Place:Modoc, California, United States

Alt namesModocsource: Getty Vocabulary Program
Coordinates41.567°N 120.733°W
Located inCalifornia, United States     (1874 - )
See alsoSiskiyou, California, United StatesParent county (source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990)
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Modoc County is a county located in the far northeast corner of the U.S. state of California, bounded by the state of Oregon to the north and the state of Nevada to the east. As of the 2010 census, its population was 9,686, up from 9,449 at the 2000 census. The current county seat is Alturas, the county's only incorporated city. Previous county seats include Lake City and Centerville; the latter is now a ghost town. The county's official slogans include, "The last best place," and "Where the West still lives."

A large portion of Modoc County is federal land. Several federal agencies, including the United States Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, have employees assigned to the area, and their operations are a significant part of the economy and services in this rural area.

Modoc County is the only county in California to be bordered by both Nevada and Oregon, and is also one of three counties in California to border more than one state (the other counties being San Bernardino County, bordered by Nevada and Arizona; and Imperial County which borders Arizona and Baja California in Mexico). In California, this is the only almost rectangular county; there is a slight deviation around the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge.



the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the region, varying cultures of Native Americans inhabited the county for thousands of years. At the time of European encounter, the Modoc people lived in what is now northern California, near Lost River and Tule Lake. The county was named after them.[1] The Achumawi (or Pitt River Indians, for which the Pit River is named), and the Paiute also lived in the area.[1] To the north were the Klamath in present-day Oregon.

The first European explorers to visit Modoc County were the American John C. Frémont and his traveling party (including Kit Carson) in 1846, who had departed from Sutter's Fort near the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers. (This is where the city of Sacramento lies today.)[1]


In 1856, the residents of Honey Lake Valley reckoned the 120th meridian to be west of their valley, placing them in Utah territory, and attempted to secede and form a territory they called Nataqua. Nataqua would have included Modoc County. In 1858, the Territory of Nevada, with its capital now in Carson City, successfully seceded from Utah, and assumed jurisdiction to the summit of the Sierra Nevada until the 120th meridian was surveyed in 1863.[2]



The Modoc War (or Lava Beds War) of 1872-73 brought nationwide attention to the Modoc during the protracted battles. From strong defensive positions in the lava tubes, 52 Modoc warriors held off hundreds of US Army forces, who called in artillery to help.[1] Peace talks in 1873 stalled when the Modoc wanted their own reservation in California. Warriors urged killing the peace commissioners, thinking that the Americans would then leave, and Captain Jack and others shot and killed General Edward Canby and Rev. Eleazer Thomas, and wounded others. More Army troops were called in to lay siege to Captain Jack's Stronghold. Dissension arose, and some Modoc surrendered. Finally most were captured, and those responsible for the assassinations were tried and executed. More than 150 Modoc were transported to Indian Territory as prisoners of war.[1] The area has since been designated the Lava Beds National Monument.


Modoc County was formed when Governor Newton Booth signed an Act of the California Legislature on February 17, 1874 after residents of the Surprise Valley region lobbied for the creation of a new county from eastern Siskiyou County land.[1] The county residents considered naming the newly formed county after General Edward Canby, who had been killed the year before at peace talks in an ambush by Modoc. The idea of naming the county "Summit" was also considered, but the populace eventually settled on "Modoc"; the war was over and 153 of Captain Jack's band had been transported to Indian Territory as prisoners.

The Dorris Bridge post office opened in 1871, was renamed Dorrisville in 1874; due to its central location, Dorrisville became the county seat when Modoc County formed that year, although both Adin and Cedarville were larger towns.[2] In 1876, it was renamed Alturas, which means "The Heights" in Spanish. The census of 1880 showed a population of 148. Settlement continued over the next two decades, until the city was officially incorporated on September 16, 1901; the county's only incorporated city.

During World War II, the US government developed several thousand acres just south of Newell as a Japanese American internment camp, responding to fears and prejudice by Californians. Tule Lake War Relocation Center was the site of temporary exile for thousands of Japanese-American citizens, who lost most of their businesses and properties where they had formerly lived in coastal areas. A historical marker marks the site along State Route 139 in Newell.

Tule Lake was the largest of the "segregation camps." On November 8, 2005 Senator Dianne Feinstein called for the camp to be designated a National Historic Landmark. In December 2008 it was designated by President George W. Bush as one of nine sites—the only one in the contiguous 48 states—to be part of the new World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument.


Date Event Source
1874 County formed Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1874 Court records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1874 Land records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1874 Marriage records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1874 Probate records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources
1880 First census Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
1894 Birth records recorded Source:Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources

Population History

Census Year Population
1880 4,399
1890 4,986
1900 5,076
1910 6,191
1920 5,425
1930 8,038
1940 8,713
1950 9,678
1960 8,308
1970 7,469
1980 8,610
1990 9,678

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