A bit of a local mystery cropped up in recent months when painted horses began to appear on a stretch of gray concrete wall adjacent to Yreka’s Foothill Drive.

A bit of a local mystery cropped up in recent months when painted horses began to appear on a stretch of gray concrete wall adjacent to Yreka’s Foothill Drive. A number of locals asked the Siskiyou Daily News for information on the identity of the mural’s artist, noting the welcome change as the horses have concealed the wall’s previous stark cinder block and unsightly scribblings.

The wall is on the left side of the road when one is driving north on Foothill Drive toward the YMCA. The Siskiyou Daily News contacted the Yreka City manager, other local artists, and the owner of the parcel where the piece is located, but no one knew who the mysterious muralist could be.

So the case remained unsolved, until a Yreka resident stopped into the Daily News office offering up some information he’d heard from a neighbor. While he wasn’t sure of the artist’s name, he reported that his neighbor had told him the horses were created by the same woman who’d recently carved a wooden sculpture for the Siskiyou County Museum.

Incidentally, that artist – Barbara Yates – had been interviewed by the Daily News in 2017 after she completed said sculpture. After Yates responded to an email and confirmed that she was the mural’s creator, the mystery of who secretly painted the horses was finally solved – months after the Daily News first explored the matter.

Yates explained that she painted the mural as a farewell to Yreka, where she had lived for the past two years. She recently moved to Happy Camp to live with a friend. She even filmed some video of her painting project and posted it to YouTube.

“For two years I have passed this empty lot with its depressing graffiti,” she describes at the beginning of the video. She then adds resolutely, “I always visualized a herd of horses running across the wall. This year I decided to do something about it.”

Yates explains, “I went at sunrise to draw the horses. After I had drawn nine of them I sent an email to the real estate agent with [a picture of the wall] asking if I could paint a horse mural and within minutes he wrote back and said to paint away.

“I spent a half an hour every morning for five weeks. My lifelong habit of doodling horses had finally become useful,” she said.

Siskiyou County Museum Executive Director Lisa Gioia donated some old paint to Yates, and J.J. Lewis-Nicols and Lacey Williams of the Siskiyou Performing Arts Center did the same. “I was in business!” Yates recalls happily in her video.

The video documents a bit of what the wall looked like before the horses arrived, including big black letters that read “Logan.” After outlining some horses over the word, Yates said “Goodbye, Logan!”

“I painted the white cloud of dust and the green mountains to cover the last of the graffiti,” Yates’ video details as the camera pans over the 47 horses she brought to life – a figure intentionally chosen as it’s her lucky number.

Deer visited her often during the painting process, she said, stating, “They blend in with the horses nicely.”

Yates describes herself as “a sculptor, writer and photographer who likes to explore new things.” She shared, “Before I left Yreka I finally finished my book, ‘The Way of Barter,” and uploaded it to Kindle. It’s about how to barter instead of using money. I bartered my way around the world doing work exchanges and making art wherever I went. The most money I ever had when I traveled was $1,500 and that trip lasted two years, through Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Anybody can do what I did, if they are not afraid.”