MI 150471

Bogus ranch
I don't remember who first owned the Bogus Ranch, which is located at the mouth of Bogus Creek, on the south side of the Klamath River.
The early settlers told me there was an Indian village
there, which continued for some time even after the white man came into the country. It would have been an ideal place for the Indians because the stream in the early days was a wonderful place for fish. During the winter months the steelhead ran up the stream, the (?) trout were there the year round, and in the fall the salmon went up the stream.
The Indians liked to live where there were plenty of fish and game. They hunted and fished because they liked to eat and not just to obtain a trophy, as the white man often does. The Ind­ians must have enjoyed a wonderful country before the palefaces and their rifles came along. When the white man came the Indians with their bows and arrows had to move along, and I suppose that the Indians at the mouth of Bogus Creek gave way to the white man for the same reason.
When I was a boy, and up until about 1910, a man that everyone called "Grasshopper!! lived on what is now called the Bogus Ranch.
Why he was called "Grasshopper" I do not know, and his real name was
used so little that I do not remember what it was. From about 1910 to the eaily 20s John Franklin owned the ranch and lived there with his family. After he sold out there were two or three people who lived there or owned the ranch within the period of a few years.
About the middle of the 20's the ranch was sold to the California and Oregon Power Company. The Power Company has had it leased out, and the first leasee, I think, was Manuel DeSoza, Sr., who had the ranch for about five years. The next leasee was Max Desavedo, who had it for about three years, and the last leasee was King Lewis, who still has it, I believe.
It has been called the Bogus Ranch since Franklin sold out.
It is not a very large ranch, but it produces a lot of hay for its size. The land is irrigated by ditches from Bogus Creek.
) I helped put up the hay there a few times, and also helped
clean out the ditches and repair the fences.
The California State Department of Fish and Game at one time in the 20s had a fish trap on the Ranch in Bogus Creek. They caught the steelhead trout in the winter time and put them in a pond. When the trout were ready to lay their eggs they obtained
the eggs and let the trout go free again. The Fish and Game fellows let the eggs hatch out, and when the little minnows were large enough to make their own living they were turned loose in the rivers and creeks to grow up into big fish. The fish having been brought up as pets I would suppose would be easy prey for the fish ducks and kingfishers. If those fellows can hatch and rear fish that beats nature's way they will have to show me, because one of my grandparents was from Missouri, and I have inherited a little of that "show me" spirit.