Modoc County, California

Modoc County is a located in the far northeast corner of the  of, bounded by the state of  to the north and the state of  to the east. As of, its population was 9,449. The is, the county's only incorporated city. The county's official slogans include, "The last best place," and "Where the West still lives."

A large portion of Modoc County is federal reservations. A patchwork of overlapping government agencies form a significant part of the economy and provide services to this rural area. The federal presence includes the following agencies and departments:, , , , and the.

History
Modoc County was formed when signed an Act of the California Legislature on,. Land for the county was taken from the eastern part of.

The county derives its name from the  people, who lived at the  headwaters. One historian suggests that the word modoc means "the head of the river." Another states that the word is derived from the word moatakni meaning "southerners," i.e., the people living south of the Klamath tribe. The county was home to three major tribal groups, the Modoc, the (or Pit River), and the. The Modoc were forcibly moved first to Oregon, and then to, while the Achumawi and Paiute were allowed to remain.



The (or ) of 1872–73 brought worldwide recognition to Modoc during its protracted battles when over 500 of  soldiers were unable to overtake less than 55 Modoc warriors who hid themselves in the lava tubes that are now the. The War began after the American government made a pretense of purchasing the territory belonging to the Modoc people from the Klamath people, and forced the Modoc people to move to the in. Some Modoc people left the reservation, because the Klamath people made it clear that the Modoc were not welcome there. A companion of shot General  at a peacemaking session, leading to the siege at Captain Jack's Stronghold. Native Americans were unfamiliar with siege warfare, and the Modoc surrendered only after they were weakened by starvation.

Settlement of the county began in earnest in the 1870s, with the timber, gold, agriculture, and railroad industries bringing most of the settlers into the area. The county was a crossroads for the which brought settlers north from  to the  and south to trails leading into California's central valley. Early settlers included the Dorris, Belli, Essex, Scherer, Trumbo, Flournoy, and Campbell families.

Several thousand acres just south of served as the temporary exile for thousands of Japanese-American citizens during  at the, a  camp. A historical marker still stands along in Newell. Tule Lake was the largest of the "segregation camps." On,  called for the camp to be designated a.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 10,887 (4,203 ). 10,215 km² (3,944 sq mi) of it is land and 672 km² (259 sq mi) of it (6.17%) is water.

There are 2.25 persons per, making this one of the most sparsely populated counties in California.

The county is very diverse geographically. The northwestern edge of the county is dominated by the Highlands, the largest  on the U.S. West Coast. The lies partly within the northwest corner of the County. Also along the western edge of the county is the massive. The southwestern corner of the county is a unique ecosystem of isolated hardwoods (oaks) and volcanic mountains with intermountain river valleys.

The northern half of the county is the, a 1 mile (1.6 km) high expanse of lava flows, cinder cones, juniper flats, pine forests, and seasonal lakes. Nearly 1 million acres (4,000 km²) of the lie on the plateau between the Medicine Lake Highlands in the west and the  in the east. The plateau supports large herds of (Odocoileus Hemionus),  (Cervus Canadensis), and  (Antilocapra Americana). There are also several herds of wild horses on the plateau. The and  are located on the plateau as well. The Lost River watershed drains the north part of the plateau, while southern watersheds either collect in basin reservoirs or flow into the large, which sits in the center of the county.

Below the rim of the Plateau is in the extreme southwest corner of the county, and the large  that forms the bottom of the  watershed that runs through the county. The north fork and south fork of the Pit River come together just south of Alturas. The River collects hundreds of other small creeks as it flows south towards.

The eastern edge of the county is dominated by the Range. The Pit River originates in this mountain range. Hundreds of alpine lakes dot the range, all of which are fed by snowmelt and natural springs. East of the Warner Range is and the western edge of the.

Hot Springs and lava caves are common to Modoc County. There are some geothermal energy resources available in the county, though their viability is highly variable.

Adjacent Counties

 * - south
 * - southwest
 * - west
 * - north
 * - north
 * - east

Major Highways

 * [[Image:US 395 (CA).svg|23px]]
 * [[Image:California 139.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:California 299.svg|20px]]

Public Transportation
The is a dial-a-ride service providing trips within Modoc County. It has also provided trips as far away as and.

Airports
There are general aviation airports near Alturas ( and . Other airports include, , , and.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 9,449 people, 3,784 households, and 2,550 families residing in the county. The was 1/km² (2/sq mi). There were 4,807 housing units at an average density of 0/km² (1/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 85.94%, 0.69% or , 4.21% , 0.61% , 0.07% , 5.69% from , and 2.78% from two or more races. 11.51% of the population were or  of any race. 13.9% were of, 13.1% , 12.2% and 11.7%  ancestry according to. 90.4% spoke and 8.8%  as their first language.

There were 3,784 households out of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.6% were non-families. 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.6% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 27.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 102.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.7 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $27,522, and the median income for a family was $35,978. Males had a median income of $30,538 versus $23,438 for females. The for the county was $17,285. About 16.4% of families and 21.5% of the population were below the, including 29.7% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.

Modoc County has the of any county in California.

In 2005, the median home price reached $100,000 for the first time ever, over a 40% increase since 2000. Much of this can be traced to an influx of residents from other parts of the state, who find the housing bargains attractive. Some of these are retirees who have sold their houses for large profits in other parts of the state, using the proceeds to live on, while others are people who are able to. This sudden rise in housing prices become unaffordable for locals, who find themselves unable to purchase homes given their limited incomes.

Politics
Modoc is a strongly county in  and  elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was in.

Modoc is part of, which is held by Republican. In the Modoc is in the 2nd Assembly district, which is held by Republican, and the 1st Senate district, which is held by Republican.