The quaint, remote communities of Igo and Ono in Shasta County, Calif., are a pair of settlements established during the gold rush.
Fifteen miles from Redding, the region was highly productive from the 1860s through the 1880s, especially the Russell and Hardscrabble mines near Igo. From 1933 through 1959, the local mines produced 115,000 ounces of gold. The gravels at Hardscrabble were reportedly as deep as 50 feet.
By 1886, Ono’s downtown had a hotel, two general merchandise stores, saloon, two blacksmith shops, schoolhouse, public hall, and church.
It’s not known how the two communities ended up with such unusual names. Some suggest that the names came from pidgin English spoken by some Chinese miners. The Internet site, Surnamedb.com, says Igo is an English surname and comments, “the name has never ceased to puzzle researchers, and all who come into contact with it.”
The Rev. William Samuel Kidder may have suggested the name Ono from the Biblical “plain of Ono” after the Post Office Department rejected in April 1883 its original name, “Eagle Creek.”
Sources: “Igo-Ono District.” Western Mining History. 2019. https://westernmininghistory.com/articles/433/page1/; Giessner, Jo. "Ono." History & Happenings, 2010, historyandhappenings.squarespace.com/shasta-county/2010/5/12/ono.html. Accessed 19 Apr. 2019.
