Del Norte County is a county located at the far northwest corner of the U.S. state of California, along the Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Oregon border. Its population is 27,743 as of the 2020 census, down from 28,610 from the 2010 census. The county seat and only incorporated city is Crescent City. Del Norte was pioneered and populated by Azorean Portuguese settlers and dairy farmers, which may account for the local pronunciation of the county name. Locals pronounce the county name as Del Nort, not Del Nor-teh as would be expected in Spanish.
Crescent City is the only incorporated city in Del Norte County, California; it is also the county seat. Named for the crescent-shaped stretch of sandy beach south of the city, Crescent City had a total population of 6,673 in the 2020 census, down from 7,643 in the 2010 census.
The Siletz were the southernmost of several divisions of the Tillamook people speaking a distinct dialect; the other dialect-divisions were: Salmon River on the Salmon River, Nestucca on Little Nestucca River, Nestucca River and Nestucca Bay, Tillamook Bay on the Tillamook Bay and the mouths of the Kilchis, Wilson, Trask and Tillamook rivers, and Nehalem on Nehalem River. The name "Siletz" comes from the name of the Siletz River on which they live. The origin of the name is unknown
Camp Lincoln, in Crescent City, California, was a United States military post. It was established June 13, 1862, by the men of Company G, 2nd Regiment, Infantry, California Volunteers to keep peace between the Tolowa tribe of Native Americans and the miners and settlers of northwestern California.
Fort Ter-Waw was a fortified position of U.S. Army located at the site of the present-day town of Klamath Glen, California. The Location is six miles (9.7 km)upstream from the mouth of the Klamath River in the former Klamath River Reservation.
The Tolowa language is a member of the Pacific Coast subgroup of the Athabaskan language family. Together with three other closely related languages it forms a distinctive Oregon Athabaskan cluster within the subgroup.
The Tolowa people or Taa-laa-wa Dee-ni’ are a Native American people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethno-linguistic group. Two rancherías still reside in their traditional territory in northwestern California. Those removed to the Siletz Reservation in Oregon are located there.
Loren Me’-lash-ne Bommelyn is a tradition bearer for the Tolowa tribe. He has dedicated himself to preserving the traditional songs, language, and basketry. He is the foremost ceremonial leader of the tribe, and its most prolific basketweaver. Bommelyn is an enrolled member of the federally recognized Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation and was elected as their tribal chairperson.
Gasquet is an unincorporated community in Del Norte County, California, United States, 22 mi (35 km) south of the Oregon border and 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Crescent City. The name is in honor of Horace Gasquet, who was the owner of the gold mines, hotel, railway, bank and post office, as well as the founder of Crescent City and Happy Camp. A post office operated at Gasquet from 1879 to 1902 and from 1949 to present. Gasquet is located in the Smith River National Recreation Area.
Smith River is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Del Norte County, California, located near the Oregon border. Smith River is the headquarters of the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation, a federally recognized tribe of Tolowa people. As of the 2020 census, the population was 906. It is bordered by the Smith River National Recreation Area.
The Elk Valley Rancheria is a ranchería and federally recognized tribe of Tolowa and Yurok people. It is located in the census-designated place of Bertsch-Oceanview, Del Norte County, California, just east of Crescent City. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 99.
Tolowa Dunes State Park is a 4,000-acre (16 km2) California State Park located in Del Norte County, on the North Coast of California.
Lake Earl is a lagoon on the extreme northern California coast, just south of the Oregon border. A navigable body of water, it lies partly within Tolowa Dunes State Park and partly within Lake Earl Wildlife Area in Del Norte County, California and the third-most important seabird area on the West Coast after the Farallons and the Channel Islands.
Otter Point State Recreation Site is a state park in the U.S. state of Oregon, administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. The part is located near the cities of Brookings, Oregon and Gold Beach, Oregon.
Fort Dick is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in rural Del Norte County, California. Fort Dick is around five miles north of Crescent City, California, and around 15 mi (24 km) south of the California–Oregon state line. Its population is 912 as of the 2020 census, up from 588 from the 2010 census. It is located on the U.S. Route 101 corridor on the Redwood Coast. A post office was set up in 1917.
Yontocket is an unincorporated community in Del Norte County, California located 3 miles (4.8 km) west-southwest of Smith River, at an elevation of 26 feet alongside Yontocket Slough.
The Yontocket massacre or Burnt Ranch massacre was an 1853 massacre of Tolowa people at the village of Yontocket, northwestern California.
The Achulet Massacre refers to the 1854 massacre of an estimated 65-150 Tolowa Indians at the hands of European-American settlers. The incident occurred at the village of Achulet, near Lake Earl in [what is now Del Norte County Del Norte County), California. During the same time, the Tolowa people were forcibly relocated to what they refer to as the “Klamath Concentration Camp”, only to later be relocated to Indian reservations in Oregon in 1860 after the Rogue River Wars. The village of Achulet was developed into a huge shipping and trade center. Its development can be attributed to the extensive migration of Europeans into California from 1845 to 1855, most of whom were prompted to travel there by the California gold rush. However, the arrival of these Easterners resulted in a visible decline of the Tolowa population. In addition to genocide, the decline in Tolowa population can also be attributed to contracting diseases that were introduced by the European-American settlers.
The Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation, previously known as Smith River Rancheria, is a federally recognized tribe of Tolowa people in Del Norte County, California. They are Athabascan people, distantly related to northern Athabascans of eastern Alaska and western Canada, as well as the Apache and Navajo peoples of the American Southwest.
Eunice Xash-wee-tes-na Henry Bommelyn was an American Tolowa cultural advocate, Tolowa language proponent, and tribal historian. Bommelyn was the last living person to speak Tolowa as a native first language; Bommelyn led the effort to revive fluency and teach the language. She uncovered and recorded the genealogy of the Tolowa from the present to the 1790s. Her genealogical records are used to determine the membership and enrollment of the Smith River Rancheria, the federally recognized tribe of Tolowa people in Del Norte County, California. Bommelyn was the mother of Loren Bommelyn, a ceremonial leader and basket weaver.
