The first non-Indigenous settler is considered to have been Wallace Baldwin, a 19-year-old civilian who drove fifty head of horses in the valley in 1852. The Applegate Trail, which passes through the lower Klamath area, was blazed in 1846 from west to east in an attempt to provide a safer route for emigrants on the Oregon Trail. 17 Indigenous people and 83 whites were killed. This led to the Modoc War of 1872–1873, which was a hugely expensive campaign for the US Cavalry, costing an estimated $500,000, the equivalent of over $8 million in 2000. The Modocs' homeland is about 20 miles (32 km) south of Klamath Falls, but when they were forced onto a reservation with their adversaries, the Klamath, a rebellion ensued and they hid out in nearby lava beds.

The Klamath and Modoc peoples were the first known inhabitants of the area. See also: List of historic buildings in Klamath Falls, Oregon The rapids are visible a short distance below the Link River Dam, where the water flow is generally insufficient to provide water flow over the river rocks. In reality it is best described as rapids rather than falls. From this Link River white water phenomenon 'Falls' was added to Klamath in its name. The Klamath name for the Link River white water falls was Tiwishkeni, or 'where the falling waters rush'. The Klamath themselves called the region Yulalona or Iwauna, which referred to the phenomenon of the Link River flowing upstream when the south wind blew hard. No evidence suggests that the name is of Klamath origin. Several locatives derived from the Modoc or Achomawi: lutuami, lit: 'lake dwellers', móatakni, 'tule lake dwellers', respectively, could have also led to spelling variations that ultimately made the word what it is today. The name Klamath ( / ˈ k l æ m ə θ/) may be a variation of the descriptive native for 'people' used by the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau to refer to the region. The name was changed to Klamath Falls in 1892–93. Logging was Klamath Falls's first major industry.Īt its founding in 1867, Klamath Falls was named Linkville. The city is on the southeastern shore of the Upper Klamath Lake and approximately 17 miles (27 km) north of the California–Oregon border.

The population was 21,813 at the 2020 census. The name was changed to Klamath Falls in 1893. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city was sited. The city was originally called Linkville when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. Klamath Falls ( / ˈ k l æ m ə θ/ KLAM-əth) is a city in, and the county seat of, Klamath County, Oregon, United States.

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