Horse Creek is located along California State Route 96 19 miles (31 km) west-northwest of Yreka.

On August 29, 1936, ex-convicts John and Coke Brite shot and killed Siskiyou County Deputy Martin Lange, constable Joe Clark and visitor Fred Seaborn in a drunken haze near the isolated cabin where they lived with their parents.

The brothers had earlier beaten up the elderly Seaborn and his friend, Horse Creek resident Charley Baker, after the latter, who hoped to chase them off from the rented cabin, having used it for free storage before.

Seaborn, a retired naval officer and the harbor master of the port of Vallejo, California was in Horse Creek to hunt deer with Baker.

They secretly gave themselves up to Siskiyou County District Attorney James G. Davis, who along with Dr. Earl Harris drove them to Folsom Prison for their safety.