Milton Kenney, son of Mary Buzzi Kenney

Written by Hazel Davis Gendron

 One of the descendants of Jack and Kate Buzzi spent his entire life within Siskiyou County, mostly in the Dunsmuir area where he worked in logging operations, but he was most remembered for his dedication to the Pacific Crest Trailhead near his home at Castella. There he greeted those descending the trail from wilderness back-country to the little town where he lived. His generosity to those hikers was well known and discussed around many a backcountry campfire.

Poems were written and Letters to the Editor of local newspapers about this unusual man brought about publicity and he became known as "Mayor of Pacific Crest Trail". One such letter reached an editor and told about Milt, "His handshake was legendary; he was slight in build but was unparalleled in power and endurance. He was a true logger, a woodsman who had fallen huge trees with simple tools and his bare hands. He was one of the first men to use a chain saw and the first man to have a trail named after him before he had died. His name was Milton Marvin Kenney; he was the most honorable man I had ever met. He was so gentle and so giving. Truly, he was someone that I would try to emulate my life after". Those words were written by his long time friend, Brain P. Shirley of Dunsmuir. 

In April 1990, Milton was honored with the dedication of a trail in his name at Castle Crags State Park, "The Milt Kenney Trail". It was there that Kenney befriended hundreds of PCT hikers, assisting them with whatever needs they might have. He would provide them with transportation, money and a meal. "Nobody would go hungry when he was around", Dunsmuir Mayor Ivan Young told the more than 100 people in attendance during a banquet held in Kenney's memory. It is possible that his love of the trails through the wilderness came from his young years when trails were the routes traveled by his ancestors along the steep bluffs of the Klamath River canyon near Clear Creek.

Milton Kenney was born September 12, 1909 ten miles south of Happy Camp at Patrick's Hill and died at age of 87 on October 11, 1996. He was a widower after his wife, Florence died and their only child Mary Adele Kenney still lives in Dunsmuir.

Picture Notes - -Milton Kenney of Castella stands proudly beside the Pacific Crest Trail trailhead marker near his home where he greeted hikers for many years prior to his death. He became known as the Mayor of the Pacific Trail for his generous greeting practices as hikers come into the small town where he lived.    Courtesy of Adele Kenney.