Drawing by Frank Blackwell Mayer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The stories were so intriguing, I felt compelled to include Nat as a central character in The Relentless Harvest. In so doing, I had to piece together a comprehensive history for Nat, filling in the blank spots with what I hope will be regarded as plausible fiction. What follows is part of the patchwork of history behind Nat’s role in the story.
Early Years
Nathaniel Smith was born in Baltimore in 1831 to Nathaniel and Harriet Smith who were listed as free blacks in the 1840 Maryland census. He doesn’t show up in official records again until the 1850 Marin County census as a servant living in the Olden B. Hill household in Saucelito (the original spelling of Sausalito, CA). Some stories claim that Nat arrived in San Francisco in 1848 or 1849 along with fellow Sausalito resident, Charles Fletcher. Both Nat and Fletcher were living on William Richardson’s Saucelito Rancho in 1850 and Fletcher was farming Richardson’s land, though it’s not clear if he was leasing a tract or working for Richardson.
Ship’s Boat With Sail. Painting by Seth Eastman, c.1850.
Nat is known to have operated a ferry between San Francisco and Sausalito for several years. The ferry was likely a ship’s boat rigged with a sail. I found an 1849 handwritten receipt acknowledging payment to Nat for towing a boat from Sausalito to San Francisco. The receipt also reveals that Nat was illiterate because it was written by the boat owner and signed with Nat’s X. Later documents were also penned by other people and signed with an X, though the 1880 Mendocino Census indicates Nat could read and write. He may have acquired those skills by that time but it could also have been an error on the census taker’s part.
Migration to the Mendocino Coast
In 1851 or 1852, Fletcher sailed for the Mendocino coast in his whaling ship with Nat among the crew members. Nat would eventually settle on the bluff north of the Navarro River along with another man named Frank Faria (also known as Farnier). Fletcher settled several miles north at the mouth of the Navarro River. The land occupied by all three men was part of the extensive Albion Rancho owned by none other than William Richardson of Sausalito. I’ve found no record of a land sale and Richardson’s grant lands were being disputed by the California Lands Commission at the time, but there may have been some sort of gentleman’s agreement among the men.
![The town of Elk from Cuffey's Cove [public domain]](https://i0.wp.com/keith-skinner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Cuffeys-Cove-Elk.jpg?resize=678%2C482)
The town of Elk from Cuffey’s Cove [public domain]
The Move to Mendocino
Sometime between 1854 and 1856, Nat and Frank began hunting for the lumber mills. Frank sold his claim in 1858 and moved inland to Orrs Springs. Nat soon followed suit, presumably sharing Frank’s land. The arrangement apparently didn’t work out and by September of 1858, Nat was in Mendocino working for William Heeser and living on a plot of Heeser land on the south side of the Big River. In 1870, Nat and his wife Caroline appear on a deed for a tract of land by the Big River. It’s unclear if this is the same plot he’d occupied in the agreement with Heeser but Heeser drafted and signed the deed.
Nat and his family moved several times after that: he owned land much further inland and another plot further north. I’ve found no documentation showing if he sold land when he moved or if he kept acquiring it.
Rising to the Challenge of 19th Century California
Even by the mid-1850s, trouble was brewing for people of color in California. There were frequent skirmishes between settlers and the local Pomo communities. Chivalry Democrats, who were pro-slavery Southern sympathizers, passed California’s own version of the Fugitive Slave Act and, by 1870, would take aim at the large Chinese population with the Chinese Exclusion Act. White workers were up in arms that jobs were allegedly going to people of color who would work harder, longer, and for lower wages. And, of course, racism was rampant. The population of Mendocino County was surprisingly diverse but that doesn’t mean everyone got along. I found numerous written accounts of white people commenting on the limitations and faults of their Portuguese, Mexican, Native American, Chinese and African American neighbors.
Given the social and political backdrop, it is remarkable that Nathaniel Smith not only survived but seems to have thrived. Many of the white men who worked in the lumber camps and mills, those who weren’t managers of some sort, made less money, owned no property, and spent their entire lives in a cycle of long hours and dangerous work while spending most their wages in the company-run stores, saloons, and brothels.
Nathaniel Smith died in 1906 at the age of 75, survived by this third wife and several children. He is still fondly remembered by long time residents of Mendocino County.
I heard a likely story that Cuffy’s Cove was named for the abundance of grizzly bear, by Capt. Fletcher, who was Scottish. Supposedly cuffy was Scottish vernacular for bears.
There are several variations of the origin of the name but I’ve never heard that one. I would put it at the bottom of the list.
First, bears were extinct in Scotland by 450 AD, gone when Scotland was still a tribal, pagan land. The Scottish Gaelic word for bear is “mathan” and there is no Scots word for it I can find, though that language emerged much later. The Old Norse word for bear was bjorn and Vikings didn’t arrive until the 8th century.
Fletcher’s father was reputed to be Scottish but was serving on an English ship and Fletcher was allegedly born on that ship. It’s likely his vocabulary was heavily influenced by English sailors. “Cuff” or “cuffee” or “cuffy” was an English pejorative for a Black person dating back to the early 18th century, probably during England’s slaving days. It likely came from the West African “Kofi” for a boy born on Friday. It was often used as a derogatory, substitute name for a Black servant. “Cuffey brought me my dinner.” It was widely used throughout the Commonwealth and eventually adopted by Americans by the early 19th century. The word shows up in American literature of the time as a term for a bear, presumably due to a bear’s dark coloring.
The most likely explanation is that Fletcher or a shipmate spotted a number of bears on the bluffs of what became Cuffey’s Cove as they were sailing north. That area was widely known to have a lot of bears in the 1850s. Whether the use was intentionally racist is unknown but we know the origins of the word were.
Another possibility is that the name referred to Nathanial Smith himself. Since Nat had been Fletcher’s neighbor at the Sausalito Rancho and a cabin boy on the voyage to Mendocino County, I doubt Fletcher applied the word to him. There were numerous other sailors passing through, many of them Australian, so they might have.
The last version I know is that Fletcher or someone else saw a mother bear “cuffing a cub” on the bluffs and named it Cuffey’s Cove. That’s a pretty lame explanation, if you ask me.
That was probably more of an explanation than you expected, but I hope it was informative. And thanks for your interest.
Hi Keith read your story about Nat. I have so much more background information about him
Hi Arlene.
So are you a relative of Nat? I’ve been in touch with several members of his family, including the Native relatives at one time located in Fort Bragg. I’d be interested in hearing what you have and how you obtained it. Nat is not a main character in my story but he’s an important character in that he outlasted many of the money men. He was never wealthy——often quite the opposite——but he always seemed to have what he needed when he needed it and was quite resourceful.
Keith
Looking forward to any and all books on this subject. There ought to be a book on African Americans in Mendocino County, and judging from the above emails, an oral/written history would be a good idea. Just Imagining how Nate ended up here must have been quite a story, not to mention how he survived afterwards. Thanks to all who chimed in…it helps fill in the gaps and answers questions.
Though my research has not been exhaustive–my goal being to dredge up enough credible material for a fictional story–I haven’t encountered any other accounts of African Americans in Mendocino County at that time. That doesn’t mean they didn’t exist, only that they didn’t generate enough interest to be recorded. That’s the intriguing aspect of Nat Smith’s story, that he was not only noticed but was well liked throughout the county. My story involves two black men: Nat and a transracial protagonist from St. Louis who passes for white. Yes, we need more stories of people of color on the frontier and in the later chapters of Mendocino’s history (and other remote areas). The mix of settlers and loggers in the 19th century was quite diverse but, with a few notable exceptions, most POC stories have rarely surfaced. There are, however, a number of books recounting the story of African Americans in California and throughout the West. Blacks in Gold Rush California by Rudolph Lapp is one that comes to mind. There is also James Beckwourth’s bombastic memoir The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth: Mountaineer, Scout, Pioneer and Chief of the Crow Nation “co-written” by white author Thomas D. Bonner that reveals a larger than life presence in the West despite race. Finally, the African American Museum & Library at Oakland (AAMLO), an extension of the Oakland (California) Library, is dedicated to reviving Black American history throughout the state by bringing to light stories such as Smith’s and Beckwourth’s as well as the many courageous African American women who also contributed to the development of the state.
Hi Keith,
I wondered if you came upon any information about his descendants? I’ve lived near the Mendo and Sonoma coasts since the 60’s and there were very few black in the early days. I knew many had to go to Solano Co to find housing because of the racial prejudice hereabouts. I’ll look forward to your book. Arletta
As a matter of fact, I discovered some of his descendants on Ancestry.com. I paid for a month’s subscription because someone had some artifacts I hadn’t seen. It turned out that on of Nat’s children was a “native” girl, as the relative put it, who was informally adopted by Nat and his Pomo wife Caroline. So it’s not a blood relative. However, that little girl was this person’s great grandmother and the family has lived around the Fort Bragg area since the 19th century.
I haven’t seen any other evidence of African Americans in that area but, to be truthful, I haven’t scoured the census records looking for people recorded as being black. Given that the lumber camps served as west coast melting pot, as did the gold mines, it’s not out of the question that other African Americans made an appearance. In my story, I have a lithographer who is passing as white (based loosely on Grafton Tyler Brown), making a brief appearance. And my next book in the series will focus on the Native Americans and Chinese populations in the Mendocino City/Fort Bragg area. Nat lived until 1906, so he’ll make appearances here and there.
I’m one of his descendants! His daughter Emma, is my GGG grandmother, making him my GGGG grandfather! His granddaughter Lena Salvador (my GG grandmother) lived 1893-1998. I am trying to learn more about my history. I am the 6th generation to have been born in Mendo. I probably have hundreds of cousins! Many still live there yes. I am always eager to learn more about my ancestors. I don’t know much about Nathaniels wife, nor his daughter Emma. I’m on a mission!
It’s exciting to hear from one of Nathaniel’s descendants. I may have some information you’ll find helpful but will share that via email. I’m at the the Bay Area Book Festival all weekend but will get in touch early next week. Thanks for taking the time to read the story and for getting in touch.
Do you any information on his wife Caroline?
I have very little info on his wives other than names and the info I have from various sources is often conflicting. A lack of written marriage records suggests all of them were common law marriages. And all of the wives were native or partly native women. Given the attitudes and laws back then, the details were of little interest to most people. There are other issues causing confusion as well, such as one of the wives allegedly being Nathaniel’s adopted daughter. I don’t delve into those issues in my story. I note that Nathaniel is married in certain scenes but, in this first book at least, don’t show any action within the family. I learned that Nathaniel was granted the fishing rights of native people and that he was permitted to fish with a net. So I manufactured a scene with him using traditional Pomo fishing techniques.
Hi [REDACTED] my name is adrienne and i am nathaniel smiths 3× great grandaughter .i have birth and death certificates to prove my lineage and thete are a few things in this article that are wsy off. My grandmother was full pomo from point arena area and her name was culin she was his first wife and was raped and killed by white men while her kids hid and watched.they never found her body. Granpop smith is from baltimore but was born in philidelphia .he worked as a house servant and came to cali during the gold rush .theres so much more but if your interested my email is [REDACTED]