Klamath County History Resources
The Shaw Historical Library has many histories, archival collections, and journals about Klamath County.
This subject guide includes archival collections, books, journal articles and other items related to many aspects of the Klamath Tribes history and ethnography that are found in the Shaw Historical Library, as well as a selected list of relevant websites.
The Tule Lake National Monument in Northern California is the site of the Tule Lake Relocation Center, constructed in 1942 by the United States government to incarcerate Japanese Americans from the West Coast for the duration of the World War II. The Relocation Center housed nearly 120,000 people, more than two-thirds of whom were United States citizens. In total, 9,840 people were held there over the four years it was open.
Water Use in the Klamath Basin
The severe drought of 2001 in the Klamath Basin and shortage of water for irrigation presented a serious problem for the local farmers and ranchers. They protested the federal shutoff of irrigation water to the Klamath Reclamation Project. The Shaw Library collects physical and digitized materials to provide a gateway of information for those doing research on this important issue.
Lumber Industry in the Klamath Basin
Collecting materials on the subject of lumber industry is one of the strengths of the Shaw Historical Library. Klamath Basin development was closely tied to the logging business. Commercial logging in the Klamath Basin began in the 2nd half of the 19th century and continues to this day.
Modoc War was an armed conflict of 1872-1873 between the Modoc band of Indians led by Captain Jack (Kintpuash) and the United States Army in northeastern California and southeastern Oregon. Several battles took place in Lava Beds caverns, South of Tule Lake. This is believed to be the longest and the most expensive Indian war in the history of the United States.
Explore the Shaw Library's vast map collection. Before you visit us in person, peruse these titles to get an understanding of what you can find in the Shaw Historical Library Map Collection when you come.
The Oregon Historical Quarterly Journal
The Oregon Historical Quarterly is a peer-reviewed historical journal for both an academic and a general audience, published by the Oregon Historical Society, Portland, Oregon, four times a year. The Library holds 1900-2023 issues in print and 2024 in electronic format.