Haiwee (

Timbisha The Timbisha ("rock paint", Timbisha language: Nümü Tümpisattsi) are a Native American tribe federally recognized as the Death Valley Timbisha Shoshone Band of California. They are known as the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe and are located in sout ...

: ''Heewi'', meaning "Dove") is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Inyo County,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It is located on the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

south-southwest of Keeler, at an elevation of 4075 feet (1242 m).

History

Haiwee has variously been known formerly as "McGuire's", Willie Arthur Chalfant, The story of Inyo, Hammond Press, W. B. Conkey Company, Chicago, 1922, p. 180–183
/ref> "Haiwai", "Hawaii" and "Hayways". The settlement there began in 1864, as a waystop at Haiwai Meadows on the road between Visalia and the

Owens Valley Owens Valley (Numic Numic is a branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, Snake River basin, and southern Great Pl ...

. The stop was run by a man named McGuire and his wife and young son. McGuire's wife and son were killed in an Indian attack while he was away on January 1, 1865. Owens Valley settler

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

avenged their deaths, with an attack on the Indian village where the killers had taken refuge, in the Owens Lake Massacre on January 6, 1865. This was one of the last fights in the

Owens Valley Indian War The Owens Valley War was fought between 1862 and 1863, by California Volunteers and local settlers against the Owens Valley Paiutes, and their Shoshone and Kawaiisu allies, in the Owens Valley of California and the southwestern Nevada borde ...

. The original settlement site and the Haiwai Meadows are under the water of the Haiwee Reservoir. The town moved to a site west of the reservoir. A post office operated at Haiwee from 1906 to 1913, moving in 1909. The 2020 population of Haiwee is 25 within Census Tract 8, Blocks 2270, 2273, 2274, 2242, 2169, 2267, 2264, 2165https://www.inyocounty.us/sites/default/files/2020-02/Landuse%20Diagrams.pdf

Climate

Haiwee has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate(

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 ...

: ''Csa'') with winters being cold and summers being very hot. Due to its high elevation and low humidity, it experiences dramatic diurnal temperature variation, and it is common to have a difference of 30 °F between daily highs and lows.

References

Unincorporated communities in California Unincorporated communities in Inyo County, California {{InyoCountyCA-geo-stub