A History of Orick & Stone Lagoon: Southern Gateway to Redwood National Park
A History of Orick & Stone Lagoon: Southern Gateway to Redwood National Park
The author's family, originally German and Swiss immigrants, lived in the Orick area for three generations, giving him unique personal insight into the natural setting, remembered events and the everyday lives of the area's people. The book's nearly 200 pages are filled not only with historical information but with numerous photos, many of which are from private collections and have not been published before.
The book opens with the indigenous Yurok, their settlements, place names, legends and skills at making baskets, plank houses and canoes. The conflict of cultures is then covered when Euro-Americans arrive as settlers and also as fortune seekers with limited success at Gold Bluffs. Detailed biographical information is given about some of the early settlers and the new town of Orick (anglicized from the Yurok name) and the business enterprises, road building and schools. The economic impacts of the timber industry, dairy, and fishing are explored as are the doings of small town life, the parades, rodeos, and events such as the Banana Slug Derby.
Fond of the area though he is, Zuber does not shy away from the negative. The devastating 1964 flood almost wiped out the town, and the establishing of nearby state and national parks had both good and bad effects. New tourism and the sales of whimsical wood carvings are highlighted but so is the author's plea to all levels of government to revitalize this historic and charming town -- something which the publishing and reading of this very book might help accomplish.
