| Willits, California, known as the "Heart of
Mendocino County ~ Gateway to the Redwoods," was incorporated in 1888. It was founded
by Hiram Willits and was settled in the 1850's by pioneering ranchers. Sam and Harry
Baechtel drove a herd of cattle up from Marin County in search of permanent grazing land
and found a valley that fulfilled their needs. They were the first non-Native American
settlers in Willits. According to Sam Baechtel's notebook: "The valley has a large
watershed and during our rainy seasons the water collects more rapidly than the outlet can
carry it off; consequently, it forms a lake in its northern end which is usually all
drained off by May." That's one version of how the valley was called the Little Lake
Valley. Sam also mentioned that there were about 300 Native Americans who shared the
valley. Eventually, the Baechtel's got along well with the Native Americans because a
later generation remembered them working on the Baechtel's ranch, and an Indian sweat
house being across the road from the Baechtel house. In 1860 William
James built the first grist mill and, about the same time, the Blosser brothers built a
water powered sawmill up Willits Creek. Lumber brought prosperity to the tiny settlement,
with the first sawmill built in 1861. The town of Little Lake had sprung up on Baechtel
land consisting of a store, meeting house, blacksmith shop and a saloon. In 1865 Kirk
Brier built a store to the north on Hiram Willits' land, and the town of Willitsville grew
around it.
The early settlers were self-sufficient and grew their own produce, raised
their own meat, fruit and potatoes. And, what they didn't grow they purchased at the local
mercantile store. By the end of the 1860's they were connected to the outside by a stage
line.
In 1888, with the advent of the railroad, Willitsville incorporated with a
population of 720 and called itself Willits. Lumbering had joined farming as a part of the
local economy, and the tanbark industry flourished.
Northwestern Railroad reached Willits in 1901 followed by the California
Western "Skunk Train" 10 years later. Northwestern completed the line to Eureka
in 1914 making Willits the center of the line stretching from San Francisco to Eureka.
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