First established in 1871, the Bogus School in Siskiyou County, Calif., has closed and reopened several times. Saleen Heckle was an early teacher during the 1899-1900 term.
The school house is located about 7 miles up Copco Road from its junction with the Montague-Klamath River Road.
The book titled 鈥淐alifornia Place Names鈥� says the Bogus area was named after counterfeiters who minted coins at a creekside furnace close to the school site.
A petition in 1892 to divide the school district raised a ruckus. One parent asked that his name be removed from the petition after he learned his children would have to attend what he called the 鈥淒ivide School.鈥� He wrote, 鈥淭hey say it is only six miles to the Divide school; that is the distance straight across, but there is about a mile of broken lava and if we did get over the lava, there would be no way to get across the river as there is no bridge or fairy [ferry]...鈥�
After closures, the Bogus School reopened in 1911 and again in 1939 and today has 12 students.
Sources: Gudde, Erwin G. California Place Names. Berkeley And Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1969, https://books.google.com/books?id=M-22djGNuhwC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. Accessed 27 Apr. 2017; Balfrey, Stanley. History of the Schools of Siskiyou County. Siskiyou County Office of Education, https://www.siskiyoucoe.net/Page/455. Accessed 22 Apr. 2017.
