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 21st 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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