This is Floyd Wynne with THE VIEW FROM HERE

This is Floyd Wynne with THE VIEW FROM HERE.

Last Sunday is a day that should be well remembered in Klamath Falls.

On November 26th 1895 word reached the area that its’ founder, George Nurse had died in Yreka, California.

Today the only token of remembrance of the founder of this community is a plaque at the motel adjacent to the overpass on Main Street.

That plaque was constructed by the DAR back in 1967 the centennial of the founding of Linkville, now Klamath Falls.

Born in New York in 1820, Nurse was orphaned at a young age when his parents took ship to return to England on some family matters. The ship was never heard of again and Nurse was raised by relatives.

Little surfaces on his life until he accepted a contract to haul logs and brush out of the way of the road being constructed between the site of Fort Klamath and Jacksonville.

Nurse apparently came to California in the 1850s, indulged in an effort at gold mining which didn’t prove to profitable he became a rancher and a lover of horses.

He utilized a team of up to eight horses in the work on the road, and was paid, as we understand it about eight dollars a day.

When that work was done, he was financed by An Alexander Miller to set up a sutler store at the Fort, selling mainly to the soldiers and some of the Indians of the area.

Established in 1864 as the end of the Civil War approached, he felt the Fort would be abandoned, and again with Miller’s financial help decided to take his sutler store to the banks of the Link River and there he built a small cabin with lumber from the Fort’s sawmill.

Here he traded with the Indians and what few white settlers there were in the area. When the Modoc war hit in the 1870s...Linkville, as it was known then, had less than a hundred inhabitants. At one time they built a fort on the hill above where the Baldwin Hotel now stands.

Little by little the community grew. Nurse married Katie Shirra in 1875. Her husband, father and two brothers were killed in the opening day of the Modoc War. They later divorced and he married Mary Corpe in 1881.

Nurse engaged in a number of businesses, almost always in partnership with someone.

He was a generous man and was willing to give land to anyone who would build and go into business in the town. Sometime in the fall of 1882 or early 1883 Nurse sold all that he owned in the area and purchased a 385 acre ranch just outside Yreka.

Some have wondered why he would have abandoned the town that he founded. Some have credited it to having co-signed a note of a relative, and then later had to pay it off.

But examination shows several other reasons for his move. First the town of Linkville was officially organized and Nurse was not given a position in the new town leadership. Later, in 1875 a move was made to make the area Lake County, and again Nurse was not listed. When that effort ended, a new effort was made in 1882 to form Klamath County. Again Nurse was not listed among the selected officers of the new county.

Nurse began selling off some of his holdings in the early 1880s. His move to purchase a ranch in Yreka may have been urged also by his second wife. Divorces in those days were rare and the subject of community scorn.

We can speculate that all these factors came to play in Nurse moving to Yreka.

In an article in Historical Society’s Centennial issue...W. Ross Boyd notes that he was born in Linkville but at age six moved to Yreka where he lived with Nurse until he became 15. He notes that on November 26, 1895 Nurse had entered a corral of three or four horses and was hit and run over by one of them. It broke his hip and he died from the accident. He noted that Nurse as well as Boyd’s grandparents are buried there in Yreka.

I’ve often suggested that the plaque on Main Street should be moved to Veterans Park….be given a prominent spot since a portion of the park was also a part of the Linkville Hotel which Nurse constructed there.

We’re quick to honor or local history, but its founder has yet to be properly remembered.

This is Floyd Wynne and that’s THE VIEW FROM HERE.

Text Box:
This is Floyd Wynne with THE VIEW FROM HERE.
Last Sunday is a day that should be well remembered in Klamath Falls.
             On November 26th 1895 word reached the area that its’ founder, George Nurse had died in Yreka, California.
             Today the only token of remembrance of the founder of this community is a plaque at the motel adjacent to the overpass on Main Street.
That plaque was constructed by the DAR back in 1967 the centennial of the founding of Linkville, now Klamath Falls.
             Born in New York in 1820, Nurse was orphaned at a young age when his parents took ship to return to England on some family matters.   The ship was never heard of again and Nurse was raised by relatives.
Little surfaces on his life until he accepted a contract to haul logs and brush out of the way of the road being constructed between the site of Fort Klamath and Jacksonville.
Nurse apparently came to California in the 1850s, indulged in an effort at gold mining which didn’t prove to profitable he became a rancher and a lover of horses.
He utilized a team of up to eight horses in the work on the road, and was paid, as we understand it about eight dollars a day.
When that work was done, he was financed by An Alexander Miller to set up a sutler store at the Fort, selling mainly to the soldiers and some of the Indians of the area.
Established in 1864 as the end of the Civil War approached, he felt the Fort would be abandoned, and again with Miller’s financial help decided to take his sutler store to the banks of the Link River and there he built a small cabin with lumber from the Fort’s sawmill.
Here he traded with the Indians and what few white settlers there were in the area.   When the Modoc war hit in the 1870s...Linkville, as it was known then, had less than a hundred inhabitants. At one time they built a fort on the hill above where the Baldwin Hotel now stands.

Little by little the community grew. Nurse married Katie Shirra in 1875. Her husband, father and two brothers were killed in the opening day of the Modoc War. They later divorced and he married Mary Corpe in 1881.
             Nurse engaged in a number of businesses, almost always in partnership with someone.
             He was a generous man and was willing to give land to anyone who would build and go into business in the town. Sometime in the fall of 1882 or early 1883 Nurse sold all that he owned in the area and purchased a 385 acre ranch just outside Yreka.
Some have wondered why he would have abandoned the town that he founded. Some have credited it to having co-signed a note of a relative, and then later had to pay it off.
But examination shows several other reasons for his move. First the town of Linkville was officially organized and Nurse was not given a position in the new town leadership.   Later, in 1875 a move was made to make the area Lake County, and again Nurse was not listed. When that effort ended, a new effort was made in 1882 to form Klamath County. Again Nurse was not listed among the selected officers of the new county.
Nurse began selling off some of his holdings in the early 1880s. His move to purchase a ranch in Yreka may have been urged also by his second wife. Divorces in those days were rare and the subject of community scorn.
We can speculate that all these factors came to play in Nurse moving to Yreka.
In an article in Historical Society’s Centennial issue...W. Ross Boyd notes that he was born in Linkville but at age six moved to Yreka where he lived with Nurse until he became 15.   He notes that on November 26, 1895 Nurse had entered a corral of three or four horses and was hit and run over by one of them. It broke his hip and he died from the accident. He noted that Nurse as well as Boyd’s grandparents are buried there in Yreka.
I’ve often suggested that the plaque on Main Street should be moved to Veterans Park….be given a prominent spot since a portion of the park was also a part of the Linkville Hotel which Nurse constructed there.
We’re quick to honor or local history, but its founder has yet to be properly remembered.
This is Floyd Wynne and that’s THE VIEW FROM HERE.