Sutter's Fort in Sacramento

March 4th, 2014

Mostly sunny, mild

Lat/Lon 38.57N 121.47W

Sutter's Fort

Last fall, Charley and I went to the Donner Memorial on Interstate 80 near Truckee Lake.  The Memorial sits on the site of the camp where the ill-fated Donner Party suffered through that terrible winter of 1846/47.  As we walked past the remains of a cabin and a bolder used as shelter, I was struck by the incredible beauty of the area. But at the same time, I could also feel an almost ghostly sadness in the air.  The visit made me realize how little I knew about the Donner Expedition.  So, as often happens, I began reading everything I could get my hands on about the Donner Party.   

If interested, this link will take you to the blog post of our visit to the memorial. 
It's the lower half of the page.

Our visit to the Donner Memorial

It was at the Memorial that I realized the significance of Sutter’s Fort, not only to the Donner Party, but to so many of the immigrants that crossed the planes, the deserts, and the Sierras headed west.  

I was also mesmerized by the fact that 8 year old Patty Reed, one of the 45 children in the Donner Party, managed to keep a small doll, which she called simply, Dolly.  I learned at the Memorial that the doll was on display at Sutter’s Fort. 

When Charley and I headed to northern California to see his family and friends, he wanted to take me to Sutter’s Fort in Sacramento.  I wanted to see Sutter's Fort, and I wanted to see that doll.

John Sutter built his fort in 1839, mostly by native americans, Chinese, and (believe it or not) Hawaiians.   It was the first non-native american community in central and northern California and a major trading post and way station to immigrants. But it’s life was short lived.  When gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill, some 45 miles away, the Fort was basically abandoned and mostly dismantled. Recognizing the Forts historic significance to California’s history, it was rebuilt and preserved in 1891.  It became a California State Park in the 1940’s and was designated a National Historic Monument in 1961.

As luck would have it, the day Charley and I went to Sutter’s Fort there was a group of 4th graders, (from a private school), and their parents there doing an overnight field trip.  The parents and the children all dressed in period clothing and were doing hands-on learning about the lifestyle of those early settlers. It was a flurry of activity, probably much like it was in the 1840’s. The whole Fort had literally come to life just for us!  (We were the only tourists there!)

The parents had taken classes two weeks previous to learn different aspects of life at the Fort, (work, duties, and chores),  so that they could teach the children during the field trip.  The children moved from ‘station’ to ‘station’ throughout the day to see and participate in all aspects of pioneer life.  It was wonderful! 

Here, two mothers teach a group of children the techniques of dipping, hanging and drying to make candles.  They had a big 30” cast iron pot on a fire in one corner of the room with melted wax in it.  They would dip the wicks, then hang them to dry, and dip the next pair of wicks.  They worked their way around this rack, re-dipping and re-hanging, over and over, until all the candles had enough layers of wax that they were thick enough to stand up in candle holders.

In this photo, a father teaches three children how rope was made.  They used a wonderful machine I had never seen before! (The red one at the right of the photo.) The girl in purple holds a handle with strands of twine attached, the girl in blue feeds another strand of twine in, and the boy in brown, turns a crank handle on the machine that keeps the tight twist needed to keep multiple lines of twine together as rope.

Next we went to see the blacksmith shop.  This man was not a parent, but a real blacksmith.  He’s been doing demo’s at the Fort for over 18 years. We watched, along with the children, as he pounded, bent and flattened the red-hot steel into a horseshoe. He even showed us how he punched the holes in it for the nails to go through.  It was so interesting. He would have the children take turns pumping the huge bellows behind him to heat up the fire (right side of photo).  He also had the kids dip the finished product, (using big tongs of course), into a barrel of water in front of the fire to cool it. 

Charley and I were both fascinated and asked lots of questions, which he enjoyed answering.   After making the horseshoe, he made a square nail.  He said a good blacksmith could make up to 1800 nails in a day.  Because we asked a lot of questions, and were clearly interested, he gave us the nail!  So cool! 

 

There was another station where the kids learned carpentry, and built their own little foot stools, (using square nails of course!).  But I didn’t get a picture of it. 

In this photo, two fathers teach a group of boys about tanning furs and hides.  They showed the kids how to stretch, clean and soften the underside of a beaver hide.

This is a picture of a bobcat hide that was hung in John Sutter’s office. It’s a quiver for arrows. It doesn’t look like a lot of time and effort was put into it’s ‘design’.  But I’m sure what it lacked in creativity it made up for in ease of assembly.  And it was clearly functional.

 

The kitchen had three mothers teaching the children about cooking using wood stoves. The whole area smelled of fresh baked bread and cinnamon rolls. Kids were churning butter, kneading bread dough, and chopping vegetables. 

The children at the Fort not only learned about the life of the early settlers, but were also going to live it. The bread, butter and veggies they were making was going to be part of their dinner that night.  They would be using the candles they had made after dark.  The boys were going to sleep in tents out in the courtyard, while the girls were going to be sleeping in the meeting hall.

Here, a father is tending several dutch ovens full of potatoes, stew and cobbler for dinner.  I REALLY wanted to stay the night with them, but Charley wouldn’t let me.

Finally, as we made our way around the Fort, we came to a room that was dedicated to the Donner Party.  Now I was going to see Patty Reeds doll. This is a photograph of Patty Reed when she was a teenager.

This is a map James Reed made of his early crossing over the Sierras to Sutter’s Fort.  He hoped to use it when he returned with a rescue party to retrieve his family and others from the ‘winter camp’ near Truckee Lake.

I’ve said before that one of the things I love about this RV lifestyle is the people I meet along the way.  

This is Cindi Allen Schmerber and her uncle, John Allen. Cindi and John have a unique connection to Sutter’s Fort and California in general. I don’t remember for sure, but I think they were visiting from Texas. I should have taken better notes, but I was jotting things into my phone as I talked with Cindi.  We talked for 10 or 15 minutes.  

John and Charley talked separately, realizing they were both Nagivators on airplanes, Charley in the Air Force, John in the Army Air Corps in WWII. 

Cindi told me that her great, great, grandmother, (John’s great grandmother), Mary Jane Lamon Glover, and her husband James Glover were some of the first settlers to the Yosemite area.  James Glover was from Illinois and his attorney was a young Abraham Lincoln.

The part of Cindi’s story that really enthralled me, however, was that one of their ancestors, Aquilla Glover, participated in the first rescue attempt of the Donner Party.  Here is what happened.

In February of 1847, Aquilla Glover was at Sutter’s Fort.  He was recruited to be part of a rescue team to take food and supplies over the mountains to the people stranded near Truckee Lake.  The hope was to also bring some, if not all of them back to Sutter's Fort. 

As the seven man team headed up into the Sierras, they endured many hardships of their own. Horses laden with supplies and food were unable to make it through the twenty feet of snow and had to be abandoned.  The men continued on with what they could carry on their backs.  They made it over the Sierras to the winter camp where 60 members of the Donner Party tried to wait out the harsh winter.  The rescuers were shocked at the conditions at the camp.  Snow so deep it completely covered the cabins and tents. Holes were dug down to the doors.  Fifteen people had already died from cold and/or starvation, and were loosely buried in the deep snow.  

Abandoning the horses greatly reduced the supplies the rescue team had for the survivors.  Leaving what food they could, they headed back up into the mountains with 23 of the survivors, one of which was 8 year old Patty Reed. Patty and her younger brother were soon too weak to continue through the deep snow.  Their mother was torn between continuing on with her two older children, or turning back with her two youngest. Aquilla Glover promised Mrs. Reed that he would get the children safely back to the winter camp. Carrying them a good share of the time, Glover did get the children back to the camp.  The survivors at the camp did not welcome the children back. It was more mouths to feed.  Glover had to leave the last of his food to get one of the families to take the children back into one of the cabins.

The second rescue attempt was in March of 1847.  Seventeen survivors were taken, thirteen of which were children, including Patty.  Through it all, Patty managed to keep the doll.  She kept her through the crossing plains and deserts, surviving that terrible winter and through two rescue attempts. During that winter, the survivors used everything for survival, no luxuries were spared. They burned furniture and shredded cloth to keep warm. They boiled hides, leather shoe laces, and belts to keep from starving. 
  

  

Nevertheless, upon arrival at the Fort, secretly sewn into the hem of Patty’s tattered dress by her own small hands, was Dolly.  She is a tiny doll, (less than three inches high), but one with a BIG history.

Showing me home….

March  7th , 2014
Totally overcast or Bright sunshine - Hey, it's Spring!
Lat/Lon 41.5N 122.8W

Scott Valley and Mt. Shasta in Northern California

Charley and I have often talked about growing up in small towns.  We were both very lucky in that we had nearly 'textbook' childhoods.  This is our visit to Charley's 'roots'. 

Mt. Shasta

On the way to Scott Valley, where Charley grew up, we passed Mt. Shasta. 

I tried to get a good photo but clouds obscured the peak.

  

Okay - time out.  "SQUIRREL!"

Among my many other geek, nerd, know-it-all tendencies, lies my inner geologist.  I love geology, especially volcanology. (And no, I don't mean a Treky with pointy ears.) I've had a deep obsession with volcanoes, since 5th grade when I had to do a project on a volcano.  I chose Pompeii.  As an adult, my interest lies mainly in the Pacific volcanos where they would most likely effect me.  (Although that volcano in Iceland in 2010 was pretty awesome. And no, I'm not going to attempt to spell it's name.)

So I was absolutely enthralled with seeing Mt. Shasta pop up out of the landscape right there in front of me! 

WOOT!!!   >fist pump!< 

Now I must share a little volcanology trivia with you.  

Shasta is the second highest peak, (at 14,179 ft), in the Cascade chain of volcanos.  Mt. Rainier is the highest at 14, 411 ft.  

There are about 18 volcanoes in the Cascade chain which goes from British Columbia to California. The 13 largest are all in the U.S., in Washington, Oregon, and California.

Another attempt to capture Mt. Shasta, still cloudy at the top.  This is the northwest face, and judging from that big gash, I would bet a fairly large sum that this is the side that 'blew' in 1786, Shasta's last eruption.   As often happens, there is a smaller cone forming in the side that blew out.  That is Shastina. 

Pop quiz!  How many of the 13  major volcanoes in the Cascade chain can you name?  GO!

I'm gonna give it a try here,…

In no particular order:  Rainier, Shasta, Hood, St. Helens,  Adams,  Baker, Jefferson, Mt. Bachelor,…  I think the 3 Sisters are in there somewhere, ...but ok, I didn't do so well. 

So here is the list, from north to south,…  in WA - Mt. Baker, Glacier Peak, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams,  in OR - Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, Three Sisters, Newberry Volcano, Crater Lake (Mt. Mazama), in CA - Medicine Lake Volcano, Mt. Shasta, Lassen Peak.

Ok, enough about volcanos.  Thank you for humoring me.

~ . ~

OK - continuing on the trip with Charley,... 

This is Scott Valley.  

 It's a lovely patchwork of farms and ranches. 

Scott Valley encases 4 small towns, Callahan, Etna, Greenview, and Ft. Jones.

Below is the1,000 acre Goodale Ranch that the Tozier's owned. 

Charley's grandfather owned it, then it was passed to his father and uncle, and split between the two of them.  

This is the house where Charley lived until he went away to college.

 The corrals to the north of the house.

More corrals and sheds on the northwest side.

These two buildings were on the other side of the house.  

These were their saddle house and chicken coop. 

Look at these beautiful fields!  What a great place to be a kid!

And,… what's that peaking out from behind the tree?  Oh man, it's Mt. Shasta. 

The Tozier property had the best view of Mt. Shasta in all of Scott Valley, and finally I got a clear view too!  

Charley drove me around the valley and showed me a few of his favorite places. 

This was the swimming hole on Scott River where everyone would go in the summer.  

This path was not paved back then.

Run off from the mountains to the Scott River below.

Boulder Creek

A cool suspension bridge over the Scott River.

Emmy and Elby are helping Charley drive, by the hanging out the window and watching for chipmunks and birds.

Chawley on the bridge.

Leaving Scott Valley we got another view of Mt. Shasta. Closer and quite clear.

 This is a really good view from the northeast side of Shasta.  It was the northwest side (center of picture) that blew out, and that is where Shastina has formed, (right side of picture).  You can see that in the past 230 years since Shasta erupted, Shastina has become almost as big as her parent.

I think it fascinating that when volcanoes have these violent (pyroclastic) eruptions that blow away a few thousand feet of the mountain's height, nature simply attempts to re-grow the missing part.  Just like a lizard that has lost it's tail.  Below is the new dome inside Mt. St. Helens, and Wizard island, inside Crater Lake.  

Ok, I swear, I'm done with volcanos.  Until the next time I have a legitimate opportunity to talk about one. 

~ . ~

One more stop before we head toward Boise, Idaho.

The Living Memorial Sculpture Garden

This is a monument to express appreciation for all the veterans, living or deceased, from Siskiyou County in California.



Charley showed me his name on the wall.
The 6th name down - Maj. Charles M. Tozier
VN = Viet Nam  DS = Desert Storm

I have to say, it was a shock to see Charley's name on a marble memorial wall. I didn't like the feeling that I got in my chest.  But I reminded myself that this was a living memorial, it was totally different than the others.  I inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, and took a picture of his name.
Poor Charley didn't understood my reaction.  I'm sure he hoped I'd be really excited.  I explained to him that my experiences with these walls have not exactly been experiences of celebration.  They have been experiences of loss and sadness.  Touching a name, wishing it were not there.  Wishing that you could just stare at it long enough or hard enough to make it disappear, having never been there to begin with.
Maybe I need to visit a few more Living Memorials.
But at this point, if I never saw another loved ones name etched into a marble wall ever again, it would be ok with me.

But I told Charley then, and I try to tell him frequently, that I am proud of him and his service to our country.
Thank you, Major Tozier.

A Visit To Win

1st week of March

Weather varies from pouring rain 
   to bright sunshine - Welcome Spring!!!

Lat/Lon 39.72N 121.79W

After visiting Shannon in San Francisco, we went to Chico, California to see Charley's younger brother, Winfred and his wife Terry.

Win and Terry have a neat little 10 acre place where they grow walnuts.   

Below,… Charley walking in the rain, past one of the walnut groves. 

Pardon the spots on the picture, it's just a few drops on the lens.  

Please note Charley's "two-hat" approach to keeping his head dry.  

(He put a baseball cap over his Tilley hat because the Tilley has mesh sides.)

Win took us out to see the Honey Run covered bridge.  

(Silly me, I thought covered bridges were only 'back east'.)  

The Honey Run bridge was built, uncovered, in 1887. It was covered in 1902 to protect the driving surface from weather.  The bridge was built in three sections and has three separate roofs. 

It is 240 feet long.  It was used on a regular basis until 1965 when a truck crashed into it and damaged it.  Rather than fix it, it was decided that it was time to update both the highway and the bridge.  

After the completion of a new bridge, the Honey Run bridge was restored through private donations and is now only open to pedestrian traffic.  It is often reserved for weddings and family reunions.

The Honey Run Covered Bridge is the only 3 level, 3 tiered covered bridge still standing in the nation.

This is the 'old' road that comes out the far side of the bridge. 

The area around the park is minimally maintained and is, for the most part, left natural. 

The cliffs above the bridge look like they have been terraced with gorgeous lawns and landscaping, but they are completely natural.

Next Win took us to see the Centerville School, which was built in 1894.  It has been restored and is part museum, and part meeting rooms.  But it was closed when were were there, so we couldn't go in, but was still fun to see.

Loving western Oregon the way I do, and having spent the last few months on the desert, I was so excited to see moss again.  Look at this gorgeous tree!

This is a close up of the moss on the tree.  It is called 'curly hypnum'.  

It looks like tiny ferns but it is a moss.  

And this pink pond is covered with 'fairy moss',...  

which looks like moss, but is actually a teeny tiny 'azolla' fern!

It's quite colorful up close, but tends to look brown from a distance especially in winter. 

You can see paths through the fairy moss where three canvasbacks have been feeding.

Thanks for the big ziplock bag of walnuts Win!  They are so fresh and yummy, almost sweet.  

I eat them by the handful! 

It was great to meet Win and Terry.  I know Charley enjoyed seeing them again. 

Next - Off to Scott Valley where Charley grew up.