During Christmas week in 1964, this area was struck by the heaviest rain ever recorded in the region. Torrential storms dropped as much as 24 inches of warm rain over the mountains, melting the snow pack and sending swollen creeks and rivers raging through canyons and valleys toward the sea. Logs and debris swept away roads, livestock, and structures, including the town of Klamath and the Douglas Memorial Bridge, which had stood here for nearly 40 years. In the aftermath, local families with strong ancestral connections to the river and the local fishery rebuilt the townsite upstream on higher ground.