Liz Writes Life 12-30-2020

Liz Writes Life

Dec. 28, 2020

Part 2 of Dillman men gathering wild horses

Moving to Staff Wilson Ranch

In the fall of 1934, George rented the Staff Wilson house and 600 acres on Patterson Creek from owner Leland Young for $1,700. It included pasture and timber land. After his wild horse gathering adventure, Bob went back to Arizona. He likely took the train. Hearst was still living with Paul Denny, at Oak Farm, working half-day for Denny earning $1 each half-day. The other half of the day, Hearst fed and managed the Dillman cattle.

During the winter of 1935, it snowed and snowed and seemed to Hearst that all he did was shovel snow off buildings to keep the roofs from caving. Rose Ann remarked the Staff Wilson house was the coldest place she had ever lived. They did have running water that flowed through a buried wooden pipe-line from Patterson Creek. The pipes were hollowed-out logs that were fitted-together with metal bands.

In March of 1935, the family received word that Granddad Peter A. Dillman had died in Elfrida, Arizona. Luckily, the family had decided to drive their car down to Arizona the previous Christmas, in 1934, visiting family, including Granddad Peter.

George gathered 30 head of wild horses

Sometime during the spring, George rode his horse over to Monroe Patterson’s place to gather wild horses in Butte Valley. At the time, an untrained horse sold for $10. Trained horses brought more. The long economic Depression continued to take its toll. Income was needed.

There are no specific adventure stories known about this wild horse gathering trip, but it was successful. George came back with 30 head of horses and mules. Monroe helped George drive them from Red Rock Valley to Montague in Shasta Valley through a set of rugged mountains by Goose Nest. From there, George drove the herd by himself over the next set of mountains into Scott Valley and on to the Staff Wilson place.

Aside: I don’t know how to herd 30 head of horses with just one person. This is an amazing feat! He must have driven them on the dirt county roads. Maybe, the horses were tired enough to stay on the road and there were few passing vehicles to cause much of an upset.

Hearst gathers wild horses

Sometime, in 1935 or 1936, Hearst also rode his horse over to Butte Valley to work with Monroe Patterson gathering wild horses. I don’t know who else from the valley that may have gone, but certainly a few did.

The cowboys must have camped in the open. I don’t remember my dad ever using a tent to camp during my life time. They were cooking over a campfire with not much in supplies. Breakfast and dinner and consisted of beans -- just beans. Sometimes someone made biscuits baking them in a cast iron pot in the coals.

So, after a few days the cowboys were hankering for some meat. Deer were plentiful, so they talked about the prospect of shooting a deer. (Don’t know much about Buck Season and hunting licenses back then.) Anyway, Hearst mentioned that he had never shot a doe. Only bucks. One morning he climbed out of his sleeping bag to relieve himself – it was early, well before sun-up – and he noticed a herd of deer going over a near horizon. He quickly grabbed his rifle. Couldn’t see any horns, because the bucks hadn’t grown them yet (so it must have been in the spring time), but he took a bead on one and killed it. When they found the deer darned if it wasn’t a male. Hearst received a good ribbing about his unusual eye sight and being able to see invisible buck horns!

Now, the Dillmans had plenty of horses to break-in to saddle and harness. They built a tall round log corral just for the job near the house. Hearst broke many of the horses to work as teams, pulling wagons and farm equipment. Because they didn’t need all of the horses, and they did need the money, quite a few of the horses were sold to ranches throughout the county. It was really quite a windfall for the family as the Depression went longer and longer.

Another incident Hearst recalled: It was a bright early morning and Hearst took-off on one of his newly-trained horses to ride to the Defaria place up by Callahan. Just about a mile up the road from home, a hen turkey flew out from under a tree and startled his horse. It jumped sideways, lost its footing and fell down landing on Hearst’s leg. His leg wasn’t broken, but was sprained and pretty bruised-up. Yet work had to be done, so Hearst climbed back on and rode the 10 more miles on up to work and rode back home at day’s end.

Aside: I remember the log corral. As a child, I played near it with my cousin, Paula Young. Her family lived in this house. Leland Young was her grandfather. Bob Young and Betty Jayne Fowler Young were her parents.

Well, this is the end of this chapter. With the pandemic, counter culture, city riots and toxic divide in politics during this election year, looking back at life in the 1930s reminds us of the many comforts of life that we do enjoy. May we appreciate our ancestors for their dedication, stamina and toughness.

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 can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

# # #

 

Liz Writes Life 12-23-2020

Liz Writes Life

Dec. 23, 2020

NFR rodeo encore

Several friends called to see if I knew if RFDTV was going to rerun performances of the 2020 National Finals Rodeo. I didn’t know. After Darlene Henninger called me, I decided to email Patrick Gottsch, who is the founder of RFDTV.

I specifically asked if they were planning any re-runs. To my surprise I received a phone call at 7 a.m. the next morning. It was Patrick telling me that The Cowboy Channel was already running encore performances. This channel teamed with Dish Satellite and can be found at 232. Unfortunately, my Directv’s basic package does not have The Cowboy Channel. But, you can get an app for $9.99 a month.

Patrick said that The Cowboy Channel is a companion to RFDTV and carries rodeos and other horse-type sports events. RFDTV is not doing encore performances, only The Cowboy Channel at 5 p.m. each night. It is re-starting encores, again, on Christmas night. So, there you go!

When I emailed Patrick, I attached my “Liz Writes Life“ column and he thanked me for the good coverage of the NFR. Yep, made my day!

Life in early 1930s

The following is a rewritten chapter from the life history I wrote for my dad, Hearst Dillman. The photos make the story. Sure wish I knew who the photographer was to give him or her credit. Also wish I had some wild adventures to tell about the gathering of these wild horses, but I don’t. Only have the photos, darn.

Mostly, this story describes what life was like during the early 1930s of the Great Depression here in Scott Valley. It features my granddad, George Dillman, wife, Rose Ann Dillman and children: Bob, Hearst, Clista, Rose Mae, Charley, Katie, Evie and young Con, age 8.

It was the autumn of 1934, when Bob Dillman, age 26, along with his Scott Valley cowboy friends, Frank Bryan and Cap Stacher, rode their horses over two strings of mountains to Butte Valley in the Eastern area of Siskiyou County. An old family friend, Monroe Patterson, lived and worked there on Elmer Chandler’s Ranch in the Red Rock area. There were wild horse herds from feral ranch horses that were left to run the open range.

Earlier in 1932, Monroe had ridden a thin, small horse to where the Dillman’s lived at Oak Farm. This ranch had been the Paul Denny Ranch on Eastside Road between Etna and Callahan, in Scott Valley. Monroe and George were childhood friends from when their families settled the Whitewater area near Douglas, Arizona at the turn of the 1900s. After visiting a few days, George either traded for the horse or agreed to keep it, because Monroe took the motorized vehicle stage back to his home in Macdoel. The two kept in touch, likely through the mail.

The Dillman family had moved to Oak Farm in the fall of 1930, when George made a deal with Scott Valley Bank manager. Paul Denny lost his ranch, because of the Depression and couldn’t make his payments. Prices for crops, livestock and ranch products continued to drastically drop in the 1930s. 

The bank deal allowed the Dillmans to live and work on Oak Farm receiving half of everything that was raised, including half of the hay they harvested and half of the expanding horse herd. This also began their accumulation of milk and beef cows.

The family enjoyed living in the large two-story Victorian Oak Farm home boasting a wide front porch and two screened-in porches for sleeping outside during the hot summers. Rose Ann hosted many teen parties for teenagers Clista and Rose Mae making lots of homemade taffy for the kids to pull and enjoy.

There was a Koehler generator plant that powered a few lights at Oak Farm. Water was heated in a tank attached to the wood stove. Then around 1932, electricity lines were installed. Rose cooked on her first electric stove. As a side note, the electric company was so eager to have customers use electricity that they freely gave electric lamps to families.

Hearst and George were milking 120 dairy cows using a gasoline-engine compressor that operated the vacuum pump in a milking machine. Cousin, Luther White, was hired to help. It was busy work milking the herd morning and night. Giant cast iron kettles were used to heat 40 gallons of water down at the dairy barn. The warm water was used to clean the dirt and manure from the cows udders, before the milking machine was attached. This was the first time that Hearst and his family did not have to milk cows by hand.

Unfortunately, in early January 1932, Clista died of pneumonia just before her 18^th birthday. Maybe it was because of Clista’s death, but several relatives visited during 1932 traveling from Arizona. They included Rose Ann’s sister, Mary Ann Haymore; and George’s half-brother, Ivan Dillman, who brought Grandfather Peter A. Dillman up to visit. It was during this time that Monroe Patterson showed-up on his little horse.

Things changed in 1934. Paul Denny obtained a loan from the federal government and made a deal with Scott Valley Bank. As a result, he owned Oak Farm once again. So, George moved his family to the Staff Wilson place owned by Leland Young, on Patterson Creek, north of Etna. Hearst stayed living at Oak Farm to help Paul Denny operate the ranch.

It was during this time that Bob, Frank and Cap decided to help Monroe gather wild horses over in Butte Valley. They rode from dawn to dusk, eating only breakfast and dinner for nearly a month. The horses were gathered into huge log corrals. When the gathering was completed, Monroe sent each of his cowboy friends home with a horse for compensation. They either herded the three horses or had trained them to lead.

Part 2 of this story will run next week. Hope you all have a nice Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ!

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 can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

 

# # #

Liz Writes Life 12-16-2020

Liz Writes Life

December 16, 2020

Last Thursday, my brother, Steve Dillman, called and asked if I was watching the National Finals Rodeo. Aw, nope, I had forgotten all about the annual finals held the first week of December. I was surprised it was on RFDTV, the agricultural channel. In fact, Patrick Gottsch, the founder of RFDTV, vied for the opportunity to film and broadcast the NFR and was given the contract just this year.

In interviews with Patrick and stand-alone comments, we learned the big television companies complained that RFDTV was a small (hicks-from-the-sticks) channel and wouldn’t be able to do the NFR justice. Well, this was the best presentation of the NFR I have ever watched. Patrick said he and his crew had grand ideas for the opening ceremonies and they came through! It was flashy and quickly featured the previous nights’ event winners and showed-off all the countries and 20-plus USA states that were home to contestants participating in the Grand Entry and rodeo.

What touched my heart were the opening prayers each night, even though I only caught the last three nights. Prayers thanked God for the rain, the talents and skills of the cowboys, cowgirls, horses and livestock. Tears came to me, when prayers asked for blessings over our veterans, soldiers, our country and family.

Everyone proudly stood for the National Anthem. Old Glory was touted as “colors that never run!” Felt like days of old -- without the more recent controversies plaguing patriotic citizens because of their love of the United States of America. Yep, covid-19 is not the only plague affecting people.

Talk about fast-paced – I couldn’t do anything else, but watch or I would miss something. Commentators Butch Knowles, Jeff Medders, Joe Beaver and Donny Gay knew their cowboys and cowgirls providing current information along with background. Commercials were at a minimum. I wished I would have caught the first seven nights.

Patrick praised the rodeo organization for going ahead with what is really a world rodeo finals event. With the covid-19 restrictions, lots of hoops had to be jumped through. Since 1986, the NFR has been held in Las Vegas. That wouldn’t work this year. So, luckily, it was the MLB Texas Rangers that came to the rescue and offered the use of its Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. There was enough room in the stadium for social distancing, even though there were a significant amount of rodeo fans rooting for their favorites. Masks were a mainstay – even the gals carrying flags and leading victory rounds of event winners on horseback wore a mask.

A young man from Utah, Stetson Wright, won the Bull Riding and the All-Around Championship gold buckles and saddles – along with a lot of money: $337,725.

Stetson’s younger brother, Ryder Wright, won the Saddle Bronc Championship. This was the first time two brothers won championships the same year. It was also the second year in a row that Stetson won the All-Around. Rusty, a third Wright brother was also competing in the NFR. There were some names I recognized in the competition, but the younger generation was making its debut in a big way in all the events.

Just for general information, Blacks were certainly included. A 20-year-old Shad Mayfield won the Tie-down Roping Championship gold buckle and saddle. Country singer, Coffey Anderson, sang the National Anthem on Saturday night and a silent minute of tribute was paid to Country singer, Charley Pride, who passed away last Saturday. Charley is beloved and crossed racial and political lines in a variety of ways. He blazed trails as a Country singer back in the 1960s and was an avid fan and part owner of the Texas Rangers having played baseball in the Negro League in the 1950s.

We, in rural America, appreciate our roots. We respect our country. We are proud of the Cowboy Way. It was so wonderful to see such a joyful celebration. Well done, NFR. And congratulations to Patrick and the RFDTV for a quality televised production. For sure, I am going to check and see if RFDTV shows reruns of the 10 nights of the 2020 NFR.

Doug LaMalfa

CA. Dist. 1 Congressman, Doug LaMalfa, saw his lead increase in the election after California certified its 2020 General Election results. As the last votes were finally counted, Doug won with a 57 percent over his Democrat opponent Audrey Denny. He faced a well-funded Denny, who outspent Doug by $1.5 million. Our congressman commented about the relentless attack ads and false accusations and was grateful the “voters were able to see through it all and rallied around the common sense message of limited government, individual freedom and rebuilding the North State. I’m grateful for the continued confidence and support,” he said.

 And I gotta say that our congressman has guts and is willing to walk into the fires of Hell. His staff person, Erin Ryan, called me on Friday and said Doug was going to be on CNN Chris Cuomo’s show at 6 p.m. No, I don’t watch CNN and would have missed it. I recorded the show and watched it later and was impressed with how well Doug held his temper in the face of hurling accusations and opinions from a hard-hitting Cuomo.

The segment was about five minutes long and centered on Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court’s dismissal of the State of Texas lawsuit regarding results of the General Election in four other states. Cuomo was elated that Pres. Trump had lost this case and demanded Doug concede that Joe Biden was president-elect and to show proof of election fraud. Doug held his own and said there were other discrepancies that were still under investigation and litigation.

Cuomo acknowledged that Doug was the only House Republican willing to go on his show that night. Cuomo said his staff invited 126 Republicans. In his response, Doug touted his heritage saying that he is “Sicilian” and had to show up. 

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 can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

 # # #

Liz Writes Life 12-9-2020

Liz Writes Life

December 9, 2020

More is happening on the religious worship front. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor by 5-4 of a Roman Catholic and Jewish lawsuit against New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo, two weeks ago, (regarding bias on covid-19 restrictions against churches) two religious groups in California found some support from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. You see, each Supreme Court Justice is given a U.S. District Court of Appeals of which he or she oversees. Kagan was recently assigned to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals based in the Western United States area.

Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry had filed an injunction – pending appeal – in their federal lawsuit against California Governor Gavin Newsom. Newsom has been ignoring the injunction and the church’s emergency petition. So it was stalled. Maybe Newsom thought it would go away. But, after review of the case, Justice Kagan ordered Newsom to respond to the emergency petition.

I see this as good news, because Newsom has been told he must follow the legal process and not stall or ignore these legal complaints. And, yes, it is surprising that it is Kagan who issued the order. So, a big “thank you” goes out to Kagan.

Strip clubs

In another turn of events, two pastors of two different California mega-churches decided to rebrand their churches into temporary “strip clubs,” so they can remain open. Leah MarieAnn Klett, a writer for “The Christian Post” reported on Dec. 3, 2020 that the pastors said they were protesting the state’s closing of religious worship due to covid-19, while strip clubs were able to stay open.

Apparently, churches are not the only ones filing lawsuits against pandemic restrictions. At least one superior court judge, in San Diego County, has ordered California to end any actions that stop live adult entertainment in clubs. So the bias against religious worship looks very real, when strip clubs can remain open and religious places of worship must close, because of the governor’s edict.

The pastors say they came up with their strip club alternative from former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who quipped in an interview that possibly churches should reopen as temporary strip clubs. To follow the idea of a “strip,” Huckabee suggested a rebranded church’s pastor could simply remove his tie – and only his tie.

The Christian Post article said that Godspeak Calvary Chapel Pastor Rob McCoy has been fined thousands of dollars for holding worship services in spite of the covid-19 restrictions and is one of the pastors that decided to rebrand his church. McCoy is quite outspoken about the bias to shut-down churches. And, he stripped himself of his tie while preaching.

Also, Jurgen Matthesius, who is Senior Pastor of Awaken Church, did a “striptease” of removing his tie before his sermon and then posted the video to social media. His church has been renamed “Now Awaken Family Friendly Strip Club!”

Pastor Matthesius said this club will “strip the devil of his hold, power and authority over people’s lives.”

So, there you have it: Some innovative thinking among hypocritical restrictions.

Garden

My garden looks so much better. There were several things that I needed help with, so I picked-up my two grandsons last Friday. Bryce is a big teenager and Colton is 10 – and both worked hard. First, we stacked the last pile of wood. Then, Bryce cut the tall dry hollyhocks stems and bushy asparagus. Colton and I picked up slimy zucchini and pulled tangled tomato vines. Then it was hauled out to several piles for burning later.

We also cleaned-up the prickly dried amaranth, gladiolus stems and other flowers. I put some of the amaranth in a paper bag and brought into the house to dry as there was more moisture than I realized in the old plants. I will shake them in a few days hoping some of the black tiny seeds are still there and will fall out. Several friends have asked for seeds, so they will be shared.

Gotta mention that I am still quite happy with the mulch of lawn clippings that I layered throughout the garden. A friend had mentioned to be careful of lawn clippings, because they typically get slimy. I can sure see that could be true most of the time, but it was so dry this year with very little rain (and I don’t use a sprinkler) that they dried-out almost immediately -- and remained dry. Also, my garden gets full-all-day sun. There were some slimy clippings under the yucky slimy zucchini, but I just mixed it into the soil and it should continue to deteriorate.

The clippings have certainly provided a protection for the soil that is now soft and moist. So, this year, the clippings mulch worked. Next year – who knows?

We didn’t get the annuals or perennials in the wild flower garden under the pine tree cleaned-out, because it was getting dark. It was such a nice day that I worked in my t-shirt – no jacket, until sundown. But, oh boy, did I pay for those couple hours of work. I was sore for several days! But, at least the garden got cleaned-up in the same year it was grown, which doesn’t often happen!

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 can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

 

# # #