Klamath’s Eight Bear Statues

The bear statues at each end of the Klamath River Bridge on U.S. 101 in Del Norte County were cast to replace the original ones that formerly stood at the ends of the G. H. Douglas Memorial Bridge, which washed out during the December 1964 flood. These statues represent the grizzly bear, California’s official state animal.

The contract specification for the replacement bear statues called for them to be exact  replicas of the statues once on the California State Fairgrounds in Sacramento. Each eight-ton bear was cast by the Maurice Lafayette Company of San Francisco in 1965.

While the four bear statues currently welcome visitors to Del Norte County, the original bears from the Douglas still exist. Two continue to stand guard on what remains of the old Douglas Memorial Bridge on the south bank of the Klamath River, while the other two are at the south end of the new Klamath town site.

The statues, at one point, even served as the inspiration for Klamath’s Margaret Keating School’s ‘Golden Bears’ mascot.