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John S. Hittell (1825-1901) http://tinyurl.com/Hittell

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Unfortunate City

From "The Story of an Unfortunate City," 1868. Read Online

Reader: Daniel Maloney

We have often heard stories of the courage, strength, and endurance that Californians needed to settle a mining town during the Gold Rush. But what happened to these places when the gold was gone?

In 1868, the northern California town of Klamath was decayed and decaying when author John S. Hittell arrived. Here, he describes the quiet desolation he encountered as he traveled through:

Klamath City was, but is not. Its destruction is complete. It has not even left a ruin for a memento. A lonely cabin may mark its site, but the tenants know nothing of the city that was, and was to be. History scarcely recognizes the place; no connected record has been made of its annals. Although not a score of years have elapsed since the city was projected, its site selected after remarkable adventures, its houses built, and its founders made millionaires in their own confident anticipations, it is doubtful to the present writer whether one of them remains in the land of the living.

Hittell detailed the rise and fall of Klamath City in his essay, "The Story of an Unfortunate City," which was published in "Overland Monthly" in August 1868.

–Contributed by Jessica Barganski.