Eureka and Arcata California

The United States of America is indebted to dreary Eureka. Had this northern California coastal region not been so forlorn, isolated and depressing back in the 1800s, the great Civil War general and 18th president of the United States Ulysses S. Grant might not have resigned his commission as commanding officer of F Company at Fort Humboldt in the 1850s. And we can only imagine how things would have turned out without General Grant leading the charge against the rebellious South.

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Until recently, Grant and I would have been in accord, for each time I’ve driven up the 101 past those sad, corroding strip malls and that broken-down, weather-battered, moldy and mangy excuse of a community it was only out of necessity. And when I stopped it was only for gas. The soppy, dark gray, overcast sky that’s responsible for those 300’ tall giant redwoods that begged to be mowed down over the last 150 years, and the incessant rain that makes my knees ache on queue, will drive you to the brink of utter despair during the long wet season. And then one trip I turned left on a whim and followed the signs to Old Town near the waterfront on Humboldt Bay, down by the boardwalk with views of Woodley Island Marina across the water. As it turned out, it was one of the best left turns I’ve made in a long while because Eureka (and neighboring Arcata) has evolved into a classy, artistic and sophisticated small city with a rich Western heritage. Free-standing abstract sculptures are cropping up over town, and grand, sweeping murals adorn exterior walls throughout the city. John Villani was sufficiently impressed to name Eureka the best small art town in his book, “The 100 Best Small Art Towns in America.” That’s saying something. Old commercial and residential buildings sporting the Victorian motif have been wonderfully restored. What were once decrepit brick and wood structures housing the well-to-do and salt of the earth who supported a vibrant logging, mining and maritime economy are now artistic masterpieces, tastefully resurrected and populated with boutiques, wonderful lodges, coffee shops, some fine restaurants and tasteful art galleries. Old Town Eureka is recognized nationally for its heritage of crumbling, old redbrick buildings and deep alleys trimmed in rust, and ornate facades, and brick crosswalks and iron benches and lots of colorful flowers. As you explore the quiet neighborhoods you’ll be amazed at the number and quality of Victorian buildings, or “Queens” as they’re affectionately called, many originally constructed during the boom years of the 1800s. Around 1,600 examples of Victorian homes have been identified in the area, none more impressive than the green, turreted and towered Carson Mansion perched above Old Town at the head of Second Street. It was built during the 1880s on behalf of lumber baron William Carson, and is claimed by some to be the most photographed Victorian building in America. Nearby you’ll also find the “Pink Lady,” another Carson family project that is well worth the short detour as you head for the beach over Samoa Bridge. Humboldt Bay, the second largest enclosed bay in California, separates Eureka from the sandy Pacific coast. “Officially” rediscovered by sea in 1850 by European Americans, the large hidden bay was the home and primary food source for the Wiyot Indians, known for their basketry and fishing skills. Gold discovered inland in and around the Trinity Alps and along the Salmon, Klamath and Trinity rivers resulted in a California rush second only to the famous Gold Rush in the Sierra Nevadas. Eureka, and Arcata a few miles to the north, supplied the influx of miners who began arriving in droves by sea through Humboldt Bay, forsaking the tedious and time-consuming overland route up the Sacramento Valley. Strong demand for timber in San Francisco and farther down the coast fueled significant industrial growth in the region, and given the seemingly endless supply of trees that once dominated the now-depleted area, (96 percent of all redwoods are gone), it wasn’t long before the tremendous groves fell to the ax and handsaw. Lumber was king and lumber barons ruled. By 1854, seven lumber mills operated at full throttle and 150 schooners operated in the bay hauling wood products to the outside world. Shipbuilding also flourished. And by 1858 processing plants on Eureka’s waterfront shipped out 50,000 pounds of smoked salmon and 2,000 barrels of cured fish annually. 150 years later, Humboldt Bay continues to host the West Coast’s largest oyster farming enterprise. Fishing today continues, with Eureka boasting two modern marinas and berths for over 300 seaworthy vessels. As can be expected, the Wiyot Indians didn’t take kindly to their new neighbors. Life was relatively peaceful until whitey showed up and turned their indigenous world upside down, and nearly wiped them out. Uneasy coexistence was marked by murder and mayhem of shocking proportions. When the Europeans first arrived, the Wiyot had the upper hand as they engaged in battle and made settlement difficult. But sheer numbers won the day as the white man swarmed in, cut off vital food sources and appropriated the natives’ land. Mounting violence and forced relocations were countered in 1853 with the establishment of Fort Humboldt which you can visit at Fort Humboldt State Historic Park on the south side of Eureka situated on a bluff overlooking the bay. The white man’s hatred for those Native Americans seems to have peeked on February 25, 1860 when a large group of Eureka businessmen, primarily, massacred somewhere between 80 and 200 men, women and children on Indian Island in Humboldt Bay. It was a bloody affair as the pseudo-Christian mob dispensed with pistols and rifles and chopped their victims up with hatchets and knives instead. Even though the massacre was documented, the locals justified the ethnic cleansing as racially necessary. And one by one the Wiyot eventually dwindled from 2,000 to 100. Rampant xenophobia didn’t stop with the natives. By the 1880s hard economic times and limited jobs drove a wedge between the European Americans and immigrant Chinese who were viewed as a growing threat. 600 men of European descent ran off 480 Eureka Chinese, destroyed their businesses and confiscated their property. Far from spontaneous, these anti-Asian sentiments were codified in a local, unofficial ordinance that wasn’t repealed until 1959. It read in part: “That a committee be appointed to act for one year, whose duty shall be to warn all Chinamen who may attempt to come to this place to live, and to use all reasonable means to prevent their remaining. If the warning is disregarded, to call mass meetings of citizens to whom the case will be referred for proper action.” I believe those mass meetings today would be called a “lynch mob.” Situated on the northeast corner of Humboldt Bay, Arcata is home to the deep thinkers of Humboldt State University. Founded in 1913 and with a student population of 7,000, Humboldt State is highly regarded as one of the premier institutions of higher education in the Northwest for its size. The attractive campus emphasizes studies in forestry and natural resources, marine fisheries and wildlife. The curricula also includes programs in environmental education, business and oceanography, to name a few. Like ultra-progressive Humboldt county in general, the university leans toward the innovative, also offering courses like Dance, Peace Corps/International programs and Multicultural Queer studies. (Yes, that kind of queer.) The university’s youthful ambiance is evident in this highly-educated, hip little town. With the campus on the east side of Highway 101 and Arcata just west of there, most travelers drive right by and miss out on a delightful small community reminiscent of small towns in the Deep South or the Northeast, especially the central plaza. In 1850 the town designated an entire city block as undeveloped park. At one time this square patch of ground was used as a campground by lode-bound miners, and freely grazed by wandering cattle and goats. As the town matured a bandstand was built, since gone, and flowers began to adorn the lush green lawn that is now ringed with restaurants, lodging, specialty shops and a few well-trod taverns. Today the Arcata Plaza is a great gathering place where locals congregate to relax, attend rallies, sidewalk sales and crafts fairs. It’s also a magnet for hippies - freaks, they used to be called, the unkempt, ganja-toking, tie-dyed youth of the liberal left that have this thing for rolling around in the mud. If you visit, bring your camera and zoom lens and prepare for a time-warp that will launch you back to the sixties. Thick mats of hair flow in great waves as they howl and faithfully strum their ukuleles and chant Grateful Dead tunes just like their grandparents. It makes for a great show. You’ve got your nose rings, your lip rings, and for the very disturbed, brass rings for the brown nipple. Not sure why they do that and I don’t really want to know. Unlike the sixties, though, nowadays they come with the green hair, the blue hair, and some of that purple stuff - so much hair in fact that I cringe with envy. If you’re musically inclined, or not, and want to get to know the locals at the plaza, slip into some denim and bring along your bongos for the communal bong-along. But here’s one little bit of advice. Don’t go judging the harmonica player by the bone in his nose - you just might be looking down at the future governor of California, and there’s a fair-to-middling chance that he, or she, is working on his or her third master’s degree and is a darn sight smarter than you or I will ever hope to be. I’m a deep thinker, too, and whenever I stroll past the unwashed huddled on the beautiful green commons of beautiful Arcata Plaza under that ugly, gray sky, shaking my head and muttering to myself, one disturbing thought plagues me to no end, namely: “I used to look like that?” Clippings