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Beegum, California: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 40°20′42″N 122°51′29″W / 40.34500°N 122.85806°W / 40.34500; -122.85806
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After years of debate, in 1925, the California assembly passed bill No. 151 to place the road between Peanut and Beegum in the state highway system.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=April 10, 1925 |title=Assembly for Peanut–Beegum State Highway |work=Record Searchlight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/record-searchlight-assembly-for-peanut-b/134877133/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> By closing the gap between [[Peanut, California|Peanut]] and Beegum, it was argued, motorists would have a nearly straight highway across the state connecting [[Eureka, California]], to [[Reno, Nevada]], via [[Red Bluff, California|Red Bluff]].<ref name=":7" /> Governor [[Friend Richardson]] subsequently vetoed the bill,<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 28, 1925 |title=Peanut–Beegum Bill Is Vetoed |work=The Searchlight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-searchlight-peanutbeegum-bill-is-ve/135022391/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> leading ''[[The Sacramento Union]]'' to comment: "This veto is proper. If the people of Beegum and Peanut have not enough imagination to find new names for their hamlets, at least for legislative purposes, they are not entitled to new roads."<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 30, 1925 |title=Horse Still Has His Place |work=[[The Sacramento Union]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sacramento-union-horse-still-has-his/135022211/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>
After years of debate, in 1925, the California assembly passed bill No. 151 to place the road between Peanut and Beegum in the state highway system.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=April 10, 1925 |title=Assembly for Peanut–Beegum State Highway |work=Record Searchlight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/record-searchlight-assembly-for-peanut-b/134877133/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> By closing the gap between [[Peanut, California|Peanut]] and Beegum, it was argued, motorists would have a nearly straight highway across the state connecting [[Eureka, California]], to [[Reno, Nevada]], via [[Red Bluff, California|Red Bluff]].<ref name=":7" /> Governor [[Friend Richardson]] subsequently vetoed the bill,<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 28, 1925 |title=Peanut–Beegum Bill Is Vetoed |work=The Searchlight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-searchlight-peanutbeegum-bill-is-ve/135022391/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> leading ''[[The Sacramento Union]]'' to comment: "This veto is proper. If the people of Beegum and Peanut have not enough imagination to find new names for their hamlets, at least for legislative purposes, they are not entitled to new roads."<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 30, 1925 |title=Horse Still Has His Place |work=[[The Sacramento Union]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sacramento-union-horse-still-has-his/135022211/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>


In 1930, the [[AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah|California State Automobile Association]] reported that between Red Bluff and Beegum, there was "good graveled and dirt road", but that after leaving Beegum toward Peanut, there was "a somewhat rough and rocky stretch".<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 28, 1930 |title=Trinity Highway in Good Order |work=[[The San Francisco Examiner]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-trinity-highw/135024446/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>
In 1930, the [[AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah|California State Automobile Association]] reported that between Red Bluff and Beegum, there was "good graveled and dirt road", but that after leaving Beegum toward Peanut, there was "a somewhat rough and rocky stretch".<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 28, 1930 |title=Trinity Highway in Good Order |work=[[The San Francisco Examiner]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-trinity-highw/135024446/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> A 1931 report by the Eureka district office of the National Automobile Club was more critical, stating: "Between Peanut and Beegum, the road is in very poor condition. There are numerous streams to be forded on this stretch, there being no bridges, and during or immediately following storms this part of the road is impassable."<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 4, 1931 |title=Conditions Vary On Eureka–Valley Road |work=[[The Sacramento Union]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sacramento-union-conditions-vary-on/135025576/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>


In 1972, the ''Oakland Tribune'' noted that [[California State Route 36|Route 36]] had bypassed the hamlet of Beegum, which had previously been on the state highway.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 19, 1972 |title=HIghway 36: Scenic but Dangerous |work=[[Oakland Tribune]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-highway-36-scenic-but-d/134937587/ |access-date=2023-11-10 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> The decision to move the highway was devastating to the hunting and fishing resort operating in Beegum.<ref name=":0" />
In 1972, the ''Oakland Tribune'' noted that [[California State Route 36|Route 36]] had bypassed the hamlet of Beegum, which had previously been on the state highway.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 19, 1972 |title=HIghway 36: Scenic but Dangerous |work=[[Oakland Tribune]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-highway-36-scenic-but-d/134937587/ |access-date=2023-11-10 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> The decision to move the highway was devastating to the hunting and fishing resort operating in Beegum.<ref name=":0" />

Revision as of 21:53, 11 November 2023

Beegum
Former town
Beegum is located in California
Beegum
Beegum
Beegum is located in the United States
Beegum
Beegum
Coordinates: 40°20′42″N 122°51′29″W / 40.34500°N 122.85806°W / 40.34500; -122.85806
Country United States
StateCalifornia
CountyTehama County
Elevation
397 m (1,303 ft)

Beegum, also known as Bee Gum,[1] is a defunct town which was located in an unincorporated area of Tehama and Shasta counties, in the U.S. state of California.[2][3] In the early 1900s, it was a mining town in the Harrison Gulch mining district.[4][5] Before it was abandoned in the late 20th century, a hunting and fishing resort operated there.[2]

History

The community took its name from nearby Beegum Peak, which was said to resemble a bee gum hive and was also inhabited by bees.[6] The town was situated next to Beegum Creek, which forms the county line between Tehama and Shasta counties.[4][3][7]

During the California Gold Rush, prospectors flocked to Beegum Creek to look for placer gold,[8] but there were no major discoveries in the Harrison Gulch district until the 1890s when the Midas Mine vein was found in 1894.[9]

Beegum served as the first stagecoach stop between Red Bluff and the coast.[2] From Beegum, stagecoaches proceeded to Peanut, Hayfork, and Eureka.[10]

A post office was in operation at Beegum from 1895,[11] and was ordered to close in January 1918.[12] In 1902, miner Fred Smith was shot and killed by his partner George Wheeler near the Beegum post office, after Wheeler discovered that Smith was having an affair with his wife.[13]

Ranch and businesses

The town was located on land that had been part of the Selvester Ranch, where the Selvester family lived for three generations.[10] The Beegum area including the family ranch was popular with hunters.[14]

Patriarch Isaac Selvester (1847–1930) purchased properties in Beegum after first settling in Maxwell, Colusa County, in 1887.[15] In 1904, he and his sons Smith, George and Joseph formed the livestock company Selvester & Sons, raising cattle, horses and mules near Beegum.[16] He put his ranch at Beegum up for sale in 1920.[17]

Isaac Selvester also conducted a freight depot and roadhouse in Beegum, until freight teams were no longer used to haul payload from mines.[15] The family business then shifted to cater to the automobile trade.[15] In the late 1920s, brothers Jesse I. Selvester and Smith I. Selvester each operated businesses called "Beegum Garage", causing Smith to file a restraining order against Jesse and W. D. Linton.[5]

School

The Beegum school operated for over half a century, until it was suspended in 1943 due to lack of pupils as well as a shortage of teachers.[18] In the early years of the school, as many as 30 to 40 children lived in the community.[18] One of the teachers was Maybelle B. Belote, who went on to marry Joseph Selvester in 1902.[19]

In 1929, 12 pupils were enrolled at the Beegum school.[20] In 1930, one of the three residents living closest to the schoolhouse agreed to give free rent to parents who built small dwellings near the school, so they could live there five days a week while their children attended school.[21] For a period of 15 years or more before it closed, the school taught both elementary and high school students.[18]

Highway

In 1913, a bill was introduced in the lower house of the California state legislature, requesting an appropriation of $50,000 to build a 20-mile state highway connecting Beegum and Peanut in Trinity County.[22] The Redding chamber of commerce opposed the measure, arguing that the route would be a disadvantage to the people of Shasta County.[23]

After years of debate, in 1925, the California assembly passed bill No. 151 to place the road between Peanut and Beegum in the state highway system.[24] By closing the gap between Peanut and Beegum, it was argued, motorists would have a nearly straight highway across the state connecting Eureka, California, to Reno, Nevada, via Red Bluff.[24] Governor Friend Richardson subsequently vetoed the bill,[25] leading The Sacramento Union to comment: "This veto is proper. If the people of Beegum and Peanut have not enough imagination to find new names for their hamlets, at least for legislative purposes, they are not entitled to new roads."[26]

In 1930, the California State Automobile Association reported that between Red Bluff and Beegum, there was "good graveled and dirt road", but that after leaving Beegum toward Peanut, there was "a somewhat rough and rocky stretch".[27] A 1931 report by the Eureka district office of the National Automobile Club was more critical, stating: "Between Peanut and Beegum, the road is in very poor condition. There are numerous streams to be forded on this stretch, there being no bridges, and during or immediately following storms this part of the road is impassable."[28]

In 1972, the Oakland Tribune noted that Route 36 had bypassed the hamlet of Beegum, which had previously been on the state highway.[29] The decision to move the highway was devastating to the hunting and fishing resort operating in Beegum.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Build Road From Peanut to Bee Gum – Project endorsed by Tehama and Shasta Counties in joint meeting". Record Searchlight. Redding. August 6, 1912. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c d Aho, Jill (August 25, 2009). "The bygone town of Beegum". Herald and News. Klamath Falls. Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  3. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Beegum, California
  4. ^ a b "Beegum Creek". United States Geological Survey, Mineral Resource Data System. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  5. ^ a b "'By Gum' Tehaman Says Brother Can't Use 'Beegum' Name". The Sacramento Bee. April 3, 1929. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Gudde, Erwin Gustav (1998). Bright, William (ed.). California Place Names (4th edition, revised and enlarged ed.). University of California Press. p. 31. ISBN 0-520-21316-5.
  7. ^ Logan, Clarence August (1919). Platinum and Allied Metals in California. Vol. 85. Sacramento: California State Mining Bureau. pp. 48–49.
  8. ^ Smith, Josie (2016). Tehama County. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781439658666.
  9. ^ Klein, James (2000). Where to Find Gold in Northern California. Baldwin Park, California: Gem Guides Book Co. p. 60. ISBN 1889786055.
  10. ^ a b "Sylvester Ranch Once Stage Stop". Red Bluff Daily News. April 3, 1956. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Place Names" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 8, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  12. ^ "Tehama and Sierra Post Offices No More". The Sacramento Bee. January 21, 1918. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Public Feeling Justifies Killing on Bee Gum Creek". Free Press Saturday Weekly. June 28, 1902. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Beegum Is Mecca of Many Hunters". The Shasta Courier. July 27, 1914. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b c "Death Takes I. Selvester, Aged Pioneer". Colusa Sun-Herald. April 10, 1930. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "New Stock Firm". Daily Evening Sentinel. Red Bluff. April 4, 1904. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Isaac Selvester's Ranch at Bee Gum for Sale". Sacramento Bee. May 10, 1920. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b c "For First Time in Half Century Beegum School Fails to Open". Red Bluff Daily News. September 15, 1943. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "One Hundred Years Ago: Wedded at Christian Church". Red Bluff Daily News. November 18, 2006. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  20. ^ "Schools Make Loss and Gain". The Morning Times / Red Bluff Sentinel. September 21, 1929. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "School Problem Solved By Tehama Residents". Woodland Daily Democrat. Valley News Alliance. June 9, 1930. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Beegum-Peanut Road". Daily People's Cause. January 23, 1913. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Chamber of Commerce Prepares for Congress – Will oppose state aid for highway from Peanut to Beegum". The Semi-Weekly Searchlight. Redding. January 31, 1913. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ a b "Assembly for Peanut–Beegum State Highway". Record Searchlight. April 10, 1925. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Peanut–Beegum Bill Is Vetoed". The Searchlight. April 28, 1925. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Horse Still Has His Place". The Sacramento Union. April 30, 1925. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Trinity Highway in Good Order". The San Francisco Examiner. September 28, 1930. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Conditions Vary On Eureka–Valley Road". The Sacramento Union. January 4, 1931. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "HIghway 36: Scenic but Dangerous". Oakland Tribune. October 19, 1972. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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