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By FLOYD L. WYNNE
The population explosion hil
Klamath Kalis in 1906-1907.
As the 20th Century pulled over
the horizon it found a sleepy lit-
tlo town along the shores of Link
River somewhat isolated from the
rest of the world and apparently
content to stay that way.
After the excitement engendered
by the Modoc Indian War of 1872,
. the town had lapsed back into its!
commonplace existence as a town1
of hardy pioneers dependent
upon the stock raisers of the area
mainly lor its commerce.
The effects of irrigation had al
ready been explored, but not to
any great extent.
However, after 1900 arrived, the
Klamath Canal Company made an
enlarged effort at irrigation and
prospects for farming in the area
began to blossom.
; Simultaneously, there was talk
iii: timber development with big
companies moving into the area
lo secure timber stands for future
"ikvelopment.
'.Then developments, in turn,
brought talk of a railroad that
-would end the isolation of the
Klamath Basin. Each month
"brought new rumors, new reports
of rail lines headed for the Klam-
:ath country.
: In the meantime, the two main
routes in or out of the area were
-torturous ones indeed. One could
go by stage or boat to Keno,
by stage from there to Pokegama
where they could meet tho rail
line. Or, one could go by steam
er to Laird's landing on the
south end of Lower Klamath Lake
and make railroad connections
near there.
Into this setting came the pro
moters, the developers.
The Klamath Canal Company
purchased and began to promote
the Buena Vista Addition, lying
north in the California Avenue
area now, and up along the lake
on Front Street.
Another company, known as the
Klamath Development Company
(or KD Company) purchased what
is now the Hot Springs area and
began to promote this area.
In 1906, with the railroad coming
nearer and nearer. Irrigation ex
panding and timber coming to the
liont, competition between the
I'ao companies became keen and
intense.
Late in 1905, the KD Company1
applied to the council for aulhor-j
ity to operate a trolley car which
would travel from downtown to
the Hot Springs area. The Klam-
alh Canal Company countered in
January, 1906, by also asking fori
u franchise to operate a trolleyi
car, this one to go down Conger,
.Avenue, the California Avenue
area and up to Front Street, then,
hack to the Main Street area ter
minus. C. N. Hawkins was pros!
dent of the Klamath Canal Com
p.iny and the organization owned
-loo acres In the Buena Vista Addi
tion tl;ey were promoting.
Actual route of the Klamatli
( anal Company's trolley was out
lined in the franchise as: begin-!
innfi at northerly end of rrospect
Avenue in Nichols Addition.
thence south along Prospect to
loth Street, then southeasterly
along 10th to Washington, then
southwesterly along Washington
Id Ninth, then along 9th to Pine
.street, then along Pine to 7th
M reel, then on Seventh to Walnut,
iilong Walnut to Third, along Third
to Main, along Main to Conger,
then along Conger to its northern
terminus. Also, beginning at In
tersection of Sixth and Walnut.
don southeasterly along Sixth to
E!m, then southwesterly along
Lim to the terminus.
Only area of conflict with
n similar franchise granted earlier
to A. II. Naftzger of the KD Com
Kiny, was on Main Street from
Third lo Conger Avenue. .
The Hawkins franchise provided
that work would commence by
July 1, 1906 and be completed
vithin 18 months.
In mid March of 1906 work com
menced on the M.500.000 govern
ment canal by the Mason Davis
t ompany, including the digging o(
tho 3100 foot long tunnel. Mean-
I. me, tlie Klamath Canal Com
iiiiny announced grandiose plans
lor right miles of boulevards,
n huge tourist hotel and boat
limine on the lake.
Meantime, the council had stipu
lated that the first company to
l.iy its rails on Main Street
would be able to collect usage
money (rom the other company
for the Main Street rails since
they would permit only the one
set of rails on Mam Stteet.
Newspaper files (or the period
from March of 1908 to November
o r.i are not available so it Is
not possible to document all
l.ic!s nl early line construction
l iir that reason, we must refen
to a newspaper article by Doris
I'almer Tayn which was written
prior to 1940 in the Evening Her
a'd.
In her article, she notes that
Major Charles Worden and D. B
( amphell were the principal local
tiijurrs o( the KD Company and
W illiam K. Brown of the Klamath
Canal Company.
She reports that each faction
then vowed to have the first rails
down, and that Major Worden bet
RiOB with Brown that they would
r. their rails in first. The
;et for a thrilling turn of events.
The Kirkpatrick brothers were
trading streets in the Hot Springs
rrea for KD, and Campbell asked
them to have some six-horse teams
ready at a moment's notice to
go and get the rails for a street
car.
In the meantime, Brown hired
a teamster, J. M. Mclntlre, to
haul rails from Pokegama for
the Klamath Falls Land and
Transportation Company, a sub
sidiary of the Klamath Canal
Company. . '
Each side was carefully check-
San Francisco and was the of the horse-drawn trolley's first
Sutter Streetcar. It arrived in
Klamath Falls with the Sutter
Street sign still on it.
The Klamath Republican of
April 18, 1907, carried the account
trip. It reads: "The first street
car to be operated in this city was
run from the corner ol Main
Street and Conger Avenue last
Saturday afternoon under the di-
The preparation of this story and the acquiring of
pictures to document the story would have been im
possible without the assistance of Hal Ogle, Mrs.
Minnie Grizzle, the Klamath County Museum and
number of other sources. We are indebted to them
for their aid.
STREET CAR ARRIVES This was the great day of June 15, 1907, when the street
ear arrived from San Frencisco. One can see the words "Sutter" on the front. The
trolloy was from the proud Bay City fleet and traversed Sutter Street. R. E. Hunsaker
drove the two-teams that pulled it into town. It is shown halted in front of the Bald
win Hardware Store, now the Baldwin Motel.
ft TH A ' . f '.;.(.-..
..... . - 0ft T i. 'X' :,
JULY FOURTH PARADE The horsecar was officially put into service as a part of the
July Fourth celebration in 1907. The parade that day also turned out to be one of
the most festive In the history of the town. Here, a decorated pair of horses and
buggy roll down Main Street alongside the trolley tracks.
MEET THE PEOPLE
WHO
SAVE YOU MORE
fl
GREAT THINGS BREWING The feeling of optimism and coming growth domi.
nated activities of the 1907 Fourth of July celebration, Weyerhaeuser and other big
timber interests had only recently purchased big stands of timber, the railroad was
slowly moving toward Klamath Falls, and land speculation was rampant. This was
typical of the well-decorated floats that took part in the 1907 parade.
Ing on the vher and knew just
what they were planning.
One morning. Campbell ordered
Kirkpatrick to hitch up. and would
not tell tliem w here they were go
ing until they had left town. Then,
they were told to head for Grass
Lake where thry would pick up
tracks for the trolley.
Brown immediately dispatched
Mclntire to Tokegama lo pk k up
rails for the trolley, also. He real
ized that the KD Companv had the
jump on him, so he dispatched
Bob Hunsaker with a gallon jug
of whiskey to meet the outfit com-,
ing from (irass Lake.
Hunsaker apparently did his
work well. The hard-pressed trsnv
strrs rnjoyed a brief respite Irom
their labors and accepted the ad
vice from Hunsaker about the
best road lo take to get to Klam
ath Falls.
As a result they wound up hoMV
lesly mired in the mud ami lost
the race lo have Ihe first rails
put down. '
Brown won the $.'ro and tlie race
as Mclntire pulled into town with
the rails (or the trolley. Thr
Payne dispatch says that Brown
did not wail for Ihe rails but
hired every man available and
began tearing up Ihe streets for
the track at midnight on a Satur
day. The crews worked trserishly
throughout Sunday and into Mon
dav preparing tlie roadbed for tlie
tracks.
Brown promptly threw a big
party to celebrate Ihe triumph.
Work, however, en in grading
for Ihe rails continued for many
months, and it was not until mid
April 1907 that tlie first streetcar
becan operation.
f Y
Bob Jonci
Mrs. Bob Jones
Your Safeco Agency
JjN Southern Oregon
Insurance Agency
119 So. 6th Ph. TU 2-4671
rection of Mr. Bucll of the Klam
ath Falls Land and Transporta
tion Company. While it was an
improvised affair it sufficed to
carry nearly twenty guests of Mr.
Buell to the Upper Lake where
they enjoyed a ride on the newi
Buena Vista launch. The launch
got its initial bath Friday after
noon when a large number of
citizens were present to witness,
the christening and tlie trip Satur
day afternoon was the first long
trial trip of the new boat."
Tlie article continued . . . "Tlie
work of ballasting the track com
menced this week and will be
l' AGE J-A
pushed to completion as rapidly
as possible."
However, there appears to be
some discrepancy in the details,
because a later article in the Re
publican dated June 20, 1907.
says: "The first streetcar to reach
this city was brought in Saturday
(Continued on Page 5-A
HERALD AND NEWS, Klamath Falls, Ore.
Sunday, February 24, 196J
Just for the record . . .
weVe sounding our own
horn about our
43rd
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1920-1963
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i
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V
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i
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y?&w-'l'
mi" i
iJ'.
k4 A ' TAiiM:hjLd
e . . J
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Buy with Confidence -Famous Brands You
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k Biltwell, Kroehler, Tempo and Leonetti Upholstered Furniture
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In Lakeview . . .
LUCAS and
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12 No. e St.
0
in Klamath . .
FURNITURE, mi
. MAIN
money was put up and the stage
The sticetcir was purchased