November 27, 2019
Liz Writes Life
With Thanksgiving coming up, I
thought I’d talk a little turkey. As I was thinking about possible turkey
stories, I ran into Jennifer Bryan at the Yreka Library. She is descended from
Siskiyou County pioneer stock. Her great great grandfather, Sergeant James
Bryan, settled land in Scott Valley while serving in the U.S. Army. Sgt. Bryan
and his Company built a fort in the early-1850s near what is now Fort Jones.
I briefly know Jennifer, because she
is involved with the Genealogical Society of Siskiyou Co. and I have attended
some of its workshops. When I mentioned that I wanted to talk about turkeys in
my column, she piped up with an amazing story and agreed it could be shared.
So, here goes.
Jennifer’s dad, James Bryan, is the
great grandson of Sgt. James Bryan. Back in the 1960s, her dad owned the Yreka
City Meat Market at the upper-business-end of West Miner Street. (Oh, just to
let you know this is a Christmas turkey story.) It was just before Christmas
and James needed to go to Ashland to get the fresh turkeys ordered by local
patrons. Jennifer was 11 years old and hopped-in the rented truck from Yreka’s
Maginnis Chevrolet. Her dad had recently ordered a new truck, but it had not
arrived. So, Maginnis rented James the needed truck.
Jennifer recalls leaving early
morning -- in the dark -- and arriving at Ashland. This was before
Interstate-5, so they drove the older (slower) two-lane highway. The
freshly-butchered turkeys were loaded-up and they started driving back to Yreka
over the Siskiyous. It was raining. The year was 1964 and they did not realize
they were in the middle of the devastating 1964 Flood. When they arrived at the
bridge over Klamath River, it was under water -- totally under water.
Well, the
turkeys had appointments for Christmas dinner and must arrive at the Meat
Market.
James was able to back-track and
turned-off at Hornbrook. When he drove to the edge of the Klamathon Bridge, it
was also under water. Another driver or two were there trying to decide if the
bridge could be safely crossed. Roiling water rushed over the bridge, but at
least the side rails were still visible! James decided it was now or
wait-a-very-long-time, so he drove onto the bridge. When the water flowed into
the cab, James told Jennifer to put her feet up on the dashboard to keep them
dry.
They made it and were likely the last ones to make the dangerous crossing.
James drove over to Ager-Montague Road and on into Yreka. Jennifer doesn’t
remember crossing any other bridges that were under water, but after the
Klamath River adventure – the swirling Shasta River or other creeks may not
have made as big of an impression.
When they arrived at the Meat Market,
the turkeys were safe and sound. The Klamath waters had not reached into the
bed of the truck. And clients, who were able to make it to the store, happily
picked-up their Christmas dinner turkey.
Hope you all have a Happy
Thanksgiving with a much-easier-to-get turkey!
Jennifer had some other fun stories
about her dad. (Characters are a good way to describe this Irish Bryan clan.)
She mentioned an old 1949 International flatbed truck her dad used to haul
livestock. He had added side boards to corral the cattle, but the passenger
door was gone as was the glass back window between the cab and cattle. Family
members argued over who had to sit in the middle of the seat or rather who
didn’t have to sit in the middle. The lack of a passenger door with a makeshift
protective harness was the preferred position, because when driving downhill
the manure slop from the cattle was known to spill into the cab and the middle
person was the main target. Yuck!
Jennifer said her dad was always
working on the truck and it eventually got a passenger door. In the 1950s and
1960s, her dad ran cattle on various pieces of property in Scott and Shasta Valleys.
So, they traveled Forest Mt. fairly often hauling cattle. The manure slop was
not a one-time problem!
James also grew strawberries on a dry
field south of Big Springs. There wasn’t any water on the property, so he
hauled water in a big tank truck every few days. When it was super hot during
the summer, James would hold on to each of his children while he let them down
into the tank to get wet. No swimming! It was just a dip, but at least it
cooled them off a bit.
Thank you, Jennifer, for the great descriptions of life
in yesteryears!
POW
Last week, I was visiting with Ray
and Pat (his wife) Haupt and learned they were living on a Forest Service
district 18 miles from Mount St. Helens, when the volcano exploded on May 18,
1980. They were actually in the process of moving back to the USFS
Shasta-Trinity Forest and most of their furniture was already loaded in a
U-Haul. Ray said he has photos and lots of information on the devastating
eruption. I think he told me that he knew the geologist, who was monitoring the
earthquakes and huge bulge forming on one side of the mountain. That geologist
died along with 56 other people; 1000s of wild animals were also killed, more
than 200 homes destroyed and 185 miles of roads were damaged. Wow!
For the Dec. 5, 2019 Scott Valley
Protect Our Water meeting, Ray will share photos and information about the
Mount St. Helens explosion. It should be pretty interesting. All are welcome to
attend. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Fort Jones Community Center. Bring
a dessert to share, if you can.
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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