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MINERAL SPRINGS - History - Healing Stories
Email: info@wilburhotsprings.com
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Wilbur Hot Springs History
Established in 1865
Wilbur Hot Springs' history goes back further than we
know. Before European settlers came, the mineral
hot springs were used
by the Patwin, Pomo, Wintun and Colusi - Native American inhabitants of
Northern California's Coast Range mountains. That was soon to change. According
to local lore, wealthy congressman General John Bidwell was
searching for gold in 1863 when one of his men got deathly sick. Local
Native Americans told him about powerful waters, later to be known as Wilbur
Hot Springs. Bidwell brought his man to the waters where he was miraculously
cured. General Bidwell went back to San Francisco and Chico (where he owned
the best known farm in California) and spread the word of these healing
waters.
Throughout America in the late 1800s, hot springs became very popular
among those who could afford to stay at fashionable hot springs hotels
- and to get there in the first place. Often the journeys were long and
arduous - and getting to the Colusa County hot springs, soon to be as
renowned as Germany's Baden-Baden spas, were no exception.
However, European settlers became attracted to the Wilbur Hot Springs area because of minerals - not in the water, but in the ground - first, copper, sulphur and quicksilver, then gold. In 1863, Ezekial Wilbur and Edwin Howell purchased a 640-acre ranch for $1,500. Formed to mine copper along Sulphur Creek, their partnership was soon disbanded when copper ore proved difficult to treat and decreased in value. Within eight months, Wilbur purchased Howell's share of the property for $200, built a wood-frame hotel and announced the opening of
'Wilbur Hot Sulphur
Springs" in 1865.
Later that year, Wilbur Hot Sulphur Springs was sold to Marcus
Marcuse of Marysville. Meanwhile, the reputation of the "miraculous cures" of
Sulphur Creek continued to grow. By the 1880s, the European-style health
resort built beside the hot springs reached its heyday: Wilbur Springs
was known for its scalding hot water springs - "unexcelled for certain
diseases" - that boiled up over an area of 100 square feet. To get
there, guests would travel on the Southern Pacific Railroad to Williams,
then travel 22 miles to the springs, a four-hour trip by stagecoach.
By 1891, however, Wilbur's fortunes were in decline due to an absentee
owner and a better hotel at Sulphur Creek Village. A mile down the road,
Sulphur Creek featured a resort and mining village - this time for gold.
With its ramshackle Fluminariums and neglected cabins, there was "no
hotel worthy of the name" at Wilbur. In 1909, the place became a U.S.
Post Office (in service until 1945) and was used as a way station for the
local stagecoach. In 1915, the decrepit cabins were razed and Wilbur's
then-owner, J.W. Cuthbert, built the existing concrete hotel, which was
one of the first poured concrete buildings in California. Through the decades,
the property continued to change hands, first to the Barker
Family (supposedly
of Ma and Pa Barker fame) and then to the Sutcliff
Family.
Wilbur's Recent Past
 |
Dr.
Richard Miller |
In 1972, Miller came across Wilbur Hot Springs, which was in terrible
shape, badly vandalized and littered everywhere with junk. Rusting vehicles
and dilapidated buildings were scattered around the property, including
the decrepit 20-room hotel and Fluminarium (bath house); and literally
tons of old wood, broken glass, burned mattresses and couches, old toilets
and other junk littered the land.
Miller rented the "Red House" next door to the hotel and began
to live at Wilbur on weekends, where he later rented the hotel for psychology
seminars. To address the herculean task of cleaning up the property, Miller
led free Esalen workshops in exchange for two hours' work per day. The
barter system proved effective in cleaning the hotel area so that it could
then be fully restored. In addition, the hotel was enlarged with a second
floor bunkhouse and a new third floor. Later, an eight-suite passive solar
lodge was built into the hill above the hotel.
Miller's relationship with Wilbur was about to become more permanent:
after the Sheriff nailed a foreclosure notice on the front door, Miller
attended the foreclosure auction and won the bid for the property. Soon
after, Miller and his partner, Kathleen Lawson, moved to Wilbur full-time,
where they lived for seven years. Their daughter Sarana,
born at Wilbur in 1975, presently leads yoga workshops at Wilbur.
Miller opened the historic Hot Springs to the public in 1974. Some years
later, he implemented his desire of working with patients in the country.
In 1981, he started Cokenders Alcohol and Drug program, closing the hotel
for one week a month to hold this pioneering, non-institutional treatment
program. There at Wilbur until 1990, Dr. Miller detoxified 1,500 seriously
addicted, chemically dependent patients using the hot springs ' waters
and natural ambience as healing detoxifying agents - and not one patient
required medication or hospitalization during their treatment.
In 1999 Dr. Miller bought the adjoining valley consisting of 1,560 acres,
which had been used for hunting. He placed a conservation easement on the
property, thereby limiting development in perpetuity. As a result, Wilbur
Hot Springs now has its own nature preserve.
Today, there are several generations of regular guests who consider Wilbur
their personal soothing sanctuary, calming retreat, and home away from
home. They come back time and time again to experience the soothing, hot
mineral waters that have rejuvenated both body and soul for centuries.
More history at our blog
For more history and some great photos - Visit our Blog Here