City of Montague
Under the guidance of Carroll Pepperdine, the Chapter’s third Humbug (Club President), Montague was selected to place a plaque. First erected in 1975, this plaque is located in City Park along 11th Street between King and Webb Streets. Wording on the plaque’s first rendition was later discovered to be in error. Seeking to correct the historical record, Pepperdine drummed up support to replaque the site.
The new monument dedicated in 1993 was placed in a four inch concrete layer right on top of the old plaque which now serves as sort of a time capsule. The exact wording for the first City of Montague plaque can be found at the end of this article.
The Yreka gold rush brought enough people to the area enabling the establishment of Siskiyou County in 1852. The famous Deadwood/Yreka county seat election resulted in Yreka becoming county seat and later principle hub of commerce for Shasta Valley.
By the early 1870s, Southern Pacific Company, part of the Central Pacific, began building their leg of the Oregon and California Railroad through the Sacramento Valley where it would eventually connect just south of Ashland, Oregon. Samuel Skerry Montague, Central Pacific’s chief engineer, planned to bring the railroad to Yreka guaranteeing its continued prosperity. He died in 1883 and the Southern Pacific subsidiary resurveyed Shasta Valley looking for a
lower cost route.
Citizens of Yreka were stunned when Central Pacific Railroad announced its decision to continue the rail line north through what would become the City of Montague. With the completion of the
Oregon and California Railroad in 1887, Montague became the center of
commerce for Shasta Valley. Not to be outdone, Yreka quickly built their own short line to the Montague hub. That railroad became known as the Yreka Western. Fares of four bits for a oneway trip to Montague and 75¢ for a round trip were the going rate at the time. Today, the plaque can be viewed in downtown Montague. While you are
there, take some time and visit The Montague Railroad Depot Museum, located at 230 11th Street.
The wording of the original plaque is as follows: CITY OF MONTAGUE, On January 17, 1887 L.D. Norton, Assistant Engineer for the California and Oregon Railroad began to lay out the townsite of Montague, named after C.W. Montague, the company engineer in charge of building the railroad throughout Siskiyou County. Dedicated November 1, 1975, Humbug chapter #73, ECV. ?
It was interesting to find out the original plaque is underneath the current one. This small town has suffered from economic turmoil over the years and isn't much anymore other than the building along 11th Street main street and a few other notable buildings nearby.