Historical Clippings Book (HC-04) (198 pages)

PU RAN Pioneer Ha McClatchy Newspapers Service SAWYERS BAR, Siskiyou Co. — The century-old mining claims along Black Bear Creek are inhabited by a band of jet-age settlers. Their only bonds with the miners of yesteryear arebeards and a determined guardianship of their land. * Some call them hippies; other say ascetics. But today’s Black Bear settlers apparently have no plans to work the veins of ~ the wooded hillsides, appar-. . ~ in hiding. gold-bearing quartz which © local legend maintains still exist at the bottom of a flooded, 600-foot shaft. vacy. Claim jumpers once again are barred from thehistoric mining site. The Black Bear Quartz Mine yielded $3 million in gold between its discovery in 1860 and 1932 when it bea ee ee _ turned with a health officer Their defensive attitude Is designed to protect something they seem to value far . . more than gold: Their pri. came economically unfeasi~ ble to continue operations. The _ original claims patented in 1865 by John Daggett, plus the tummining . bledown old town of Black © Bear, were purchased in 1968 by Robert Marley of ~ San Francisco for a reported $22,500. Varied Housing About 30 adults and 10 to}) 15 children live on the!}75-acre property, according. . ) to a recent visitor. Some occupy the original mine superintendent’s residence and » the old bunkhouse, but a va ‘iety of new structures, ranging from a tepee and a log cabin to a geodesic dome, have been put up to accommodate residents. The Black Bear colony is] . remote — but has not es-. . incidents represented clear caped some problems with “neighbors” in Sawyers Bar,. . elght miles away, and Etna, another 26 miles distant. A “raid” on the colony by Sisklyou County — sheriff's deputies last June did noth; ing to improve the relations. of the Black Bear group with _ Surrounding communities, Four persons were arrested on drug charges, perhaps * confirming an impression already widely held by outsiders. ~ Stason; on another, a colo. ~ members In their search for evidence, according to one of the colony's friends in Etna, sheriff's deputies uprooted 200 young tomato plants in the garden which produces some food for the group. . Sheriff's deputies who participated in the raid reported being greeted by derisive cries — ‘Oust the pigs! Free the People!” — frorn. ently from colony members After two of the suspects were found to have infectious hepatitis, a deputy reto make a sanitary inspection of the camp. They were refused admittance because they lacked a warrant. Another time, deputies say, officers went to Black Bear to arrest a colony member on a warrant and encountered a gate and guard “on a county road leading to) . deputies) showed their warrant and] entered to search the: prem . isis — an act filmed by a colthe camp. The ony member with a movie camera. There have been other in: . cidents, too, which have built and solidified a mutual . colony — and authorities) . Two of them may serve tq distrust between point up the differences ir viewpoints: On one occasion, * the Black Bear residents were found to be in posses: sion of a deer carcass out o nist entered a demolitio project in Etna to salvag some old pipe without ask ing permission. There wer¢ ~ arrests in both instances. _ they needed without serious ~ harm to anyone. ~. acted by the majority,” says _ Undersheriff ~ “Just because someone has ~ long hair and doesn't take a bath, it does not exempt Violations Clear To the authorities — anc most of the townsfolk — the Violations of public and priMatt ye a ae ee PRR A ee w Sunday, November 2, 1969 } THE SACRAMENTO BEE No Hippie , John Daggett, who served 11 sessions as a state assemblyman and was California's lieutenant governor 1883-87, is shown on the front porch of his Black Bear Mine home shortly before his death in 1919 at the age of 86. On ry rdihood May Save Day For Black Bear's ‘Hippies’ On the other hand, friends of the colonists among the local residents wonder whether a townsman would have been arrested for the same acts. The complaint about the ‘colonists’ bathing habits is a ¢ommon one among shopkeepers; another is foul lan-. guage. Yet, according to the than the residents of Black owner of a gas station where Bear conjecture or care the colonists frequently about what outsiders may clean up when they come to think. town, the Black Bear group The purpose of the colony is “neater” than many local apparently is to provide residents. each individual an opportuAnother cause of friction nity to “do his own thing,” between authorities and the and that involves a variety colonists is the latter's failOf activities from manual ure to apply for building permits for _ construction which has taken place at the old mining camp. While some of the construction is modern the geodesic dome, for instance — other dwellings are mere shacks, While the colony discourages visitors — including newsmen — and shuns all publicity, good or bad, as harmful, Black Bear residents have made some effort to get to know their neighbors. Colony members have put on musical _ performances, followed by potluck lunches, at an Etna church. There were also some plans for an art show, Still, observers say, the predominant feeling in the nearby community is hostility and a tendency to credit rumors of drug abuse and sexual promiscuity at Black} Bear. But it 1s probably true! that outsiders speculate and. care more about what may. vate property laws; the colo: nists, it is assumed, merely felt they were taking what “These things are against the laws which have been enBill Rokes. him from the law,” . eee Weiss i be going on at Black Bear! labor to the arts. The group includes a classical music scholar from New York and a sculptor who carves primitive bowls and other works from the old walnut timbers of the Black Bear mine. Irrigation Works The colony’s garden js Irrigated by an intricately engineered system, and its resident jackass and sows feed on hay carefully stowed in an old barn, The colony's fiture is uncertain, Besides the obsta-. cles presented by local hos-) tility and the contant seru-; tiny of law enforcement and! public health officials, there are apparent financial diffi-) culties. The group periodi-} cally is reported to be be-. hind in its monthly pay-! ments of some $200, but! members apparently are, preparing for their second) winter at Black Bear. . The perseverance and har-. diness the colonists dis-! played last winter — several) weeks of which they spent. snowbound — earned them) the respect of many towns-. people, Financial and legal) difficulties notwithstanding, . there are some who feel) such traits may prove to be! the currency of acceptance} in an area where pioneer} Virtues are still important. . .

PU RAN Pioneer Ha McClatchy Newspapers Service SAWYERS BAR, Siskiyou Co. — The century-old mining claims along Black Bear Creek are inhabited by a band of jet-age settlers. Their only bonds with the miners of yesteryear arebeards and a determined guardianship of their land. * Some call them hippies; other say ascetics. But today’s Black Bear settlers apparently have no plans to work the veins of ~ the wooded hillsides, appar-. . ~ in hiding. gold-bearing quartz which © local legend maintains still exist at the bottom of a flooded, 600-foot shaft. vacy. Claim jumpers once again are barred from thehistoric mining site. The Black Bear Quartz Mine yielded $3 million in gold between its discovery in 1860 and 1932 when it bea ee ee _ turned with a health officer Their defensive attitude Is designed to protect something they seem to value far . . more than gold: Their pri. came economically unfeasi~ ble to continue operations. The _ original claims patented in 1865 by John Daggett, plus the tummining . bledown old town of Black © Bear, were purchased in 1968 by Robert Marley of ~ San Francisco for a reported $22,500. Varied Housing About 30 adults and 10 to}) 15 children live on the!}75-acre property, according. . ) to a recent visitor. Some occupy the original mine superintendent’s residence and » the old bunkhouse, but a va ‘iety of new structures, ranging from a tepee and a log cabin to a geodesic dome, have been put up to accommodate residents. The Black Bear colony is] . remote — but has not es-. . incidents represented clear caped some problems with “neighbors” in Sawyers Bar,. . elght miles away, and Etna, another 26 miles distant. A “raid” on the colony by Sisklyou County — sheriff's deputies last June did noth; ing to improve the relations. of the Black Bear group with _ Surrounding communities, Four persons were arrested on drug charges, perhaps * confirming an impression already widely held by outsiders. ~ Stason; on another, a colo. ~ members In their search for evidence, according to one of the colony's friends in Etna, sheriff's deputies uprooted 200 young tomato plants in the garden which produces some food for the group. . Sheriff's deputies who participated in the raid reported being greeted by derisive cries — ‘Oust the pigs! Free the People!” — frorn. ently from colony members After two of the suspects were found to have infectious hepatitis, a deputy reto make a sanitary inspection of the camp. They were refused admittance because they lacked a warrant. Another time, deputies say, officers went to Black Bear to arrest a colony member on a warrant and encountered a gate and guard “on a county road leading to) . deputies) showed their warrant and] entered to search the: prem . isis — an act filmed by a colthe camp. The ony member with a movie camera. There have been other in: . cidents, too, which have built and solidified a mutual . colony — and authorities) . Two of them may serve tq distrust between point up the differences ir viewpoints: On one occasion, * the Black Bear residents were found to be in posses: sion of a deer carcass out o nist entered a demolitio project in Etna to salvag some old pipe without ask ing permission. There wer¢ ~ arrests in both instances. _ they needed without serious ~ harm to anyone.

~. acted by the majority,” says _ Undersheriff ~ “Just because someone has ~ long hair and doesn't take a bath, it does not exempt Violations Clear To the authorities — anc most of the townsfolk — the Violations of public and priMatt ye a ae ee PRR A ee w Sunday, November 2, 1969 } THE SACRAMENTO BEE No Hippie , John Daggett, who served 11 sessions as a state assemblyman and was California's lieutenant governor 1883-87, is shown on the front porch of his Black Bear Mine home shortly before his death in 1919 at the age of 86. On ry rdihood May Save Day For Black Bear's ‘Hippies’ On the other hand, friends of the colonists among the local residents wonder whether a townsman would have been arrested for the same acts. The complaint about the ‘colonists’ bathing habits is a ¢ommon one among shopkeepers; another is foul lan-. guage. Yet, according to the than the residents of Black owner of a gas station where Bear conjecture or care the colonists frequently about what outsiders may clean up when they come to think. town, the Black Bear group The purpose of the colony is “neater” than many local apparently is to provide residents. each individual an opportuAnother cause of friction nity to “do his own thing,” between authorities and the and that involves a variety colonists is the latter's failOf activities from manual ure to apply for building permits for _ construction which has taken place at the old mining camp. While some of the construction is modern the geodesic dome, for instance — other dwellings are mere shacks, While the colony discourages visitors — including newsmen — and shuns all publicity, good or bad, as harmful, Black Bear residents have made some effort to get to know their neighbors. Colony members have put on musical _ performances, followed by potluck lunches, at an Etna church. There were also some plans for an art show, Still, observers say, the predominant feeling in the nearby community is hostility and a tendency to credit rumors of drug abuse and sexual promiscuity at Black} Bear. But it 1s probably true! that outsiders speculate and. care more about what may. vate property laws; the colo: nists, it is assumed, merely felt they were taking what “These things are against the laws which have been enBill Rokes. him from the law,” . eee Weiss i be going on at Black Bear! labor to the arts. The group includes a classical music scholar from New York and a sculptor who carves primitive bowls and other works from the old walnut timbers of the Black Bear mine. Irrigation Works The colony’s garden js Irrigated by an intricately engineered system, and its resident jackass and sows feed on hay carefully stowed in an old barn, The colony's fiture is uncertain, Besides the obsta-. cles presented by local hos-) tility and the contant seru-; tiny of law enforcement and! public health officials, there are apparent financial diffi-) culties. The group periodi-} cally is reported to be be-. hind in its monthly pay-! ments of some $200, but! members apparently are, preparing for their second) winter at Black Bear. . The perseverance and har-. diness the colonists dis-! played last winter — several) weeks of which they spent. snowbound — earned them) the respect of many towns-. people, Financial and legal) difficulties notwithstanding, . there are some who feel) such traits may prove to be! the currency of acceptance} in an area where pioneer} Virtues are still important. . .