Fiction, memoir, travel & essays
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 →
Skid roads were the main method to get lumber to a mill on the 19th century Redwood Coast, but one that required enormous effort and cost $5000 per mile. Many of the first loggers to arrive on the coast in the early 1850s had been involved in timber businesses back east. But they had never encountered anything the size our Sequoia sempervirens before. Their crosscut saws were too small to span the redwood’s enormous girth, their method of felling it were inadequate, and, once they wrestled the giant to the ground, they were hard pressed how to transport it. 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 →
The rise and fall of Englishman William Richardson, first settler of Yerba Buena, Port Captain of San Francisco Bay, and owner of three Mexican ranchos. This article focuses on Richardson’s impact on the Mendocino town of Albion. Continue Reading →