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| In 1843,
Peter Lassen obtained a land grant of 25,000 acres from the Mexican government
and laid out the town site of "Benton City" (just south of modern-day
Red Bluff), in honor of Senator Thomas H. Benton of Missouri. However, the discovery
of gold drew all of the first settlers into the hills, and the town folded.
Lassen's original town site plan eventually attracted other settlers who later
built Red Bluff, which became a distribution point for the Shasta and Trinity
mines. Daily steamers ran up the Sacramento River to "Red Bluffs,"
as it was known then, where mule trains loaded for trips to the mines. Named
after the surrounding colored cliffs, Red Bluff began as a shipping center for
the steamer ships plying the Sacramento River from San Francisco. The Kelly-Griggs
House Museum is a great introduction to the area's historical architecture and
heritage. Tehama Country
was also the home of the first and only president of the California Republic,
William B. Ide. His original adobe home has been fully restored on its 5-acre
site just north of Red Bluff, and is now a part of the California State Park
System. Ide organized the Bear Flag Party and issued the proclamation, which
declared California an independent republic. It was the Bear Flag Party, which
defeated a Mexican garrison at Sonoma, Sonoma County, paving the way for the
occupation of California by armed forces of the United States. The famous Bear
Flag of California flew for several weeks before being replaced by the Stars
and Stripes on July 9, 1846. Named for the area's reddish cliffs, this Victorian town on the Sacramento River was founded in 1850 as a supply center for the gold mines in Trinity County. A number of Italianate Victorian structures survived, including the 1880 Kelly-Griggs House Museum, an ornate white house with ten period rooms. The 4-acre William B. Ide Adobe State Historic Park features the reconstructed home of William Ide, president of the short-lived Republic of California, which was established in 1846 after a band of settlers revolted against Mexican authority. The revolt ended when the Mexican-American War broke out in the same year and U. S. troops occupied the area. For More on William B. Ide, please visit the |