August 28, 2019

Liz Writes Life

Sure have enjoyed the blue skies for most of the summer. It has been so nice to open the windows at night and not have smoke pour inside!

After writing about downtown Yreka in the 1950s and 1960s, last week, it surprised me when no one called to tell me I forgot the J.C. Penney store located on Broadway. Nor did anyone remind me about Nolan Printing, which was a staple for years. Guess, no one wanted to end-up in my column!

For this week’s column, I planned on writing about my very young childhood memories of downtown Etna and decided to call my brother, Steve Dillman, to see if he could clear-up some of my images from that time period. Boy, does he have some stories to tell! He was born 10 years before me, so his recollections were quite specific. Our conversation boomeranged around, but it ended-up having an interesting twist -- and a really fun Yreka story. So, here goes.

From the time he was little, Steve did not want to be a cowboy even though that was what our dad expected. He wanted to fly. In high school, he worked at Ray Smith’s Chevron Station, on Etna’s Main St., after school and weekends. Ray’s son, Gary Smith, was in Steve’s 1963 Etna High School class and they worked together quite often. Steve said Ray paid him $1.75 an hour. Steve also hauled hay in the summer for our dad and Uncle Charlie Hovenden. His goal was to pay for flying lessons and obtain his pilot’s license.

The déjà vu twist to our conversation is that he was sitting at the Susanville, CA. airport last Sunday. Back in June of 1963, he had flown the hours he needed for a license, so he then flew – solo -- to the Susanville airport to meet with his examiner, Mary Barr. She had lived just over the hill from where he was chatting with me. And, yep, he passed the test. Steve is still flying, only for most of his life it has been on helicopters. He learned to fly them in the Army, before being sent to Vietnam.

Anyway, at age 73, he flies huge sky cranes used for fighting fire and other heavy-lifting jobs. Monday morning, his team was moving to Mott airport at Dunsmuir. The West has had fires (he started working in May in Arizona), but nothing like the last few years. I mentioned how nice it has been to have blue skies and he agreed there have been fewer fires, because he has only flown 130 hours this season. By this time last year, he had flown 300 hours!

I did just knock on wood and will not breathe a sigh of relief just yet, because fires could still happen. Many of us remember Sunday, Aug. 30, 1987, when 1,000s of dry-lightning strikes started more than 1,400 fires in Siskiyou Co. Yep, it was really bad and the smoke was thick until late-October. Horrible, it was!

In telling Steve about writing last week’s column, he recalled that the old Warren Building at Yreka’s Broadway and Miner’s Streets also housed the headquarters of the Klamath National Forest in the 1950s. It took up most of the second floor of about 12 to 14 offices. Hum, I thought that was interesting.

After Steve obtained his pilot’s license, he worked at the Siskiyou Co. Airport, north of Montague, for Sis-Q Flying Service owned by Robert A. “Bud” Davis and Fred Arnberg. Bud had been a bomber pilot in World War II. During summer months, Steve filled the tanker planes with fire retardant, gas and oil and learned to mechanic during the winter. I remember he bought a little red Volkswagen bug that he drove over Forest Mt. to work. Our mom really liked his Volkswagen and would drive it whenever she got the chance.

So, here comes the fun Yreka story.

Harry Chaffee was a tanker pilot and mechanic, who worked for Sis-Q Flying Service. He was a poker player. Steve said Harry touted many of his exploits and played (gambled) in Con Brown’s bar or in the back of Yreka Inn. Oh, Steve said as a kid, he purchased comic books from the “front” of Con Brown’s store. Hum!

Well, one spring Sunday afternoon in either 1964 or 1965, Steve was working at the airport. Harry showed up and was in a hurry to get a plane readied and up in the air, which was a bit unusual, but Steve helped him do what needed to be done. You see, Harry had just lost a bet – a big bet that turned into a dare: Buzz Yreka. Not to lose face, Harry quickly took-off in the one-pilot seat 7F7 Tiger Cat. It was used by the Forest Service for fighting fires after having served as a Navy fighter in the Korean War. (Yes, I believe Steve can recite detailed aspects of every plane or helicopter he has ever seen!)

It didn’t take Harry long to fly the big yellow and black E32 tanker, which boasted 4,000 horsepower, to Yreka. He buzzed Main St. – three times. Harry had been a crop duster pilot, so he flew dramatic crop duster turns and seemed to nearly scrape the tops of the buildings. If he was going to buzz Yreka, everyone was going to know about it!

His boss, Bud Davis, lived on Yreka’s hill and saw the plane straight out his living room window! By the time Harry was landing, Bud was pulling into the airport and so were police officers and sheriff deputies. Being 18 or 19 years old, Bud wanted to get Steve away from the escalating situation and quietly sent him home.

Harry was arrested for who knows what and Steve said Harry spend at least three weekends in the Siskiyou Co. Jail.

So, are there any old timers who can add more to this story? Where were you, when Harry Chaffee woke up Yreka? Give me a call. I’ll even keep our chat anonymous, if you prefer.

POW

Scott Valley Protect Our Water will meet this Thursday, Aug, 29, 2019 at the Fort Jones Community Center at 7 p.m. Ray Haupt, Dist. 5 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor, will be speaking on a variety of issues. He has been attending forest meetings, constantly working on new policies to thin trees to get our forests healthy again. Erin Ryan, staff for Congressman Doug LaMalfa, sent word that she will also bring us up-to-date on our congressman’s activities.

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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