Liz Writes Life 5-22-19

May 22, 2019

Liz Writes Life

Decisions, decisions! Typically, I whine this time of year about the fickle, uncertain weather and check the weather stations several times a day on the internet. If it rains at night, it typically doesn’t frost; but if it clears-off before early morning, it can bring in a freeze. So, do I cover the annuals, which means going in search for buckets of all sizes and cardboard boxes?

Saturday night, it was certainly cooling off. So, I decided to cover the tomatoes, one six-leafed volunteer pumpkin, zucchini and blue morning glories that were just pushing out of the ground and also the volunteer amaranths that are an inch high, oh, and the dahlias that are six-inches tall. It showered at dusk, but at 11 p.m. the moon was shinning bright and some stars could be seen. So, I was surprised on Sunday morning when it was about 40 degrees – no frost. Whew! But, there was a solid snow-line on Mt. Bolivar at about 4,500 feet, when I looked out.

Gotta say, I sure enjoyed the break from the high temps and daily hours of watering perennials and the planted annuals. I did not get the second rhubarb plant harvested and it is even bigger at nearly four-feet high with giant leaves. A friend asked about getting some, so I must get it thinned and shared.

I volunteered to pick-up my grandson from a track meet in Weaverville, last Wednesday, and drove through a pretty good wind and rainstorm over Scott Mt. My, it is a gorgeous drive with dogwood blooming and a variety of fresh colors of green leaves. Trinity Lake looked full with water standing in the dredger rock pilings at the bottom of Scott Mt.

My grandfather, Gus Fowler, worked a floating dredger in the 1930s, there. Buzz Helm, who was barber in Etna for decades, told me that as a child he stayed with grandpa during a summer over in Trinity. Don’t really know why, except by that time, Buzz was like a nephew to the Fowler brothers – starting with the youngest, Harry.

Yep, wish I would have asked more questions of relatives and friends -- and written more down.

After writing last week’s column, I have pondered even more about the differences of life in 1928 compared to the 21^st century. Dad’s brother, Bob, at 19 was considered a man – at least man enough to be sent to Siskiyou Co. by Greyhound bus (the ticket cost $50 – a lot back then) to find a place to rent for the family. He may have stayed with Aunt Mary Brumwell, in Yreka, when he first arrived. But, I don’t know the answer, cuz I didn’t think to ask.

I do know he rode with Johnny Cleaver, who drove the Shell truck and distributed gasoline in 55-gallon barrels to ranches, farms and towns throughout the county. It was through those travels that Bob learned the Masterson Ranch was up for rent. But, I don’t think Bob told his family that there were 2,000 head of sheep still at the ranch!

 After the Dillman family arrived at the end of April 1928, they ended-up living in a small two-room cabin, because the renters were still living in the big Masterson two-story house. They were about to start shearing the sheep, which were to be herded over Scott Mt. through the Trinities and down to Corning in the Sacramento Valley. It wasn’t until early July that the Dillman family was able to move from the cabin. Neither home had electricity.

So after that long rendition, how many 19 year-olds would we expect, nowadays, to make life-changing decisions? There were no cell phones for discussions. The Dillman’s did not have a hand-crank phone in their adobe in Tucson, Az. To communicate long distances, it came down to using the telegraph and letter writing. And, yet, it worked out.

At 18-months of age, Rose Ann’s youngest son, Con, was still in diapers. Disposable diapers had not been invented, so Rose must have been washing diapers in a wash tub as well as cooking over campfires during the eight-day trip.

Dad told me the second-hand 1922 Dodge screen-side pickup (with no screens) needed mechanic work each evening. The fuel-line seemed to be a constant problem. Gas was bucketed into the fuel tank using a funnel, so it was fairly easy for foreign material to fall into the gas. And the eye-strain of driving all day made my dad’s eyes swell, so grandma doctored them with tea bag compresses. Nowadays, we have eye drops and sunglasses!

The family didn’t have many belongings, but what they owned wouldn’t fit in the small 1922 Dodge pickup. Dad traded his horse for a pair of cowhide chaps and younger brother Charley’s red wagon was given away. Grandpa George Dillman saved-up $200 cash and after eight days was down to $35, when arriving in Scott Valley.

As much as the move turned out to be a really good one for the Dillman family (of which I am truly grateful) it was quite a sacrifice to get the job done.

April was a good time to move and dad gave his mom the credit for the lack of big problems along the way. He said her prayers for safety were answered. His younger sister, Evie at age four, had the most mishaps – usually with bee stings.

But, I think the biggest immediate difference that the Dillmans felt was the change in elevation and weather from Arizona to the mountains of Siskiyou County. It could have been a cold May sleeping in a two-room cabin compared to the 80-degree temps that would have been in Arizona. Did they have enough blankets?

One thing I forgot to mention, last week, was the tall snow-capped mountains that surrounded the green meadow valley at the Masterson Ranch just south of Callahan. Our looming mountains can be intimidating. After living in the flat desert, driving up the one-lane road through the steep mountain canyon was surely very different and frightening.

And yet, so many times when I have traveled in my modern vehicle from visiting somewhere below Mt. Shasta, as I drive over Forest Mt. pass and down into Scott Valley it feels like the surrounding familiar mountains are giant protective arms that gather me up, offering comfort -- and I know that I am home.

POW

Scott Valley Protect Our Water will hold its next meeting on Thursday, May 30, 2019 at the Fort Jones Community Center at 7 p.m.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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Liz Writes Life 5-15-19

May 15, 2019

Liz Writes Life

Garden

For several weeks, I have been playing catch-up, because of those 80-plus degree days.  My typical May protocol is to hand-water plants, as needed, dig up the flower beds and plant the vegetable seeds as I have time. Not this year. Boom, everything was dry!

Love the May blooms. The lavender lupine and orange Calif. poppies are blooming together. Under the pine tree is a pale multi-colored columbine and the comfrey is already producing its pink bell flowers. The asparagus are growing smaller stems and I am eating one or two every day. (See I can eat healthy!) Had to start harvesting the lettuce as it is nine-inches tall, really thick and did not like the heat.

Started laying out the long vegetable row and dug five holes for the Early Girl tomatoes. I found a six-pack with only five plants and decided that was all I needed! I did get my favorite bright blue morning glory seeds planted along with zucchini, cucumber and pumpkin seeds.

This past week was so busy that I didn’t get the second rhubarb plant harvested and it is huge. So, I am really looking forward to the next few weeks of possible showers and cooler temps slowing things down. I keep checking three different weather forecasts and fully expect a frost this weekend – at my house. Maybe it is because I am by the Scott River and the cold air lowers in the early morning. Temps of 38 degrees can easily drop to freezing, here. I will have boxes or buckets to cover the tomatoes and annual flowers. I had planned on cutting back on my workload this year. Ha!

Dillman family

Every-so-often, I write a bit of my family history and decided to do so again. I have been thinking about my grandparents, who were encouraged by a relative to move from the dry Arizona desert to Siskiyou County. That relative was Aunt Mary Brumwell, who lived in Yreka.

Since marrying in 1906, George and Rose Ann Dillman had struggled and scraped while expanding their family to nine children. The oldest, a daughter, died as a toddler. After 22 years of marriage, the family was ready to try somewhere new, even though ranching would remain their livelihood.

My dad, Hearst Dillman, was born in 1911. In April of 1928, he was 16 years old. I think Grandpa could drive a vehicle, but he flat-out didn’t like that “damn new-fangled” thing. So Hearst drove the worn-out 1922 Dodge screen-side pickup the entire eight-day trek. The screens were gone and so iron hoops were fashioned over the top with canvas spread to make a pioneer-wagon-type of covering.

There are lots of little stories I could tell that came from dad. But because we just celebrated Mother’s Day, I have also been thinking about Grandma Rose Ann -- her courage and tenacity. Life conveniences and travel were very different from today. Because this information was not directly from grandma, you get to read between the lines.

It was April 20, 1928, when the family left Tucson, Arizona. Rose was 39 years of age and her youngest child, Con, was 18 months. The family sold most of their possessions. They did keep several mattresses that lined the bottom of the pickup bed. Rose also needed cooking utensils, pots and pans, because she cooked three meals each day on the side of the road over a campfire.

The roads were hard-packed dirt and, typically, one-lane.  George would find the nearby landowner to ask permission to camp for the night. Once they were in California, an orchard owner allowed the family to camp and pick a few ripe oranges. This was a real treat. They surely stopped at stores along the way, but Rose had purchased several giant cans of Campbell’s Alphabet Soup, which the younger kids thought a real treat.

Dad told me the six younger children rode in back with Grandma and they treated the journey as an adventure. I am not sure what Grandma really thought as she was moving away from her sisters and huge extended family. Palm Springs was just a post office and small store. They stopped and purchased gasoline. Soon, there was the San Joaquin Valley bursting with thousands of acres of tall green waving grass. This was amazing for these desert dwellers to see.

Dad drove about 35 miles per hour. Shasta Dam had not yet been built at the North-end of the Sacramento Valley and the narrow winding road above the Sacramento River, climbing into the tall mountains, was daunting.

On their last night, they camped near looming 14,000 ft. tall Mt. Shasta outside of Gazelle having turned-off from Highway 99. As they looked at another formable obstacle of Gazelle Mt., Rose finally broke down a cried. She asked husband, George, where in the world their oldest son, Bob, was sending them? Seven-year old daughter, Katie, recalled it was the first time she ever witnessed her mom cry. Besides the overwhelming uncertainty, I bet she was exhausted.

Yep, I have driven this now-paved, road many times and it is still formidable.

But, taking courage from the rising sun, Rose cooked breakfast over a campfire, cleaned the dishes and loaded-up. The steep dirt road was one-lane with tight switchbacks and wide spots. It was common courtesy for cars going downhill to pull-over and wait for the uphill-bound drivers to pass. Finally, they were up and over the summit with the road providing a softer descent into a lush green valley and then more bright green mountain meadows and soon they were driving through the Parker Ranch – home to over 1,200 head of cattle.

The first person they met was mailman, Burney Tucker, who pulled to the side of the road and chatted. They became good friends. Burney raised Standardbred race horses and several of the horses I rode growing-up were from his bloodline.  Soon, the family spotted 19-year old Bob, who was working on an irrigation flume at Masterson Ranch that he had rented having been sent ahead to find a place. Rose was truly shocked to see so much water for irrigation. Right then, the family agreed they had never seen anywhere as beautiful as the south-end of Scott Valley – their new home.

Happy (late) Mother’s Day to all women, who sacrifice much and desire a good life for their family.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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Liz Writes Life 5-8-19

May 8, 2019

Liz Writes Life

Gotta start-off with the hot temps and garden. Wow, 80-degree temps make it easy to get behind on irrigating. The perennials are sucking-up all the water I can get to them and farmers are hustling to get irrigation going on their fields. After the wet, snowy winter I did not expect such a warm end-of-April and start-of-May.

The frosts last week were not kind to anyone who had purchased annuals and didn’t have them covered. I bought three six-packs of flowering impatiens and covered them twice, but the night I forgot is when the frost got them. Ugh! I think they will make it -- I heard from friends they did the same thing.

Most of us expect frosts anytime in May, but in checking and re-checking the forecasts it really does look like the rest of the month could be frost-free! So, yep, I planned and laid out my garden on Saturday and will be planting seeds and tomato plants this week. For several decades, I haven’t even thought of planting until late May.

I am blaming the heat on last week’s growth of asparagus. Some jumped to three-feet high and are starting to bolt into the froths. Or maybe it was the manure I put on. I don’t think that was a good idea, cuz the stalks came up extra thick as well. I prefer the smaller pinky-sized stalks not the giant thumb-sized ones.

In mid-April, I planted a packet of peas. About half of them sprouted and are now four-inches tall. The 10-inch tall garlic was looking puny, but a lot of irrigation has perked them up. Lettuce is six-inches high. The two rhubarb plants were huge and I harvested over 20 pounds from one of them last Thursday. Hope to do the other one this week. Oh, and the Fowler lilac, encroaching on my porch, is in full bloom and smells wonderful. Ah, spring!

Snow

The snowpack looks great after the USFS employees surveyed the five major snow stations in our surrounding mountains on May 1. The two lower-level areas in the mid-5,500 ft. elevation were melting fast and Swampy John on Salmon Mt. is already down to 61 percent of average with 31 inches of snowpack.

But, Scott Mt. boasted the highest with 50-inches of an historic average of 26-inches making it 191 percent of average. It is at 5,900 ft. elevation. The other big one was Middle Boulder 1 at 6,600 ft. elevation. It measured 90-inches with 53-inches the historic average showing 170 percent of average. Over all, the snowpack is 144 percent of average. This is really great news!

POW

Brandon Criss, who is Dist. 1 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor and serving as chairman of the board, spoke at the Scott Valley Protect Our Water meeting on April 25, 2019. He said the new Siskiyou Co. jail is finally moving forward. The county revised its design and will now use the Charlie Byrd Probation Youth facility, which only housed a few juveniles because of new state regulations. Most juveniles that are deemed difficult are housed in other counties. It has become probation’s goal to get troubled youth back with their families. The new jail will increase the inmate capacity from 107 beds to 160 beds.

Brandon was asked about the cost of the upcoming June election and why the state doesn’t reimburse the county for the exorbitant cost of the special election. He said the state just will not do it. The previous Siskiyou Co. Clerk, Colleen Setzer, pursued every avenue she could think of and found the state would not budge. So, the county has to pay for special elections. Yep, costly.

Discussion on saving the Klamath dams was short. Brandon said the county detailed its concerns in a (135-page) response to the non-profit Klamath River Renewal Corp. Definite Plan for removal of four hydro-electric Klamath dams. Bottom line: Klamath dam destruction must meet all state and federal environmental regulations and those documents have not been completed or released. In fact, KRRC has asked, for a second time, to extend its deadline for answering the extensive questions by Siskiyou Co., PacifiCorp and other legal interveners. KRRC did not meet the last deadline on April 30, 2019 and lucked-out because the Federal Regulator Energy Commission did extend the deadline to July 31, 2019.

Water Users

Brandon also spoke last Saturday night at the Siskiyou Co. Water Users Assoc., dinner fundraiser, held in Yreka with 200 people in attendance. He said, “The loss of the Klamath River dams will harm flood control, a productive fish hatchery, land values and clean hydropower electricity. That’s why 79 percent of Siskiyou Co. voted in 2010 to oppose dam removal.”

Measure G was the first major accomplishment by the Siskiyou Water Users, which was an advisory vote on the 2010 ballot. Brandon thanked the Water Users for this educational campaign and result. He added that the county supervisors have used that statistic many times, when lobbying, discussing or doing legal maneuvering in Washington D.C. on the dam removal issue. Brandon also thanked Dist. 1 Congressman, Doug LaMalfa, for his “solid support back in D.C.” to save the Klamath dams.

The supervisors have been “pro-active with a slew of solutions for the dams and the Klamath Basin Agriculture,” Brandon said, and then explained a recent legal case that was a good win for the county and (in my opinion) a black eye to the state.

The Hoopa Valley Tribe argued in a lawsuit that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s relicensing process should continue and that the 401 clean water certification process had been waived.

“As many of you know, from the outset, purely based upon politics, the State of California has been one of the parties holding-up dam relicensing by denying the required 401 permit,” Brandon said.

Years ago, the state did not do the 401 certification within its legal time allotted. So, the county joined Hoopa’s lawsuit claiming, “yes, the State of California has waived its 401 authority all these years and that the 401 process should not be used to delay the FERC process.”

The court agreed with the Hoopa and Siskiyou Co. -- and an appeal by the state has already been denied.

Brandon said the county continues to strategically monitor this and the myriad of Klamath dam issues.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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Liz Writes Life 5-1-19

May 1, 2019

Liz Writes Life

Rodeo in Etna

This year, the Pleasure Park Rodeo Parade Grand Marshal is Betty Young, who put in years of work with the Jr. Pleasure Park Drill Team and Jr. Rodeo back in the early 1970s; and then served on the Scott Valley Pleasure Park Rodeo Board from 1976 to 1980. She certainly deserves the honor.

Many folks may not recall that the Jr. Pleasure Park youth group sponsored a junior rodeo for several years from around 1968 to 1973. Rodeo stock contractor, Dick Hemsted, encouraged the group during the heyday of junior rodeos, before High School Rodeo became popular in the North State. Betty organized at least two junior rodeos, but agreed with the Jr. Pleasure Park officers that the rodeo was not earning its way and it was stopped in 1972 or 1973.

At the time, I was part of the Jr. Pleasure Park and horse drill team and remember the daytime rodeos were not making money. In fact, the last rodeo had lost around $400. Yep, that was a lot of money back then. We needed to bring-in a bigger audience.

Each year, on Father’s Day weekend, the Montague Jr. Rodeo was going strong with a two-day event and Saturday night under their giant lights was a great draw; one reason was because it cooled-off when the sun set. We lamented that the Pleasure Park arena didn’t have lights for evening events. But, that would change in a few years.

Betty’s daughters, Cathy and MaryAnn, rode in the horse drill team and her husband, Manuel Rais, was drill master. Betty usually showed-up with her daughters -- all on horseback riding together down Etna’s Main Street from their home up old Etna. In talking about the drill team, Betty remembered when the group was working on a giant wheel and there had to be an even number of horses and riders to make it work. Quite often, when a rider didn’t show-up, Betty was volunteered to participate. Once, at the Montague Jr. Rodeo, a member didn’t make it and Betty became a youngster again filling-out the empty slot for the performance.

She recalls ordering the food for the Jr. Pleasure Park concession stand. As they do today, the youth manned the concession during the rodeo and usually ended-up with colorful stains on their white shirts from pumping the snow cone syrup! Betty also cooked for the annual September barbecue and gymkhana horse playday. Typically, 300 people attended that event.

Also, while Manuel was drill master, Betty did the food ordering and cooking for the pack trips to the mountains with the Jr. Pleasure Park members. Good times!

In 1976, Betty and Karin Newton agreed to serve as co-secretaries for the adult Scott Valley Pleasure Park Assoc., which put on the annual May Rodeo. That year, records show Doug Jenner was president, Manuel was vice-president and Larry Malloy was treasurer. Board members included Gene Selby, George Davis, Jack Pimentel, Harold Jennings and Vernon Van Sickle.

The next year, Betty was willing to take over the treasurer’s position, but said she went to a past treasurer, Earl Hertzberg, for help when the taxes were due. Earl was an accountant by trade.

Part of the treasurer’s job was to write out every check to the winners of the rodeo events. Yep, it took a while! Up until 1976, the association only held the May Rodeo, which had its beginnings in 1947. But, Betty recalls the coffers were pretty lean at that time, so in 1977, the rodeo board decided to hold a second rodeo – this one in July. Also, the Scott Valley Team Roping Club was going strong and its members wanted to rope during the evenings – after work. So, they garnered funds and put up arena lights. The stage was finally set for an evening rodeo.

About that time, a movie company was enticed to use Siskiyou County for a movie based in the 1930s Montana cattle country. It was filmed throughout Shasta and Scott Valleys on ranches, in Yreka, towns and the Pleasure Park Rodeo arena in Etna. Money paid to the Pleasure Park went to purchase a new public address system and speakers were placed up on the light poles. It has sure made for successful evening team ropings and rodeos.

The movie was named “Standing Tall” and featured big-name actors like Robert Forster, Chuck Connors and Linda Evans. Many locals participated and dressed in time period clothing. Claudia A. East wrote an article published in the “Echoes” Yreka Preservation newsletter, which is where I found the info on this “Standing Tall” movie released in 1978.

Betty is a Siskiyou County native. She was born over in Cecilville. Her parents are Louis and Effie Young. During school years, following World War II, her family lived in Etna and French Creek. She graduated from Etna High School in 1956. After marrying Manuel, they packed tourists into the mountains, worked on several ranches and in the late-1960s Betty started farming for Keith Whipple. At the time, Whipple and other farmers were growing potatoes on the East side of Scott Valley. During fall harvest, Betty drove a big truck hauling potatoes to Etna, where she helped sort, while her truck was being emptied.

So, Betty was tough and game enough to compete in the Packers’ Race, with Manuel, during the rodeos. Chuckling at the memories, she claimed they didn’t have any wrecks! May have been some close calls, though, as (some years) the contestants started with their boots off and in sleeping bags. They then had to catch their equines, which were loose in the arena, and pack them up with bales of straw.

The Packers’ Race, Wild Horse Race and CowHide Race were wild and wooly local events that are no longer held, but the Saddle Cow Riding still brings in a good batch of contestants with a Siskiyou Co. Championship held at the Siskiyou Golden Fair each August. Records show Saddle Cow Riding has been popular since the early 1950s.

The Pleasure Park Rodeo Parade begins at 10:30 a.m. this Sunday, May 5, 2019 in Etna. Be sure to wave at Betty, who will be riding with Dave Bradford in his Model A Ford.

Pre-rodeo events of Kids Calf Riding, Mutton Bustin’ and Jr. Steer Riding start at 1 p.m. with the Rodeo Grand Entry of cowboys and cowgirls before the rodeo at 2 p.m. Admission to the rodeo on Sunday is $5 for all ages.

On Friday evening and Saturday, the California High School Dist. 1 Rodeo Finals will be held at the Etna arena. Admission is free. Then, Etna’s Main Street will come alive at 6 p.m. with live dance music from “The Pacific Crest Trail Band” and a Goat Roping event.

Klamath dams

This weekend is busy, as the Siskiyou Co. Water Users Assoc., is holding its dinner fundraiser to save the Klamath dams on Saturday. It starts at 5 p.m. at the Miner’s Inn Convention Center in Yreka. Call Kathy Bergeron at 530-842-4400. Tickets are $30 each.

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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