Montague, CA

Montague is a Siskiyou County city in the Shasta Valley, named for Samuel Skerry Montague, the railroad engineer associated with the Central Pacific and Oregon & California lines. The Oregon and California Railroad reached the area in 1887, and the Yreka Western connected Montague to Yreka in 1888–89, turning the city into a rail and cattle-shipping center for northern Siskiyou County. The valley’s position in a rain shadow created by the Klamath Mountains gives the surrounding country a distinct dry landscape. Montague’s present-day map runs through City Hall, the library, pool, public works, and community events. The city sits near Yreka and Mount Shasta, keeping it tied to both the county seat and the mountain corridor, while the old railroad grid still gives Montague a clear center. Montague incorporated in 1909, and its municipal departments still occupy that same compact civic center. Its founding story is written in rail lines, cattle routes, and the valley itself.