Humboldt County CA Archives History - Books .....Camp Grant 1890
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Book Title: History And Business Directory Of Humboldt County

CAMP GRANT

    The general resources of that tract of land in Southern Humboldt, known as
the Camp Grant section, which is enclosed in an area of 35 miles on the main Eel
river and 30 miles on the. South Fork of Eel river, are as yet but little
understood. That this country is bound to be recognized as the great fruit belt
of Northern California no one acquainted with the climate and character of the
soil can doubt. The general surface of the country is mountainous and covered
with a heavy and valuable forest of redwood timber, diversified with prairies
and large tracts of level and rich bottom lands. On the banks of the river are
found many fine houses. Most of the farms were originally covered with a heavy
growth of pepperwood or California laurel. There still remains fully
three-fourths of this valuable laud to be cleared, which is being done as fast
as the developments of the country are assured. Camp Grant proper is situated on
the south bank of main Eel river, about two miles and a half above the mouth of
the South Fork. It is located on a level body of land with two miles frontage on
the river, and about half a mile wide in the center, with the foothills coming
to the river's edge at either end, forming a semi-circle.

    Of this body of land, about sixty acres are under cultivation, the balance
being covered with pepperwood, redwood and other timber. It has-an elevation of
about three hundred feet above the sea level. The climate is delightful, the
mercury seldom remaining at the freezing point twenty-four hours at a time. In
summer it ranges from 70 deg. to 90 deg. in the warmest part of the day, seldom
going over 100 deg. The nights are cool and pleasant. The following kinds of
fruit and nuts grow or could be grown to perfection in this region: Apples,
pears, peaches, prunes, oranges, grapes, English walnuts, soft and hard shell
almonds, etc. Prune trees bear heavily and ripen early, and can be dried in the
sun in from two to three weeks. The apples and peaches grown here are a surprise
to the people coming from the southern part of the State. But the great drawback
to the fruit-growing interest is the lack of transportation. If it could be
cheaply and certainly transported over Eel river bar, an immense quantity of
fruit would be raised and shipped from this part of the county. There are
several fruit orchards near Camp Grant. One of 1,500 trees has a fine nursery in
connection with it. There is another of 640 trees, nearly all of which are
apricots and prunes. Many orchards were planted in the fall of 1886. On the
opposite bank of the river is a prairie of eighty acres, where, in 1863, a
company of soldiers were stationed during the Indian trouble, naming the place
Camp Grant. This little prairie is now a fine sheep ranch. Farther up the river
are many fine farms, mostly seeded to alfalfa, from which three to four crops of
hay are cut each year.

    Six miles east of Camp Grant is the eastern terminus of the great redwood
belt. From there, far beyond the county line is good grass land, and immense
herds of cattle roam over the rolling hills. At the mouth of the South Fork of
Eel river is a fine body of agricultural land, and a ferry connects the Camp
Grant and Garberville roads. Here we find a hotel and a livery and feed stable
for the accommodation of travelers. Two miles up the South Fork we come to Bull
creek. On this stream is to be found one of the finest and heaviest bodies of
redwood timber on the coast. Up the creek about six miles from its junction is
quite a large tract of open land, on which is a young and thriving settlement of
some twenty or thirty families. They have a good school house and over thirty
pupils in attedance at school. This tract is being rapidly planted in fruit
trees and grape vines. One practical grape-grower has planted 10,000 vines.
Passing up South Fork we find many fine homes, orchards and vineyards, with
school houses every four or five miles, until we come to Phillipsville. This
settlement consists of eight or ten familes, a school house, store, postoffice,
livery stable, etc. Here we find more orchards, and more are being planted every
year. There is a small saw mill about three miles above Camp Grant on the main
river, and another on the South Fork. These mills furnish lumber for the
locality, and are used for cutting cants to be rafted down the river to larger
mills.

    There are at Camp Grant, 4,000 fruit trees; on the main river two miles
above, 2,000 trees; down the main river above Eagle Prairie, 5,003; on Bull
creek up the South Fork, 1,500; total, 12,500 trees.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

History and Business Directory of

HUMBOLDT COUNTY
DESCRIPTIVE OF THE
NATURAL RESOURCES
DELIGHTFUL CLIMATE
PICTURESQUE SCENERY
BEAUTIFUL HOMES

THE ONLY COUNTY IN THE STATE CONTAINING NO CHINAMEN

LILLIE E. HAMM, PUBLISHER
(COPYRIGHTED)
EUREKA, CALA.
DAILY HUMBOLDT STANDARD 
NOVEMBER, 1890.


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