One of the first settlers in Klamath, Calif., M.G. Tucker, constructed a building in the village center on high ground just 100 yards from the Klamath River. The Tucker House served several purposes, as a store, restaurant, and hotel, but also as the post office, a dance hall on Saturday nights, and the freight depot for cargo deposited on a large, nearby rock formation.
Most of the merchandise in and out of Crescent City was hauled in ocean-going, dugout canoes operated by Capt. Spott, a Yurok Indian chief living in the town.
Tucker operated a canoe ferry service across the mouth of the river, connected with trails on both sides. Foot passengers and dismounted horseback riders rode in the canoes while the ferry crew herded their animals swimming across the river.
In 1855, the government created the Lower Klamath Indian Reservation, declaring each side of the river inland for a mile and 20 miles upstream as Yurok territory. Settlers had to leave, so Tucker gave up his property and business activities and moved to Crescent City, Calif.
Tucker’s Rock still bears his name.
Sources: Hughes, Ralph L. Tales of Del Norte County. Crescent City, Calif., Del Norte Historical Society, 1997, pp. 11-12; "Yurok." Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yurok. Accessed 20 Nov. 2017into and out of Crescent City was hauled in ocean-going, dugout canoes operated by the village Yurok Indian chief, Capt. Spott
