User:LindseyAbernathy/sandbox

Indigenous People
The Wiyot people are the first to inhabit the Humboldt Bay region, including the Mad River, and Eel River. It is estimated that the Wiyot arrived at Humboldt Bay circa 900 A.D.

The Wiyot language is related to the Algonquian language of the Great Plains. The Wiyot Tribe is located in Loleta, California. Tribal members reside on two different reservations, the Table Bluff reservation and the old Table Bluff reservation, sometimes referred to as Indianola. The old reservation, roughly 20 acres, was originally purchased by a local church group to relocate homeless Wiyot in the early 1900s. While the old reservation is still in use, the tribe moved to the new Table Bluff reservation. The new reservation is roughly 88 acres.

Wiyot territory is divided into three different regions: lower Mad River, Humboldt Bay, and lower Eel River. Their entire territory was only around 36 miles long and roughly 15 miles wide. Although relatively small, Wiyot territory encompassed miles of old growth redwood forests, sandy dunes, wetlands and open prairies. Due to its large abundance, redwood trees were often used by the Wiyot. Most notably, they made canoes and small houses out of the durable redwood. The average redwood canoe would be at a minimum of 18 feet long and 4 feet wide. To make the canoes, the Wiyot would fell a tree and hollow out the log with fire. Their houses would be made out of redwood planks, forming a rectangular shape. A pitched roof would be built on top. It is estimated that there were around 98 Wiyot villages built along Humboldt Bay and the nearby river banks

The Wiyot diet mainly consisted of acorns, berries, shellfish, salmon, deer, elk and other small game. Various species of acorns and berries were collected in large quantities as they were a major part of their diet.

The Wiyot name for Humboldt Bay is called Wike or Wiki. Unfortunately, later encounters between settlers and the Wiyot people turned violent, as the settlers encroached on traditional territories. The settlers initiated what is known as the 1860 Wiyot Massacre. Every year, around the month of February, the Wiyot people would gather for their World Renewal Ceremony on Indian Island, which lasted 7 to 10 days. During this ceremony, the men would leave each night to replenish supplies, leaving women, children, and elders on the island to rest. In the early morning hours of February 26th, 1860, local settlers from the nearby town of Eureka descended onto Indian Iasland armed with firearms, clubs, knives, and hatchets. For over an hour, the group of settlers killed and mutilated every single Wiyot they could find. The majority of those murdered were women, children, and elders. The remaining survivors, including those on and off the island, were rounded up and then imprisoned at Fort Humboldt.

Early Settlement
The Humboldt Harbor Historical District is California Historical Landmark#882

Early explorers in the region, including Francis Drake, Sebastián Vizcaíno, Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, and George Vancouver, did not discover the bay because of a combination of circumstances: the way the bay is hidden from an ocean approach, storms, and fog. Captain Jonathan Winship is credited with the first recorded entry into Humboldt Bay by sea in June 1806, while employed by the Russian-American Company a major trading company. His party, including Aleut in baidarka to hunt sea otter, were met with hostility by the local Indians. Winship's party named this body of water as Bay of Resanof, after  Nikolai Rezanov, the Chamberlain of the Russian Tsar, and son-in-law of Grigory Shelikhov, who was the founder of the first Russian colony in North America.

In 1849, an expedition of seven men led by Josiah Gregg attempted to find an overland route to the Pacific Ocean. They left from the gold town of Weaverville for the 150-mile trek to the sea. Because of the density of the redwood forests, and because Gregg stopped frequently to measure latitude and the size of the trees, the expedition averaged only two miles per day. The party was near starvation when they emerged on the coast, where on 20 December 1849, they discovered what is now known as Humboldt Bay. After stocking up on food, the party walked to San Francisco to report their discovery of the bay.

In March 1850, two ships, the General Morgan and the Laura Virginia, were sent to the bay from San Francisco. After considerable initial difficulty with waves breaking heavily over shifting sands of the bar crossing, the ships entered the bay in 1850. The members of the Laura Virginia company named the bay after Alexander von Humboldt, a noted German naturalist.

Humboldt Bay was charted by the United States Coast Survey in 1850, although the map was not published until 1852.

After two years of white settlement on Humboldt Bay, in 1852 only six ships sailed from the bay to San Francisco. But by 1853, on the same route, 143 ships loaded with lumber for markets crossed the bar. Of those, despite the best efforts of local pilots and tugs, 12 ships wrecked on the bar. In times of bad weather, ships could be forced to remain in harbor for weeks before attempting the crossing. The first marker at the harbor entrance was placed in 1853.

The U.S. Federal Government authorized funds for a lighthouse near the mouth to improve navigation. In 1856 the Humboldt Harbor Light was built on the north spit. In 1872 a bell boat was added, and two years later, a steam whistle replaced the bell to assist mariners during times of dense fog. Eighty-one people drowned between 1853 and 1880 during bar crossings, including the captain of the brig Crimea, who was washed overboard while crossing the bar on 18 February 1870. The Humboldt Bay Life-Saving Station is on the bay side of the North Spit, south of the World War II era blimp base.

By the 1880s, long wharves were built into the bay for easier loading the lumber shipments. Shipbuilding became part of local industry. The Bendrixson shipyards produced 120 ships on Humboldt Bay. The volume of shipping reached about 600 vessels a year by 1881.Humboldt Bay was made an official United States port of entry in 1882, a status that permitted shipping from there directly to overseas ports.In 1886, fierce storms nearly destroyed the Harbor Light, and it was replaced by the Table Bluff Light.

Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge
The Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1971 to conserve and protect a diverse habitat full of mammals, migratory birds, fish, amphibians, and plants. In total, Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge is 3,000 acres including the cities and towns of Loleta, Eureka, and Arcata

Salmon Creek
Humboldt Bay has many different tributaries, such as a river or stream, flowing into larger rivers or lakes For Humboldt Bay, Salmon Creek is the third largest tributary. Just like the name suggests, Salmon Creek has historically supported large populations of coho salmon, steelhead trout, and chinook salmon. In recent years, the coho salmon population has seen a steady decline in California. Factors such as freshwater habitat degradation, timber harvest activities, and diversion of water for agricultural and municipal purposes influenced coho salmon populations. Historically, Salmon creek consisted of tidal salt marshes with many sloughs mixed in. Due to over grazing, levee construction, and installation of tide gates in the 1900s, Salmon Creek was severely degraded. Humboldt Bay NWR acquired the land in 1988 and deemed Salmon Creek in need of restoration to improve estuarine habitats. Phase 1 of restoration began in 2006 and aimed to increase tidal connectivity, construct new tide gates, and to reconnect several off channel ponds to the stream. Phase 1 improved habitat and slightly increased fish passage, but more restoration was needed. Phase 2 of restoration began by adding 4,200 feet of new estuarine channel and habitat. The estuarine channels were improved by the alignment of slough channels through the original marshes. Lastly, over 200 logs of various sizes were added to the channels and sloughs as hiding and resting areas for marine life. A year after restoration was completed, California Department of Fish and Game conducted a survey and sampled more juvenile coho salmon than the previous year

Lanphere Dunes
The Lanphere Dunes restoration project is considered to be the first of its kind on the west coast. Situated on Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the Lanphere Dunes are home to many unique plant and animal species. Restoration efforts began in 1980 to halt the spread of invasive European Beachgrass (Ammophilia arenaria). Originally inhabited by the Wiyot people, the Lanphere Dunes were under stewardship by new landowners, William and Hortense Lanphere in the 1930s. Along with European Beachgrass, Yellow Bush Lupine (Lupinus arboreus), another invasive species, was introduced from an adjacent property nearby. Dune restoration can be quite difficult as all of the plants, animals, and organisms have evolved and co adapted to the specialized costal conditions. Dunes are considered to be a hostile ecosystem because of environmental conditions such as low soil fertility, summer drought, ocean spray, harsh winds, and intense albedo. Due to these conditions, mechanical restoration is best suited for this type of project. Mechanical restoration began by the removal of European Beachgrass by hand or with shovels. Removal of European Beachgrass requires multiple visits over the course of several years due to the plants’ tenacious rhizome. This removal technique also allows for the native vegetation to recolonize at the same rate. The first restoration project started over 40 years ago and to date, native plant and animal communities are thriving.