Illinois Valley News

It was 1971, and Robert Hirning was 27 years old.

After finishing graduate school in Ann Arbor, Mich., Hirning engaged in one of his favorite pastimes: hitch-hiking.

It was during that time of “hitching“ that he first stepped foot in the Illinois Valley community of Takilma.

Hirning, now 66, made his way to Illinois Valley with a man called “Rainbow Bob,“ who had a cabin in the woods.

“I took a look around, and decided immediately that I wanted to live here forever,“ Hirning said.

A cabin just happened to be for sale for $2,500, and included a quarter-acre of land and a half-finished building. Hirning bought the property, then hopped on a freight train that took him from Eureka, Calif. to Petaluma to gather his belongings. He“s been in Takilma since, and has no plans of ever leaving.

Hirning“s story is similar to those of many longtime Takilma residents, who were drawn to the area from throughout the country. Many were searching for an alternative to high-stress and mundane existences elsewhere.

In the late 1960s, Delbert Kauffman owned a nightclub in Southern California that was “floundering.“ One of his friends, living in Takilma, invited Kauffman to visit.

That letter played up the area“s abundance of good fishing, and had “paradise“ listed as the return address.

“It sounded like a good deal,“ Kauffman said. “I was just desperate enough to go for it.“

Johnny Klein, 77, first came to Takilma in spring 1968. He was part of a group in Berkeley, Calif. that was looking for an “alternative lifestyle commune.“ The group perused listings of farm properties for sale, and found exactly what they were looking for.

“We just happened on this piece of land as a group and bought it,“ Klein said.

Charlie Greenwood was visiting friends who lived in Takilma around 1974. At the time, he was living in California“s Silicon Valley, and was becoming increasingly tired of sitting in the same traffic jams on a nearly daily basis.

Greenwood, already developing the concept of a human-powered car, decided to do so in Illinois Valley.
“I wanted to take it somewhere where I could work on it under the radar,“ Greenwood said. “This had to be the place.“

Assimilating Into the Community

For Hirning and many others, the early 1970s were spent adjusting to their new surroundings in Takilma.

“We were a large group of people, all about the same age, who wanted to move away from the cities and do something different with our lives,“ noted Hirning. “I saw the potential in that.

“We all went out of our way to be here.

“We drifted in here.“

Not that those first few years were easy. Hirning said that back then, many businesses would openly discriminate against him and the other “hippies.“

“When we came here in 1971, we couldn“t buy anything at most of the stores in town,“ he said. Some of those “hippies“ recall signs in store windows reading, “No dogs or hippies allowed.“

But Hirning said that some places, like Taylor“s Sausage, the former Hammer“s Model Market and the former Pizza Deli (now Wild River Brewing & Pizza Co.), “saw beyond our long hair,“ and were rewarded with loyal patronage as a result.

The new Takilma residents also faced vigilantes and fire-bombings in those early days, Hirning said. They couldn“t expect much help from county officials, he added, who sent a steady stream of building and health inspectors, sheriff“s deputies and “anybody they could to run us out of town.

“There were a lot of really hard feelings,“ Hirning continued. “Now it“s completely gone, but it was very hostile for a long time.“

Because of all that adversity, he said, members of the Takilma community began banding and forming various organizations. That would later become a critical part of the town“s development, and many of those entities still exist in different forms.

Health Crisis Prompts Clinic Concept

By 1973, Hirning said, a hepatitis outbreak had hit Takilma, with more than 200 people affected. Word of the crisis eventually reached state officials, who sent a two-person medical team consisting of Dr. Jim Shames, physician; and Michael Garnier, who had military medical experience.

Both men stayed in Takilma afterward. Garnier now is the owner of the Out “N“ About Treehouse Resort. Shames, instrumental in founding the Takilma People“s Clinic, now is involved in the medical field in Jackson County.

Hirning said that the county“s refusal to help alleviate the health situation also helped bring about the Takilma People“s Clinic, which over time morphed into the current Siskiyou Community Health Center.

That era also saw the establishment of the Takilma Community Association. A food co-operative later was formed, as Takilma residents learned to combine their individual efforts and start taking care of each other.

“We had to learn about how to do things together,“ Hirning said. “The community is pretty cohesive.“

The Times They Are a“ Changin“

Heading into the 1980s, a Takilma-based forestry co-op had planted hundreds of trees throughout the Southwest Oregon region. Multiple lumber mills hummed with the sounds of timber production.

But as the “80s wore on, the timber industry began its decline, and those mills started shutting down, one at a time. Thinning projects and other related forestry work also dwindled, forcing Hirning and many others to develop new skills. Hirning became a plumber, an occupation he continues to this day as Country Plumbing.

A major forest fire in 1987, the Longwood Complex, forced many Takilma residents back into the woods, and evacuation of most of the community. Hirning said that a crew was formed, and its members worked alongside personnel from Rough & Ready Lumber Co. to combat the blaze.

U.S. Army troops from Fort Ord in California also were sent to help fight fire.

Some slopes leading to the fire were at 40-degree angles, Hirning said, and the Rough & Ready crews utilized the Takilma group“s knowledge of the area to place their equipment where it would do the most good.

By the time it was over, Hirning said, only one structure was lost to wildfire damage. He still credits the Rough & Ready crew for its efforts in that historic firefight.

“Those guys were real heroes. They could have gotten burned up,“ Hirning said. “They depended on us. They knew they couldn“t get out to where they had to and depended on us for directions. It was a very stirring moment, and a very important time.“

Tolerance Can Lead to Love

These days, Hirning said, he jokes about the early days with some of the same people who used to harass him when he first came to town.

“We talk about those times and laugh,“ he said.

He said that the initial barriers between those who settled in Takilma in the early “70s, and those who already were living in the area, began to disappear when their children began attending school classes together.

“They couldn“t tell who was a hippie and who wasn“t,“ Hirning said.

Now, Hirning, Kline, Kauffman and some of Takilma“s elders have had ample opportunity to reflect on the legacy they“ve created for their community. And they“re proud of what they“ve done through the years.

“It“s a really interesting community,“ observed Kauffman. “Everybody kind of looks out for one another. I think the people in Takilma are sort of tolerant of one another.

“Maybe peace and love are too much to hope for, but that can grow out of tolerance,“ Kauffman said. “Everybody here is committed to getting along. There“s at least that much of the peace and love thing still alive here.“

What the Future Holds

There is some uncertainty among Takilma“s elders as to whether the lessons they learned will be passed to the next generation.

“The problem I see is that those of us who initiated all those organizations are growing older,“ Kline said. “There“s not as much fill-in from younger people as I“d like. There are quite a few, but I“d like to see some more input. There are some people coming along.“

Rachel Goodman has lived in Takilma for nearly 30 years. She enjoys the camaraderie with her neighbors and the “relative lack of traffic,“ and is optimistic that Takilma“s traditions will be carried on.

“People my age, for a while, were wondering if it would all die out,“ said Goodman, a practicing licensed massaged therapist. “But we actually have a new group of 20- and 30-year-olds who seem to want the rural lifestyle.“

The cabin that Hirning bought when he first came to Takilma is still around. In fact, it houses his plumbing business.

Hirning said that one of his favorite activities is running, and he“s been doing it for around 30 years. Every morning when he starts his jog, he stares at the snow-capped Siskiyou Mountains nearby, and becomes filled with gratitude to have ended up in “paradise,“ exactly as it was described to Kauffman decades earlier.

He also thinks about the relationships he“s built during that time, which reaffirms his commitment to stay exactly where he is.

“I know and love these people as my family here,“ Hirning said. “I consider this the most wonderful place in the world.“

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