Somesbar

Byron McClintock

Like many of McClintock’s abstract mezzotints, Somesbar is a reference to an actual place. Somes Bar is centered at the confluence of the Klamath and Salmon Rivers in Northern California. It remains an unincorporated community in Siskiyou County and its evolution began with the onset of gold mining and homestead ranching. According to Dominick A. Dellasala, Ph.D., “The Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion of Northwest California is one of the most diverse temperate forest regions on earth. To the locals, the ecoregion goes by many names: the Klamath Knot for its rugged mountain ranges: State of Jefferson, for a local secession movement popularized in 1941; and Bigfoot Country, for the reputed sightings and mythical connection this creature inspires in indigenous communities. To biogeographers and conservationists, however, this area has many accolades, including designation as a World Conservation Union global center of plant diversity, a World Wildlife Fund Global 2000 ecoregion and proposed United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designation as a biosphere reserve.”