Fiction, memoir, travel & essays
The random discovery of an 1866 survey map allows a historical novelist to better reconstruct the frontier town of Greenwood (Elk, CA) along the Mendocino Coast. Continue Reading →
At the peak of Lorenzo White’s success his holdings stretched from Oakland to Fort Bragg. He owned stores, ranches, sawmills, hotels, ferries, saloons, restaurants, real estate, a fleet of ships, and several logging railroads. He commanded the attention of powerful politicians statewide and held sway over four California counties. White’s ambition at times seemed limitless and was the driving force in amassing a considerable fortune. So what can we conclude about L. E. White from this jumbled legacy he’s left us? Was he a mean spirited, ruthless villain and thief or a generous benefactor, a savvy businessman, a civic leader, and an all around stand up guy? Continue Reading →
![Drawing of the New York Knickerbockers baseball team during a practice session by Homer Davenport [Public domain]](https://i0.wp.com/keith-skinner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Knickerbocker_practice.jpg?resize=465%2C400&ssl=1)
An author asks himself, “What if a transplanted Easterner taught loggers in 1850s California how to play baseball? Would that be an anachronism?” As it turns out, no. Thanks to Alexander Cartwright, the game of base-ball, a refined form of the older game town ball, spread across the American prairie to California and beyond during the great California Gold Rush. Continue Reading →
![Sharps Rifle Photo: Thuringius (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/keith-skinner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/640px-Sharps_falling_block_action.jpg?resize=640%2C400&ssl=1)
Why would loggers carry guns? They worked in small crews alone in the forested mountains of Mendocino County. At the time, the area was crawling with black bear, grizzly bear, wolves, and mountain lions, not to mention bands of indigenous Pomos who, even by the early 1850s, still scuffled from time to time with settlers intruding on their territory. So what firearm were they likely to keep handy? Continue Reading →
![Whitman in 1875 by Thomas Dewing [Public domain]](https://i0.wp.com/keith-skinner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/459px-Thomas_Wilmer_Dewing_-_Walt_Whitman_-_1875-e1429045016370.jpg?resize=307%2C400&ssl=1)
Though Whitman may never have “[Faced] west, from California’s shores,” as he trumpeted in one California poem, his opening stanzas resounded with authenticity. I expected the rest of the poem to be a testament to the grace and beauty of the redwood-covered hills and a condemnation of the jack-screw men intent on plundering ancient natural resources. Then I reached the line which read, “not of the past only, but of the future.” Uh-oh. Continue Reading →
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 the people of color who would work harder, longer, and for lower wages. Given that social and political backdrop, it is remarkable that Nathaniel Smith not only survived but seems to have thrived. Continue Reading →
Whether you’re a history buff, a historical fiction fan, or a writer of historical fiction, here are some of the most useful sites I’ve found for 19th century California. Continue Reading →
The Mendocino coast at that time was largely virgin wilderness, much of it unexplored. There were few settlers besides the local Pomos. The heavily forested bluffs and mountains were home to large numbers of elk, black bear, grizzly bear, wolves, pumas, and coyotes. As a result, loggers were often confined to their remote lumber camps for months at a time. Put a large group of men together under those circumstances and you’re likely to hear some pretty colorful language, some of it downright profane. Continue Reading →
How Cuffey’s Cove, a once thriving town on the Mendocino coast that is now a ghost town with 3 cemeteries, became the inspiration for the historical novel, The Relentless Harvest. Continue Reading →