1. Sacramento River: Spanish explorers named this river the Jesus Maria in 1808. The name was changed to El Rio del Santisimo Sacramento by later explorers who saw it for the first time on the day of the Holy Sacrament. It appears on early maps with a variety of names: River of Destruction, River of Gold, Kelley's River, Buena Ventura, Bona-Ventura, Spanish River, and River of the North.
2. Diestelhorst: Pioneer Gottlieb Diestelhorst arrived in Shasta in 1852. In 1859, he purchased 84 acres, including much of present day downtown Redding, for $2500. In 1872, the railroad laid tracks across part of his land, causing his hay and vegetable business to prosper. He died in 1905.
The Diestelhorst Auto Camp, consisting of a gas station, overnight campground and store, was established by John and Charles Diestelhorst. It became a popular summer resort and the location of Redding's swimming hole. Large crowds of people sat on concrete steps to watch the annual water carnivals. Some of the steps still exist on both sides of the river near the Diestelhorst Bridge. The Swimming Hole was used from 1915 until Shasta Dam was built. After that, only water from the bottom of the lake was released from the dam making the river too cold for swimming.
3. Reid's Ferry and the Diestelhorst Bridge: Edward Reid operated a ferry near the bridge in 1860. When the bridge was built in 1915, it was originally called the Reid's Ferry Bridge. It is 639 ft. long, 24.3 ft. wide and was the first northern California automobile bridge across the Sacramento River. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and now used by pedestrians and bicyclists on the River Trail.
4. Diestelhorst Waterwheel: John Diestelhorst built a waterwheel to lift water from the Sacramento River for irrigation purposes. Its exact location is unknown, but most certainly was near the south end of the North Market Street bridge.
5. Oliver's Farm: In 1865 Benjamin Oliver and Timothy Conklin purchased 559 acres at Poverty Flat from Pierson B. Reading for $2794. The land was located east of Gottlieb Diestelhorst's farm. Oliver raised vegetables, fruit, hay and cattle.
6. Train Trestle: The building of Shasta Dam and creation of Shasta Lake necessitated realigning the soon-to-be submerged railroad. This trestle (1939) is the start of the realignment. It is 110 ft. high, measuring from the riverbed to the top of the rail, and 4,348.8 ft. long ( .82 mile).
7. A.C.I.D Canal and Intake: The Anderson Cottonwood Irrigation District Canal, built in 1914-1917, is used for summer irrigation in the Churn Creek Bottom, Anderson and Cottonwood areas. The seasonal dam can be seen up-river from the North Market Street Bridge. The canal intake is at the southwest end of the bridge.
8. Original Railroad right-of-way: The town of Redding was created in 1872 by the Central Pacific Railroad when their northward track-laying terminated at the former Poverty Flats. Construction resumed in 1882 to link with the rail line coming south from Oregon. The tracks were laid along the south side of the Sacramento River in this area.
9. Salt Creek: This was the northern boundary of Pierson B. Reading's 1844 Mexican Land Grant of 26,632 acres.
10. Middle Creek and Waugh: Joseph Waugh operated ferries here from 1855 to 1883. Ferry opera tions ended as a result of right-of- way negotiations with the California & Oregon Railroad . With the railroad compensation money, he then built Waugh's Hotel, also known as the Middle Creek Hotel. This became a daily stop for passenger and freight trains, as well as travelers o n nearby Middle Creek Road. The little community of Waugh grew around the depot at the mouth of Middle Creek in the 1880's.
John and Charles Ruggles robbed the Weaverville stage on Middle Creek Road in 1892. They go t about $5000 and shot the popular messenger/guard Buck Montgomery. The injured Buck Montg omery was taken to Waugh's Hotel (also known as the Middle Creek Hotel), where he died. Th e Ruggles Brothers were later captured and eventually lynched beside the railroad tracks i n downtown Redding. An express pouch was found near Lower Springs with all the letters int act, but the money was missing. John stated he hid all the gold, except the coin, in Middl e Creek with a floating device that came within a foot of the surface. The gold has apparen tly never been recovered.
Original anchorage of the first Shasta County gold dredge, built and operated by John and Charles Diestelhorst about 1895. The dredge was later moved to Clear Creek and operated there for several years in the early 1900's.
11. Wintu Indian Village: A large Wintu Indian village was once located on the north side of t he Sacramento River roughly from the Diestelhorst Bridge to Sulphur Creek. The gravels in this stretch of the river are a prime salmon spawning area, salmon being a major Wintu food source.
12. Turtle Bay Sawmill and holding pond: The Big Bend Wood & Lumber Company sawmill was about where the Convention Center is now. Log rafts began in the Big Bend area, floated down the Pi t and Sacramento Rivers to the sawmill here. Wooden pilings for the sawmill holding pond can still be seen in the river at low water. In 1908 Thomas Benton purchased the sawmill and adde d a box factory, sash and door plant. It burned in 1910. The mill was rebuilt but closed in 1 916 when a flood took the entire season of logs. It burned in 1935.
13. Conveyer Belt: In 1939, Henry J. Kaiser's Columbia Construction Company built a conveyer belt to transport aggregate for the construction of Shasta Dam. The belt began at the Kutras gr avel deposit (today's Turtle Bay and Convention Center area) extending 9.6 miles to the Coram area just below Shasta Dam. The belt was 35" wide, contained 26 flights of varying length, and was powered by 200 horsepower motors. It carried 1,100 tons per hour, for a total of 12,200,000 tons for this project. Several concrete piers which held the conveyor belt can still be seen in the river upstream of the Sundial Bridge. The remaining concrete foundation of the aggregate p lant (The Monolith) is near Turtle Bay. Here the gravel was washed, crushed, sorted, and stock piled until needed.
(Information based on historical research compiled by local historian Dottie Smith. Our thanks to Dottie and to Marilyn Rountree, local history enthusiast and Redding Visitors Bureau employee, for taking the initiative to organize this information into an easy-to-carry format for YOUR use!)
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Based on this historical research, student Donna Pearson has compiled a 13-page report
entitled "Bicycling Through Time: History Along the Sacramento River" which she has
allowed us to post here for your use and enjoyment. All portions of this 2.34MB document are
copyrighted and should not be copied or distributed for any purpose. Whereas the "History of
the Sacramento River Trail" brochure was created so you could print and carry it with you
during your walk along the trail, Donna's work is intended as a thorough resource, including
photos, for those who wish to learn more about the history of Shasta County.
Click HERE to download and view this document now. You will have the option to print from your
home computer.
If you find this
information interesting and useful, please let us know by sending an e-mail to
angela@visitredding.com
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