Portuguese Flat was a

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

mining camp of the early 1850s during the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California f ...

, consisting largely of Portuguese miners. It was located about 35 miles north of

Redding, California Redding is the economic and cultural capital of the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California and the county seat of Shasta County. Redding lies along the Sacramento River, north of Sacramento, and south of California's northern border ...

near what is currently now the

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

of Pollard Flat. It is in the ZIP code area of 96051 and the

area code 530 Area code 530 is a California telephone area code in northeastern and Northern California. Regions within it include the Sacramento Valley (including some outer suburbs of Sacramento), Shasta Cascade, and the northern Sierra Nevada. Area code 53 ...

History

Arising along the route of the

Siskiyou Trail The Siskiyou Trail stretched from California's Central Valley to Oregon's Willamette Valley; modern-day Interstate 5 follows this pioneer path. Originally based on existing Native American foot trails winding their way through river valleys, t ...

, Portuguese Flat, with its rich diggings, gained the reputation of being one of the roughest camps in northern

Shasta County Shasta County (), officially the County of Shasta, is a county in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 182,155 as of the 2020 census, up from 177,223 from the 2010 census. The county seat is Redding. Shasta ...

; it was also known as a "squaw town" because of the number of Native American women present in the town. By the time of the 1885 census, it appears that the site was deserted. As late as 1933, just north of Pollard's Gulch on what is now

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

, one could see a few old tumbledown buildings, one ancient

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first generation home building by settlers. Eur ...

, and some veteran

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

trees — all that remained of Portuguese Flat. Pioneers Ross McCloud and Mary Campbell McCloud operated an inn in Portuguese Flat from approximately 1853–5 (before going on to operate the inn at Upper Soda Springs). In the story of the famous "Battle of

Castle Crags Castle Crags is a dramatic and well-known rock formation in Northern California. Elevations range from along the Sacramento River near the base of the crags, to over at the summit of the tallest crag. Located just west of Interstate 5, betwe ...

" (which took place in 1855), a young

Joaquin Miller Cincinnatus Heine Miller (; September 8, 1837 – February 17, 1913), better known by his pen name Joaquin Miller (), was an American poet, author, and frontiersman. He is nicknamed the "Poet of the Sierras" after the Sierra Nevada, about which h ...

tells a dramatic tale of being seriously wounded, by having an arrow shot through his jaw and neck. Miller was taken to the Portuguese Flat inn operated by the McClouds to recuperate, and was nursed to health by Mary Campbell McCloud.

Politics

In the

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

Pollard Flat is in the 4th

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

District, represented by Republican

Doug LaMalfa Douglas Lee LaMalfa (born July 2, 1960) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 1st congressional district since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, his district, the second-largest in the state after t ...

, and in the 2nd Assembly District, represented by Republican

Jim Nielsen James Wiley Nielsen is an American politician from California who served in the California State Senate for the 4th district. A member of the Republican Party, Nielsen served on the Yolo County Republican Committee before first winning electio ...

. Federally, Pollard Flat is in .

References

Reference by Joaquin Miller to Portuguese Flat

External links

Museum of the Siskiyou Trail

{{authority control Former settlements in Shasta County, California History of Shasta County, California Mining communities of the California Gold Rush Portuguese-American culture in California Former populated places in California