John C. Boyle was the architect and engineer of the Lower Klamath Dams that include Copco No1 and No2, J. C. Boyle, and Iron Gate. These dams and their conveyances have been in the process of removal since early 2023 as part of the Klamath River Renewal Project.
In 1976, Boyle published his memoir as “50 Years On The Klamath.” It’s a remarkable telling of damming days gone by and what’s to follow draws heavily from his book as well as material gleaned from the Siskiyou County Recorder’s Office in Yreka, California.
It was early May in 1910 when the Siskiyou Electric Power and Light Company began surveying the Klamath River at Wards Canyon and the valley above. Their purpose was to describe the landscape in order to purchase the land on which to build their dams and related reservoirs - later named Copco No.1, Copco No.2 and their reservoir, Copco Lake.
Once surveyed, the land was purchased from what J. C. Boyle describes as owners who were “very reluctant to sell” but accepted favorable payment knowing that “power development was progress.” Among the last to leave was a widowed Shasta Indian named Kitty Ward whose 240 acre ranch sold for $10.00 in gold coin on January 5, 1911. This purchase included all water rights, ditches, and appurtenances (Siskiyou County Recorder).
Boyle doesn’t mention the actual terms he calls “somewhat high” but in his book “50 Years On The Klamath” he does mention the wages for those who worked on the dam. A laborer was paid $2.50 for a ten hour day and was charged .25¢ for meals. By this metric, the Ward Ranch was traded for the equivalent of forty hours of labor.
Work on the first Klamath River dam began in May 1911 at an andesite outcrop near the mouth of Ward’s Canyon but after exploratory drilling it was found to be inadequate. The location was then moved a thousand feet downriver.
On July 26th, 1911, work began with the building of a 30-foot tall wing dam built of rock-filled cribs. This dam redirected the Klamath River through a 365-foot bypass tunnel allowing riverbed access for excavating the dam’s foundation. Excavation stopped upon solid ground at 130 feet below river’s waterline. With another 130 feet of structural height the completed dam would be a 260 foot monolith of concrete, rock, and iron.
Through material shortages, finical troubles, and restructuring as the California Oregon Power Company completion took time but on January 11, 1918, the first of two generators began operation. Later in 1922, as demand from San Francisco increased, the second generator was added for a combined capacity of 20,000 KW of which the Pacific Gas and Electric Company purchased 12,600 KW.
At the time of this writing and documentary video one can see signs from the past. The scar from the abandoned site at the first andesite outcrop is clearly visible. Further down river is the original wing dam as well as the monolithic Copco No. 1 in demolition.
It’s important to note that for many, Wards Canyon is sacred space. Not only is its geology and geography impressive, it has been a confluence of human culture for thousands of years. This is ancestral land to the Shasta Indian Nation as well as for the Klamath River Tribes (a Nation of Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin Tribes). The land has been fought over, taken, homesteaded, taken again, and again. It’s a land and a community in need of healing and it’s not so easy to talk about. Nature will help work it out.
In the meantime, of course, there is human nature, and with that comes passion and controversy as we work through difference in belief and experience. Wards Canyon in particular is of great interest and will continue to be at the cultural confluence of what’s to come.
Let’s be kind as we hope for, work for, and wait for the salmon to return. The ethnographic record suggests they will but there’s reason to believe Wards Canyon will make for difficult passage. Perhaps with less water than centuries ago, there will be years where they won’t. We really don’t know, but the cold mountain springs of Kitty Ward’s Ranch will be free to flow and that will help sustain the river below.
