Saturday, September 29, 2007

Article about the Klamath Basin


I found this article interesting mainly because it's where my Dad grew up, it's where my family settled over 100 years ago. Water has been a big issue there since the beginning, and my family, being farmers, have been in the middle of the controversy all along. My grandfather, Charles Brown, worked on the reclamation project. He remembered when Tule Lake use to actually be around the peninsula, and he remembered when a lava tube broke open and a great deal of the lake drained out into the lava tube. Most people blame the farmers for the loss of water, but that's not the case. The Anderson's mentioned in this article are cousins of mine.




My grandmother, the one married to Charles, was an Anderson. She came to Merril Oregon (not far from Malin) in a covered wagon in the early 1900's. It was her family, and the Browns along with others who built the communities and the farms there. Kandra is another name I've grown up hearing. I'm quite sure my dad went to school with a Kandra.

It's interesting to see the North Coast Journal side with the people who farm the refuge, the people who are bringing in the corporate farms. Here in Humboldt it's all about keeping it local and supporting the local small farmers. I guess if it's not in your backyard, then corporate farms are all good. Unfortunately, it's not good for the way of life my family has been trying to live in the Klamath Basin for more than a century.