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 18th
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.
# # #
No comments:
Post a Comment