In 1806 the O'Kane, a ship working the sea otter trade,
entered Humboldt Bay.
Jonathan
Winship, an American aboard
the ship, charted the bay and the rivers emptying
into it.
Since his chart appears to show the Mad River, he may have
explored what is now Mckinleyville.
Winship's chart is controversial because it seems to show
the Mad River emptying into Humboldt Bay.
Many experts don't believe that this was possible in 1806.
In 1848 gold was found in California. Many miners struck it rich. But others found that mining wasn't always the solution to become a wealthy person. When some gold was found along the Trinity River, people wished that they had a shorter way to supply the miners. The picture above is in Blue Lake showing a packtrain leaving with supplies for the Trinity River gold mining fields.The Gregg Party
But then rumors came around about a large bay at the west side of the Trinity River. (That bay is now called Humboldt Bay). People knew that this bay could be an easier way to supply the miners that were by the Trinity River.
Now there was a man that was yet very popular to men. His name was Dr. Josiah Gregg. He was famous for his trapping, hunting and exploration. Below is a picture of Gregg (left) and one of his explorers, L. K. Wood (right).
Dr. Gregg and eight of his explorers knew that this bay would not be easy to get to. But they wanted to find out for themselves.
And so they left Big Bar on November 5th 1849, with supplies to last them 10 days. Another told the Gregg Party that this trip may take 5 to 7 days. Then they were off.
The trip was terrible. For about 50 days the explorers crossed large mountains and cut trails throgh the woods. The hard work took more energy than what everyone had expected. Storms were very bad and they also argued a lot.
When they found the coast they arrived at what is now Clam Beach. They rested for a few days before they started for Trinidad Head. When the Gregg Party was going there, they met Indians. There they found that a lot of those Indians were willing to help. Even the Wiyot Indians helped them with food and let them borrow a canoe to get accross the Mad River. When they were heading towards Mad River they went though what is now McKinleyville. Then they headed south. Incidently, Dr. Gregg and his explorers got in a fight by a river. They all were mad, upset and angery at each other. So they named the river Mad River.
When the Gregg Party finally found Humboldt Bay, It was Christmas. And soon they came upon a river that on the other side were two Indian ladies that had Pacific Eels in their baskets. So they named the it the Eel River. After that they were trying to get to go to San Fransico, where then and there they knew that it was home.
This was done by: Terressa Mackie
City:McKinleyville
State: California
School: Dow's Prairie School
Age: 11
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