Vintage Newspaper Articles

on the Springs

The following articles were transcribed from photostat copies and one newspaper clipping, unearthed from archival collections of College of the Siskiyous library, Yreka County Library, Siskiyou Historic Society, and the Scottish Rite Masonic Lodge. Thanks to all staff members and volunteers for their kind cooperation.

[Occasional bracketed comments like this sometimes added

for clarity or questioned accuracy of facts.]

Articles appear in reverse-age order, most recent first.

It's interesting to note reporters' varied takes of place's early popularity, one saying it became "famous throughout the land", another saying it remained obscure, "...many residing a few miles away have never visited the place." The circa 1960 clipping by J. O. McKinney sheds particular light on the place's traditional service spirit, uncluttered by any preoccupation with maximizing profit or inappropriate, private diversions that have so often plagued the place in later decades.

(see also Old Tales and Emile Frank's 4-part Series)

~ Contents ~

~ Nuggets, May 2012, Siskiyou County Historical Society: Electric Lights at Stewart Springs 1953 (reprinted 59 years later)

- OregonHealthyLiving.com March 24, 2009: "Stewart Mineral Springs: Recipe for Detox" by Cindy Quick Wilson

~ Redding Searchlight, Jan. 1, 2006: "Owners plan to renovate, add onto historic spa" by Marc Beauchamp

~ Southern Siskiyou Newspapers, Progress, March 1996: "Soothing sapped spirits with water" by Stacia Lay and Joie DeFond

~ Mt. Shasta Herald, August 21, 1991: Hot baths and a French Menu, by Jenny Coyle

~ Siskiyou County Scene, Summer 1984: "The evolution of Stewart Springs" by Emilie A Frank

~ Unknown original source (Siskiyou Historic Society archival newspaper clipping, circa 1960): "Stewart Springs" by J. O. McKinney

~ Extractions from Sacramento Scottish Rite Bulletin: "Stewart Mineral Springs" 1955-1956

~ Weed Press, July 8, 1948: "Several Buildings at Stewart Springs Destroyed by Fire"

~ The Siskiyou News, July 20, 1911: "Mrs. H. S. Stewart Dead"

Electric Lights at Stewart Springs Thursday
July 30th, 1953

May 2012 reprint of old Sacramento Bee bulletin published in Nuggets, Siskiyou

County Historical Society's newsletter

Mr. and Mrs. C.C. Young of Stewart Springs Resort, in the Edgewood Section, were business callers in Weed Thursday of this week.

The Young's, formerly of Sacramento, came up in March of this year, to take over management of the Resort, now under the supervision of the Masonic Order.

Mr. Young has been doing considerable improvement works at this popular mineral resort. The cabins have all been modernized and electricity brought to the premises. There are now electric lights, electric heaters and electric hot plates for cooking.

The Resort is open as usual to the general public, and the modernization will provide greater convenience for all who visit Stewart Springs.

Much more improvement work is also being contemplated at the Springs, Mr. Young stated.

Mineral baths may be had there from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily.

Mrs. Loyd, the former owner of the Springs making her home on the premises, is to dedicate the electric lights in appropriate ceremonies at a later date.

Mrs. Loyd is the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Henry Stewart who developed the resort many years ago.

The Stewarts settled first in 1851 in the Edgewood area [Ed. maybe he did, but Mrs. Stewart didn't come onto scene until 1870s] which is now the Mills Ranch, later buying the resort property and moving to the springs. This resort was known nation wide for its mineral baths.

( [addendum written by Society in 2012, Ed.] This resort is still in business, with a small cafe and cabins available. It has changed hands many times but seems to remain a place people want to come to for the healing of the waters.)

Stewart Mineral Springs:

Recipe for Detox

OregonHealthyLiving.com March 24, 2009

by Cindy Quick Wilson

Studies at Harvard University reveal that 60 to 90 percent of all doctor visits are spurred by stress-induced illnesses.

Stewart Mineral Springs Resort, a getaway that meanders over 37 acres in the shadow of Mount Shasta in Northern California, is the kind of place that can lower those stress levels and clean out some of the detritus of modern living.

"Our main focus is on our bath house and our mineral bath," explains Linda Boyce, office manager at the resort, who describes their recipe for detoxifying mind, body and spirit. "First you would come in and take a mineral bath, then spend 10 or 15 minutes in the wood-burning sauna. Then you have a choice of a plunge in Parks Creek or a cool shower; you do that process three times. It really detoxes your body and rinses away impurities."

The first step, soaking in the mineral springs, begins the process of allowing mineral-rich water to cleanse and exfoliate the skin, bringing impurities to the surface. The natural chlorine and mineral components are so concentrated, a 30-minute limit is recommended. The result is cleansing, relaxing, healing and purifying.

Next, guests enter the wood sauna, where the dry heat fosters the body's release of locked-away toxins and impurities.The final, breathtaking finish is a "cold plunge" in the chilly waters of Parks Creek — or for those less adventurous, a cool shower. The cold plunge has a long history across diverse cultures and offers many health benefits, such as stimulating circulation, cleaning pores, boosting the immune system and reducing inflammation of joints and muscles. It also gives the nervous system an invigorating jump-start, leaving the body feeling refreshed and renewed.

Stewart Springs offers other choices for recharging vitality, including a soothing massage.

Or if you've ever wondered what it would be like to experience a sweat lodge, Walking Eagle, a Karuk spiritual leader, invites guests to take part in this age-old cleansing ceremony, using sweat, songs and prayers to "clear our bodies of toxins, our minds of negativity and reconnect with our inner spirit" in true American Indian tradition.

Stewart Mineral Springs provides a variety of overnight accommodations. "We have motel units; they're beds and a bath, more like dorm-style living. We have six apartments with full kitchens and living rooms. We also have an A-frame house that sleeps 10. That's popular for conferences and retreats. We also have cabins with wood-burning stoves, places for camping, and we also rent tepees," says Boyce.

"In summer we're very busy. From the end of April to the end of October, we're booked solid. People even make reservations a year ahead of time. We've already booked 12 retreats for this year through November. We have groups coming in from Spain and England; people come from all over the world."

There are no TVs, cell-phone service or Internet here. This place is about getting back to basics and recapturing what ancient practices have taught us about our reliance on nature when it comes to healing our minds, bodies and souls.

Owners Plan to Renovate,

Add onto Historic Spa

Record Searchlight (CA) Jan. 1, 2006

by Marc Beauchamp

WEED - Stewart Mineral Springs Resort, the historic spa and getaway a few miles west of here - is getting a slow-mo makeover.

"I want to get it where it's a nice rustic, not so rustic," said Crystal Foggy, who owns the resort with her father, John, a Bay Area businessman-turned-real-estate-developer who bought the 40-acre property in the early 1980s. [Ed. Actually, he didn't so much buy the place as much as possess it after having earlier floated a loan to the previous owners, who defaulted on re-payment.]

Foggy, 31, and her sister Astra, 35, plan to renovate the aging wooden bathhouse, build a new conference center, slowly remodel rooms, update the Web site and improve the cuisine at the restaurant, which is open from May to October.

The year-round spa, nestled among cedar, fir and pine trees, dates to 1875, according to the resort's Web site, when one Henry Stewart "on the verge of death" was supposedly revived by the "miraculous healing qualities of the mineral water..."

Today it attracts customers from the Mount Shasta and Redding areas and as far away as Europe, Japan and Australia, Foggy said.

"It's my sanctuary, my one-day-a-week retreat from reality," said Sherry Gardner of Redding. She described the ambiance as "very casual, very '60s."

At her father's urging, Foggy took over management of the operation almost two years ago. "I liked it as a child," she said of the woodsy resort. "I thought about it and thought I would give it a try," she added.

Foggy, who grew up in Burlingame, earned a master's degree in international business from San Francisco State University, but neither it nor a subsequent stint working for Nokia in Silicon Valley prepared her for running a small business.

"It's a 24-hour day," she said. "It's like a child - you're always caring for it, nurturing it, trying to make it better." Her full and part-time staff ranges from seven in the winter to 15 in the summer.

Silica-rich water emerges from the ground above the bathhouse and eventually is heated by propane to 180 degrees [F.] With no filtering or added chemicals, it feeds 15 soaking tubs in private rooms. Nearby is a wood-fired sauna.

The "slick and dense" water "exfoliates naturally," Foggy said. But don't rub in the tub, she cautions - the mildly abrasive silica sometimes can cause a rash.

In October, Foggy - with the help of her sister, who has a fashion design background - opened a remodeled cabin on the property as a "wellness room," outfitted with bedding, air and water filtration systems made by Nikken, a Japanese company known for its supposedly healing magnetic products...

The retreat, arguably the oldest of its kind in the north state [Orr and Wilbur are older, maybe Harbin too], features a "wellness consultant" offering a range of massages and "raindrop therapy," and a mix of accommodations and prices - including an A-frame house that can handle up to 10 people as well as cabins, apartments, Indian teepees, and campsites.

The laid-back atmosphere means clothing is optional in the sauna, on the sundeck and in nearby Parks Creek, where some bathers cool off after a sweaty spell in the sauna.

Foggy, however, is sensitive to more mainstream sensibilities. "We might create a clothing day towards the beginning of the week" when business is slower, she said. [Ed. They never did, instead having women-only Monday afternoons for a few years, similar to Oregon's Jackson Hotsprings.]

She also aims to transform the restaurant into a "bistro" with affordable but near-gourmet food that would "entice people to come even if they're not coming for the baths."

She's considering another wellness room with an all-wool mattress and bedding from Shepherd's Dream of Montague. Wool is "all natural, not synthetic, and doesn't have the allergens some man-made bedding has," she explained.

Foggy values her loyal clientele. For example, on Thursdays she offers locals half-price baths ($10) and saunas ($5). "I walk out floating...just floating back to Redding," Gardner says of her near-weekly trips to the mineral baths.

But Foggy wants to grow the business, which means attracting new customers from the north state and beyond.

Changing the business is a balancing act, she said.

"We want to make it nicer, give it a little more of a spa feeling where we do draw more people who just go to spas and that it's not so rustic that it turns people away."

Soothing Sapped Spirits With Water

Southern Siskiyou Newspapers: Progress, March 1996

by Stacia Lay and Joie DeFond

More than 120 years ago [ago], Native Americans brought ailing businessman Henry Stewart to the medicine grounds located in what is now Siskiyou County. [Ed. Historically inaccurate; dating's right, but he was just a young adventurer at the time.]

After regaining his health Stewart attributed the change to the mineral water and the environment surrounding it.

[Some 20 years later] [H]e proceeded to purchase 160 acres from the Central Pacific Railroad and Stewart Mineral Springs was born, according to Susanne Frank, who co-manages the facility today with Joe Helweg.

It has suffered its ups and downs since Stewart founded Stewart Mineral Springs in 1875, but today it is offering its mineral water to visitors far and wide.

Stewart built and operated a small bathhouse on the property until his death in 1915.

Under Foggy's ownership, and the management of Frank and Helweg, Stewart Mineral Springs is attracting national and international groups as well as continuing to draw local residents to its waters.

Tourists from Japan, Germany, Australia, Russia and elsewhere drop by to take in a week of the springs, according to Frank.

Today, Stewart Springs has grown to 18 buildings set among ponds, gazebos, bridges and pools. It offers a number of lodging opportunities as well as facilities for workshops and seminars.

Visitors can choose from A-frame houses [1], cabins [5], apartment units [6], dormitory units [4] or authentic Native American style tepees [5].

Besides mineral bath facilities and sauna, Stewart Springs also offers Native American purification sweats held by a Karuk Medicine Man in a sweat lodge, as well as various types of massage.

The springs do wonders for ailments such as arthritis, kidney problems, and more, Frank said. "the mineral water just pulls the toxins from the body."

Mineral springs such as these used to be found up and down the canyon, Frank said, noting Castella, Ney Springs, the Gables and others.

Today, Stewart Mineral Springs is the last of its kind that Frank knows of in the area, she said.

The springs used to be an alternative method of healing before people began using more medicines in the 1930s, Frank said.

Today, this alternative method seems to be coming back. More people are choosing to use this type of preventive healing, Frank said, to stop sickness before it starts.

The mineral springs area continues to be sacred to the Karuk and Shasta Indians as a healing ground as well, according to Frank.

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Hot baths and a French menu

Mt. Shasta Herald, August 21, 1991
by Jenny Coyle

"Getting away from it all" seems like an idea exclusively for city folk who want to escape the hustle and bustle for a relaxing spell in the country.

But those of us who live in the country know that we, too, need to get away from our own hustle and bustle.

The good news is that there's a great place to do just that, and you only have to drive as far as Stewart Springs Mineral Resort, up Stewart Springs road across the freeway from Edgewood.

The resort has a history of being sporadically open to the public, and then shut down to the public, as owners have opted to use it for private groups and retreats on a scheduled basis.

But it's open to the public in a big way now, with a French chef running the restaurant, plenty of baths available, a sauna, Native American sweats, and overnight accommodations in a teepee, cabin, motel room, or dorms.

If you've never been to the resort, it's worth the drive just to stroll around the grounds, stick your toes in Parks Creek, and enjoy the peace and silence of the woods.

On the other hand, this is the kind of place you could spend the whole weekend.

Susanne Frank, who manages the resort with Joe Helweg, says it's 40 acres of sacred ground that was developed by Henry Stewart in 1875.

Stewart, a prominent businessman, was looking for a cure for his ailment, and after being taken to the springs by Indians, he miraculously regained his health and attributed it to the healing quality of the water. [Ed. note: Again, this part of then-accepted narrative is woefully inaccurate; he was in fact just a strapping young man at the time, recently arrived on wings of the Gold Rush, seeking adventure and fortune, and was found in a bad way and rescued in the nearby wilds by local natives.] see History

"Older people from Castella and Weed come here for the baths because they really help soothe arthritis," says Ms.Frank. "We get loggers, too, when they've been working around a lot of poison oak, because it helps get rid of that."

What $15 gets you at Stewart Springs is as much time as you can handle going back and forth between the mineral bath, sauna, shower, and creek.

First, explains Ms. Frank, you step into a private room with a bath and slide into the sterilized tub filled as hot as you can stand it with the magical mineral water.

"It feels really slippery because of the minerals," she said, "and you don't want to rub yourself." What the water does is pull off the dead skin and then starts to clean the toxins of your pores, she said.

After about five minutes of that, you wrap yourself in a sheet and walk around the corner to the large sauna. Ms.Frank says that for each drop of sweat that comes out, a pore is cleaned.

Then it's back to the bath -- or to the cold show, or for a dunk in Parks Creek, if you like, and the whole thing can then begin again.

Ms. Frank said no one goes naked outside the baths, and those who use the resort are modest. "It's definitely not a nudist colony," she said. [Ed. Place's revived clothing-optional policy only started in 2000]

Massages can be arranged, and every Saturday night Jack Thom, a Karuk medicine man, heats lava rocks for three hours and then leads a sweat in an authentic Indian sweat lodge. The sweat is open to the public, and entry is by donation.

Serge's Restaurant

If dinner is on the agenda, or Sunday brunch, then a visit to the springs restaurant -- called "Serge's" -- is next.

So what's Serge Margot, a certified French chef, doing running a restaurant in the woods of Siskiyou County? After earning French degrees in cooking and then working in several restaurants in Paris, Serge worked as a chef for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. He later moved to San Francisco and worked as a chef at La Reserve restaurant in San Mateo for three years.

He said business and spiritual reasons brought him to northern California. "My desire was to take a break, be in the green, and enjoy the serenity of my surroundings," he said.

And then he discovered that the springs kitchen "was just sitting there, waiting."

The dinner menu is nothing short of elegant: Filet of Sole Veronique, Bouchee de Fruit de Mer -- and the one Serge considers his best, Steak au Poivre, described as "lean New York steak with a course pepper, gently sauteed, flambeed with brandy, served with pepper cream sauce, scalloped potatoes, and vegetables."

And then there's Sunday brunch, featuring eggs benedict with lightly sauteed crab, French toast, omelets, and blueberry pancakes.

Seating for meals is inside or outside, and Serge says that the restaurant alone draws people to the springs for a chance to dine in the midst of such beauty. On a recent Sunday, he served brunch for 120 people.

The bath house at the springs is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and evening appointments are available by calling 938-2222.

Serge's is open Thursday through Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m., and on Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call 938-1251 for reservations.

_____________________________________________________

The Evolution of Stewart Springs

Siskiyou County Scene, Summer 1984

by Emilie A Frank

Without his Indian friends, Henry Stewart may not have lived very long, for back in the 1850s he became very ill. The Indians took him back in the hills west of Edgewood to find healing in the mystery waters that flowed from the rock spring there.

It all began when Stewart and his wife settled in Edgewood on the area that became known as the Mills Ranch. That was in 1851, and then he got sick. [Ed. yet again, not historically accurate. He was a young single man at the time, not meeting future wife until decades later.] The mineral waters at the Indian springs rewarded him with what he called a miraculous recovery and he sought for many years to buy the property and share the mineral waters with his fellowman. In 1882 [?] he was finally able to secure the property from a railroad company and he built a small bathhouse.

Word spread and the pioneers patronized his little mineral springs resort. By 1900 things were going very well and the spring's healing qualities became well known. It became necessary for him to clear a larger site in the heavily timbered area in order to build a better and larger bathhouse to take care of his growing business. The present bathhouse facilities are on the same site.

The resort became known nationwide and continued to be operated by members of the Stewart family until 1953 when Kathryn Lloyd, their daughter, let the resort go to the Scottish Rite organization of Sacramento. Replacing many of the older buildings that had been destroyed in a fire on July 4, 1948, the Scottish Rite rebuilt and modernized the buildings and facilities.

Then in 1969 the group decided to sell the resort to a group of Weed businessmen, who wanted to see the popular spot preserved and kept in use. [Ed. putting such an altruistic spin on their intentions is perhaps dubious; they immediately carved up the land legally, on which each built their own private vacation homes; but they did keep the spa operation going at least.]

This was in line with the wishes of founder Henry Stewart who maintained that the mineral water there had saved his life, and he often stated that Stewart Mineral Springs should be kept open to the public and that "things at the resort should be kept simple so that anyone can come and partake of the great mineral water." [emphasis added]

The springs were operated by Aaron Thomas Jr., Fred Pillon and Joe Aquila of Weed and Thomas built a beautiful home overlooking Parks Creek [Ed. the current A-frame lodging].

But this partnership was not to last and the new owners were Winston and Carol Goodpasture. They moved into the home overlooking Parks Creek and made many improvements at the Springs. Everything at the Springs was spic and span, the grounds were lovely, the food was health-giving and delicious, the kitchen and restaurant were squeaky clean and Stewart Springs was a paradise. A perfect paradise where one could soak in the beneficial waters, sun on the deck of the bathhouse after the sauna, and then enjoy a leisurely meal afterwards.

Unfortunately, this was not to last, and the Springs fell into the hands of owners [Whitneys] who let the Springs' building fall into disrepair, the grounds and ponds were clogged with weeds, the food was terrible and the baths were lukewarm. The steady patronage the Goodpastures had built up slowly declined. Paradise lost, to be sure.

And then Stewart Springs changed hands again [to Foggy]. And is blooming again. It's one of the most beautiful places to visit in Northern California and you'll find peacocks strolling the grounds. Hot therapeutic mineral baths in immaculate surroundings, saunas, massage and superb cuisine are all included in the excellence found here.

Henry Stewart, whose lifetime wish was that the mineral springs could forever continue to heal his fellowman, probably turned over in his grave a couple of times during the evolution of the Springs, but it's pretty safe to say that Stewart Mineral Springs is finally in good hands and that Henry is resting easy these days.

see other, 4-part Emile Frank article on Springs

Stewart Springs

Undated newspaper clipping from unknown source, circa 1960

by J.O. McKinney

A Northern California motor trip that is scenic, historical and accessible is to Stewart Springs. This is reached by going 4 miles north of Weed, on U.S. Highway 99 [predated Interstate-5, Ed.], then turning to the left at the road sign directing travelers to the springs, and going another 4 miles over a good dirt road.

While this was an early day health resort, it never achieved widespread fame, despite its curative water that has brought relief to widespread maladies.

Even today, with the natural beauty of the spot being augmented by a modern building program, many residing a few miles away have never visited the place.

Earliest history of the place tells of Indians going there for relief from pains and internal disorders. The first contacts of whites appears to have been litigation over ownership.

Both the federal government and Southern Pacific Land Company [Central Pacific?] claimed the land surrounding the springs. Several surveys sustained the governmental claims, and the land passed into the hands of Johnathan [sic] Stewart, for whom the present name remains.

But the remuneration for medicinal purposes never appeared to be on a par with benefits obtained. Stewart's daughter, Mrs. Kathryn Lloyd, was offered a substantial sum for the premises by George Vanderbilt.

She refused because the tycoon wanted it for private use only. She then willed it [fairly gave it away, actually, while still living, Ed.] to the Scottish Rite Masonic Bodies, of Sacramento, with the stipulation that it forever be made available to suffering humanity (emphasis added).

The property is now controlled by a board of directors. R. A. Fuller, of Sacramento, is secretary of the board, and general manager of Stewart Springs.

O. G. Steele, of Yreka, and Vernon Strochein, of Mount Shasta, are two other members of the 9-member board. Others are located in various parts of Northern California. All are Scottish Rite Masons.

Under this management many improvements have been built. Facilities for housekeeping have been built to accommodate 35 persons. More are being installed this year.

Sixteen persons may secure mineral baths at a time now. This, too, is being increased.

While there is a charge for these services, it is a nominal fee, and lacks many thousands of dollars yearly of paying operating expense.

The organization hopes with more facilities and more patronage, the place will soon be self-supporting. There will never be an effort to produce a profit [emphasis added].

Beside the rushing waters of Parks Creek, invalids now may relax, drink healthful waters, and enjoy scenery that is superb.

On the way from the highway, visitors get a splendid view of Vanderbilt's second choice for a home. His Shadow Valley Ranch home, built of stone from Ash Fork, Arizona, is a show place.

Mr. and Mrs. Jay G. Brown are resident managers of the resort. Mr. and Mrs. Waymon Morrow are assistants. Both Jay Brown and Waymon Morrow came to the springs for their health. They found it, and remain to sing the praises of the waters that, while sold if taken way, may be consumed on the premises at no charge.

Stewart Springs is a commercial enterprise that dispenses more charity than many places whose sole aim is donating to the needy.

_______________________________________________________

Stewart Mineral Springs

Excerpt from Sacramento, CA Masonic Scottish Rite Bulletins, 1955-1956. Masons were the first non-Stewart-family members to hold and run place after being gifted it by Henry's daughter, Katy. running it from 1954 to 1969, then selling to consortium of the three Weed businessmen. (see Springs history) One Springs oldtimer told writer that an elaborate wood-carved Masonic eagle emblem graced the walls of the bathhouse lobby during their 15 year run.

Through the kindness and generosity of Mrs. Kathryn Lloyd, the Scottish Rite Temple has been deeded forty acres of valuable property in Siskiyou County, California, on which is located the renowned Stewart Springs, celebrated for its curative properties and patronized by hundreds of people each year in search of relief.

We have a large file of voluntary testimonials from people who have been benefited and who are loud in their praise of the health giving properties of the water particularly for arthritis and skin disorders.

We have made many improvements in the housing facilities so we now have comfortable apartments for those wishing to take a series of baths. Brother Charles C.
Young who has been familiar with the Springs and its operation for over 15 years is the resident manager and lives on the property the year around.

STEWART MINERAL SPRINGS

OUR BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAIN SPA

From time to time the membership in our Bodies has learned through the Bulletin and from other sources about Stewart Mineral Springs in Siskiyou County, but it takes an actual visit to the Springs to realize what a wonderful asset it is to our Rite and to persons afflicted with various physical impairments.

Several years ago the Rite acquired title to a tract of land and some buildings four miles north and four miles west of Weed, by gift deed from Mrs. Catherine Lloyd to whom a monthly payment of $100 is made during her lifetime. A separate corporation was formed known as Stewart Minerals Springs Corporation whose present directors are Alfred F. Schance, Charles E. Rommel, William F. Vandercook, George R. Milford, Daniel M. Cameron, C. L. Rudine, and Willard W. Kastrup. Russell A. Fuller was the Secretary-Manager.

Many improvements have been made since the new corporation was formed to the extent that accommodations at “The Springs” are comfortable and adequate in appointments. Well furnished apartments, equipped for housekeeping are located within easy access of the bathhouse. There are no restaurant facilities because of the varied diets often necessary for guests.

No more beautiful spot can be found in the Siskiyou Mountains. A good sized stream teaming with trout rushes through the Springs property and continues down the pine studded canyon where the site is located. Well cared for flower gardens blossom in the cleared areas and cleanliness abounds everywhere.

The mineral spring itself has been known since the days of the early California Indians who went there for benefits of the health-aiding waters. It is enclosed in a well constructed building and the water bubbling to the surface from unknown depth is caught in a pool and piped to storage tanks for heating the baths.

The water deposits a chalk-like sediment in the bottom of the spring pool. The foreman of a nearby cattle ranch owned by an eastern millionaire regularly secures the sediment and applies it to the abrasions or cuts of high priced blooded livestock when necessary. It is said such cuts and abrasion heal miraculously within the matter of hours.

The properties of the water at Stewart Mineral Springs have two-fold benefits: For drinking and for bathing, and a combination of the two is required. The Springs make no written claims of the value of the waters other than to say that hundreds have by their own statements been benefited.

_______________

Several Buildings at Stewart Springs

Destroyed by Fire

Weed Press (front page story)

July 8, 1948

Four apartments, a large separate dining room and a residence were completely destroyed by fire of undetermined origin at Stewart Spring, near Edgewood, Sunday afternoon, July 4, about 4 p.m [Ed. Mercury was retrograde].

Mrs. Lloyd, owner and operator of the well known mineral springs [daughter of founder Henry Stewart] stated when in Weed Wednesday that she first discovered the fire when she noticed smoke coming from one of the buildings. In less than an hour, despite all efforts, the buildings were burned to the ground.

Mrs. Lloyd said that the cause of the blaze could not be accounted for, as there had been no fires on or near the buildings for a lengthy period.

As soon as the blaze was discovered an alarm was sent out, with Forest Service crews from Dunsmuir and Yreka responding.

Mrs. Lloyd said that although the crews arrived on the scene within approximately half an hours' time, all efforts to ave the buildings were to no avail.

Six drums of oil touched off by the flames added to the blaze.

Many antiques and valuable keepsakes were lost, including a very valuable oil painting of Mrs. Lloyd's father, painted years ago by a Portland, Oregon painter.

Mrs. Lloyd, who has made her home at the resort for over 40 years, states that she plans to continue right on with its operation, and that she will rebuild in the near future.

Other buildings at the resort were not destroyed, and business will continue as usual, Mrs. Loyd stated.

_______

Mrs. H. S. Stewart Dead

The Siskiyou News, July 20, 1911

Mrs. Julia Newman Stewart, wife of H. S. Stewart, died at her home in Sisson last Thursday evening at 7 o'clock, at the advanced age of 67 years, 4 months and 20 days.

She had been ailing for some time with stomach trouble, which caused her death. Besides her daughter [Katy Stewart Lloyd] and aged husband, a very large number of friends will mourn her death.

Mrs. Stewart has lived in Sisson with her family for many years.

The funeral services were held at the Methodist Church in Sisson on July 15, at 2 o'clock, and interment was made in Sisson cemetery.

_______________

Note: despite exhaustive search, writer could never find an obituary notice, and for ages even the burial location for her husband and the Springs' founder, Henry Stewart, who crossed over a few years after her, kept eludeing me.

Both struck the writer as odd; obviously, there were Stewart Springs mysteries yet to be solved.

Having had a reputation for knowing where all the bodies were buried (so to speak) regarding the Springs, I was chagrined I didn't even know where the founders' actual ones were.

In July 2019, that mystery finally cleared. His mortal coil, shucked in 1914, rests next to those of his wife, daughter, grandson and son-in-law, in the City of Mount Shasta's Mount Shasta Memorial Park, Masonic section, off Lassen Lane. The simple grave markers are uniformly plain, giving only name and life span. (Death, the great equalizer.)

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