Bonanza School – Then and Now

By Donald V. Philpott
Taken from Klamath Country History, Klamath Basin Historical Society, 1984
(See a photo of the 1907 school building and other school photos by Maud Baldwin here.)

In 1907 the brick school on the hill above the present school was built by a local contractor, Robert Wattenburg, replacing a much smaller wooden building. This two-story, eight-room building had a central hallway on each floor and was built from bricks made in a plant south of town. A cafeteria in the basement was added in 1928, followed the next year by indoor restrooms.

The curve-topped little gym, built in 1926, stood just east of the brick school and was moved to its present location when the old school was abandoned in the early 1950’s. Before this gym was built, all school activities, including basketball games, plays and graduation, were held in the old town hall where Bold’s Store now stands.

Students from Lorella, Dairy and Hildebrand were sent to Bonanza after the new two-story high school was built in 1937. This building was destroyed by fire March 3, 1944. The twelve grades were again crammed into the old 1907 building to finish the year. Grades ten, eleven and twelve attended Henley the next year.

Designed with basically the same floor plan and rebuilt on the burned foundations, the new high school was finished by September 1945 and the gym in 1947. The grade school was added about 1948.

Additional classrooms were built in 1969 and 1976 when student enrollment outgrew the 1945 structure.

Vignettes in Klamath County Education

The 2012-13 academic year will be a historic one, when future residents of Klamath County look back at its milestone moments. The retirement year of Bonanza’s Jim Libby, Sandra Peat and Carolyn Clarke will be remembered as bittersweet; they will be missed, but each deserve a retirement filled with fun and adventure. Budget cuts and reduction of school days will be of interest, but they must be compared to other years and events throughout the history of education throughout Klamath County.

A cache of letters and documents from the educational archives of the County School District now reside at the Klamath County Museum. What follows are a selection of documents that serve as vignettes from a different time in local history. If there is a moral here, perhaps it is that public education is not only a right in the United States – it is also a responsibility.

A schoolhouse near you

At the turn of the 20^th Century, there were numerous school districts, and schools, across the county. Each had to be within easy traveling, walking, distance from its pupils. An Aug. 14, 1906, letter from E.T. Abbott, general manager of Klamath Lake Railroad Company, to the superintendent of county schools sought to move a building closer to the student body.

Dear Sir:

There is a school district, No. 32, at Pokegama, Ore, and Miss Applegate is now the teacher in a temporary building about three-fourths of a mile from the Pokegama station, at a spring which is an ideal spot for a school house. The regular school house belonging to this district is something like two and one-half miles away, and absolutely worthless for school purposes where it is now, near the Potter Mill, which is now shut down with no prospect of its again being operated.

I do not know whether I have done this thing well or not, but we want a school there and we want the school house moved from its present location down to the spring, which I can do for $250.

I caused notices to be posted for about 20 days at the depot, the postoffice, the Potter’s Mill and at the school house. These two meetings were held in accordance with the papers enclosed. I had no copy of the school laws at hand, but from the best information I could get, presume we have substantially complied with the law. As I understand it, the clerk is also the treasurer. The papers enclosed will of course, explain themselves. Will you kindly forward to me, at Thrall, Cal., the necessary bond for the clerk and the oaths of office for the other directors, and inform me how we can get our hands on the present money available and how much more there is in the hands of the state or some one else to which we are entitled. In short, I wish you would write me on receipt of this, fully just what we can and cannot do. I want a school there and want to move the school house, and if there is not money enough available to do it, this company will advance it. Of course, we must pay the teacher. I do not know quite how this is being done at the present time. There is no one left of the old board except Mr. Hill, with a likelihood of him not being a resident there very much longer. Mr. Potter has left the country for good and Mr. Richardson is now located at Klamath Falls.

Pokegama was not the only site in need of a schoolhouse. S.C. Hamaker wrote to County School Superintendent J.G. Wight on June 23, 1908, to request a facility in Bly.

Dear sir

We are endevoring [sic] to Bond school dist No. 9 In the sum of $900.06 to erect a school Building have circulated a Petition among the Legal voters and received the Proper amt of signers Held Election & there are no vots [sic]against the Question of the Bonded Debt I send you certificate of the Judges of Election also Clerk. Now will you kindly help us to go a head [sic] with this proposition and give me any Instructions you can how to Procede [sic] next thanking you in advance for your kindness in this matter

Before civil rights

An April 30, 1912, letter from Attorney General A.M. Crawford to Oregon’s Superintendent of Public Instruction L.R. Alderman dealt with the issue of equitable education for Native American students. The School District No. 7 mentioned is Fort Klamath.

Dear Sir:

In compliance with request of recent date, I have had under consideration the question raised by the letter of Honorable J.G. Swan, County School Superintendent of Klamath County, asking a solution of the question presented in School District No. 7 of said county, on account of the attendance at the school of Indian and half breed Indian children who are afflicted with tuberculosis and venereal diseases.

Answering I would say, that any of said children who have any of those diseases, can, in my opinion, be excluded from the school, under the authority of the district to exclude persons having contagious or infectious diseases. This would probably require an examination by the County Health Officer, or some other competent physician, certifying that they are afflicted with such diseases. Also, if the electors of the district are in favor of segregating children of Indian blood from the white children, they can by vote, authorize the directors, at a meeting called for the purpose, to build and equip a separate school, in which shall be furnished equal facilities for the attendance of such children. Indians who have severed their tribal relations, or have received allotments of land are, under the United States laws, citizens of the United States and entitled to all of the rights and privileges of citizens under the laws, and therefore cannot be discriminated against on account of their race, but it has frequently been held that it is not a discrimination to separate the races, if equal facilities are furnished to the two races.

One or the other, or both of these remedies, are about all that occur to me to be applicable to the situation present.

Four years later Klamath Agency Indian Service Superintendent W. Freer wrote to County Superintendent Fred Peterson on Oct. 5, 1916, to establish a new school for Native American children in the eastern part of the county.

My dear Mr. Peterson:

In connection with the proposed establishment of a school district near Trout Creek about 12 miles this side of Yainax, you are informed that the Government is willing to pay a reasonable monthly tuition for the Indian children who may attend the school, whose parents are not tax-payers. There is no fixed tuition but I should be willing to recommend that the sum of $2.00 for each pupil per month be paid on the basis of enrollment, with the understanding that the pupils attend with reasonable regularity.

Educational lobby

In an effort to standardize education statewide, Senate B ill 8 was introduced by Senator Eddy and read for the first time January 13, 1925. It reads, in part:

Sec. 5293. To course of study for high schools in this state shall embrace a period of four years above eighth grade of the public schools of the state, and shall [contain two years of required work] embrace the required work herein specified, which shall be uniform in all high schools of the state. Such required course of study [for the two years of required work] shall be laid down by the superintendent of public instruction, after due consultation with all county and district high school boards in the state, and such required work, which shall be obligatory upon every high school student, in all high schools of the state, shall include United States history; the history and leading principles of American constitutional law, in simple form; American literature; the English language, including grammar, composition, rhetoric, spelling and punctuation; penmanship; bookkeeping; practical operations in arithmetic. Such studies and the optional work hereinafter mentioned shall be so combined or distributed as to permit of earning necessary credits for entrance into higher institutions of learning in this state.

A Western Union telegraph was sent to County School Superintendent J. Percy Wells on Feb. 10, 1925, to rally opposition to the bill:

HELD CONFERENCE WITH FIFTEEN REPRESENTATIVE SCHOOL MEN FROM SALEM PORTLAND AND WILLAMETTE VALLEY POINTS TO STUDY EFFECTS OF SENATE BILL NUMBER EIGHT BY SENATOR EDDY ALL UNITE IN DECLARATION THAT IT WILL GREATLY INCREASE HIGH SCHOOL COSTS STOP MOST SERIOUSLY EMBARRASS STATE INSTITUTIONS IN COLLEGE ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS STOP DECIDEDLY LOWER THE PRESENT STANDARDS OF THE HIGH SCHOOL STOP BE A SERIOUS MENACE TO THE SCHOOL SYSTEM STOP SEE YOUR BOARD AND HAVE THEM IMMEDIATELY WIRE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO KILL IT IN THE HOUSE

CORNELIA J SPENCER
PRESIDENT OREGON STATE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION

E D RESSLER SECRETARY OREGON STATE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION

J E MYERS CHAIRMAN LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE

Teacher compensation

With schoolhouses spread across the county, part of a teacher’s wages could include a place to live. Roads were not in good repair, nor were automobiles an everyday convenience. In a July 19, 1927, letter to Klamath County School District Superintendent Fred Peterson, Mr. H. Evans wrote:

Dear Sir:

Mrs. Evans and I stopped at your office to see you on our return from Sprague River, but you were not at the office, and since we were in a hurry we left without seeing you. There are several matters we wished to talk to you about.

Mrs. Wann showed us through the school building and apartment.  We noted several things we would like to have done, if possible. The school rooms appeared to be in fairly good shape. I believe a heavy coat of oil about one month before school begins will put the floors in first class shape for half the school term. Mrs. Wann mentioned that the blinds were purchased but not forwarded to the school. They would add to the appearance of the school rooms. Mrs. Evans says she would like to have a long window put in the end of the teacherage downstairs; high enough that a piano would go under it. She would appreciate having the walls tinted and the floors painted. This may be asking quite a bit for newcomers but we feel that good environment has much to do with the success of the school.

We look forward to a pleasant school year at Sprague River.

Deferred maintenance

During periods of economic concern, one area of expense that is routinely reduced is maintenance on buildings. It is a constant concern in the kindergarten through high school arena and the higher education environs. An undated document, which was filed among other papers from the 1930s, requests immediate action for maintenance at Bonanza School:

To The Klamath County School Board,

We, the undersigned voters of Sub School District #2, Klamath County, located at Bonanza, Oregon, petition your board as follows:

That present alterations and repair work on the Bonanza School to place same in a safe, sanitary and healthy condition, fit for the proper housing of the children that they may do their best work, continues.

Further, we feel the work as being carried on is in competent hand, and that there be no change and that the work be hastened so as to cause no delay to the opening of our school term.

The above is expressly necessary as thru some oversight our budget only levied $2600.00 [editor’s note: this number is crossed out in pencil and $29.50 written after the paragraph] for repairs which is so grossly inadequate as to be absurd.

Thru the adoption of the County Unit plan of School Administration, active matters pertaining to our school has been taken away from the local board and responsibility for the safety and health of the schools attendants placed in your hands. An examination of the school showed same to be in an unsafe condition, the burden of responsibility which we will not assume for our children and which we do not believe you care to assume, and your Chairman under the directions from your Board in conference, with our Board, held on the ground, have agreed on the necessary work to place the building in a safe, healthy, sanitary and comfortable condition.

Under former school law we would be free to meet this emergency but as authority has been transferred to your Board and we are left without recourse to remedy conditions, which we know are bad, we respectfully urge that you afford us immediate relief from our emergency.

Arts education

A well-rounded education has always included exposure to the arts. In February of 1938 local granges petitioned the County Superintendent to seek music instruction at local high schools. The charge was initiated by the Bonanza Grange No. 772.

WHEREAS Mr. Christiansen, of the Portland Music Co., has surveyed Klamath County as to its needs and possibilities for orchestral work in both the schools and Granges, and

WHEREAS he has agreed to return to this County in the fall with a competent instructor, provided the schools and Granges want this service, therefor be it

RESOLVED that we ask Fred Peterson, our County School Superintendant, to do all in his power to interest the County School Board in cooperating to the extent, that they, at the budget meeting in July, ask that the County Unit bear part of the expense of bringing a first class teacher to handle all county schools; that the County pay $150.00 per month for the teacher to handle all County schools part time, leaving the balance of his salary to be derived from private lessons in the different communities, and be it further

RESOLVED that all Granges of the County be asked to endorse this Resolution, after being properly presented, and then sent to the Pomona Executive Committee for their endorsement and finally presented to Fred Peterson.

Bonanza, Oregon

What is now the Longhorn Saloon and Restaurant was once the Bank of Bonanza.

By Chester BeersTaken from the 1984 Klamath County Historical Society book, "Klamath Country History"
At one time the town of Bonanza was a Modoc Indian village called "Nushaltkaga," a reference to the bubbling springs found there, now Big Springs. Bonanza (a Spanish name meaning prosperity for its wealth in water) is situated at the Big Springs on Lost River south east of Klamath Falls some twenty-four miles.

Bonanza was the site of the first homestead filed in Klamath County by I.R. Chandler on July 11, 1873. All of the early settlers in the Lost River area moved to the safety of Linkville (later to be called Klamath Falls) during the Modoc War. John Shook, who enlisted as a scout in the Oregon State Militia, returned to his ranch when the war ended and located a sawmill at the Big Springs in 1873. Shook is also credited for naming the town when he applied for a post office named Bonanza on August 27, 1875.

Bonanza soon became a thriving farm town with many new settlers who began to flock in. The second school in the county (Linkville being the first) was established at the Lost River settlement of Bonanza. Albert Handy was an early settler and opened up a general store with John P. Roberts. Benjamin Price platted the townsite of eleven blocks and recorded them May 16, 1878 in Lakeview which was then the county seat. The stagecoach came through once a week on its way to Linkville or Lakeview.

There were two "up-to-date" hotels in Bonanza which did a fine business and catered to travellers. There were two livery stables that carried 50-60 horses. Bonanza was the supply center for the "four-leaf clover" area. The growth of Bonanza is given in the [Ashland] Tidings of January 18, 1878, where it is reported: "Bonanza has immense springs of cold water -- Picturesque ans so situated at the gateway between upper and lower valleys of Lost River that it is certainly destined to become an important business point before many years -- sage lands will be utilized -- grazing lands for thousands of cattle. There is one story, Handy and Roberts; a boarding house kept by Mr. Price (located at the northwest corner of Big Springs Park, at the corner of Main and North Streets); a sawmill owned by John S. Shook, a blacksmith shop (at present with no smith), a school (Bonanza Sage Brush Academy) under the direction of Miss Fannie VanRiper; plus several families. Also, from time immemorial, the redskins came in the early spring, when the river was full to overflowing, to catch the juicy buffalo suckers, just up from Tule Lake, and dry tons for winter use -- with fish and game there is no danger of hunger in Bonanza."

The white school house was the center of community activities. Church was held there once a month to which large crowds came in their horsedrawn vehicles from Langell Valley, Poe Valley and Yonna Valley. The school house was probably a board and batten affair built by volunteer labor during the late summer of 1873. It stood across Lost River from the present Big Springs Park. After this building collapsed in late 1876, a new school house was erected on the same site. This time, however, on information furnished by Birdie Burk in 1952, the school house seems to have been built of logs, probably thought to be more substantial. At one time, twelve or thirteen pupils attended, with Marshall Orr as teacher.

In 1886 the ladies aid of the community held their Christian meetings in the one-room school house. The gave basket socials, made quilts and other fancy work to help build the church. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Nichols donated the lot, and the first deed was made for $1 on September 3, 1902. The first denomination of the church was the Beulah Methodist Episcopal. In 1947 the property was purchased by the Nazarene Church (who abandoned their work in 1955) and later by the Assembly of God.

On November 20, 1902, the [Klamath Falls] Republican reported: "The force employed by the Midway Telephone Co. completed its line to Bonanza last Saturday and returned to this place. Four phones were located in Bonanza and two at intermediate points -- at ranches of Chas. Horton and the Olene Livestock Co. On account of inclement weather, the building of the proposed line Dairy, via Shook Bros. ranch, will probably be delayed until next spring." Florence Horn, in November, 1971, recalled that Mrs. J.O. Hamaker conducted the first telephone exchange office in Bonanza, and Mrs. Malone served in a similar capacity on the other end, in Langell Valley.

John S. Shook is reported to have donated the land to be used as the Bonanza Cemetery. It was located in a field on his original homestead.

The Bank of Bonanza was established in 1907 by a group of Klamath County residents, some of whom were Alex Martin Jr., William C. Dalton, Dell V. Kuykendall and Jacob Rueck. About 1909, a long time saloon building (Bradburn-Zevely) was removed from the corner of Market and North Street, and permanent quarters for the bank were built there and occupied at that time. On November 12, 1931, according to the Klamath News, three young men drove up to the Bonanza Bank in a battered old car, stolen the night before from the St. Francis Garage in Klamath Falls. They were heavily armed but unmasked and had the appearance of loggers, thus arousing suspicions. Dewey Horn, president, and Miss Sarah Poole, assistant cashier, were in the bank at the time. Horn was forced to unlock the vault and the safe in the vault. Altogether the men secured in the neighborhood of $4,000 in bills and silver. At the end of the year 1934, the Bank of Bonanza liquidated by transfer of all accounts, without loss to depositors, to the American National Bank of Klamath Falls.

Bonanza perhaps holds the distinction of having suffered more disastrous fires than any town of its size in the State of Oregon. The first fire of record occurred September 4, 1900. If there were any fires previous to that date, and it is quite probable there were, no mention of them has been found to date. The next fire of record took place in 1903 or 1904 during a time when a considerable group of Indians were camped across Lost River from Bonanza, perhaps during the spring run of mullet. Two Indians who had reportedly imbibed too freely of "firewater" were placed in the town jail, a wooden building situated north of the west end of the present bridge. The fire was thought to have started from the inside and both inmates were burned to death.

On May 15, 1910, occurred the first of Bonanza's four big fires in the business section. Next, the [Klamath Falls] Evening Herald of August 19, 1913, reported: "For the second time in the history of the town of Bonanza, the metropolis of the Clover Leaf country was visited by a bad fire last night, when the Harpold Building containing a drug store, general merchandise store, barber shop, confectionery store and hotel and the building occupied by the Broadsword Hardware company went up in flames." Bonanza's third big fire occurred on the morning of January 16, 1914, when fire started in the post office building and destroyed other buildings immediately adjacent. The fourth and last big fire occurred on May 30, 1930. The fire started about noon in the blacksmith shop owned by F.W. Bold and Son. For the next two hours the fire, fanned by a strong wind burned through the bank, post office, Sparretorn's restaurant which was operated by Carl M. Lentz, the drug store run by Lester Boggs and Bradley's general store.

In 1928 the first Klamath County Branch Library was established here and the Women's Club has continued as custodians.

The Bonanza Bulletin, only a memory now, came to life around the last of May, 1906. It survived the two disastrous fires of 1910 and 1913 only to fall prey to another, which struck the village in January of 1914. The Bulletin was founded by Charles Pattee and Frank Salcedio, to be purchased by J.O. Hamaker in August 1906.

The pride and joy of Bonanza, among other things, is the Big Springs Park. Interested members of the community began work on getting the park started in 1952. From an unsightly weed patch, willing care created a beautiful spot for picnics, including fireplaces, tables, benches and even piped water. As each year progressed, new things have been added to the park and use of the park has continued to increase. Latest project is a tennis court.