MI 150446

Anderson grade
The Anderson Grade was part of the old stage road between the Klamath River on the north and the Shasta River on the south.
The road was narrow and crooked and as the wagons traveled
up and down the grade the jingle of the bells on the horses helped to make their passing something to be remembered. On the down grade the squawk of the brakes against the wheels would be added to the other rattles and sounds that accompanied the freight wagons and stages.
The grade received its name from Firm Anderson., Sr., who lived at the foot of the grade and operated a ferry across the
Klamath River. The Anderson Grade and the Anderson Ferry were part of the old stage and freight road from Yreka, California, to Jack­ sonville, Oregon. The use of the old grade declined after the railroad came through in about 18870
Some of the drivers of the old stage coaches I knew and re­ member include the father and son., Abner and Henry Giddings, Norte Eddings, Charles Laird, George Chase and Daniel Cawley. Daniel Cawley drove the first and last stage over the Siskiyou Mountains.
These days when I ride over the highway in an automobile from Hornbrook to Yreka, I usually look up on the mountain to the east where the mark of the Anderson Grade is still visible and think of the several times that I rode horseback over that grade many years ago.
Although it has been a long time since the grade was a busy road, some local use is still made of the old trail from time to time.