Burnt Ranch is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

(CDP) in Trinity County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It has a school and a post office. Its ZIP Code is 95527, and it is in

area code 530 Area code 530 is a California telephone area code in northeastern and Northern California. Regions within it include the Sacramento Valley (including some outer suburbs of Sacramento), Shasta Cascade, and the northern Sierra Nevada. Area code 53 ...

. Its elevation is . Its population is 250 as of the 2020 census, down from 281 from the 2010 census.

History

In prehistoric times, the area was inhabited by people speaking a form of the

Chimariko language Chimariko is an extinct language isolate formerly spoken in northern Trinity County, California, by the inhabitants of several independent communities. While the total area claimed by these communities was remarkably small, Golla (2011:87–89 ...

, which was spoken along the Trinity River from the mouth of South Fork at Salyer as far upstream as Big Bar; their principal village was at present-day Burnt Ranch. Pre-contact, the Native American people of this area all spoke Chimariko as well as a dialect of the Hupa language. This is the

Tsnungwe The Tsnungwe (current Hupa-language orthography, own name: - "Tse:ning-din (Ironside Mountain) People") or ''Tsanunghwa'' are a Native American people indigenous to the modern areas of the lower South Fork Trinity River (), Willow Creek (), ...

dialect of Hupa. Burnt Ranch is so named because Canadian miners burned down an Indian rancheria here in 1849. On 2 August 1858, J.W. Winslet's party of 16 men from Burnt Ranch were ambushed by the

Whilkut The Whilkut (variants: ''Whiylqit, Hwil'-kut, Hoilkut, Hoilkut-hoi'') also known as "(Upper) Redwood Creek Indians" or "Mad River Indians" were a Pacific Coast Athabaskan tribe speaking a dialect similar to the Hupa to the northeast and Chilula ...

in the Bald Hills along a trail to the Hupa villages, killing one man and wounding Winslet; the party retreated to Pardee's Ranch.Fight with Indians - One Man Killed and One Wounded
, Weekly Humboldt Times, August 7, 1858: p. 2, col. 3.Bledsoe, Anthony Jennings, Indian wars of the Northwest: A California sketch, Bacon and Co., San Francisco, 1885, pp. 233-237 Burnt Ranch was destroyed in the spring of 1863 by an Indian raiding party. :"On the Trinity, for many miles above its confluence with the Klamath, there were indications of a general uprising of discontented tribes. At Cedar Flat a trading post was attacked and destroyed, the keeper and another man escaping to Burnt Ranch. The family at Burnt Ranch was removed to a safer locality, and none too soon; one day thereafter the Indians arrived and set fire to everything that would burn." Burnt Ranch became a temporary camp from May to November 1864, used by

1st Battalion California Volunteer Mountaineers 1st Battalion California Volunteer Mountaineers was an infantry battalion in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States, attached to the Department of the Pacific. It was organize ...

while moving Indians to

Fort Humboldt A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

.Historic California Posts: Camp Burnt Ranch, California State Military Department, The California Military Museum
/ref>

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the CDP covers an area of , 99.99% of it land and 0.01% of it water. The town is 15.7 miles southeast of Willow Creek on State Route

299 __NOTOC__ Year 299 ( CCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and Maximian (or, less frequently, ...

Climate

This region experiences hot and dry summers. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Burnt Ranch has a

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.

Demographics

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

reported that Burnt Ranch had a population of 281. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 21.0 people per square mile (8.1/km²). The racial makeup of Burnt Ranch was 241 (85.8%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 0 (0.0%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 15 (5.3%) Native American, 4 (1.4%)

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0 (0.0%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 1 (0.4%) from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 20 (7.1%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 19 persons (6.8%). The Census reported that 281 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 129 households, out of which 22 (17.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 62 (48.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 7 (5.4%) had a female householder with no husband present, 4 (3.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 6 (4.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 2 (1.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 48 households (37.2%) were made up of individuals, and 14 (10.9%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18. There were 73

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

(56.6% of all households); the average family size was 2.88. The population was spread out, with 38 people (13.5%) under the age of 18, 12 people (4.3%) aged 18 to 24, 53 people (18.9%) aged 25 to 44, 119 people (42.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 59 people (21.0%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 52.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 124.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 127.1 males. There were 157 housing units at an average density of 11.7 per square mile (4.5/km²), of which 106 (82.2%) were owner-occupied, and 23 (17.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.0%. 230 people (81.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 51 people (18.1%) lived in rental housing units.

Politics

In the state legislature, Burnt Ranch is in , and . Federally, Burnt Ranch is in .

References