Colusa

History

In 1850, Charles D. Semple purchased the Rancho Colus Mexican land grant on which Colusa was founded and called the place Salmon Bend. The town was founded, under the name Colusi, by Semple in 1850. The first post office was established the following year, 1851. The California legislature changed the town's (and the county's) name to Colusa in 1854. The town flourished due to its location on the Southern Pacific Railroad. Several travelers rest stops were established at various road distances from Colusa, including Five Mile House, Seven Mile House, Nine Mile House, Ten Mile House, Eleven Mile House, Fourteen Mile House (also called Sterling Ranch), Sixteen Mile House (at the current location of Princeton), and Seventeen Mile House. The original settlement of what became Colusa was originally placed at the site of Seven Mile House but subsequently removed to its current site in 1850. On July 10, 1887, convicted murderer Hong Di, an immigrant from China, was dragged from the Colusa jail and was forced by over a hundred and fifty men through the streets of Colusa's Chinatown, before he was hanged from the rafters of the locomotive turntable of the Colusa and Lake Railroad. Di, who had worked as a servant for the Billiou family of St. Johns, California, had shot and killed his employer Julie Billiou on April 7, 1887. He was captured on May 22, 1887, near Gridley, California.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. According to the United States Geological Survey, the city's location is at . Colusa is on the Sacramento River, which has a high levee so that the river is not clearly apparent from the city. Colusa features a historic Chinatown, Carnegie Library building constructed in 1905, and an architecturally noteworthy courthouse built in a classical style, among its historically notable buildings. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Colusa has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps. During December 1996–January 1997, the nearby Colusa Weir Gauge reached flood stage. This historic flooding event devastated the region by destroying thousands of crop acres (rice, tomatoes, alfalfa) and property. The Colusa Weir Gauge reached flood stage on January 3, 1997.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,242
• Red-tailed Hawk

  Buteo jamaicensis (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  4,211
• Great Egret

  Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,091
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,972
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  3,806
• Greater White-fronted Goose

  Anser albifrons (Scopoli, 1769) · Aves
  3,599
• Northern Shoveler

  Spatula clypeata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,542
• Killdeer

  Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,441