Earlier view of Ferndale, c. 1876

Ferndale,1876 (County of Humboldt Collection; Source: Palmquist)

Ok, so I totally messed up the potential for dramatic effect here.This photo was taken prior to the one I posted yesterday.  Sorry about that.

Though (to make lemonade) it does give me an opportunity to point you back to yesterday’s comment by Ellin Beltz, who offered great details about the 1880 photo….

A contagious obsession

 Randy, a blogger parked at http://www.bayofrezanov.blogspot.com/, has gotten interested in our local history, in part, he says, because of this blog:  

A special shout out to Lynette and her awesome history blog (see sidebar) for getting me all fired up about this subject again.

 

He seems appreciative now, but I don’t know that it will last.   Jim Baker, a local historian, once told me that Lynwood Carranco, co-author of Genocide and Vendetta, warned him that researching  local history of the settlement period would become an addiction… and that he should try to keep some distance (some sort of life, most likely) before it became an obsession.  Jim Baker, thanks to his research into the notorious Hank Larrabee, was unable to heed that warning and has been researching the indian killer for the last thirty years.  But maybe Randy can do it– keep an emotional distance despite the things he’ll learn that haunt his sleep.  Perhaps Randy can do it, but probably not.    

Pretty girl on a bicycle

 

Well, after a short illness and long vacation, I am ready to get back to sharing local (and not so local) history with interested folks.

Hello to you all–I hope you enjoyed a wonderful holiday.

I thought I’d start the year off with something fun, thanks to Hans Koster, and the sunnyfortuna.com website  (from the May 1896 Eel River Advance)

Integrated families

 

Initially, it was the fawn that caught my attention in this photo, posing (sort of) among a group of people.

 

Later, as I studied the picture, I noticed the mix of white and Native American women with the men. 

Pet fawn and folks

 

Often I think (fear) that in the early days, native wives were ostracized from the white population and white female social circles. This photo gives me hope that this wasn’t always so.

 

I would so love to know more about the people in this photo…

 

Volunteer at Falk this Friday and Saturday

Their flyer was so cool, I just decided to use it (though you may have to magnify your screen a bit to read it).

I also received this …

Thank you for your interest in the upcoming fieldwork in the historic townsite of Falk, located 5 miles southeast of Eureka in the Headwaters Forest Reserve. Our first visit to the area is planned for Friday and Saturday, November 6 and 7, 2009. We will be hiking approximately one mile on a flat, paved trail and then crossing a creek to access the study area. The creek is low right now and we have been removing our shoes to cross it. On Friday, we will be meeting at the Cultural Resources Facility Office (BSS 124) at 8:00 am or you can meet us at the Headwaters Forest Reserve parking area on Elk River Road at 8:45 am. To get to the parking area take the Elk River Road exit off Highway 101, at the south end of Eureka. Turn right onto Elk River Road and drive approximately six miles to the Reserve parking area.  Rain will cancel the fieldwork.

If you cannot make these first few days, don’t worry, fieldwork in Falk will be ongoing, every Friday and Saturday, for the next three months.

Items to bring:

1)Bring a lunch and water
2)Layered clothing, it’s rather shady in our study area

If you have any questions please email the office at crf@humboldt.edu, call at 826-5247 or stop by in the BSS Building, Room 124.  We will send out a confirmation email on Wednesday with any necessary updates.

Thanks again for volunteering your time. We look forward to seeing you!

1900 Census index provides lots of info

My friend Olmanriver recently let me know that the Humboldt County Historical Society  has an on-line  1900 census index .

The index was compiled by MARILYN KEACH MILOTA an amazing woman who has contributed all kinds of useful information to the county library (and apparently the historical society) to help folks find genealogy-related and general historical info.

The 1900 index consists of the person’s name, wife if any,month and year of birth, place of birth, relationship to head of household, township name and page number.

The index can make it easier to find someone, especially if you’re not quite sure where that person was living, but are pretty sure they were around here somewhere.

For example, I very quickly found David Stewart

David G., Jan 1860, Canada; Emma L., July 1868, Calif Mad River 133A

David used chalk to write his name on our upstairs ceiling when he still thought of himself as “Davie”.  Someone else kindly filled in Stewart (different handwriting) before covering Davie’s name with wall paper.

If I wanted, I could now go to the County Library and find the 1900 census, page 133 A and get more info about Davie.

Or, because I belong to Ancestry.com, I can use his name and township from the index to easily find the original census record…

1900 Census, Mad River Township

Note:    If you find your family (or other person you’re researching) in the index and want a copy of the original census record, let me know (include all the info, please) and I’ll get it from Ancestry.com.   It may take me a while, but I’ll try to get to all requests.

I can also do more extensive genealogy research for a (very reasonable) fee.

Washing clothes has never been fun

Arcata Laundry 1881

According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics survey,   folks dedicate a little more than 1/2 hour a day to household chores , including laundry.    Can you imagine how much longer it would be if we still used this?

Clothes "dryer"

What happened to our social safety net?

Those without a dwelling place

Yesterday I said that there was no welfare or other social safety net for widowed or abandoned women in the settlement period,  but that wasn’t quite true.

 In 1855, the Humboldt County Supervisors added a five cent tax for every hundred dollars of property value.  These funds would be used to assist the sick and indigent.  

People wanting the services of a physician needed to be within four miles of the doctor and prove their need.  The Doc was also required to keep a book with the names of the folks he treated and the details. 

By 1857, the supervisors added a caveat that anyone claiming need had to petition their supervisor directly for approval.

As a side note, it is interesting that in a community where the local newspaper gleefully reported that local natives  were “entirely starved out” ,  the county paid $170 to A.S. Baldwin to help Lewis Howard, a “man of color”.   In August of 1857, the county purchased $12.75 worth of clothing for Mr. Howard and in February of 1858, a coffin.

Over the years, the fund was used to pay for room and board, physician services, druggists, as well as funeral expenses and coffins.

Ironically, today we seem much less willing (or able, depending on your views) to care for our sick and indigent.  The New York Times recently reported on California’s budget crisis, and the ensuing cuts to health care and other services for those most in need

While the state’s health insurance program for children, Healthy Families, remains, it was cut by $144 million, meaning thousands of children will probably be on a waiting list for the program ….

In-home services for the elderly and infirm were reduced by several million dollars.

 When I talked about the lack of a safety net yesterday, perhaps I should have been referring to now.

Addictive source of old photos

Aerial Shot of old courthouse

 

Humboldt State University has a fine collection of old photos.  Their database is searchable and many of the pictures can  be viewed on-line.

While looking for additional photos of the courthouse the other day, I ran across the Shuster Collection, an amazing group of aerial shots taken in Humboldt county in the late 1940s.  The courthouse above is Shuster’s, as is this one of the old Carson Mill, which, according to one description, was located on the bay side of the Carson Mansion…

Old Carson Mill Site, 1948

I’ve found our road, and can clearly see the evolution of our neighborhood.   If you’re trying to date your house or another structure, this may be a useful source…

The Volcano Theory of Sexuality

 

During the gold rush in California,

There was an extreme shortage of marriageable women and there were also widespread formal prohibitions against adultery.  Prostitutes were the only available sexual partners for many men whose desire was fueled by a widespread popular “volcano theory” of sexuality which held that unless men had regular sexual contact, they would explode in orgies of adultery, rape, physical violence and even homosexual embraces.”  [Gold Diggers and Silver Miners, Marion S. Goldman]

 

I can’t speak to the validity of the volcano theory, or  using it as an excuse to visit prostitutes, but I do know there were few women in this area in the early gold rush, and that native women and their families suffered horribly as a consequence [see previous post].

I’ve looked through the local 1860 censuses and can’t really find indications that there were prostitutes in early Humboldt county.  There weren’t many women here, period.  Many of the young miners that came out west were lonely, and  in many mining towns,  prostitutes provided emotional as well as physical comforts.  Without this outlet, shall we say, men looked elsewhere.  I can’t help but wonder if everything would have been different for native women (and likely men) if prostitution had been able to flourish here. 

This is in no way intended to dismiss the hard choices and hard lives experienced by women forced to sell their bodies to survive.  I just think many native women were forced to make the same choice, but the only thing they received in exchange was their lives.