Tales of the Klamath River

It was 1939 when a family ventured from their safe nest in Oklahoma Indian Country to Indian Country in California to gold mine and live like their ancestors. During this time of interlude between the First and Second World Wars, many still lived in the old ways. Few white people and Californians knew about the Indian Country.

In a rich story told through the eyes of a five-year-old, her father, and with perceptions from an eighty-three-year-old living in today’s world, Anne Wilson Schaef travels back in time to share details from a compelling adventure as her family uprooted from all they knew and attempted gold mining on the Klamath River in California. While offering a fascinating look into their journey and experiences beyond, Schaef shines a light on the sojourn among the native people as well as a broad conglomeration of others who played an important part not only in their own experiences but also in history itself. Through it all, Schaef illustrates that it is possible to live well in harmony and balance, and within a daily flow of sharing.

Tales of the Klamath River shares the true tale of one family’s adventure to California Gold Mining country during the late 1930s.