flowing generally north through a deep forested valley in the Shasta-Trinity National ForestShasta-Trinity National Forest
The Shasta-Trinity National Forest is a federally designated forest in northern California, USA. It is the largest National Forest in California and is managed by the United States Forest Service. The 2.2-million acre forest encompasses five wilderness areas, hundreds of mountain lakes and of...
, it receives the East Fork from the right. Five miles (8 km) downstream, it enters the Hayfork Valley, a large agricultural basin in the middle of the Klamath Mountains
Klamath Mountains
The Klamath Mountains, which include the Siskiyou, Marble, Scott, Trinity, Trinity Alps, Salmon, and northern Yolla-Bolly Mountains, are a rugged lightly populated mountain range in northwest California and southwest Oregon in the United States...
. Here it receives Summit and Big Creeks from the right, while Salt Creek enters from the left. The stream also passes State Route 3 and the small town of Hayfork
Hayfork, California
Hayfork is a census-designated place in Trinity County, California, United States. The population was 2,368 at the 2010 census, up from 2,315 at the 2000 census...
.
Winding northwest out of the valley, the river enters a steep gorge, plunging over whitewater rapids and around giant boulders between narrow cliffs. At the Miners Creek confluence from the right, Hayfork Creek turns west and shortly afterwards receives Corral Creek, also from the right. Approximately a mile (1.6 km) above the mouth the river spills out of the mountains into the Hyampom Valley. It joins the South Fork of the Trinity just south of the town of Hyampom
Hyampom, California
Hyampom is a census-designated place in Trinity County, California. Hyampom sits at an elevation of . The 2010 United States census reported Hyampom's population was 241.-History:...
, 30 miles (48.3 km) above the larger river's mouth on the Trinity River
Trinity River (California)
The Trinity River is the longest tributary of the Klamath River, approximately long, in northwestern California in the United States. It drains an area of the Coast Ranges, including the southern Klamath Mountains, northwest of the Sacramento Valley...
.
Discharge
The U.S. Geological Survey had a stream gaugeStream gauge
A stream gauge, stream gage or gauging station is a location used by hydrologists or environmental scientists to monitor and test terrestrial bodies of water. Hydrometric measurements of water surface elevation and/or volumetric discharge are generally taken and observations of biota may also be...
on Hayfork Creek at Hyampom from 1954 to 1974. During the twenty years of record, the average discharge at the mouth was 552 cuft/s calculated from monthly mean discharges. The largest peak flow was 29400 cuft/s in December 1964. The lowest monthly average was 19.1 cuft/s in September 1960. There was also a gauge at Hayfork from 1956 to 1976. The mean annual discharge for this location was 119 cuft/s (1956–1965, as there was no data recorded for monthly flows after 1965). The maximum peak flow was during the storms of December 1964 at 7520 cuft/s. The minimum monthly average was 3 cuft/s in August 1959.
Watershed
Hayfork Creek drains a mountainous, remote watershed of 379 mi2 situated entirely within southern Trinity CountyTrinity County, California
Trinity County is a large, rugged and mountainous, heavily forested county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of California, along the Trinity River and within the Salmon/Klamath Mountains. It covers an area of over two million acres , and as of the 2010 census its population...
. Although the majority of the basin is covered by the Klamath Mountains, it also contains some of Trinity County's only significant amounts of arable land in the Hayfork and Hyampom Valleys. Elevations in the watershed range from 6400 feet (1,950.7 m) at Chanchelulla Peak, the basin's highest point, to 1276 feet (388.9 m) at the river's mouth. About 78.6% of the watershed or 298 mi2 lies within public lands, mostly owned by the U.S. Forest Service. The remaining 21.4% is private land, mainly used for cattle ranching and farming.
The Hayfork Creek watershed divide separates it from several other river valleys. The entire western boundary lies along the divide with the South Fork Trinity River. To the northwest lies the valley of the main stem of the Trinity River. In the east, a long ridge separates the Hayfork basin from the Sacramento Valley
Sacramento Valley
The Sacramento Valley is the portion of the California Central Valley that lies to the north of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses all or parts of ten counties.-Geography:...
, specifically the headwaters of a stream, Cottonwood Creek, which drains to the Sacramento River
Sacramento River
The Sacramento River is an important watercourse of Northern and Central California in the United States. The largest river in California, it rises on the eastern slopes of the Klamath Mountains, and after a journey south of over , empties into Suisun Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay, and...
. The mountains generally decrease in height from east to west, from over 6000 feet (1,828.8 m) along the eastern ridges to 4500 feet (1,371.6 m) on the mountains above the South Fork Trinity River. The headwaters of the creek itself lie at an elevation of over 5000 feet (1,524 m). The Hayfork Valley lies at an elevation of 2418 feet (737 m).
Significant towns along the creek are Hayfork, with a population of about 2,300; and Hyampom, with 714. Hayfork is the second largest town in Trinity County after Weaverville
Weaverville, California
Weaverville is a census-designated place and the county seat of Trinity County, California. The population was 3,600 at the 2010 census, up from 3,554 at the 2000 census.-History:Founded in 1850, Weaverville is a historic California Gold Rush town...
, the county seat, and is central to the Hayfork Valley, the primary agricultural region in Trinity County. Other towns within the basin include Peanut
Peanut, California
Peanut is a tiny unincorporated community in Trinity County, California. It is located on Highway 3, south of Hayfork and north of Highway 36 at an elevation of 2499 feet....
, which is located on Salt Creek, and Wildwood, situated near the headwaters of the Hayfork. The total human population of the watershed is more or less than 3,500 which amounts to barely more than 9 people per square mile.
Geology
The stream flows through an area of the Klamath Mountains created by uplift caused by the collision of multiple exotic terraneTerrane
A terrane in geology is short-hand term for a tectonostratigraphic terrane, which is a fragment of crustal material formed on, or broken off from, one tectonic plate and accreted or "sutured" to crust lying on another plate...
s (in this case, a fragment of uplifted crust formed by tectonic activity on the Pacific Plate
Pacific Plate
The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At 103 million square kilometres, it is the largest tectonic plate....
) with the North American plate
North American Plate
The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Greenland, Cuba, Bahamas, and parts of Siberia, Japan and Iceland. It extends eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Chersky Range in eastern Siberia. The plate includes both continental and oceanic crust...
. The resulting buckling stress caused the formation of the mountain ranges of northwestern California in stages. Hayfork Creek runs across the western part of the Hayfork Terrane, which was formed about 165 million years ago by pluton
Pluton
A pluton in geology is a body of intrusive igneous rock that crystallized from magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Plutons include batholiths, dikes, sills, laccoliths, lopoliths, and other igneous bodies...
ic activity beneath the Pacific Plate, and collided with the North American Plate sometime between 140 and 120 million years ago. By the mid-Paleocene
Paleocene
The Paleocene or Palaeocene, the "early recent", is a geologic epoch that lasted from about . It is the first epoch of the Palaeogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era...
, approximately 59 million years ago, the Klamath Mountains first rose; erosion and orogeny
Orogeny
Orogeny refers to forces and events leading to a severe structural deformation of the Earth's crust due to the engagement of tectonic plates. Response to such engagement results in the formation of long tracts of highly deformed rock called orogens or orogenic belts...
occurred over time continuing to this day, with the last great mountain-building period in the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
, about 1.6 million years ago. It is believed that the present course of the stream had been established prior to the formation of the mountains – as they rose, the creek's erosional force cut canyons and valleys into the bedrock, maintaining its course.
The Hayfork Valley is an alluvial basin filled with sediments at least 300 feet (91.4 m) deep deposited by Hayfork, Carr, Barker, Big, Salt and other streams from the surrounding water. Approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) of the alluvium
Alluvium
Alluvium is loose, unconsolidated soil or sediments, eroded, deposited, and reshaped by water in some form in a non-marine setting. Alluvium is typically made up of a variety of materials, including fine particles of silt and clay and larger particles of sand and gravel...
dates from the Holocene
Holocene
The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...
less than 12,000 years ago. The valley is underlain by the Hayfork Valley Groundwater Basin which ranges from 10 to 35 ft (3 to 10.7 m) below the surface.
History
The WintuWintu
The Wintu are Native Americans who live in what is now Northern California. They are part of a loose association of peoples known collectively as the Wintun . Others are the Nomlaki and the Patwin...
Native American tribe (specifically the Nor-El-Muk or Hayfork Wintu, one of six major divisions of the tribe) have lived along Hayfork Creek for five or six thousand years. The range of the Wintu extended roughly through the highlands and mountains of the upper Hayfork Creek basin bordering on the Hayfork Valley, although archaeological sites comprising spearheads and arrowheads have been discovered as far downstream as Hyampom. The Wintu established permanent winter camps on streams, and during the spring and summer traveled to farther and higher-elevation areas to hunt. The staple food of the Native Americans was salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
, which thrived in abundance in the rivers of the region. Other important foods included, acorn
Acorn
The acorn, or oak nut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives . It usually contains a single seed , enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns vary from 1–6 cm long and 0.8–4 cm broad...
various types of berries or small game.
The first outsider to see Hayfork Creek was fur trapper Jedediah Smith
Jedediah 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...
in the dawn of 1828, who was leading an expedition from northern California into Oregon. Their route took them up Hayfork Creek, the South Fork Trinity River, and the Trinity and Klamath River
Klamath River
The Klamath River is an American river that flows southwest through Oregon and northern California, cutting through the Cascade Range to empty into the Pacific Ocean. The river drains an extensive watershed of almost that stretches from the high desert country of the Great Basin to the temperate...
s before they arrived on the far north Pacific coast of California. However, the party did not stay in the area for long. The route along lower Hayfork Creek that Smith and his men had taken later became a trade path between the Central Valley and coastal Oregon.
Following the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
, in which gold was discovered along the Trinity River in 1848, Americans began to settle the Hayfork Valley and because of its abundant water, mild climate and fertile soils it quickly became the most productive agricultural area or the "breadbasket
Breadbasket
The breadbasket or the granary of a country is a region which, because of richness of soil and/or advantageous climate, produces an agricultural surplus which is often considered vital for the country as a whole. Rice bowl is a similar term used in Southeast Asia...
" of Trinity County. Miners worked claims along the upper section of the creek and along some of its headwaters tributaries. In 1851, the town of Hayfork was first established, and was originally named Kingsberrys. The town boomed because of the valley's rapidly improving economy, reaching a population of 1,200 by 1860. The Hyampom Valley, while smaller than the Hayfork Valley, has similar qualities and the first permanent European settlements were built in the 1860s.
In 1852, a settler from Weaverville
Weaverville, California
Weaverville is a census-designated place and the county seat of Trinity County, California. The population was 3,600 at the 2010 census, up from 3,554 at the 2000 census.-History:Founded in 1850, Weaverville is a historic California Gold Rush town...
, a town situated about 15 miles (24.1 km) northeast of the Hayfork Valley, was reportedly killed by Native Americans and his herd of cattle stolen. After his body was found, a searching party tracked the natives to their camp on the confluence of Bridge Gulch and Hayfork Creek, the former of which is spanned by a natural bridge made infamous from the impending events. About 70 whites set out from Weaverville within a week of the murder, and killed 153 of the 155 Native Americans in what became known as the Bridge Gulch Massacre
Bridge Gulch Massacre
The Bridge Gulch Massacre or Hayfork Massacre occurred on April 23, 1852, when more than 150 Wintu people were killed by about 70 American men led by William H. Dixon, the Trinity County sheriff...
.
Ecology
Historically Hayfork Creek was one of the more productive steelhead and salmonSalmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
streams of the Trinity River basin. Agricultural runoff since the late 1800s has hurt the ecosystem of the creek downstream of Hayfork, which comprises the largest farming region of the watershed. Logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
, as well as land clearing for ranching and grazing, has caused increased amounts of sediments to wash into the stream, clouding the water and endangering fish populations. The upper section of the creek is polluted from acid mine drainage
Acid mine drainage
Acid mine drainage , or acid rock drainage , refers to the outflow of acidic water from metal mines or coal mines. However, other areas where the earth has been disturbed may also contribute acid rock drainage to the environment...
, most notably from the Kelly Mine on McCovey Gulch, which issues significant amounts of chromium
Chromium
Chromium is a chemical element which has the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6. It is a steely-gray, lustrous, hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point. It is also odorless, tasteless, and malleable...
and arsenic
Arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...
. In recent years, the temperature of the creek near the mouth has risen above 85 °F (29.4 °C) in dry summers, posing fatal conditions to fish. Records show a high mortality rate of female salmon and recurring fish kill
Fish kill
The term fish kill, known also as fish die-off and as fish mortality, is a localized die-off of fish populations which may also be associated with more generalised mortality of aquatic life...
s, probably caused by the high temperatures and the clouding of water by contaminants and sediments that wash down from agricultural and built-up areas.
One of the biggest problems for the watershed is the loss of forested lands. Although timberland loss is more pronounced in the South Fork Trinity valley than the Hayfork basin, suspended sediment loads in the creek have been rising above ecologically safe limits since 1944. The underlying rock in the Hayfork Creek watershed is generally stable, but erosion has increased because of the construction of roads. There are several species of endangered or threatened animals that live within the watershed, including the Northern spotted owl
Northern Spotted Owl
The Northern Spotted Owl, Strix occidentalis caurina, is one of three Spotted Owl subspecies. A Western North American bird in the family Strigidae, genus Strix, it is a medium-sized dark brown owl sixteen to nineteen inches in length and one to one and one sixth pounds. Females are larger than males...
and peregrine falcon
Peregrine Falcon
The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
. The Hayfork Creek valley also provides a major component of the flight path of migratory birds travelling between the Pacific coast and the Sacramento Valley
Sacramento Valley
The Sacramento Valley is the portion of the California Central Valley that lies to the north of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses all or parts of ten counties.-Geography:...
.
Tourism and recreation
The creek is known throughout Trinity County for its recreational gold mining. Reputedly some of the best spots for mining in Northern California lie along the Hayfork upstream of the Hayfork Valley and below Wildwood. The geology of the stream bed is described as a "natural gold trap" and recent strikes have been made there of up to 60 ounces in one day.For experienced kayakers and rafters, the upper and lower thirds of Hayfork Creek are filled with rapids ranging from Class III to V. Especially in the lower portion of the creek, large boulders and waterfalls require strenuous portages; and high flow fluctuations (the river has no dams and only a few diversions) cause the stream to range between 50 cuft/s and 10000 cuft/s in any given year. Boating is safest at flows of 400 cuft/s.
Works cited
- Gudde, Erwin G.; Bright, William (2004). California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names. University of California Press. ISBN 0-52024-217-3. Accessed 2010-12-11.