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Gazelle J.R. Edson and his sister, Harriet Eddy, settled in Gazelle in 1853. They purchased the homestead from a squatter named Brady. Additional land was purchased until the Edson Ranch consisted of thousands of acres. According to one story, the first name of the town was Antelope, as it was named for a baby antelope that someone had caught and it was established, the name was changed to Gazelle, as there already was an Antelope post office in California. The first railroad cars stopped at Gazelle on December 31, 1886. From that time on, until the railroad was constructed to Klamath Falls, Gazelle and Montague were very active in the cattle shipping business. Both towns had huge holding and feeding lots for cattle. Harriet, or Aunt Hattie, as she was called, was very much opposed to liquor. A member of the family was just the opposite. There was a saloon in Gazelle, and this person would sneak down to the saloon and imbibe too much. Aunt Hattie would have none of that, so she took her handbag down to the saloon and told the owner, "I want to buy your place, and I want the padlock". She bought the saloon, and said "I want you out of here. I want you to take all your booze and get out of town in two hours". He did as she said. from The Siskiyou County Museum and Historical Society Keith Arnold More about J.R. Edson and Gazelle history. |