Kern Valley Sun

All over the Kern River Valley, people are getting out their old-timey outfits, remembering how to strap on their six-shooters, and brushing up on their best Western slang expressions- usually involving words like "varmint," "polecat" and "dagnabbit." Whiskey Flat Days, Kernville's big annual celebration, is due to take place President's Day weekend, February 17-20.

The Whiskey Flat Days festival brings us all back to the Kern River Valley's distant roots. Kernville's original name was Whiskey Flat. During the Gold Rush days when the Kern River Valley was prime stomping grounds for miners who came over the Greenhorn loaded with supplies and a yearning for the yellow shiny stuff, there was no place for a man to slake his thirst at the end of a long day. Recognizing a need when he saw one, an entrepreneur by the name of Adam Hamilton set up a tent in a flat spot down by the Kern River, laid a plank across two barrels, and started selling libations to the gold prospectors. Voila- a town, Whiskey Flat, was born. Kernville, as it was renamed a few years later, grew. As the gold played out, families came in and the economy of the Kern River Valley shifted to cattle ranching, farming, creating electrical power, hosting movie companies, and tourism. Other towns grew up in the valley - Isabella, Bodfish, Onyx and more.

In the late 1940s, when the dam came in, the towns of Kernville and Isabella were to be inundated by the rising waters of Isabella Lake, so they were moved to higher ground. The Kern River Valley had entered a more modern age, albeit reluctantly.

Almost before the new Kernville had settled down in its new home it was decided to have a celebration to revisit the valley's Gold Rush roots. The late Bob Powers, a local historian who wrote nine books about Kern Valley history, tells how it started in his book, "North Fork Country":

"In the 1950s, Lloree Knowles, a local real estate broker, was the first to recommend that the community use a frontier-type celebration to try to bring more people into the Valley during the slack winter period. Use of the name Whiskey Flat Days was suggested by Ardis Walker, local historian and author, in order to tie it in with the town's historic past.

"The Whiskey Flat Days committee decided in 1958 to hold an election for Honorary Mayor. The outcome of the election was to depend on how many votes the candidate sold. In addition to bringing in many extra dollars to promote the event, it did a great deal to get not only the locals, but visitors also into the mood of the celebration. Murray Knight was the first acting mayor.

"The grand Whiskey Flat Days parade was added in 1961 with Johnny McNally as master of ceremonies.

This year, Whiskey Flat Days will again be host to a rodeo, a grand parade, carnival rides, frog jumping contests, the ever-popular Honorary Whiskey Flat Mayor contest, food and craft booths, the epitaph contest, a costume contest, a whisker contest, children's activities, sing-a-longs, a petting zoo, line dancing, clowns, gold panning, wood carving, the pet parade, music, gunfighter skits, and more.

For more information on Whiskey Flat Days, call the Kernville Chamber of Commerce at (760) 376-2629.