Crescent City
Crescent City was laid out in 1853, and soon large numbers of settlers arrived, attracted by the nearby mineral and agricultural resources. The Kelsey Trail linked Crescent City with the Salmon and Trinity gold mines in the 19th century.
In the fall of 1854 there was trouble between the Indians and whites near Crescent City. A. French and three other whites went on a camping trip into the Bald Hills. His hunting companions were the last to have seen him, and suspicions were aroused that the Tolowa living on the South Fork of Smith River had murdered him. A vigilante committee was organized to apprehend and question all the Indians in and about the town. Scant information was secured, which reinforced suspicions of foul play, and a party was sent to search for the body. The remains was found and a warrant was sworn out for the arrest of three Indians—Black Mow, Jim, and Narpa.
In 1855, while the Rogue River War raged, the residents of Crescent City had deemed it expedient to concentrate the Tolowa on a reservation near the town. There the Tolowa were subsisted and guarded. When the war ended, the Tolowa were to move to Wilson Creek. To get them to agree, they were promised that the government would subsist them, until land could be cultivated and food grown. They were also to be reimbursed for their fisheries and land (900 square miles) so they could purchase fisheries and farms from the Yurok. The Tolowa left Wilson Creek and returned to their rancherias on Smith River and the coast north of Crescent City. There on October 19, 1856, they were concentrated on Smith Island, where they were issued rations and clothing at the government's expense
