We Made it to The G-O Road -Part 1

Emily and I left Grants Pass about 10:00 am headed for Gasquet, CA. After several long delays due to construction and a house fire, we made it to the Headquarters of the Six Rivers National Forest in Gasquet at about 11:30 am. The office was closed for a "forest service meeting" until 1:00. We proceeded to Myrtle Beach where the turn-off is for hwy 427. We followed the road East for 14 miles and found the entrance to the G-O Road. We followed the road up into the mountains about 5 miles. We are now in Crescent City eating lunch and headed to the Del Norte Historical Museum....Part 2 to come soon...with pictures

Grants Pass Visit - Research Starts Soon

Hello everyone. It is Saturday and I am in Grants Pass Oregon. I am here on vacation which includes a family wedding. I am very excited because my research starts on Monday. My daughter Emily is my research assistant and we will be driving from Grants Pass to Eureka California. There we plan to visit Humboldt State University to visit the Cultural Resources Facility where we hope to access research papers concerning the G-O Road. We also hope to find out from the staff there how to access research papers at Sonoma State University.

Next we want to visit the Humboldt County Historical Society Archive and Research Center in Eureka. It is only open Wednesday thru Friday so they will probably be closed. In addition they are closed the whole month of August. We are going to stop by anyways. Maybe good things will happen.

Finally we hope to get to the town of Orleans including driving as much of the southern portion of the G-O Road itself as possible. From Google Earth the southern portion of the road appears to be more maintained and accessible than the northern side. Check it out and let me know what you think. On a side note, I am interested in Bigfoot and I think this is close to the Willow Creek area where the famous Patterson-Gimlin film was taken in 1967. I will make sure I have my camera ready in case the big guy makes an appearance.

Is there anything there that you suggest we see on this visit or future visits?

Request for Information - Need Your Help

I am looking for individuals who can aid in my research including those who have first hand knowledge of the G-O Road history. I would appreciate hearing from people who...

• Have anything that they feel I should know about the road that might aid in my research including places I should visit or people I should talk to.

• Worked on building the road or were involved in the planning or design of the road.

• Worked on or were involved in the court cases surrounding the road.

• Worked for the US Forest Service doing archeological work in the Six River's National Forest prior to 1990.

• Worked for the US Forest Service as a Forester in the Six River's National Forest or Smith River Wilderness/Recreation area prior to 1990.

• Have first hand knowledge of the effect the road and the legal case had on the lives of the native peoples of the area.

• Lived in or around Gasquet or Orleans prior to 1990 and have first hand knowledge of the road especially names, dates and what the citizens thought of the road.

• Are especially knowledgeable about the road.

• Have had unusual experiences on the road.

• Is aware of significant crimes or controversial events that happened on or near the road prior to 1990.

• Feels confident that my facts or conclusions are incorrect pertaining to the road. Please help me correct factual errors.

Please leave a comment below and I will follow-up with you as soon as I can.

Thank you

Chris

Welcome to My Research Blog

Welcome to my G-O Road research blog. The purpose of this blog is to document my efforts to research the G-O Road Project. I will be traveling to Northern California to learn as much as I can about the history of the G-O Road. I want to discover why and when the road was built and by who. I want to understand how the local citizens including the native americans felt about the road and the legal battle surrounding it...how the legal battle including the controversial supreme court ruling effected the tribes of the area. I want learn about the archeological activities of the Forest Service and the conflicts within the organization between the cultural staff and the foresters. My hope is that people who were associated with the road in the 1950's through the late 1980's will see the blog and share their experiences and I hope to interview these people if possible.

To accomplish all this I plan to visit some colleges including Humboldt State University and Sonoma State University. I will be exploring the historical societies and museums in Del Norte and Humboldt counties. I hope to gain access to the historical archives of the U.S. Forest Service and/or the Department of Agriculture. I definitely need to visit the Ranger Stations and local Forest Service Offices as well as local libraries and newspapers. I want to visit any Native American cultural centers or museums associated with the Yurok, Tolowa, Karuk and Hoopa Valley peoples. Most importantly I want to travel as much of the actual G-O Road as possible while being deeply respectful of the sacred places of the high country. I want to visit the Chimney Rock and Doctor Rock areas if I can do so without offending the native peoples.
In addition I hope this blog will educate others about the role this road played in the preservation of the Six Rivers National Forest.