Editing Oroville, California (section)

==History==
Oroville is on the banks of the Feather River, which flows from the Sierra Nevada onto the flat floor of the California Central Valley. During the California Gold Rush, it was created as the Feather River's head of navigation to serve miners.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oroville {{!}} California, United States {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Oroville |access-date=June 8, 2023 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=History {{!}} City of Oroville, CA |url=https://www.cityoforoville.org/about-us/history |access-date=June 8, 2023 |website=www.cityoforoville.org |language=en}}</ref> The original inhabitants of Oroville were the [[Konkow]] subdivision of [[Maidu]] people. In [[Konkow language|their native language]], the Oroville area is '''ʔópamtani'''.<ref>[https://www.konkow.org/pub/dict.php Konkow Maidu Language Resource - ''Oroville'']</ref>

The town was originally named "[[Ophir]] City", but was renamed Oroville when the first post office opened in 1854 (''oro'' is Spanish for "gold").<ref name=CGN>{{California's Geographic Names|288}}</ref> The City of Oroville was incorporated on January 3, 1906.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 10, 2006 |title=Incorporation of Oroville had its ups and downs |url=https://www.orovillemr.com/general-news/20060110/incorporation-of-oroville-had-its-ups-and-downs/ |access-date=June 8, 2023 |website=Oroville Mercury-Register |language=en-US}}</ref>

Gold was found at [[Bidwell Bar, California|Bidwell Bar]], one of California's first gold-mining sites, bringing thousands of prospectors to the Oroville area. Now inundated by the waters of enormous [[Lake Oroville]], which was filled in 1968, Bidwell Bar is memorialized by the [[Bidwell Bar Bridge]], an original remnant of the area and the first [[suspension bridge]] in California ([[California Historical Landmark]] #314).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bidwell Bar California |url=https://westernmininghistory.com/towns/california/bidwell-bar/ |access-date=June 8, 2023 |website=Western Mining History |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=OLD SUSPENSION BRIDGE |url=https://www.parks.ca.gov/ |access-date=June 8, 2023 |website=CA State Parks |language=en}}</ref> The Western Pacific Railroad built the all-weather Feather River Canyon route across the Sierra Nevada in the early 20th century, earning it the moniker "The Feather River Route". The California Zephyr made frequent stops at Oroville station during its 20-year existence. This was included on the Union Pacific Railroad's Feather River Canyon Subdivision in 1983. State Route 70, a significant thoroughfare, runs almost parallel to the train line that winds through the canyon.<ref name=":0" />

{{stack|[[Image:Orovill chinese temple 2.jpg|thumb|Oroville Chinese Temple.]]}}
The [[Oroville Chinese Temple|Chinese Temple]] (CHL No. 770 and listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]) was built in 1863 to cater to the biggest Chinese colony north of Sacramento. Chinese laborers established the Temple as a place of worship for followers of [[Chinese folk religion]] and the three major Chinese religions: [[Taoism]], [[Buddhism]], and [[Confucianism]]. It has a large collection of antiques as well as a garden.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oroville Chinese Temple |url=https://www.explorebuttecounty.com/places/chinese-temple |access-date=June 8, 2023 |website=Explore Butte County |language=en}}</ref>

The olive-canning industry was founded in Oroville by [[Freda Ehmann]], credited as the "mother of the California ripe olive industry." She built{{when|date=February 2022}} a large cannery in Oroville and by 1900 was the president of the world's largest canned olive factory. Ehmann was a believer in women's suffrage and a friend of [[Susan B. Anthony]]<ref>Vicki L. Ruiz. ''Cannery Women, Cannery Lives.'' University of New Mexico Press, 1987, pp. 23–24.</ref>

[[Ishi]], Oroville's most famous resident, was the last of the [[Yahi]] people and is considered the last "Stone Age" Indian to come out of the wilderness and into Western civilization. When he appeared out of the hills in East Oroville in 1911, he was immediately thrust into the national spotlight. The Visitor's Center at Lake Oroville has a thorough exhibit and documentary film on Ishi and his life in society.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}

Archaeological finds place the northwestern border for the prehistoric [[Martis people]] in the Oroville area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sagehen.ucnrs.org/CSFRS/petros.htm |title=NORTH FORK PETROGLYPHS |access-date=August 15, 2008 |last=Brauman |first=Sharon K. |date=October 6, 2004 |publisher=ucnrs.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724171614/http://sagehen.ucnrs.org/CSFRS/petros.htm |archive-date=July 24, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===1881 lynching===
On August 7, 1881, pioneer Jack Crum was allegedly stomped to death by local bully Tom Noacks in [[Chico, California]]. The young Noacks was feared by the locals of [[Butte County, California|Butte County]], not only because of his size and strength, but allegedly because he was mentally unbalanced and enjoyed punching oxen in the head.

Noacks was arrested and jailed in the Chico jail. Once word got out that the old pioneer had been murdered, the authorities moved Noacks to the [[Butte County, California|Butte County]] county jail in Oroville for his safety. Crum's friends, knowing that Noacks was in the county jail, made their way to Oroville with rope in hand. Knocking on the jail door, the men told the jailer that they had a prisoner from the town of [[Biggs, California]]. Once inside the jail, they overpowered the jailer and dragged Noacks from his cell. They took Noacks to Crum's former farm and hanged him from an old cottonwood tree. Nobody was ever prosecuted for the lynching.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kulczyk|first1=David|year=2008|title=California Justice: Shootouts, Lynching and Assassinations in the Golden State|publisher=Word Dancer Press|page=41|ISBN=978-1-884995-54-5}}</ref>

===Hate groups===
[[Hate group]]s began appearing in Oroville media stories beginning in 1976 with a [[neo-Nazi]] husband and wife couple killed in a shootout. In 1980, members of the [[American Nazi Party]] moved to Oroville from [[Tracy, California]], to re-organize as Chico Area National Socialists.<ref name=Gascoyne2004/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ttownmedia.com/tracy_press/our_town/the-faded-history-of-tracy-neofascists/article_7207338c-8387-11e7-b4f6-3f61a6846a65.html |title=The faded history of Tracy neofascists |last=Matthews |first=Sam |date=August 18, 2017 |website=Tracy Press |access-date=October 1, 2022}}</ref> In September 1982, 17-year-old Joseph Hoover was murdered by his Nazi colleagues after he told police he helped spread anti-Black hate literature at Oroville High School.<ref name=Arrested/> One thousand people marched in Oroville in protest of Nazi and [[Ku Klux Klan]] activity on December 11, 1982.<ref>[https://dl.library.ucla.edu/islandora/object/edu.ucla.library.specialCollections.latimes:2255 "Demonstration march against racism, Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazism in Oroville, Calif., 1982 "]. ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' photograph collection at UCLA.</ref> Local Nazi leader Perry "Red" Wartham was convicted of Hoover's murder and sentenced to 27 years, and two more male high school–age Nazi recruits were convicted as accessories to murder.<ref name=Arrested>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2245&dat=19821108&id=VJszAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rTIHAAAAIBAJ&pg=6121,863017&hl=en |title=Oroville Nazi Official arrested |newspaper=[[Lodi News Sentinel]] |agency=UPI |date=November 8, 1982 |access-date=February 23, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/06/17/Neo-Nazi-organizer-Perry-Red-Warthan-convicted-of-killing-a/7068424670400/ |title=Neo-Nazi organizer Perry 'Red' Warthan convicted |newspaper=[[United Press International]] |date=June 17, 1983 |access-date=February 23, 2023}}</ref> In 2016, an Oroville man was found spreading Nazi hate messages in Sacramento.<ref>{{cite news |last=Heise |first=Sarah |url=https://www.kcra.com/article/oroville-man-accused-of-distributing-hate-speech-fliers-arrested/6428559 |title=Oroville man accused of distributing hate-speech fliers arrested |date=May 10, 2016 |newspaper=[[KCRA]] |access-date=February 23, 2023}}</ref> In January 2004, a [[white power]] publication was distributed in the [[Kelly Ridge]] area south of Oroville.<ref name=Gascoyne2004>{{cite news |url=https://www.newsreview.com/chico/content/happy-mlk-day/28847/ |title=Happy MLK Day: Local rights activist denounces racist newspaper, fliers distributed in Oroville |date=January 22, 2004 |last=Gascoyne |first=Tom |newspaper=Chico News & Review |access-date=February 23, 2023}}</ref>

===Oroville Dam crisis===
{{main|Oroville Dam crisis}}
On February 7, 2017, after heavy rains, a defect formed in a spillway of [[Oroville Dam]]. For the first time since its construction, the secondary spillway was overtopped on February 11. Shortly after being put into service, this structure began to show signs of being undermined, raising fears of catastrophic failure. Owing to their inability to predict the continued safety of this spillway, the Butte County Sheriff ordered evacuations of downstream residents from Butte, Sutter, and Yuba counties.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.kcra.com/article/evacuation-orders-issued-for-low-levels-of-oroville/8735215|title=Thousands from Yuba, Butte, Sutter counties evacuated|author=KCRA Staff|date=February 13, 2017|newspaper=KCRA|access-date=February 13, 2017|language=en}}</ref>

===COVID-19===
In November 2021, citing alleged federal and state overreach during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], the Oroville city council passed a resolution declaring the city as its own "Constitutional Republic" and refused to enforce federal orders that it said violated its citizens' rights.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Gottesman|first1=Kyra|last2=Blevins|first2=Jennie|date=November 12, 2021|title=Oroville is now a 'constitutional republic' — what does that mean?|work=East Bay Times|url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/11/12/oroville-is-constitutional-republic-what-does-that-mean/}}</ref>

The resolution to declare the town a [[constitutional republic]] was an attempt to limit state and federal restrictions related to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in California]]. One rural law expert stated that the designation was unclear and would not operate to shield the city from following state and federal laws.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/05/california-constitutional-republic-covid-restrictions|title=California town declares itself a 'constitutional republic' to buck Covid rules|first=Dani|last=Anguiano|date=November 5, 2021 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>