Ammon and Bundy family found NOT GUILTY because of mistrial

Charges brought against Cliven Bundy and his family and supporters did not say anything about UNPAID Grazing fees.

Because the federal and state governments designed MILITARY  OPERATIONS against the Bundys, the charges brought against the Bundys were fraudulent. Made-up lies.

That is why, Bundys and most supporters were not found guilty in two trials!!!

As you will read below, the charges have nothing to do with a Grazing Permit and or unpaid grazing fees.

Yes, the argument over Grazing Permits facilitated the stand-offs, but the charges were downright false.

First: For 21 years, Cliven would not sign the CONTRACT with the federal government (BLM) which was demanding a Grazing Permit with fees attached.

In the 1970-80s, there were 53 ranchers operating ranches in Clark Co., Nevada. BLM began forcing ranchers to obtain Grazing Permits.

BLM began harassing ranchers for their WATER RIGHTS and GRAZING RIGHTS.

Cliven Bundy tried to rally the ranchers to stand together and oppose the Grazing Permits. Many would not do it. Many signed the Grazing Permit contract or gave up fighting for their Water and Grazing Rights. They eventually lost their ranches.

Under Nevada law, Grazing Rights are directly tied to Water Rights. They are, literally, PROPERTY RIGHTS. This is what Cliven and a few ranchers were standing upon. Cliven kept asking the State of Nevada and the Clark Co. Sheriff (whoever was in office) to defend the ranchers from federal encroachment and harassment.

For 21 years, the Clark Co. Sheriff did somewhat defend them.

Meanwhile, the other ranchers were losing their ranches for a variety of reasons. But, it looks like obtaining a Grazing Permit did NOT save those ranches. No wonder Cliven would not sign the Grazing Permit contract.

In 2013, the Bundy ranch was the only ranch still operating in Clark Co., Nevada. Hum, that should speak volumes as to the corruption and arm-twisting going on.

According to the BLM documents that were finally obtained by Bundy defense attorneys, the BLM decided to take a stand using MILITARY  OPERATION in April 2014 against the Bundys.

Bundys, and their supporters, were not arrested for the April 2014 situation until January and February of 2016, after Ammon and Ryan Bundy had used ADVERSE POSSESSION on the Oregon Malheur Refuge over a year and a half later.

The charges were not about grazing. The charges were for standing against an armed U.S. military that was dead-set on killing them.

Below are the actual charges and the April 2014 situation

Prosecution for April 2014 situation – according to Wikipedia and looks to be correct

On February 7, 2016, Ammon Bundy—along with his father Cliven, brother Ryan, and others—were indicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada for their roles in the 2014 Bundy standoff. The men were charged with 16 felony counts: one count of "conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States"; one count of "conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer"; four counts of "using and carrying a firearm in relation to a crime of violence"; two counts of "assault on a federal officer"; two counts of "threatening a federal law enforcement officer"; three counts of "obstruction of the due administration of justice"; two counts of "interference with interstate commerce by extortion"; and one count of "interstate travel in aid of extortion."^[22]

This prosecution is separate from the Malheur Refuge occupation prosecution in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. In early April 2016, Judge Brown of the Oregonian prosecution approved an order to send the four defendants charged in both cases, including Ammon and Ryan Bundy, to Nevada to make an appearance in court there.^[23] The men were transported to Las Vegas by U.S. Marshals, and on April 16, 2016, Ammon Bundy and the four other militants refused to enter pleas in regards to their roles in the standoff, prompting U.S. Magistrate Judge George Foley, Jr. to enter not guilty pleas on their behalf.^[24][25] In the unusually long arraignment, Bundy asked for the 64-page indictment to be read aloud in court.^[25]

The trial for the Bundy standoff case was set for February 2017 in Nevada.^[26]

Mistrial and acquittal

On December 20, 2017, Federal judge Gloria Navarro declared a mistrial in the Bundy case, citing gross misconduct by the federal government. In her ruling, Judge Navarro stated, "The court does regrettably believe a mistrial in this case is the most suitable and only remedy...."

The primary example related to a claim made by defendant Ryan Bundy, who claimed that there were snipers around the property, and that they called for backup only because they felt threatened and isolated. The federal government denied this.

Later in the trial, a witness confirmed the presence of a federal videotape, proving that snipers were in fact on the property. This, along with 5 other pieces of evidence, would have greatly affected the trial. Judge Navarro ruled that "The government falsely represented the camera that was on the Bundy house was incidental, not purposeful." She stated that the D.A's office knew of this evidence, but would not acknowledge it. This, she decided, violated due process.

ON JANUARY 8, 2018, JUDGE GLORIA NAVARRO declared the MISTRIAL with prejudice, effectively dismissing the charges, on the grounds that the defendants could not receive a fair trial. "The court finds that the universal sense of justice has been violated," the judge told the Los Angeles Times.^[27]  

Simply put – the feds lied they had set up a MILITARY OPERATION and were indeed planning on attacking the Bundys. The trial would never have gone forward with those TRUMPED-UP CHARGES if that information would have been given to the BUNDY DEFENSE ATTORNEYS, which is mandated by law.

Tens of millions of DOLLARS has been spent on the trials of the Bundys. Both trials found the Bundys NOT GUILTY!

FIRST  TRIAL in Portland, OR.

Pretrial court appearances and indictment relating to Malheur – according to wikipedia

On January 29, Bundy appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman alongside several other jailed militants. He explained the motives of the occupation to the court, saying that his "only goal from the beginning was to protect freedom for the people."

However, Judge Beckerman denied him and the other militants release from jail, explaining that she would not release them as long as the occupation continued.^[40][41][42] That same day, Bundy offered to plead guilty to the federal conspiracy charge alone, in exchange for the dismissal of the other charges against him, the dismissal of all of the charges filed against the other militants in custody at the time, and letting militants still at the refuge to leave peacefully without arrest. However, federal prosecutors rejected the offer.^[43] Bundy later repeatedly urged the militants remaining at the refuge to stand down and go home.^[34][44]

In a March 3 interview, Bundy described his life in jail and continued to explain his motives of the occupation. Although he did not witness Finicum's death, Bundy also asserted Finicum had been cooperating with officers before they shot him.^[10]

On March 8, the federal grand jury in Oregon returned a new, superseding indictment that unsealed the following day, charging Bundy and 25 co-defendants with a variety of crimes in relation to the occupation.^[45][46]

AMMON BUNDY WAS CHARGED WITH A TOTAL OF THREE OFFENSES:  conspiracy to impede officers of the United States by force, intimidation, or threats; possession of firearms and dangerous weapons in federal facilities; and using and carrying firearms in relation to a crime of violence. The latter offense carries a possible life sentence.^{[47][48][49][50]}

October 27, 2016, Bundys and several supporters were unanimously acquitted of conspiracy and firearms charges – but were not released from detention PRISON, because of the charges for the 2014 stand-off.

Both trials – The Bundys and most supporters were found NOT GUILTY.  

They are not domestic terrorists. 

I maintain our federal and state agencies are the terrorists in the Bundy situations.

Editor Liz Bowen

Good timeline article on Ammon and Cliven Bundy situation

Two days ago, I posted a really good article on the TIMELINE of the Ammon and Cliven Bundy situation. 

Please scroll down two posts to  "Nevada Bundy Prosecution Collapses" past my latest "Liz Writes Life" on 5-29-18.

For more articles of the situation do a search of the Bundy names on this website:

Redoubt.news

-- Editor Liz Bowen

Video link to Ammon Bundy speech on 5-26-18

Here is the professionally-done video of Ammon Bundy at the Siskiyou Co. Republican Women's Federated dinner held in Yreka, CA. on May 26, 2018. A big "thank you" to Robert Exter for producing such high-quality videos. 

 https://youtu.be/p9l6rC7xOyM 

Here is my description of the video:

Ammon Bundy exposes the big fat lie perpetrated by BLM, federal agencies and prosecutors from 2014 through 2018. The lie was the cover-up of the Military Operation to attack and kill Bundy families in April 2014. Near Bundy Ranch Bunkerville, Nevada headquarters, a military base camp was set up with 213 personnel, including over 140 tactical snipers, 13 military vehicles, surveillance cameras, dump trucks, a back hoe, helicopters flying the skies and military guards on main roads. Ammon is humble and soft-spoken, yet direct and resolved to do what it takes to stand against the tyranny of out-of-control agency bureaucrats. Ammon and his family have sacrificed much, but God and the truth set them free. Here are the facts, from Ammon, spoken in Yreka, Siskiyou County, CA. on May 26, 2018.

Liz Writes Life 5-29-18

May 29, 2018

Liz Writes Life

It was an honor to meet and talk with Ammon Bundy this past weekend. I had specific questions, which Ammon readily answered. Other questions were clarified, when he spoke at the dinner held on Saturday night at the Yreka Community Center. Surprisingly, I found no bitterness in Ammon and many of us know a few of the horrific treatments he received during the standoffs with federal agencies and while languishing in detention prison for nearly two years.

He is amazingly humble and soft-spoken, yet direct and devoted to the fact that it is time to stand-up to biased, corrupt and evil (my word) federal bureaucrats. Videos are available of his speech from Saturday night. It is well worth the time to watch. He is eloquent, heartfelt and resolved in standing for his rights. I will put the link to a professionally-made video by Robert Exter – a long-time friend -- on my new blog called: LizWritesLife.blogspot.com. You can also Google it as Blogspot is hosted by Google.

Because Ammon and his family’s story is long and deep and broad, I will only report the answers he gave. If you are interested in timeline articles, there’s several worth reading. One is by an attorney named Roger I. Roots J.D., Ph.D. written Jan. 12, 2018 after the latest travesty was declared a mistrial, with prejudice, by U.S. Judge Gloria Navarro. It is titled: “Nevada Bundy Prosecution Collapses.” I found it and other very good articles on Redoubt News.com. Because these articles are so important, I will post several of them on my blog.

Now I wish to save time and get to the answers from Ammon.

The trials and incarceration were all based on big fat lies. Lies perpetrated by federal agencies and corrupt attorneys and bureaucrats. Lies that almost did not see the light of day in the court room. Luckily, the truth came out and the truth set Ammon, his family and most supporters free in January 2018.

The big lie was the cover-up of the fact that BLM decided to use military operations to attack the Bundy family ranch headquarters in April 2014. Government prosecutors repeatedly told U.S. judges that the military operation did not occur!

It was Ammon’s brother, Ryan Bundy representing himself, who cross-examined a BLM witness in the October 2017 trial, where it was admitted there were indeed surveillance cameras on the Bundy home. Then, the court learned there were also federal snipers surrounding the Bundy headquarters. This info was in a document that Bundy defense lawyers had demanded and not received. This is called “discovery” and under court rules should have been handed over to the defense.

If this info had been turned-over at the beginning, there would have been little to no political incarceration and no trials. The military operation document showed the situation had been dire with 213 federal agents involved. More than 140 were in full tactical gear (snipers). A military camp was set up. Snipers were stationed 360 degrees around the Bundy home, 13 armed vehicles escorted dump trucks and a back hoe onto the ranch. Helicopters were flying the skies. Guards were on the main road.

Later, through a BLM whistle blower, it was learned that BLM Special Agent In Charge, Dan Love, did indeed have a “kill list” and Bundy names were on it.

So, the big lie was the cover-up.

BLM was out for blood. Nevada Bundys were told they would be killed for taking a stand against them. Ammon left his Idaho home and businesses. He went to the Clark Co. Nevada Sheriff asking, once again, for protection telling him the situation wasn’t worth anyone dying over. Within a few days, feeling the military build-up and receiving the threats, Ammon changed his mind.

“It was worth dying for,” he said at the dinner. I believe he was referring to his heritage, his rights, his liberty and his legacy for his children.

Speaking of sheriffs, for 21 years Cliven Bundy had asked the Clark Co. Sheriff for protection from the federal agencies; and to a certain extent the family had received it. But in 2014, BLM was determined and the county sheriff did not provide that protection.

One of my questions was about his dad, Cliven’s, cattle regarding the confiscation by the BLM and for-hire cowboys in April 2014 at the Bunkerville Nevada ranch. Cliven runs 600 head on 200,000 acres of desert. BLM rustled-up about 400. It is believed that around 60 cows and calves died. Several prize bulls were shot in the head by snipers in helicopters that terrorized the cattle. At least 27 calves lost their mothers. At the end of the standoff, when the Bundys released their cattle to drive them to the river for water, they found cows with broken legs and hips from the harassment. Many had been days without water barely surviving in the desert heat. Yep, disgusting! Where was PETA?

Infrastructure for legal water and grazing rights was destroyed by BLM. These pipes and water troughs had been built over 100 years ago to provide life-giving water to livestock and also wildlife. BLM had no legal jurisdiction for this destruction.

 Ammon gave me much more info and I am out of my allotted space. Next week, I will be writing about the terrible mess up in the Klamath Project. Because I want to share more of these important facts, I will write more of it up and post it on my blog. So, please check it out this week.

POW

We should have quite the meeting at Scott Valley Protect Our Water. Things are really bad for farmers in the Klamath Project as irrigation water was stopped, then CA. Dist. 1 Congressman Doug LaMalfa became involved and some water was released to the farmers. It is a mess. Jim Smith, our Siskiyou Co. Ag. Commissioner. is from Tulelake and still owns a farm there. He will explain what is occurring in the Tulelake Irrigation District. Erin Ryan, staff for LaMalfa, will bring us the most recent happenings and our own, Siskiyou Co. Dist. 5 Supervisor and chairman of the board, Ray Haupt, is also up-to-date on additional powers and forces affecting water rights and usage.

The meeting is Thursday, May 31, 2018 at the Fort Jones Community Center. Time is 7 p.m. Please bring a dessert to share as we eat before, during and after the meeting.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Call her at 530-467-3515. Recent past “Liz Writes Life” columns can be found on her blog: LizWritesLife.blogspot.com

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Nevada Bundy Prosecution Collapses

The Federal Government Spent a Quarter-Billion Dollars but

Couldn’t Convict the Bundys of a Single Crime

By Roger I. Roots, J.D., Ph.D.
January 12, 2018

In 2013 the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) obtained federal court orders authorizing the agency to “seize and remove to impound” hundreds of Cliven Bundy’s cattle on the public ranges around Bunkerville, Nevada.   The agency interpreted these court orders broadly, and descended on the area in April 2014 with some 200 body-armor-wearing agents, semiautomatic weapons, sniper teams, undercover informants, and surveillance cameras aimed at the Bundy residence.

The BLM brought more than corrals and horse trailers.  They brought backhoes, dump trucks and earth-moving equipment to tear up water lines and other infrastructure that had been built by Bundy and his ancestors over decades.  Defying county officials, the federal officers chose calving season—the very time when cows and newborn calves are most physically weak and vulnerable—to execute the court orders.  They orchestrated a paramilitarized roundup operation using helicopters to terrify the cattle into stampeding to the point of exhaustion in extreme heat. At least 40 cows either died from the ordeal or were shot by BLM employees and contractors.

The Feds even used the impoundment order to establish “First Amendment Zones” limiting freedom of speech in a 600,000-acre area to two small isolated parcels in the desert.  It was almost certainly the largest infringement of First Amendment rights (by area) in American history.

When Bundy’s son Dave stopped on a state highway to photograph BLM snipers on local hillsides, BLM agents threw him down, ground his face into asphalt and falsely arrested him.  And when other family members stopped a BLM dump truck to inquire if the truck was carrying dead cows, BLM agents erupted in a flurry of violence.

In response, hundreds of citizens journeyed from all over the country to protest the BLM operation.  A few were armed.  Political officials from across the west denounced the BLM’s heavy-handedness.  As a direct result of the national outcry, the BLM halted their cattle impoundment.   And on April 12, 2014, the BLM agents withdrew from the area—seemingly at the direction of the U.S. Attorneys office.  It was apparently the plan of the Justice Department to entrap the Bundys into a criminal case by constructing a narrative that Bundy supporters “extorted” the cattle from the BLM by threats and “assaults” on federal officers.  (The corralled cattle would have died had not Bundy family members released them back onto the range.)

Federal prosecutors spent tens of millions to build an elaborate criminal case designed to imprison Bundy and his sons and supporters for life.  For two years, more than a thousand FBI agents combed through Facebook comments, posed as supporters or journalists, or surfed the internet to concoct a case against the Bundys.

Meanwhile Bundy’s sons Ammon and Ryan became active in protests against the government’s mistreatment of the Hammond family in eastern Oregon.  In January 2016 protesters occupied Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in a month-long demonstration.

Again the FBI spent millions in a show of force against the “domestic terrorists.”  The entire town of Burns, Oregon—30 miles from the Refuge occupation—was fortified with razor wire, chain-link fences and concrete barriers.  Military hardware rolled through the streets and buzzed overhead.  Undercover informants dressed as rednecks in pickups harassed the populace.  At a January 26, 2016 roadblock ambush, FBI and Oregon State Police opened fire on Ryan Bundy and shot 54-year-old LaVoy Finicum in the back as he stood surrounded in a roadside snowbank.

Leftist or socialist demonstrators would likely have been charged with misdemeanors over the Refuge occupation; but government officials viewed the 2016 “armed takeover” as an affront to all that government stands for.  Federal prosecutors alleged that the protesters had launched a conspiracy to impede federal officials from performing their jobs.

The Most Elaborate Prosecutions In American History

In their zeal to destroy the Bundy “movement,” teams of federal prosecutors launched the most elaborate federal criminal cases in American history.  Ammon and Ryan Bundy, militia spokesman Ryan Payne, and others were flown back-and-forth between Oregon and Nevada to face hearings in two, simultaneous criminal cases.  Jurors in both jurisdictions were bussed (supposedly for their safety) from secret locations every day.  In Nevada, not one but two helicopters followed overhead while defendants were transported between prison and court daily.  In all, the federal government has likely spent a quarter of a billion dollars reacting to, imprisoning, and prosecuting the Bundys and their fellow protesters.

In October 2016, jurors in Portland acquitted the Oregon defendants in the “trial of the century.”  U.S. marshals tackled and tased Ammon Bundy’s attorney in the courtroom.   Ammon and Ryan Bundy were denied release and transported to a Nevada prison to face the Nevada indictment along with Cliven, brothers Dave and Mel and a dozen others (while a half-dozen others awaited a second trial in Oregon).

Todd Engel

The Oregon ‘not-guilty’ verdicts gave hope to two-dozen other defendants, who mostly stuck to their guns (no pun intended) and refused to plead guilty or negotiate with prosecutors.  Courts were forced to split the Oregon case into 2 trial groups and the Nevada case into 3 trial groups.  The first Nevada trial (of “gunmen”), commenced in February 2017 with Eric Parker, Scott Drexler, Greg Burleson, Steve Stewart, Todd Engel and Rick Lovelien facing multiple serious charges.  Jurors couldn’t agree on most counts but convicted Engel and Burleson (mostly based on Facebook comments) of some accusations.  Burleson was sentenced to 68 years in prison.

Then came one of the most disgraceful “trials” in U.S. history.  Parker, Drexler, Stewart and Lovelien were retried in Las Vegas in August 2017.  The prosecution exploited every possible advantage, winning rulings from the judge which barred the defendants from even mentioning most of their possible defenses.  (They couldn’t even say that the BLM was overbearing or heavily armed, or even that there were government snipers above them.)  Jurors were treated to a one-sided display of 2014 photos showing the men with guns while overlooking BLM officers from a bridge on Interstate 15.  BLM witnesses—either exaggerating or lying—cried in the courtroom while claiming they saw the defendants pointing rifles at them.  (Not a single photo or video corroborates this—and there were hundreds of cameras recording almost everything at the time; there were even Nevada trooper dashcams capturing 80 percent of the movements of the defendants during the period.)

The judge even ordered Eric Parker off the witness stand for saying he looked “up and to the right” during the 2014 “standoff.”  Prosecutors strenuously objected (in a sidebar hearing) that such a statement might tell jurors that there were BLM snipers on a mesa above; and thus Parker was unable to rebut the government’s claim that he aimed his rifle down-and-to-the-left at a crying BLM agent (who was photographed very-much-not-crying at the time).

Defense lawyers were so stifled by the judge’s orders that they opted not to even make closing arguments—a gutsy move almost without precedent.  It was a cry for help to the jury.  And the jury heard it loud and clear.  On August 22, 2017, the jury fully acquitted Stewart and Lovelien, and acquitted Parker and Drexler of most counts.  (They hung on a small number of charges for the two men.)

The not-guilty verdicts sent shockwaves throughout the Judiciary and the Justice Department.  Here, in the biggest case in the country, with the prosecution spending untold millions of dollars and the judge imposing rules of evidence which almost choked the defense from speaking, the Justice Department was unable to get convictions.

When the “big trial” (involving Cliven, Ryan, Ammon, and Ryan Payne) began in October 2017, defense attorneys demanded to see evidence that had been withheld by the prosecution.  There were pictures (but no explanations) of immense piles of shredded documents left by the BLM at the scene in 2014.  And Ryan Bundy remembered surveillance cameras pointed at the Bundy house in 2014 yet Bundy had never been provided with the footage.

Prosecutors insisted they possessed no such evidence.  Even if there was a surveillance camera here or there it hadn’t recorded anything.  But such questions seemed to produce more startling disclosures.  Ultimately it was revealed that there had been an elaborate FBI surveillance operation which had been concealed from the defense.  And it seemed that prosecutors had been coaching witnesses to change their reports to censor out inconvenient facts.

By the third week of trial in November, Chief Judge Gloria Navarro—the very judge who had given prosecutors everything they wished for in the previous two trials—was visibly weary of the DOJ’s barbarous tactics.  A mistrial was declared just prior to Christmas, and all defendants except Cliven were released on conditions while lawyers argued over whether the case warranted another trial.  And on Monday, January 8, 2018, in a packed courtroom in Las Vegas, the Judge granted Ryan Payne’s motion to dismiss.  A “universal sense of justice has been violated,” proclaimed Navarro.   The judge said further that she was unaware of a more egregious case of FBI misconduct.

It should be noted that there are currently a half-dozen additional pending motions to dismiss, citing even graver prosecutorial misconduct.   It has recently come to light that lead prosecutor Steven Myhre was approached during the first Nevada trial by a government case investigator who informed the prosecutor that he was breaking the law by withholding evidence from the defense.  Myhre’s response, according to some reports, was to fire the agent and order him to keep quiet.  Even as Cliven Bundy was released from jail after serving 700 days, the case continues for others.   Stay tuned!

Cliven Bundy Family (photo credit: Morgan Philpot)

Dr. Roger Roots is an attorney for Cliven Bundy in two pending civil cases and has worked on both the Ryan Bundy defense team in Oregon and the Cliven Bundy defense team in Nevada. Roger is the only lawyer who observed all four Bundy trials beginning in October 2016. (He missed seeing only the second Oregon trial in February 2017 because it conflicted with the first Nevada trial.) Roger is also a founder of Lysander Spooner University, and author of The Conviction Factory: The Collapse of America’s Criminal Courts.

This is an updated article that was first published at LewRockwell.com

Liz Writes Life 5-22-18

May 22, 2018

Published in Siskiyou Daily News, Yreka, CA

Liz Writes Life

Oh, we have had some good rains and, my goodness, plants have shot up. Boy, they do like rain water! A dozen bright orange Oriental poppies are blooming in my yard. The wild yellow Marlahan mustard and lavender lupine are gorgeous together. The rhubarb plant that I harvested -- I took out nearly all the stems -- has already put out 15-20 new shoots. It is a good rhubarb plant! And the new one grew three-times its size last week.

I buried the tomato plants pretty deep, so the top is only about six or seven inches out of the ground. They are doing well and four cucumbers are poking up. I transplanted some volunteer cosmos and found a bunch of one-inch tall four o’clock flower plants growing under the pine tree, so those will get transplanted in a week or two.

Ammon Bundy

Get your tickets to the dinner with speaker Ammon Bundy by calling Kathleen Bergeron at 530-842-4400. It is this Sat. May 26 at the Yreka Community Center at the north-end of Yreka. Dave Tyler is barbecuing pulled pork. Doors open at 5 p.m. with dinner at 6 p.m. Tickets are $25.

There will be a no host bar by Friends of the Fair, raffles, auction items and door prize. The Siskiyou Co. Republican Women Federated is hosting the event.

Next POW

Scott Valley Protect Our Water will hold its next meeting on Thurs. May 31, 2018 at the Fort Jones Community Center at 7 p.m.

Family history

With end-of-school-year and graduations on many minds, I want to share a few tid-bits from my dad’s life story. I will remember to give you their names this time!

George and Rose Ann Dillman were my grandparents. They moved their family of eight children from Southern Arizona to Scott Valley in April 1928. My dad, Hearst Dillman, was third to the oldest. He was born in the Territory of Arizona in 1911. His older brother, Bob Dillman, was born in 1908 and the oldest daughter, Veda, died as a toddler. The rest of the kids were younger: Clista born 1914, RoseMae born 1916, Charley born 1919, Katie born 1921, Evie born 1923 and Con born 1926 – so you get a feel of the time period.

The family first lived near Callahan and leased the Masterson Ranch in 1928. It was Dick Hayden, who talked my dad into finishing high school. So on June 6, 1931, Hearst Dillman was the first child of George and Rose Ann’s to graduate. There were nine members in the Etna High School senior class including Hearst. They were: Helen Wagner (Miles), Ronda Alford, Harvey Palmer, Randy Martin, Peggy Eller, Bob Quigley, Charles Holzhauser and Fred Williams.

Class Day was held outside on the tall steps of the big red brick high school on Howell Ave and the graduation exercises were held in the auditorium. Peggy Eller’s family sponsored a graduation dinner at their ranch. The Great Depression did not allow for any expense, so Mrs. May Denny, the class advisor, drove Helen, Charles and Peggy in her car up on Salmon Mountain. At Swampy John, they picked wild rhubarb leaves, mock orange and other green plants that were then used to decorate the gym for the graduation dance. Most students also brought flowers from their family’s yard or picked wild flowers for more decoration.

The EHS class of 1931 chose the motto: Up to the door, over the threshold and out into the world. There was no extra money to publish a year book.

Because the family lived 10 or so miles out at Oak Farm, on Eastside Road, Hearst drove the family’s Model-A car each day taking sisters, Clista and RoseMae, and picking up other students on the way into town.

Younger siblings, Charley, Katie and Evie went to the nearby one-room McConaughy School for grades first through eighth. Dorothy Spangler (who later married Ernest Hayden) was the teacher. Each child enjoyed a desk. There was a front and back door and the only heat in cold winter months was from the wood stove.

My Uncle Charley told me the bigger boys usually ate lunch and then ran down to the creek to catch frogs, bugs and snakes. Delighting in boyish pranks, a certain number of the reptiles and bugs found their way into the youngsters’ pockets and were used to terrorize the girls.

Young Evie usually ran to the outhouse expecting safety by locking the door, only to find one of the frightening reptiles being poked through a knot hole. Teachers were not immune to the boy’s pranks. Many a time, a rural instructor found a snake or other such gift left in their desk.

I remember Uncle Charley proudly telling me that he was a pretty good student and graduated second-highest in his eighth grade class. I believed him. Then, he chuckled, and told me, “There were only two kids in the class!”

When I was writing dad’s life history 25 years ago, my Aunt RoseMae told me how dad worked long hours before and after school. After getting home from school, he usually hit the front door at a run, stripping off his shirt to change into his chore clothes. Galloping down the stairs, his mom would hand him a loaf of homemade bread as he hurried out to the milking barn. She had cut the top third off, buttered it, spread thick cream and sprinkled sugar, replacing the top. Sounds like a pretty good snack!

During summer vacation, Hearst worked from before dawn to dusk. In 1928 and 1929, Hearst had earned $3 a day working for Dick Hayden. I think it was 1930, when he worked at the Young Ranch putting up hay and thrashing grain for $2.50 a day. By 1931, the economy was so poor that the going wage was down to $1.25 a day.

As a young teen, Charley drove a team of horses pulling a large wagon of good quality alfalfa hay to Etna. This was delivered to families that kept a milk cow or two. It was an all-day trip, which included loading and then pitch-forking the hay off the wagon. Hay sold for $8 a ton.

Yep, life is a bit different in the 21^st century.

Remember to honor our soldiers this weekend.

Liz Bowen is a native of Siskiyou Co. and lives near Callahan. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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Liz Writes Life 5-15-18

May 15, 2018

Liz Writes Life

Published in Siskiyou Daily News, Yreka, CA

Bright orange Oriental poppies are blooming in several parts of Siskiyou, but mine are a bit slower. I have been irrigating them quite often and that made them very happy.  Hopefully, they will pop-out this week. I can hardly wait!

Finally harvested the rhubarb and after cutting the giant leaves off, there was about 30 pounds. Yes, gave most of it away! Found eight volunteer potato plants. Made circle trenches around them and gave them a good soaking. The chives are huge with puffy purple blooms.

Jack dug holes for the tomato plants and I had one bag of steer manure left from last year. I divided it into the holes, when I planted the six small tomato plants. Then, I also planted seeds of lemon cucumbers, zucchini and pickling cucumbers. There are six or seven dill pickle quarts on the shelf, left from last year, so I won’t need to make very many pickles. Couldn’t believe how dry the soil was already, so will need to keep everything moist. Yep, gardening-in-earnest has begun!

Bad news! The USFS Snow Survey showed a terribly low-to-no snowpack in our surrounding mountains! There were only two of five historically-measured spots that had any snow. Surprisingly, Swampy John behind Etna on Salmon Mt. did have a foot, which is 24 percent of the historic average. It is at 5500 ft. elevation. The highest spot, Middle Boulder 1, at the south end of Scott Valley is at 6600 ft. elevation and there was only an inch-and-a-half of snow giving a three percent of historic average. The other three areas measured -- Middle Boulder 3, Dynamite Meadow and Scott Mt. -- didn’t have any snow! Drats! Forest fires will have the potential to be catastrophic destroying so much wildlife along with the trees. Just makes me sad!

POW

With that being said, our Dist. 5 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor Ray Haupt, has been able to participate in several significant fire meetings. He told us at the Scott Valley Protect Our Water meeting, last month, that he was requested by the Fire Committee of the National Association of USFS Retirees to meet with retired and current high-ranking USFS chiefs and agriculture under secretaries. It was a two-day meeting in Sacramento, where he discussed the technical aspects of fire and fire behavior. Ray also explained the environmental and economic hardships on Siskiyou County to this national leadership group and that there needed to be changes made in policies -- immediately.

A fun aside: The new USFS National Director of Fire and Aviation is an acquaintance of Ray’s that he met fighting fires in California. With her was the Deputy Chief of State and Private Forestry, which is another dept. in the USFS. So, Ray made sure he told them that we are “sick of the smoke” in Siskiyou County.

He added that the prolonged exposure from smoke has become a public safety threat. Ray also said the lack of reforestation after fires is changing timberland to brush; and discussed policy issues and technical differences between the federal and state agencies. (I think this means the two agencies need to work together better.) He felt they were truly listening.

There were also meetings last month with the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board staff. One was in Weed, which was a review of the 10-year listing of the Total Maximum of Daily Loads of Sediment that the state will allow in Scott and Shasta Rivers. Apparently, the agency reviewed some of its own project failures, which is a good thing. After a field trip, Ray said the agency staff was impressed with the watershed recovery work being accomplished by ranchers in both Shasta and Scott Valleys, which includes groundwater recharge projects. And -- drum-roll please -- that flood irrigation is a beneficial use of water because it goes into the groundwater system. True fact!

Scott Valley’s use of Thomas Harter Ph.D. and his groundwater model for recharge has helped to prove the benefits of ditch and flood irrigation water.

Erin Ryan was also at the April POW meeting representing our Congressman Doug LaMalfa. Although most conservatives are complaining about the recently-passed omnibus bill, she said there were some good things in it relating to threatening forest fires. More fire salvage will be able to be accomplished after a fire and there was funding for more fuels treatments to help communities at risk.

Erin and LaMalfa are constantly working to save the dams. Both are extremely frustrated with U.S. Dept. of Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke, and his Bureau of Reclamation Deputy Commissioner, Alan Mikkelsen, who continue to support the destruction of four Klamath hydro-electric dams. Erin attended several meetings in Klamath Falls to voice concerns to Mikkelsen and LaMalfa was able to get a meeting with Zinke, but came away disgusted by his uncaring attitude.

Ammon Bundy

Believe it or not, Ammon Bundy is coming to Siskiyou County. He was released from prison last January after his trial was declared a “mistrial” by a federal judge. Federal prosecutors were caught lying on major issues! Ammon will speak Saturday, May 26, 2018 at the Yreka Community Center located at the North end of town. Grill Master Dave Tyler is barbecuing pulled pork for dinner. Yum! Doors open at 5 p.m. with dinner at 6 p.m. and Ammon speaking around 7 p.m.

There will be a no host bar by Friends of the Fair, raffles, auction items and door prize. It is the Siskiyou Co. Republican Women Federated, who worked to get Ammon and his wife here. It will be quite interesting to hear from Ammon about the tragedies perpetrated by our government agencies. Tickets are $25. Call Kathleen Bergeron at 842-4400 to get your ticket. I already purchased mine!

Next POW

Scott Valley Protect Our Water will hold its next meeting on Thurs. May 31, 2018 at the Fort Jones Community Center at 7 p.m.

Liz Bowen is a native of Siskiyou Co. and lives near Callahan. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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Liz Writes Life 5-8-18

May 8, 2018

Liz Writes Life

Sounds like Scott Valley weekend events were well-attended. A live band played at the Callahan Mt. Bolivar Grange Taco Feed and the sun gave-out just the right temperature for the rodeo activities in Etna. Boy, we have had some gorgeous spring mornings lately.

Garden

Well, I changed my mind. I checked the long-range outlook on weather and it looks like we may be able to plant earlier this year – like this week. The last half of the month shows the daytime temps fairly normal in the high 70s, but what is surprising to me is that the nighttime temps are pretty high in the 40s with just a few nights threatening to drop into the high-30s. Not that I totally trust the weather reports, but it is the nighttime or rather early-morning-just-before-sun-up cold temps that will bring on killing frosts. So, if you are prepared to cover those tomato plants and any seeds that have sprouted, we may get a few weeks jump on raising our summer annuals this year.

Disclaimer: I could be wrong! So, good luck.

Here’s an idea for starting plants, but you will need to wait until next February to try it as it is just too hot to do it now. Ron Mayfield gardens at his home in Etna. He told me that he used milk jugs to start his plants and it sounds like a super-easy way to do it, cuz he left them outside! Ron rinsed the empty milk jug then sliced around the jug about five to six inches up from the bottom. He left about two inches uncut, where the handle is. That was the hinge.

Ron made a his own mixture of soil with organic fertilizer and other things, moistened it really well and put it in the milk jugs – probably tamping down a bit. Then he added seeds. I forgot to ask how he labeled them, but it would easy to use a permanent marker to write on the plastic jug. He planted kale, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage and sweet peas and maybe more than I remember. Then Ron put the top-half of the jug back down and duct-taped it. The lid is left off the very top. The neat part about this is that he just left them outside sitting in his cleared-off garden. Yep, no watering! Ron said he could see the condensation on warm days and they were protected enough on the cold days and even colder nights.

He did two batches: One in early Feb., when it was warm and another batch at the end of Feb., when it had turned a lot colder. Both did well. I believe the plastic jug warms up that soil, which is a major secret to getting seeds to germinate.

His biggest problem was getting them transplanted -- before they got too big and the roots were intertwined. Some plants were even trying to grow out of the top! Ron also had a lot to transplant, since he did over 25 jugs. He told me the sweet peas are two to three times taller than the ones he had planted directly into the garden soil. Thanks Ron for sharing.

Gotta also mention how fabulous the lilacs are this year. My Fowler lilac is huge by my door, so I get to enjoy the fragrance as well as the beauty.

Dams

While our Dist. 5 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor, Ray Haupt, was at the American Forestry Resource Council conference, last month, he was able to meet with a Natural Resource Policy staff person for Klickitat County, WA. This is where the Condit dam used to be located on the White Salmon River, which runs into the Columbia River.

This dam was hydro-electric owned by PacifiCorp. It was built in 1913 and was breached in Oct. 2011. Dam destruction was controversial, but real fallout and facts are now known. Ray said this new information will be used to demand FERC, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, do additional studies and requirements to protect private property and the environment.

Here are the major facts Ray learned.

First: It was under-predicted how long it would take to draw down the reservoir water behind the dams. In-flows were much higher than expected, so the powers-that-be just blew a hole in the dam. If this action was used here on our earthen dams, it would certainly threaten everyone who lives down river, Ray said.

Second: Sediment was much higher than what was “modeled.” It is estimated that three times the sediment went down the White Salmon River the first year. This has caused a huge dumping of sediment at the mouth of the river detrimental to salmon. Ironically, the Tribes now want the EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, to dredge the sediment out of the mouth of the White Salmon River.

Third: Houses and cabins around the reservoir were affected. All had to have new wells drilled, due to the drawdown of the ground water and half of them ended-up condemned because the foundations were compromised.

Fourth: The environmental analysis did not predict the surrounding vegetation and forest would die. It did!

Fifth: The analysis of toxins was woefully inadequate. Higher than expected toxins were flushed down the river in the sediment and the sediment that became exposed from the dried-up reservoir held carcinogens that became airborne from dust storms harming humans. This should be a problem for EPA.

Sixth: The returning salmon numbers are still really low.

Fishermen were traded for rafters on the river. You decide if that is good or bad.

The town of White Salmon did make demands to FERC and was able to obtain a new water system; and the local irrigation district secured a water right.

Ray said Klickitat County did not fight very hard and, unfortunately, came away with nothing regarding compensation of any kind.

It was also admitted that the Condit dam was a bait and switch – a trading chip -- to relicense three larger and major hydro-electric dams on the Louis River in Idaho.

So with all of these new facts, many of which we in Siskiyou were already touting, Ray is pleased that Siskiyou Co. has a top-notch environmental and county legal team in place working to provide scientific facts to FERC.

The Klickitat Co. staff person was impressed with how hard Siskiyou Co. is fighting to save our Klamath dams. So am I. Thanks Ray for obtaining this new information.

Remember, it is Mother’s Day next Sunday.

Liz Bowen is a native of Siskiyou Co. and lives near Callahan. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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