Portuguese Flat, California

It was located about 35 miles north of Redding, California near what is currently now the unincorporated community of Pollard Flat.

Arising along the route of the Siskiyou Trail, Portuguese Flat, with its rich diggings, gained the reputation of being one of the roughest camps in northern Shasta County; it was also known as a "squaw town" because of the number of Native American women present in the town.

As late as 1933, just north of Pollard's Gulch on what is now Interstate 5, one could see a few old tumbledown buildings, one ancient log cabin, and some veteran apple trees — all that remained of Portuguese Flat.

In the story of the famous "Battle of Castle Crags" (which took place in 1855), a young Joaquin Miller tells a dramatic tale of being seriously wounded, by having an arrow shot through his jaw and neck.

Federally, Pollard Flat is in California's 1st congressional district, represented by Republican Doug LaMalfa.