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Potter Valley was or1ginally known as Potter's Valley. F r om t he t i m e o f t h e adv e n t o f t h e f i r s t Ame r i c a n t o v 1 e w i t s b eau t y until the present time, it has been called. the Gem of Mendocino County, Of the twenty-two or so valleys in Mendocino County, it can be consicLered outstanding. I t is not a large valley, being ap­ proximately four mlles wid.e and eight miles long. T h e North Fork o f the Russian River divides the valley's ten thousand acres. T h e headwaters of the Russian River are at the extreme head. of the val­ ley. Th e lower hills of the Mayacamas Mountains of the Coast Range almost surround the valley with the usual upland. at their f eet. The high peaks, a few of which are perpetually snow-covered., can be seen in the d.istance. This combinat1on of valley, upland. and. mountains give a charm and, simplicity that has apparently d.evelop­ ed. a fascination to those who settled. here. Many of the descend.­ ants of the early settlers have for several generations remained here. It is not only the beauty of the area but its f ertility that has earned it the title "grain basket of Mendocino County." The Thomas Potter party, looking for more grazing lancL for Sonoma County cattle, decid.ed. that they would. look for the head.­ waters of the Russ1an River. W h en they arrived in Ba lo kai, ac­ cord.ing to Helen McCowen Carpenter, after having travelled. over rough chemissal mountains and. d.eep canyons, they came 1nto this b eaut i f u l , mou n t a i n- en c i r c l ed v a l l ey . Po t t er f el t t h i s was i t . His fondest hopes of finding good. land and. an abundance of range land for cattle was at last a reality. C l over ready for the scythe was spread over some seven thousand. acres of valley land. W i ld. oats waved. in abundance on every hillside, looking like vast fields o f c u l t i v a t ed g r a 1 n. On ev er y s i d . e s t o o d t h e em b l e ma t i c go l d . en poppy, enjoying without stint, the hottest rays of the noonday sun and a profusion of wild. flowers making it an ideal spot. In September, 1858, Thomas McCowen wrote his brother in Nevada City as follows> "...clover 1n May nearly wa1st high; wheat sown in March yield.s forty bushels to the acre; corn planted in June, now good roasting ears without any cultivation, and. so on. "T1mber rather scarce, but splits fine be1ng pretty tall and. thrifty; water good.--appears to be near the surface; creeks grav­ elly, although many of them are dry at this time, but where the water rises it is cold. and clear; plenty of game in the mountains and. from every appearance is likely to be healthy. J u d ging from the number of emigrants I meet steering for Potter's Valley, I doubt whether there wi.ll be a single vacant place in one month from this time; in fact, it seems to be all claimed. now although when it comes to the point some are found. hold.ing a little more t han t h e i r s ha r e. . . " It is only natural that a valley as beautiful and. fertile would. be inhabited,. For centuries, perhaps millenniums, three bands of Northern Pomos inhabited this area in eastern Mendocino County. We are very honored to have one of the d.escendants of these Ind.ians to tell their story. THE POTTER VALLEY POMO OR BA. LO KAI POMA E dna Guer r e r o

Mhen the first white men came into Potter Valley, they found. three separate villages, each occupiecL by a tribelet composed. of about five hundred. people. The village at the upper end of the valley was called Sha-nel or She-nul which means head of the val­ ley, The one at the center of the valley (about where Hopper' s Corner is now) was named. Se-dum and that situated. in the lower part of the valley ancL wh1ch was the largest of the three, was called. Porno, I have been told. that the reason for the larger size of this village was due to the1r relationship with the Ind.ians of Bachelor Valley in Lake County. I r emember that many of the people of Porno spoke and. und,erstood. the Lake County language. Each village had. a certain area that they claimed as their own. They were taught not to intrude on the property of the other tribes for to do s o would. c a us e s e r i o u s t r ou bl e . I n t h e e vent o f such trespass the group at fault would have to give bead.s o r ba s k e t s to the people upon whose land they had. trespassed. T his r a r e l y hap ­ pened. as the Pomos were a placid., gentle, peace-loving people who seldom fought. T h e fight1ng and. k11ling they left to the Ukis of Round. Valley (known as Ma-sha kai, valley of the milkweed) who were known as great maraud.ers ancL who traveled great d.istances Just to kill, some preying upon women who were out gathering food., basket material or seed. The valley was a beautiful, lush land where the people found. everyth1ng they need.ed to 11ve. Th e trees and shrubs, o ak, p e p p e r ­ wood (California Bay), buckeye, manzani t a , a n d . p i n e a l l ma d e t h ei r contr i b u t 1 o n . For f ood , w er e u s e d t he ac or n s , p epp e r w o od. nut s , man­ zanita berries and. pine nuts. Th e pepperwood provided. leaves wh1ch were used. med.icinally; the manzanita furnished dry hardwood. to be carved. 1nt o s p o o n s w i t h wh 1 c h t o stir acorn mush or dough; the pine r oot s w e r e u s e cL 1n wea v i n g c er t a i n t yp es of b a s k e t s . Th er e wer e d.eer f r o m w h i c h t h e m e a t w a s t a k e n f or f ood . , t h e h i d . e f o r bl an k e t s a nd. cl o t h i n g , a n d . c e r t a i n bon e s w e r e u s e d. t o m a k e a w l s a nd. gi g s u sed. in s p e a r i n g f i s h . Ma ny k i nds o f f i s h wer e f ou n d i n t h e r i v er and. streams and all were used by the people of the valley. Var1ous kind.s of bird.s also made the valley and. the h11ls around. it their home. Of these, it was ma1nly the valley and. mountain quail that were u s ed. as f o o d b ut s om e t i m e s r ob i n s an d . d u cks we r e a l s o u s ed a s food. M eadow lark, woodpecker, robin and. mallard drake f eathers were u s ed. t o d e c o r a t e t h ei r ba s k e t s a n d t h ey u s e d . t h e t a i l f ea t h er s of the flicker or yellow hammer in making the woman's or man' s dance headdress. I n the spring of the year in the fields of t h e valley, eight d.ifferent kinds of clover grew. The first came up in late February, the la'st in late May, T here wa s a l w a y s s omethi n g to be gatherecL or prepared. by both the men and. women. To th e w omen fell the responsib111ty of food. preparation, basket weaving and. mak­ ing the clam shell beads (a long, tedious process). T he men d i d . the hunting and. fishing, but also made the spearheads and, bone fish gigs. I t can be seen by this that the 11fe led. by these so-callecL savage p e o pl e w a s a v er y bu sy on e. Th er e wa s n o t i m e o r r ea s o n for them to go look for a f1ght with other tribes. A lso , e a c h v i l ­ lage had. a headman or chief who was chosen for his ability to be calm and get along with his people. H e h eld discuss1ons w1th them about whatever problems arose that could. cause friction or bad. f eeling with their neighbors or even among the members o f t h e b a n d . This good life came to an end. with the coming of the wh1te m an who took over the land. they hacL consid.ered their own. T h ey were d.r1ven from their v111ages and. were not allowecL to roam and hunt as they once did.. Some were driven into the hills to exist as best they could. M any of the old men and women died of hunger and in many cases physical abuse. S o me, who learnecL a few words of Engl1sh were taken to live on the ranches where they worked. cutting wood. and. do1ng chores in exchange for food. and. cast-off clothing. S ome white men lived with the Ind.1an women. Th e truth of this is shown in the cLescendants scattered throughout Mendocino County of one of the early settlers in the valley. In 1865 or 66, the Pomos of Potter Valley, Ukiah, and. Redwood. Valley were round.ed up and. d.r1ven to the Reservation in Covelo (or Round. Valley). My grandmother carried. her first born (my aunt) on h er b a c k i n a bab y ba s k e t (se-ka). M ost of these people stayed. in Round. Valley for a few' years, but then they began to run away, en­ tire famil1es leaving at the same time. T hey were hunted. down w1th dogs and. when found either k1lled. or taken back to the Reservation. Of those that escaped., some returned to Potter Valley ancL others went to Ukiah, eventually calling themselves Ukiah Porno. They are the people who finally settled in the Orr's Springs Road. area. The Pomos who came back to Potter Valley lived for many years on various ranches in the valley. A c ouple of families livecL on the old Sam Neil place and. some were on the old Mewhinney Ranch at the lower end. of the valley. T h ere was a large village on the old. Burch Ranch. I n 1885, they d.ecid.ed to get together to do s omethi n g about permanent homes as they realized. they could not forever live on other people's lands. A, group of fourteen or eighteen head.s of families (the families numbered. some fifty-eight to s ixt y p e o p l e) bought a twelve acre tract from a rancher southwest of the town of Centerville, now Potter Valley. T hey worked at var1ous )ovs and each fall made a payment on this land until, i n 1 8 92 , t h ey a c q u i r ed ownership of this tract. L o o king back to my childhood. I realize how proud the old. people were to own this land. and. be taxpayers. In 1910, through the work of various church groups 1n California, the Bureau of Ind1an Affa1rs (BIA) bought sixteen acres a dJoi n i n g the twelve acres from Mr. Spotswood.. In 1960, to these of us that were still living on the sixteen acres the Bureau of Indian Affairs issued the d.eeds to the land. that we claimed., farmed. or on which we had built our homes.

VISITORS TO THE VALLEY

After the founding of the Sonoma Mission by Father Altamira and the settlements established. 1n the Sonoma Valley area, many raid.s were mad.e on the outlying Indian tribes. Salvador V a l l e ) o and h1s associates went on many ra1d1ng parties and captured these Indians, espec1ally children, to work on the ranches of the Span­ iards. T his d.id. not make for a happy relat1onship between the Span­ 1ards and. the Indians. Z t is unusual that the Spaniards, before 1850, d.id not expand. from Sonoma County into this area, but they d.id.n' t. According to John Smith, who is consid.ered. a most reliable h1storian of his tribe, the Spaniard.s also made two raids into the valley for Ind.ians to work in the mines of Siskiyou County and. in each case carried off a large number of young men. Sometime between 1849-50 two miners arrived. in Ba-lo-kai. The react1on was natural, consid.ering their experience with their S onoma County v i s i t o r s , bu t t h e ch i ef of t h e t r i b e wel c o m ed. th e m en . Tony Metock, who was a new-born infant at the time, told. this story of the visitors at a Potter Valley reunion in 1930. H ere is h is s p e e c h ! "LacLies and. Gentlemen' "I not for make a"speech your way. Fri e nd s w an t m e .t o . t e l l you for my race how I was raised.— which way. " Well , no w I am ab l e t o t el l y ou i n my t;i m e w h at ; I s ee. I will tell you what Z hear--what h see I' ll t;ell. It's pretty low but I' ll tell. "I was raised mighty poor — before you came to t;his country nobocLy here your color. W e use things-aHich you will hard.ly be­ lieve. I raised in what you call a wigwam for house in summer--in w1nter we use bark house. I n June we cLon't use them. W e use the river. W e get in the river every half hour — roll over and. over in the sun. Th e skin would peel from my body. M y p eople d.id. that in their time--get in the river--bake--skin peel off just like a liz­ ard. ancL make peel skin off every year. "My people could stand wind, rain and snow. T h a t is what they did. it for. They had. noth1ng, the men had nothing--our female had apron just like you have now, macLe of bark (maple) dried., s pli t a nd . put on, only dress or blanket, I gu ess today you are imitating our ways . "The other way we find out afterwards for using all that for our clo thes. We us ed to go out, nothing on, and hunt and. f ish. Our women they do it, strong or no st;rong; don't mind. it much — got u secL t;o, I gu es s . "This creek right up here (Busch Creek) that comes into the valley is where I was born; many ask how I know my age. H o w it was --two miners from Sacramento and Chico came over--they up this little creek and. one found a camp — my grandpa's camp. O f course, as I say, don't know nothing about whites. Ou r people said.'Let ' s captur e t h e m .' Gr an d p a s a 1 cL, 'No, no, ' and took them home and. kept t;hem three d.ays. While they stayed. I was born. H e wrote d.own my born, the year, what year it was. H e gave it to my mother. She didn't know what it was but kept it. A f ter white Potter crowd. came right up that creek there, mother took it to Potter. H e said.,'You got son7 W e ll, that is his age. ' He gave me name Johnny Locke, "We eat acorns and grass. P o tatoes grown here in the valley. We di.g them up and. use them with onions, W e use manzanit;a and buck­ eye and. pepperwood balls. T h ese are supposed to be poison--they take 1t out and. make mush to eat so not to be poison. I —.we young ones, we never eat grasshoppers or fishworms--the older people eat t;hem. They look like they poison, but they didn' t. "In June we f ish--f ix a dam, put in a basket--t;hey go in many. Catch them going up or down the dam. No w that's all shut out. There' s no place for us to f 1sh and somebody told. us we go1ng to get somet;hing for our homes from you, I ' m looking thirty or forty years, but I'm going to d1e and not get it--young folks will , bu t not I. Now this thing we use pretty hard. time; nobody don't pay nobody for d.eer; fish--we haven't it for ourselves and. when night c ome we s l e e p , "

The IncLians were peaceful in general, but there were times that they might have d.ifficulties with other tribes because of en­ croachment upon their hunt1ng or fish1ng grounds or other areas t hat w e r e s ac r e cL t o t h e m . In 1864 two tribes, the Pomos and. Chamias had. d.ifficulties Indian doctor, Chief T ony I l e t ocl-. Born September 20, 1 S:l7.

Captain John i>lewhinney. H unted for the white settl e r s in the early days. over the boundaries of the1r areas. Two young men, John Hopper and. Seth End.icott, then living in the valley hid in the brush on the river bank and witnessed the Ind.ians' way of settling such a problem, A b out two huncLred. Znd.ians, in full war regalia, met on what is now the Potter Valley football fi eld. and d e c i d e d. on t h e mark that was to divid.e the1r land.s by builcLing a mound. of rock from the Eel River. T h e Indians packed. it to the spot. The mound existed. until it was cLestroyed. by the W.P.A. r oacL gang d u r i n g t h e d. epr es s ion years. EXPLORATION AND SETTLENENT

Curiosity as to the location of the headwaters o f t h e R u s s i a n River brought three men. W i l liam and. Thomas Potter, their future brother-in-law, Nose C. Briggs, and two Spaniards came into the val­ ley. They were ranchers in Sonoma County. T he men b e came v er y e x ­ cited. when they saw wild. oats " st i r r up h i gh . " Actually the Potter party was fortunate to have followed the visitors from the Sacramento Valley. T h ese men had.creat ed. good. relations with the Znd.ians, and. the Potter party was accepted.. This is evid.ent in the fact that the men remained in the valley for three weeks, exploring the area and making cLecisions o n th e b e s t locations for ranches. I t n ever occured. to them that there were s et tlers th ere air eady. The land. was beautiful, f ertile, and. cover ed. wi t h b e a u ti f u l oak trees. Th e oak trees were one of the mainstays o f t h e i nd 1 g e ­ nous inhabitants, but there was little thought given to that by these men. E v idently the natives wer n o t too c oncerned a s t h e settlers came in. T h ey were peaceful and so were the settlers, and. they got along together. Z n the three weeks the men spent in the valley, each established a claim and. left. Zn 1852 the Potter party travelled by horseback. T he f o l l ow ­ ing year William Potter returned. to s ettle on his homestead. T h i s time he brought a wagon into the valley. Nose Briggs returned. with William Potter at that time. B r iggs merely stocked his c lai m w i t h cattle and left for his home in Sonoma County. He was more o r l es s a " commuter " t o t h e va l l ey f or som e t i me . It is interesting to s pecul a t e a s t o wh i ch of t h e m e n l ook e d. doom from the east sid.e of the hills into Ba-lo-kai. Zt i s a l s o interesting to note that 1t was Potter who returned the following year to establish his home and. claim, In spite of previous horrifying experiences, Mr. Potter was acceptecL by the nativ es . It is said that Mr . P o t t e r's pu r ely blonde complexion and kindly countenance presented. s uch a d i f f e r e n t type from those that they had. seen before, that the Indians evinced. little fear, and he at once won their confid.ence. They not only of fered. no opposition to his coming among them but w e l c o med h i m i n s i l en t , i nqu i s i t i v e f r i end l i n es s , u tt e r l y 1n­ capable of comprehend.ing that his presence foretold. the usurpation and. demolition of the food. which Nature had supplied. them and upon which they depend.ed. for a living. Nr. Potter's f irst home was the shacLe of a live oak tree. His household goods consisted. of a roll of blankets, a sack o f f lour, bacon, a f rying pan and. a co f f ee po t. In later years, Potter told. how, w hen he h ad. r e t u r n ecL f r o m "hunt1ng up stock," there would be a hundred or more Indians s it­ ting about the camp waiting for the "'Nerican man," yet none of his belongings were ever molested.. Both Briggs and the Potters were cattlemen. B r iggs was work­ 1ng for Capta1n Mallagh as superintend,ent of the Santa Rosa ranch. However, after he left Mallagh' s employ, he worked at Fitch' s in Healdsbur g ' b e f o r e h e m a d e h i s f i na l d ec i s i on t o l i v e u po n h i s Pot t er V alle y r an c h . In the spring the men had. fallen in love with Potter Valley, and. in August of the same year, Briggs was marr i e d . t o Mi s s El i za­ beth Potter, a sister of Villiam Potter. Th e family ties w ere c l o s e and Potter Valley appealed. to them. T w o of Potter's brothers, Tom who was on the original trip, and. James both moved. to the valley. Tom settled permanently on h1s homestead. in 1856 and. probably James c ame at t h e s a m e t i me . THE VALLEY'S POPULATION GROVS

The Samuel Chase family moved into the valley in 1857 and their daughter, Mary, was the first white child born in the valley. By 1857 the fertility of the valley was becoming famous enough t o e n t i c e s et t l er s an d . f o u n d t h e f o l l owi n g f am il i es coming into the area! P i erce and Frank Asbil; Milliam Boone and. Calvin Christopher; Dick Swift; Samuel Chase; Berry %right and. W ill i a m s The following year found. the valley well settled.. A mong t h o s e arriving in 1858 were the Samuel Mewhinney and. the John Leonard. families as well as Lewis StoddarcL and. James Neil; John McCloud. and. M il l i a m E d d y . By 1859 the valley was becoming what some of the real pioneers might have called "overcrowded.." This was the year that herald.ed the arrival of Thomas McCowen, A. O. Ca penter, Andrew Lef ever, Milliam Van Nad.er, Samuel McCullogh. Others closed. the d.ecad.e, The final vanguard of original settlers might be consid.ered. t o b e a t an en d . i n 186 0 , f or i t wa s at this time that the Carner, V ann, M at t en b er g e r , Bo ice, adolf e, McC cary, Fuller and. Purcell families arr ived..

ROADS

From the arrival of Tom Potter with a wagon, transportation was a little rugged.. There were no roads except the Indian trails and these, mad.e by the wheels of the pioneers' wagons. I t is inter­ esting to note that in Thomas McCowen's letter of September 2Ljth, 1858 to his brothe= George in Nevada City, he gives the following ad.vi c e I "Swartz tells me you and Neal talk of coming out here to take a hunt!--I wish you were here now with $100 in money for by a little investment, at this time, might secure a valuable tract of land even if you should not conclud.e to make to it a home, it will, in my opinion, be no drug by another year. "If you can any way at all (even by hiring a hand. for your place) fix to come forthwith I would advise you to d.o s o wit h as little d.clay as palpible. I t s being out of the way 4 out of market may be a seeming ob)ection to that part but the way folks are mov­ in almost every direction fleeing from the wrath of the ' gra n t ' hol d e r s . Th i s v a l l ey i s sa i d. t o b e f r e e f r o m t h i s t r ou b l e wh i ch of course will increase its value but these hints wil l s uf f i c e you are inclined this way. "A light wagon with pretty substantial running gear and cover on it so as to carry bed. and board will li.kely be the cheapest 8c Original A . O . C a r p e nter h ome in Potter V a l l e y where he settled in 1869, Grace Carpenter Hudson was born here I ebr u ar y 21 , 1 86'~.

Samuel Mewhinney home. Family ar r i v ed in 1858.

P o mo Sc hoo l. Circa 1900. best that is unless you come across the near way then of course a good. horse or mule to carry blankets &: grub, "Sam says they are about 12 mlles from Clear Lake. D o n thinks i t i s onl y s om e 1 2 5 m i l es a c r o s s f r om N e v ada & a b o u t 2 00 a r ou n d. t h e HornIi I rather think it is fully as far north as Nevadan p r obably Narysville is not far from the rangeg a p art of the way is said. to b e ver y r ou g h c o u n tr y . "The rouncL about road is all good. but about two 12 mlle stret­ ches across at Inscol ferry 10 miles to Sonoma 22 to Santa Rosa 16 miles to Heald.sburg 20 to Cloverdale then over the mountains some 12 ms., good through Falls (Feliz) and. Ukia (sic) valley to Vecler­ ville then 12 ms. into Potter valley over rough mountains' i f horse back, enquire for Dr. Price's & come through the canyon 7 miles in­ s tead. of 1 1 or 10 . "Don't ride Turk over the mountains if you can po s s i b l y av o i d it. Be sure to have horses well shod. &: goocL break &: locks to your wagoniI probably better come prepared. Co stay &: work awhile! F l our aplenty at Heald,sburg at $$ pr c w t . . . "

The first settlers thai followed. Che Potters had a choice of two trails into the valley, which became known as " Devi l ' s d um p " on the east and "Hell's Delight" on the west. I t was no easy task to enter the valley from either east, or west, as the irails were so steep ancL sliding thai many would. noi even risk rid.ing a horse, bui walked. much of the distance from what is now Calpella into the v all e y . Ii d.id. not matter which route the traveller took, he was thor­ oughly convinced. before he arrived. in Potter Valley that he should have taken the other trail. T he " r o a d." o n t h e we s t b ec a me k n own a s "Hell's Delight" as a result of the following incid.ent, as told by some of the old.-timers t A woman resident of Pot ter Valley set out for town in a horse and. buggy with a basket of eggs. T h e cari hit a d.eep hole in the road and. overturned, scrambling ihe eggs. T h e cLriver of the cart, on surveying the situation, remarked, " Kin' t t ha t Hel l ' s d el i g ht I t I" In 1860 a road was built down the canyon to Coyote Valley. Thi- was a big help for the settlers. Speaking o f s et t l er s , t h er e we r e h o m e s t e a d er s a n d i t wa s n ec ­ essar J tor.,glsier their claims a t the nearest Land Of flee. Thi s required a tr'p to Eureka. M l th all of the hazardous trails that had. to be travelled. Co get there, it required two weeks to make the trip. They earned their land.. Among the travellers that mad.e the trip into the valley was a lone Chinaman, U n f ortunately, the Indians made short work of him, explaining the "animal with a tail on the back of his head" was not desirable to live in their valley. A s they took after him, the C hinaman c r a w l ecL i n t o s o m e d r i f t wo o d., b u t w a s s o o n d . i s p a t c h e d a n d left in his inglorious resting place. Very few other Chinese have entered. service in the valley and. their stay was of short duration. O n e was so harrassed by the story of t h e f i r s t o f -h i s cou nt r y m e n t o v i s i t t h e a r ea t ha t h e r ef u s e d Co sleep other than fully dressed., on ihe floor in front of his employer ' s b ed . In 1860 a road was built down the canyon to to Coyote Valley. This was a big help for the settlers wishing to travel out of the valley. T his road. was privately built. Th e men who volunteered. to a id. l n i t s c ons t r u c t i on wo r k e d. f r o m t w e n t y i o t h i r t y d ay s t o c om ­ plete it. A n other road. was built toward. Hound Valley and. a branch from it ran to Little Lake. T h e d.emand for roads eventually found. one going up the divid.e to Gravelly Valley. There is no d.oubt that when Potter Valley citizens wanted. something, they believed in the "do-it-yourself" methods.

HOMES

A. real problem for settlers was home construction. The t i m b er in the area, oak and. madrone in the valley and. pine in the h1lls was not of much value for log cabins. The Potter home was made of adobe br1ck. It is believed. that the bricks were packed. in by mules from Healdsburg. T his wa s n o e a s y task because the pack animals had. problems also. Many a pack animal br1nging in precious suppli'es, especially flour, m1s] udiced a tree or rock height and. were knocked. off the trail, hurtling down into a ra­ v in e , There were two adobe houses in the valley. T h e rest were made of oak and. pine, available, A n umber of houses were built of oak s hakes o r w hi ps a wn p i n e. Whipsawn lumber 1s lumber that is s awed by a w h ip s a w. Th e whip saw was introduced. 1nto California by the Mexicans. T his wa s the common method in use in Europe. I t was their only saw and was used. vert1cally and slit the logs from top to bottom. In the earliest method. a pit was dug and. the log placed. over it. One sawyer was in the pit and. the other stood. on top of the log. The two men worked. the saw until the board was cut. The method was later 1mproved. by placing the log on props above the ground, so that the man on the und.erside could stand. on the ground. and. assist in the sawing. I n both cases the sawyer stood on top of the log. T his method. was used as late as 1925 in the Trinidad., Cali­ f or ni a ar ea . The saw was a tapered. piece of steel. Th e upper end had. a piece of strong wire attached. to assist the topsid.e sawyer to work it better; the sawyer on the underside had. to hold. the tapered. end.. by 1863-64 a road. had. been dug out on the western side of the valley that mad.e the use of redwood possible. T h i s was the farth­ est grove of redwood trees from the coast and., n o doubt , bo t h t h e road. and. the timber were highly appreciated. by those who s o desper ­ ately need.ed. lumber for homes. A t th is stand. of t1mber, Reed. had. established a mill and. one was also established by Hold.en on Acker­ man Creek. I t was not unt11 1874 that a mill was built by William Van Mad.ar, nearer to Potter Valley. I t was only able to furn1sh f in1shing and flooring for the homes. A l though lumber was a pr o b ­ lem, the settler built well and, some of the homes are still in use tod.ay,

SCHOOLS

From time 1mmemorial it has been a parent's dream to s ee t h a t his child. should go farther, educationally, than he d.1d.. For the first few years- the settlers taught their children the rudiments of the three R's to the best of their ab111ty. B y 1859 they felt that it was high time that a school should. be established. for the valley c hil d r e n . That summer a little school was taught in a pre-emption cabin on the banks of the Russian River. P e ter Chard.in Scott was the tea­ cher, a t a s a l ar y o f $00,00 per month. I n 1860 the school was taught by Elizabeth Hopkins. I t was a d.irt floor classroom. I n 1861 the school was moved. to the home of Mr. Henry Rand. lett. H e and h i s wife moved. their beds to the low half-story garret and. gave one half of the ground. floor of the1r dwelling for a school room. Helen McCowen Carpenter now became the teacher. As the cris1s of the Civil Mar approached. Potter Valley, like many parts of Mendocino County, it was tom w ith strong f eeling on the sub]ect of slavery, T h ere were many families from Missouri. The ma]ority favored. secession and. were known as t;he "Seceshees," Zn fact;, it seemed. that almost nine of ten fam111es were "Seceshees" and. they didn' t make lif e easy for the "Black Republicans," as they callecL tho'se who upheld PresicLent; Lincoln. These f e e l i n g s w e re v ery apparent 1n the school s1tuation, T h is resultecL in a splitting of the school, so two schools were established. in the valley, one for each political group. The second school was south of Centerville and. across the river, Zt was taught by Mrs. Miranda Haskett, wif e o f Sam ue l H a s k e t t. Zt was 1n one room of an old adobe house which was a lso u s ed. as a r es i ­ d.ence. Mrs. Haskett; was a northerner and educated there, w hil e h e r husband., born in Nort;h Carolina, had. left t;here at an early age and was raised and. educatecL in Indiana. Th e couple arrived. in Potter Valle y i n 18 6 0. As hi s w1f e ha c Lbeen e d u c a t e d a s a t ea c h e r , she was able to accept the position in this small school. The feeling was still high in the valley at the time of Lincoln's assassination. I n fact, three people were arrested. at that timeg Thad. Dashiell ancL John McCall, for re)oicing at the d.eath of Lincoln; and. a school teacher, Miss Buster, for trampling the flag uncLerfoot. They were soon released and returned. to the valley. FOURTH OF JUL'X CELEBRATIONS

Although there was a d.ivided. opinion on polit;ics, the Fourth of July, 1860 was not to go uncelebratecL; polit1cal d.ifferences were put aside. A. call went out for parties to meet at the home of Helen Carpenter to make arrangements for the c elebr a t i on . This is Mrs. Carpenter's account of the celebration plans and. accomplishmentst

"This {the call to make plans for the Pourt;h) was respond.ecL to by Messrs. Bill Van Nader, Felix Purcell, Hugh ancL John Mewhinney and. Mrs. Puller. Al l were d.esirousof making a demonstration, yet there was a good d.eal of indefiniteness about what to attempt, and. what could be accomplishecL. "An effort was made to practice some patriotic s ongs, w h i c h was almost a tot;al failure, as the boys knew more about hard. work than they did. about notes, still an interest was aroused, and. a g en­ e ral n ot i c e w a s sent to all in the valley asking for their coopera­ ti on . Mr . Va n N a cLer ( e v e r of a n 1ng e n i o u s t ur n o f mi nc L) c h o p p ed. down a tree, sawed out a rouncL and hollowed. it out; then George McCowen, another genius, put on buckskin heads and s t r u n g i t up , ancL a big bass drum was ready for the day. "The meet1ng place was under some oaks, o n th e l ev e l , a l i t t l e south of J1m Neil's. % h en all was 1n readiness a pr o c e s s i o n w a s formed, head.ed. by Mr. John Leonard with his "fiddle" and. Mr. Van Nader with the drum. J u s t;such a 4th of July procession was never b efor e , n or s i n c e, s een . "There were men, women, children, and dogs, ad. l i b . On e v er y d1stinct; picture that half a century has failed. to o bl i t er at e, was Mr. McCulloch and w1f e, each with a child. in arms and lead.ing an­ other, followed. by the fam11y d.ogs. "The process1on made a f ew evolut;ions t;hrough t;he sticker grass, and then ascend.ecL the little rise to a beautiful grove of live oaks, afterward.s known as Sam Neil's grove. "As may be imagined., the drum was a t;r i f l e ( 7) l ou d. f o r t h e v i o ­ l i n , 'but it measured. off the time, and. the feeling that all would. turn out; right, and the violin would. eventually be heard., kept; us in good. spirits. Th e dense shade was inv1t;ing on that warm morning, and when all were comfortably seated. on the ground, Mr. Puller and myself sang 'America,' "Then followed the read.ing of the Declaration of Ind.ependence by Nr. Thad Dashiell, and later an oration by A. O. Carpenter. St;ar ~SpahgEech ~Baxter, ' by Nr. Fuller and self, c losed. t h e p rogram. We bo t h sa n g s op r a n o , and had different ideas of t h e cor ­ rect notes in one measure — as it; is now looked. back on, we think it would have been improved. if Mr. Van Nader hacL played a drum accom­ panient ; a t t h e t 1me i t; w a s o ve r l oo k e d.. "All had. come with well filled baskets and no p i c n i c wa s ever more thoroughly en]oyed. A. platform had. been made ready for the d.ancers, and. t:hat amusement lasted until everyone was tired ancL read.y to go home. F rom that time to the present; day, Potter Valley has b een n o t e d. f o r t h e abu n d a nc e o f goo d . f o o d. and. hos p i t a l i t y t o visitors on all pub11c occasions--notably on the 4th of July."

Seventeen years later ( July 0, 1877) brought; about; another patriotic celebration that shows both the pat;riot1sm and. hospita11ty o f Po tt; e r Vali ey. The heacLlines from a paper (a Ukiah paper, it is assumed) t

THE FOURTH HOW CELKBRA,KDD IN POTTKR VALLEY EVERYONE JUBLIANT PATRIOTISN HAPPILY ILLUSTRATED

"About 8 o' clock the streets of Porno and. Centerville were en­ livened. by the passage of vehicles of every d.escription, Crowds of people arrived. on horseback, in carriages, s ingl e a n d d o u b l e w a g o n s , stages and. in every other conceivable way t;hey came. About 9 o ' c l o c k the stage having the Ukiah band aboard. arrived., w hich a p p e a r ecL to b e the signal to fall into line and. proceed. to the grounds prepared for the celebration of the day. The vehicles fell into order and. the band led off with one of its choicesi airs. I n a short while the ground.s were reached where und.er the shad.e of large old. oak monitors, tables, seats and a platform for the speakers were e r e c t e d. Th e tables consisted of two, sixty feei in length, and tw o o t h e r s , about forty. Th e plat;form was erected. und.er the shade of a fine old. oak whose boughs bent down as if in worship to the occasion. Sus­ pended over the seats and. directly in front of the platform was an American flag that has d.one service for seventeen years, a mong t h e good. people over whose heads 1t floated on this cLay. " About t e r r o ' c l o c k t h e hap p 1 es t aud i e n c e i t; w a s e ver ou r go o d . fortune to be one of was called to order by the mast;er of ceremon1es, Nr. John Newhinney. A n earnest and. fervent; prayer calling on the Almighty for help in all our trials a nd. t;o b l es s t h e ev en t wa s of­ fered u p b y t h e Re v . Dr . P end . egras t , after which music by the Ukiah City Band. was then rend.ered. 1n harmony to surround.ings. F oll o w i n g this the Declaration of Independ.ence was reacL 1n a clear and. aud.ible tone by Nr. T. L. Yount who gave good emphasis to its d1fferent pass­ ages. M u sic was again in ord.er. Mr. Joseph Haile, d.istrict attorn­ ey, was then introduced as the orator of the day. M r . Haile deliver­ ed. an appropriate and interesting address and. held. the aud.ience in profound. silence throughout his discourse. T h e most respectful atten­ tion was paid, and h1s word.s were calculated. to assist in the partr1­ ot1c inspiration already f elt. Repeated. calls for Hon. Judge McGarvey were made but the ]udge respectfully declined., being well enough em­ ployed. otherwise. I n the interval, until the announcement was mad.e that the tables awaited. the attention of all present, everyone en]oy­ ed. himself accord.ing to his own notion. "The roasting pit was almost three feet wid.e, four feet d.eep and. twenty-eight feet long. O n the spits were piled. cords of beef, mutton, venison, and pork. Fo r a mile or more the flavor from this splendicLly prepared food filled the air. "A. few minutes of 12, Mr. Mewhinney announced. the table 1n read­ iness and. without mistake, he properly mad.e the announcement, I t was fit for a banquet of the gods. E v ery table and each foot of table presented irresistible temptation. E x p ectation of healthy appetites were instantly set at rest. A t h ousand. persons ate to their hearts' content, ate until hunger was no more. (Ed. N o d 1 eting in those days. ) "Just previous to the announcement of d.inner, the multitude was very much cLiverted. by the procession of four men carrying a roasted porker on their shoulders and a band. of martial music marching behincL them and playing a lively air to the doomed roaster. T h ey made the circuit of the tables and. then laid down the1r offering. "Sociab111ty was the order after dinner. E v eryone to his liking. Of this affair we will conclud.e by saying Potter Valley honored it­ self, pleased its visitors and. commemorated the day in a manner worthy of loyal Americans. E v eryone connected with the affair d.eserves thanks, but especially Mr. Mewhinney, who as master of ceremonies, performed his part in the most satisfactory manner, T h e occasion will long linger in the memories of those who were present."

CHURCHES

The settlers were God.-fearing people and were anx1ous to carry on their religious beliefs, E v en before churches could. be erected. they were served. by Circu1t r1ders. T h ese were primarily of the Methodist Ep1scopal Church South. W h en the weather was good, they were happy to meet in the oak groves thai were so beautiful, in their valley, I n inclement weather, they met in one of the homes. The first minister was the Rev. Pitt Vann of the Methodist Episcopal Church. M r s , A,. O. Carpenter remarks that the first m eeting s w o u l d . b e i n c o m p l e t e wi t ho u t t h e m e n ti on i ng of t wo we l l k n ow n figures, Brother B1ll Gay and. Brother Triplett. The first church was built 1n Porno in 18'72 by the Method.ist Episcopal Church South. T h e first church bell was brought 1nto the valley by Eli Jones March 15, 1882.

A,GR I CULTURE

From the arrival of the Potter and Briggs party, the valley was p=imarily a stock area. T h e 1mpression that the men took back to Sonoma County was that w11d oats were "horse high." T h ey all brought cattle to graze in th1s parad.ise. Then followed agricultural d.evelop­ ment, because the valley actually suf fered for a f ew years f rom too many cattle for the grazing area. With w1nter bringing both dry and. wet years, sometimes crops were a problem. M any of the agricultural crops w ere g e a r e d t o wh a t could. be grown in the valley. From the turn of the century until, at least, the 1930's, one of Potter Valley's famous c rops wa s t h e d r y farming of watermelons. T h e melons were threshed. for the seeds, which got got top rating and. top prices with seed. d.ealers throughout t he n a t i on . (They still raise good melons there). Family gard.ens, from the dry farming days, have included grow­ ing excellent quality tomato es, c orn, c u c u mber s , s quash, p u mpki n a n d melons of all kinds. Commercially the area has grown sunflowers, hops, d.ry wine grapes (the latter are expected to make a new start ln the valley), w alnut s , a nd p ears .

DAMS AND IRRIGATION

Man is always anxious to improve upon weather, but since he is unable to control the water as needed, he has resorted. to irrigation. Apparently the first attempt at irrigation was c arr i e d o n b y J o s e p h Brower, H e used. the gravity principle to obtain water for irrigating his crops by building a dam across the streams, and. wit h t h i s wa t er available he placed. forty acres of his land. in alfalfa for his dairy cattle. T his was ln the late 1800's, probably about 1885 or '90, His success probably encouraged. others to try the same plan, but many d.ld. not ha v e a c c e s s t o t h e r i v er t o dam t h e w at er . Mater f o r wel l s wa s ev e n d . i f f l cu l t l n s ome ar e a s l n t h e early days, particularly on the east sid.e of the river. Here a r o c k l ed g e tilts down into the valley, and seems to hold. off the ground. s upply . Uklah's need. for a greater and more economical supply of elec­ tricity for its consumers was the catalyst that has been so very valuable for Potter Valley. T h e story runs a s followst A t th e beginning of the century Uklah had. trouble supplying satisfactory electric power service for its small municipally owned, steam plant. In addition to the lnef f iclency of the plant, the current that lt did. produce cost consumers ten dollars a month , p er hor s e p o w er , f or light service alone. T h e plant was ln serious need. of a complete overhauling, and. the task seemed almost insurmountable to the Board o f T r u s t e e s . It was finally decid.ed that water power would be the best solu­ tion to this problem. A m ong the suggested. plans was a dam ln Walker Valley, over the hill from Potter Valley. Here the late W. W. Van A rsdal e o f Sa n Fr a n c i s c o o w n e d 1 5 , 0 0 0 a c r e s. Mr. Van Arsdale became interested. He had, sev era l l a r g e s pr i ng s on his property, and consulted engineers, w ith the idea t ha t l t might give a thousand foot drop for the water. H owever, t h e eng i n ­ eers rejected this id.ea. They believed that any plan involving Walker Creek was impractical. I t could. not furnish the quantity of water needed to generate the electricity for the city of Ukiah. Van Arsdale was not going to give up at this point. H is n e x t suggestion was the possibility of power development on the Eel River. It was suggested that the waters of the South Fork of the Eel be d.iverted. about Z5 miles northeast of Uklah, u sing a t un n e l b or e d . through the intervening hillsides to convey the flow from the dam to a powerhouse in Potter Valley, bord.erlng a branch of the Russian River. The engineers approved. this plan ln February, 1905, a nd t h e E e l River Power and Irrigation Company was lneorporated. to carr y o u t t h e plan. W ork was commenced early ln 1905. Someone, in the early days, must have experienced a trip around. C ape Horn as he came to California. A s a result, the rocky point on Spottswood Ranch, hops on way to Ukiah L to R: H o w ar d B r o ok s , D ick Brooks, F r e d M a yfi el d , H erbert Pi c k l e .

4, .

Thornton Flour M i l l , 1 8 9 8 - 1933. U pper door: a s s t . m i l l e r Willie Hopper. L to R: M r s . S t one and d aughters Edith and Lei l a , u nknown lady; A v on , L e s t e r , John, Er n est and Ida Stone; '1 and George Raymond, engineer . J ohn Stone was mil le r a n d operator. I,

e

'l G rading down Spencer Hil l

A. o n east side of Potter V a l l ey in 1914. Women prepared picnic for t he worker s . the South Fork of the Eel River was called Cape Horn. I t was here that the Van Arsdale (Cape Horn) dam was built. I t c r e a t e d. a r oc k y channel about nine miles long, known as the Van Arsdale Reach, vrhich would give a supply of water for a mile long tunnel constructed 1n 1906-07 from the Eel to the north end of Pot;ter Valley. Prev1ous t;o the building of the dam, it was realized that the proJect had to be expanded in ord.er to make it poss1ble to d.o all the things that; the plans callecL for. It was a t t h i s t i me t ha t t h e Snow Mountain Water and Power Company was incorporated and took over the pro Ject. The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 d.elayed the pro­ Ject, but the newly organ1zed. company weathered. the financial crisis and i n t h e f a l l of 190 6 c on s t r u c t 1 o n w a s r es u med.. By 190 8 E e l Ri v er water was d.1verted. into t;he Russian R1ver and. power flowed to Ukiah. The original dam was planned. to be 80 or 90 f eet in height to make a storage reservoir of five or six billion gallons capacity. In the meant;1me the engineers found a location in Gravelly Valley for a sit;e for a much larger reservoir, some fourteen miles distant from the first sit;e. Both of these dams were constructed. Th e Van Arsdale Dam,at the Cape Horn site, was built forty feet above the becL of the reser­ voir to creat;e a forebay, or balanc1ng reservoir. T h e tunnel entrance was constructecL about 200 f eet upstream from the Van Arsdale Dam. A powerhouse site of seven acres was located. at the head. of Potter Val­ ley. This wa s a v a s t c ons t r u c t i on p r o J e ct ; 1 n 1 9 0 6 . No h ea v y du t y equipment built this dam. 1 6 horse teams were used to haul the giant generators and lengths of rive Ited steel pipe, the cement and. other supp11es for the tunnel, the pipeline and the powerhouse, T his c r e a t ­ ecL a new d.emand. for labor in Potter Valley, as many local people w ere empl o y e d . The power pro Ject, with the exception of the Gravelly Dam, was completed. in 1908. Th e initial installation at Pot;ter Valley con­ sist;ed. of two thousand watt; K.V.A. generators, w1th a capacity of 200 horsepower. T h is concludecL the first phase of the pro Ject. It was not; until 1920 that the final phase of the pro J ect was started. T his was the portion that meant the most to Potter Valley. Although the Snow Mountain Power Company addecL to the proJect in 1910 and. ' 17, i t wa s s t i l l i na d. e qua t e . It was at this t1me that a large dam, twelve miles upstream, was planned.. It would. flood. the old townsite of Hullville and. create Lake Pillsbury. T h e reservoir, named. for one of the found.­ ers of the Snow Mountain Water and Power, was filled for the first time in 1922. S t ored. water from this reservoir supplemented. the natural flow of the Eel River dur1ng periods of low runoff. P .G. &: E, acquired Snow Mountain and the Potter Valley proJect in 1930, Lake Pillsbury is situated in the Mendocino National Forest at an elevation slightly less than 2,000 feet. The dam, 1 3 0 f e et high and 805 feet along t;he crest, is a s1mple concrete gravity s tr u c t u r e . (It is not arched inward toward the impoundecL water). lt has a gross impounding capacity of 86,785 feet of which 86,368 acre-feet is useable. T h e total floodecL area is 2,280 acres. Water never goes over the top of the dam, but is let our near the top when the s1tuation demand.s by raising gates mechanically to create a spillway. T h e tunnel through the hills to Potter Valley i s s i t ua t e d . b e t w een t h e U k i a h Pi n es s awmil l a n d . t h e V a n A r s d a l e D a m , near the south bank of t;he Reach. Qf course, recreationaliy, this is 1mportant because the wat;er f or t ; h e Ru s s i a n R i v e r , t hr oug h ou t t h e s u mmer i s ob t a i n e d . f r o m t h1 s p lowing scene in Potter V a l l ey . Circa 1900

Spottswood home. Note thresher , s t e am tractor, c ook wagon and crew on left.

Th re she r c rew wo rking. A. F. XVhittaker r a nch. s ource a s w e l l a s t h e v a s t r ec r ea t i on a l a c t i v i t ' es of Lake Pills­ bury. Potter Valley has the distinction of hav'ng the only hydro plant 1n the north coast region. It is the criginal old. powerhouse, expanded and. moder ni z ed.. Potter Valley's history shows the people c onstantly mak ing th e most of available facilit1es, a s wel l a s a n ov er a bu n d a nc e o r u nd e r par rain fall, T o d ay, a s a r es u l t of t h e u t i l i z a t i on of t h e wa t er from the powerhouses, the valley has the most d.iversif ied. farming i n Mendocin o C o u n t y . Th i s i s one of t h e t hr e e u s e s o f t h e wa t er ; the other two furnish1ng gower to Ukiah, and. other places, as well as furnishing the water to keep the Russian River with suf ficient water, rather than a group of stagnant pools throughout the year. This makes the Russian River resorts the popular places they are. Since 1926 the Potter Valley Irrigation District has taken over the water as it leaves the power plant. The District ma in ta ins d.itches on both sides of the river and. giant pumps a ugment t h e gr av ­ ity channels for the free flow of the water. Although not all of the valley is irrigated, there may be an extension of this in the future, At present there are almost '150 users. Th e Irrigation District is a non-profit organization and. P .G. & E . op e ra t es as custodian of water rig'hts for the District. GRIST MILLS

From the time that Potter and. his fri,nd.s viewed. the fertile valley with "oats horse-high," they and t' he settlers that followed raised. grain, particularly wheat and. oats. T ransportation was d i f ­ ficult, and. to get the grain to a mill was a problem. I n f a c t , b e­ fore 1858 all supplies, including flour, were b r o u gh t i n ov er t h e mountains from Calpella. The improvement of the road to Coyote Valley mad.e it possible t o b u i l d . a commerciall y s u c c e s s f u l mi l l . A gr ou p o f bu s i n e s s m e n ran the mill for awhile. T h e mill flourished.until the great flood of 1861-62. T his played such havoc that the mill was a bandoned f o r two y e a r s . Milliam J. Cleveland. purchased the unoccugi~k wreck and in June, 1864, r epa i r ed a nd i n c r ea s ed. t h e m il l ' s capacity. U nd.er Cleveland i t h a d. a c a p a c i t y of f 1v c t on s , b u t i t av er a g e d. f o u r t ons a day, It was run by a twenty foot water wheel. The water was conveyed, by a flume for a distance of one and. three-fourths m iles f r om t h e e as t sid.e of Potter Valley, from a branch of the Russian River. It s ma ch­ inery was substantial, and arrangement perf ect, The mill was bu rn­ ed two years later. I t is believed. that the f ire was incend.iary as the water in the flume had. been d.iverted.so it could not aid in quenching the flames. The June, 1866 f ire d.id not d.iscourage the owner. H y Oc t o b e r the mill was rebuilt and converted to s team. I n 1879 i t wa s a c om ­ plete grist mill and had a daily capacity of eighteen barrels, Al­ though the mill and. miller had lived through flood. and fire, the s econd f i r e , wh i c h o c c u r r e d . i n t h e l a t e '80's, was the final straw. Ironically, the fire happened just after the insurance on the mill had. expired. The m111 was not rebuilt. In 1898 Joseph M. Thornton d.ecid.ed to build a flour mill. The quantity of grain in the valley had. increased greatly, and now had to be hauled. to Ukiah, Thornton purchased modern machinery and equipped the mill as a s team mi l l . I t ha d. s ee med a s i f i t wou l d b e m c s t su c c e s s f u l , bu t i t d.id. not draw the business that had. been expectecL. It ran for a number of years, ancL by 1933 none of the mill was lef t. T he ma)ority of farmers now hauled their grain to Uk1ah, I n 1902-03 the Uk1ah flour Mill was established. and. was very well patronized. by the Potter Valley farmers. I t is said that the farm­ ers were willing to start for Ukiah with their four and. six horse­ teams, loaded. with grain at 3 a,m, E ach hopefully planning to be the first one at the mill, so they could get home early, A t th e height of the season the teams would. be lined. up for three blocks waiting their turn at the mill. T his woulcL continue throughout most o f t h e s u m mer . P er ha p s , no t on l y d. i d t h e mi l l er s d . o a f i n e Job, but it could be their flour sacks were a little stronger for the childrens' undergarments.

ROAD PROBLEMS

Roads wer e a pr ob l e m f r om t h e b eg i n n i n g o f t h e s et t l em en t of the valley. I n the beginning, the Ind.ian trails were all right if someone came in on horseback, but for settlers bringing in their families and. household, possessions, it was a real struggle and. very, very hazardous, A s H elen Carpenter McCowen Said., " Whichever r oa d you took, Hell's Delight or Devil's Dump, you were sure t ha t y o u should have taken the other one." I t i s i n t er es t i ng t ha t Dev i l ' s Du m p a nd. how i t g ot i t s na me has been lost. I t has not been possible to find. an " olcL t i me r " t o give the or1gin of the name. I n fact, the answer is generally, "I never e v e n h e a r d o f t h e r oad . " I t was on t h e ea s t s i d. e o f t h e v al ­ leyy. Hell ' s Delight was the northwes t entranc e. Thes e two road,s were t h e s et t l er s ex 1t a nd . e n t r a n c e t o t h e out s i d. e w o r l d . . Roads within the valley were also a problem, P o t t er Valley­ i te s w er e n o t i n c l i .n e d t o "l .t George do it. " W h e n t h e r e was a n e e d. for something to be done, they did it as a community activity, and included a little celebration along with it. F o r example, when the roads were not yet graded., 1n some winters the whole lower valley was one big swamp. I t would, take four horses hitched to a spring wagon t o g e t any w h e r e . Some t i m e s e v e n t h e h or s e s f o un d . i t t oo wet , then people walked. S i nce there was only occasional mail during the wet season, people willingly walked the length of the valley to get their mail. In the middle 1860's people were getting tired of the road. con­ d.itions, but they cLid.n't ask the county to help. T h e men got in and grad.ed. and. rocked. the road., Joe Spotswood. contributed. a barrel of b eer a n d . t h e y c e l eb r a t ed . . It is interesting that two h i lls and tw o t o wn s had. a great effect on Po t ter Va l ley h i s to ry ; C em e t ery Hill on th e we st a n d Spencer Hill on the east. T h e town of Centerville was in upper Potter and. Porno was in lower Potter. P orno consisted. of a post of­ fice, store, school, church and blacksmith shop. S o me of the pion­ eer families of lower Potter were' H o pkins, Day, Carpenter, and. Sho emaker. Centerville, which today 1s Potter Valley, had. two blacksmith shops, two hotels, two general merchandise stores, a drugstore, a meat market, two churches and a school. These two towns were necessary because of the road conditions i n the winter over b ot h C e m e t ery and S p e n cer h i l ls . F ina l l y , i n 1914, the women of the valley could no longer endure this s i t u a t i o n . They persuaded (7) their husbands to enlist the help of the men on each sid.e of Spencer hill to bring their teams and. equipment and. lower the grad.e of the hill so it could. be an a" l year road.. The men complied. and while they worked., the women prepared. a grand. pic­ nic f east, put on their next to "Sunday best" and. brought the chil­ dren to the celebration. T h e work was done in one day, wit h t i me lef t for the celebration. This broke down the barrier between Porno and Centerville. Since Centerville was the larger of the two towns, P o rno gradual l y d ied. out a s a com mer c i a l c en t er . However, w h e n t h e po s t o f f i c e wa s moved fr o m Porno to Ce n t e r v i l l e , the f ed.eral post off ice department could. no t a c c e p t t h e n a m e C e n t e r v i l l e, a s t h e r e w a s a n o t h e r C e n te r ­ ville in California, so the name was changed. to Potter Valley.

FAMOUS POTTER VALLEY NOMEN

It seems as if women have been important throughout the years in Potter Valley. T h ey were the ones responsible for the establish­ ment of the library for the valley. Famous women have been a part of the valley since its s ett l e ­ ment. H e len McCowen Carpenter was one of t h e f i r s t t ea ch e r s i n t h e area and prominent in all of the early activities in the valley, and later, in Ukiah. Her mother-in-law, Clarina Nichols, came t o t h e v a l l ey t o b e with some of her children. M ra . Nichols w as a v e r y ou t s t an d .in g p e r ­ son nationally, having worked. for equal rights for women since the late 1840's. Sh e continued. her writing on this a nd. many o t h e r sub ­ )ects until her death in 188p. ( S ee biog aphical sketch), Her son , A . O. Ca r p e n t e r , married. Helen McCowen and was the father of Grant and. Grace (Hud,son), who were born in Potter Valley in 186$. G r ant and. Grace were to become famous in their fields. It is no wond.er that Grace had, such an empathy for the Ind.ians. From th e t i me t h at t h ey ( t h e t wi ns ) wer e a f ew d ay s old, the Indians of the valley were drawn to the Carpenter home to s ee t h e s e b a b i es . Twins were practically unknown among the Pomos, and i t w as a s our c e of wonderment and delight for them to come and see these infants, Love b eg et s l ov e, a n d . p e r h ap s G r a c e ' s subconscious wa s a bs o r b i n g this reverence and admiration the Indians gave her. Although they were products of Mendocino County, and in their youth lived. in Potter Valley and Ukiah, some of the experiences and enthusiasm of their Grandmother Nichols helped. to a rouse t h e i r i n­ terest in mankind.. It was said. of Grant, "It is almost impossible f or a human being to know so much o f the world., t o c o n t a i n su ch erudi t ion wi thin him, as Grant Carp ent er. " Potter Valley sh ould. be proud. to have been th e b i r t hp lace of two such famous people, as well as th final resting place of their nationally f amous grandmo ther.

SUMMER RESORTS

Since Potter Valley was s elf - c o n t a i n e d b e c a u s e o f r oad s , t h ey learned. to en Joy their natural environment; picnics u nd.er t h e b e a u ­ tiful oaks, as well as picnics at Busch Springs. T h ese were natural soda springs near the Busch home, which was one of the earliest homes in the valley. (Incidentally, it is still occupied. today). L at er John T. Busch bottled. and. sold water from the s pri n g s . As time went on and. the roads were improved, s tages b r o u g h t i n many people to the resorts on the Eel River, or on the borderline w ith L a k e C o u n t y . One of 0he most popular of these resorts was Li e r l y ' s . It G rac e Hu d son a t he r ea sel.

Lierly's summer resort, October 1895. Grace Hudson second from left on chair , D r . H u d s on third from r i gh t at l ef t of steps.

Stage at John Day's Resort , Fisher Day dr i v i n g. was 1n the footh111s of San Hedr1n at the end. of the stage 11ne. The resort was a haven of rest for the social elite of the bay area at the turn of the century. It boasted of room and. board. for a d.ol­ l ar a da y . The resort was a family affa1r, run by Kr . a nd Mr s . J er r y L i er l y with their daughter, Blythe, off e r i n g m u s 1 ca l en t er t a i nm en t i n t h e manner of piano and. voice,,during the beaut1ful summer even1ngs. Son, Harry, helped. with the d.eer hunters and. the trout f1shermen. J erry w a s o n c e h e a r d t o c omplai n , "The f1shing is getting pretty poor; it took over four hours to catch fifty trout this morning, and. it was only a f ew years back that it was two hour' s work." Probably one of the most interesting occurrences happened. about 1883. Among the guest at the resort was a man who repr e s e n t ed. hi m­ self as a m1n1ng engineer.­ .He was outstanding in h1s appearance, b eing, in all probability, the best d.ressed, man in the resort. H e explained that he was look1ng over some of the mining cla1ms 1n the area. On e of the waitresses, Donna McCreary, was very impressed. w1th his appearance, especially his shirt wh1ch was inde11bly 1mpressed. upon her. Sh o rtly after the gentleman left Lierly' s,a f ew r o b b e r 1 e s o ccurr ed. b et w een t h e r e a n d . Cov e l o . After the capture and. arrest of Black Bart, Donna was called to identify him. S h e testified. that the whiteness of the shir t a nd 1t s fine material had so impressed her that she could. not forget it, and. so Black Bart was convicted. L ier l y ' s r eso r t co nt i nu e d t o s er v e t h e a r ea u nt i l abou t 19 20 . John Day' s resort on the mill site, on the Eel River, was a famed. resort over a long period of years. I t preced.ed. Lierly's. During the d.ays of the building of the Van Arsd.ale d.am, Hart­ stone Lodge became very well know, and through the years has had an off and on existence. I t was recently purchased. by the Go1den Rule Bible Church Association.

TRIVIA

There have been rumors of a French colony in the valley, but no one seems to have any recollect1ons, so it, like Devil's Dump, will have to be left for future research. A Russian colony was established 1n Potter Valley. A c cord.ing to the Lake and Mendoc1no Counties H1story, there were two large farms, one of which was a long, narrow subdivision, half a mile long and. a f ew rods w1de, after the old. country custom. T h ey built their homes on the worthless hill ground and. crossed the river to t he1r daily to 11 . T h e w o m e n d id. much of th e farm w o rk , w h il e t h e men worked. in San Francisco, or the coast mills. Some of their neighbors said they had. 11ttle knowledge of farm­ ing methods, and. would. use manpower in place of horsepower to plow their f1elds. S ome of the neighbors tr1ed to help them, but there was such a language barrier that neighborliness failed. to help much. Af t er six or seven years the pro ) ect was abandoned. There are always some people who, in their way and. in the m1nd.s of many an old timer, always bring a smile to one's face. S ome are>

HUNTER JIM

It is said. that when the settlers were too busy to go hunting so that they could have fresh meat, they would call on "Hunt er Jim." He was an excellent hunter and. would keep them supplied with veni­ son, but never w1th bear meat. A n Indian would never molest "Bruin." Bears were believecL to embody the spirits of bad Indians.

JAKE SPORTSMAN

J ake was a r ec l u s e , ' t r ap p e r , hunt e r and . " mountain man." H e Came to the valley only once or twice a year for supplies. He would walk, lead1ng his pack mule. H e wore his coonskin cap like a true mountain man. He was pleasecL to s1ng to all who would listen. One of h i s f avor i t es w a s, "Ho, Ho, Ho for Gravelly Valley." Jake would. refuse any food. offered him for fear of being poison­ e cL by powdered. gl a s s . He was unable to make the trip back to his c abin t h e sa m e d a y , so he would. spend the night sleep1ng on the hay next to his faith­ f ul p ack mul e. He owned. two hound.s for hunting. When one of them died, he told his friend.s that when he sent the other hound out to hunt, the hound. said., "I'm alone, I'm alone." Poor Jake was consid.ered sl1ghtly "teched.."

JAKE FOSTER

Foster was one of the first blacksmiths 1n Potter Valley. His shop was near the br1dge in the little town of P o rno. H e w or e a v e r y long beard; in fact, it was so long that he had to tuck and pin it und.er his chin so it would not interfere with his horseshoeing. He could be heard. talk1ng to the horses in a sooth1ng manner all through the operation. Fireplace tools made by him are st111 be1ng used. by Ken Busch, a third generation Busch.

OLD HARLISS

Of all the itinerant horse traders, stove salesmen, fruit ped­ dlers, tramps and such who came through the valley each year, Old. Harliss 1s probably best remembered.. He would. d r i v e up t o a r an ch , f eed. hi s h o r s e s a n d. make h i m s el f at hom e . One t1me he was tak1ng a nap in the sun on the Briggs' porch, when two of the Briggs' g1rls " snuck u p~ " u s e d. t h e r oa c h i n g s h e a r s , a nd. cut o f f h i s b ear d . . Another time as he approached. the Briggs Ranch, he was met by the same two girls with their Jaws all t1ed up saying, " We have t h e mumps." Nee cLl es s t o say, they did not have a guest, a s he wa s d e a t h ­ ly afraicL of the mumps. INDIANS AND FAMILY NAMES

Mrs. A.. F. Busch recollects the names of the older Ind.1ans and also explains that the Indians d.id not necessarily 11ve on the ranch of the person whose name they took. Frequently they picked the name of a person whom they liked.. Some of the names of the early Indians were' George Dash1 e l l , Jim and. Joe Hughes, D1ck Spencer, Sam Mewhinney, Charles Wolf, Jim Anderson, Tom Potter, Lake McGee John Sm1th, Jack Busch, Eli Bigelow, Charles (Rader) Williams, John Lake, Billie Rice, Tony Metock, and. P eter H u d s o n . ARMISTICE DAY, NOVENBER 11, 1918

A spontaneous event was generated by the end of World. War I, on the n1ght of November 11, 1918. Th e weather was dry and cold. and. the road.s were dusty. A g r e at caravan of all the automobiles in the valley made the full circle of the valley and. later, after dark, congregated in the street in front of the Grange Hall and Gavin's Blacksmith Shop. There was much celebration, of course. T h e old. time practice "shooting the anv1ls" was engaged. in, and. there was lots of sing­ ing and horseplay. S om e of this resulted. 1n Gus Busch having his pants practically tom o ff , necessitating the opening of the store to get safety pins to make emergency repairs.

POTTER VALLEY A. "DRY" VALLEY

Perhaps this is a good place to explain that Potter Valley through local option has always been a "dry" commun1ty, I n fact, originally Potter Valley was in the Calpella Township, but that town­ sh1p was divided, the western part being annexed to Ukiah and the eastern part becoming the township of Potter Valley. T h is township compr1ses the dra1nage bas1n of the east fork of the Russian River as far south as the head. of Coyote Valley (now a part of Lake Mendocino) and reaches north to Little Lake township and east to the county line b etween L ak e a n d Mend.ocino. The incorporation of Potter Valley practically includ.es the whole township and. was so arranged. in ord.er to exclude saloons from i t s n e i ghborhoods. POTTER VALLEY GRANGE

The Grange was establ1shed in 1872 and w111 celebrate its 100th ann1versary this year, I t has been an active organization f or i t s f i r s t c en t ur y an d . b i d s f a i r t o b e a s a c t i v e 1n 1t s second c entur y .

MARY CHA.SE

The f1rst white child. to be born in the valley was Nary Chase, later Mrs, Mary Chase Howland.. She was the daughter of Samuel Chase, a brother-in-law of the Potter brothers. H e was one of the valley's early settlers.

HOW TO FIRE AN ANVIL

Method. No. it Place black powder on top of an anvil and. place another anvil upside down on the top. N ak e sure there is plenty of open space. I g n ite a fuse embedd.ed. in the powder and. stand. away back. M ethod No. 2c F 1 r ing an anvil is a simple thing. Y o u s et o n e anvil upright on. the ground. so it is level. T h en you place a ring mad.e of 3/8 or 7/16 inch round. iron. Top and bottom sid.es must be perfectly smooth w1th a small groove filed across one side so the powd.er can go through. T h e r1ng d.iameter must be 2~~ or 3 inches, Fill the ring with f1ne black powder and. level it off. T urn the other a n v 1 1 u p s i d . e d own an d c r o s s w i s e o n t op of t h e bot t om a n vi l . Aft er this is done, heat a length of half round iron, about twelve or fourteen f eet in length, and touch the powd.er alongs1d.e of the top anvil, and. " up sh e g o e s , " a bo u t f i v e or s i x f eet l n t h e a i r .

NO SOAP Mary And.erson was another dear old Porno squaw of Potter Valley w ho used to go calling on Walter Jones and. his wife, Hilda. M a r y used. to go to the Hones' home to visit and. they gave her soap. Sometimes sh e w o ul d s ay t " I Jus t c o m e t o d a y t o v i s i t , n o s oap / " Walt er Jones mad,e a past el o f Mary as she sat with her big bonnet on her head., vls1ting. I t now hangs ln the Pony Express Museum. (Some wond.er if the expression "No Soap" sprang from Mary' s remark) .

THE AMERICAN RIGHT OF FREEDOM OF OPINION

As has been shown earlier, Potter Valley had citizens who were very definite in their opinions on the question of slavery. You will recall that they had "Secesh" and "Black Republican" schools. At the time of Lincoln's assassination, three valley resid.ents were a little zealous ln their expression of their feelings. T h ree of them were arrested for expressing their feellngst M i ss Buster, a teacher, for trampling the American flag underfoot; John McCall and Thad. W, Dashlell for reJoicing at the d.eath of Lincoln. T h eir per­ iod. of' arrest was not too long. However, in later years Thad. Dashiell was called. to task for v oti n g t h e R e p u b li c an t i ck e t , a d.i r e ct t u r nab o u t f r om h i s f or me r feelings. H e mad.e the following reply to his taskmasterst " I p a c k ­ ed. sand. at A1catraz for the privilege of expressing my opinion."

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES AND FAMILY HISTORIES

WILLIAM POTTER

William Potter first arrived. in what was to become Potter Val­ l ey l n 185 2 . He wa s o f p i on e e r st o c k , and af t er c r o s s i ng t h e pl a i n s , had settled in Sonoma County. H e had arrived. in California in 1845, and participated in the Bear Flag revolt. He had. selected land. in the valley in 18$2, while looking for range land. for cattle. Th e following year, 1853, he permanantly established. his home ln the valley. He was born in Missouri and died in Texas while visiting there,

THOMAS POTTER

A brother of William Potter, he was with the exped.ltion that discovered Potter Valley in 1852. H o w ever, he d.id. not establish a permanent home on his claim, mad.e in 1852, until 1856.

M. C. BRI GGS

1 Mose Carson Briggs, a nephew of the famous Klt Carson, was also ln the 1852 party that discovered. Be-Lo-Kai. A l though he returned. to his claim ln 1853, he did not become a permanent set­ tler until 18$7. Briggs married. the sister of William Potter and was the father of eight children, five who lived. to adulthood. Mr. Briggs was id.entified. with both Potter Valley and Ukiah; always keeping his ranch ln Potter and. off and on operating a liv­ ery stable, saloon and hotel in Ukiah during the years. He was born 1n Howard County, Missour1 September 24, 1817.

SAMUEL CHA.SE

A. brother-1n-law of W1lliam Potter. Hi s w1fe was Ruth Ann Potter Chase. T h ey were the parents of the first white child born in the valley.

THOMAS MCCOWEN

Thomas was a native of Ohio, and. came to California by of ox team. H e became a pioneer farmer and phys1cian in Potter Valley. He pre-empted land.. He was the father of f1ve children, Helen, (Mrs. A.. O. Carpent er), Em1ly, (Mrs. Horton) Hale and. Blanche (Mrs. Landis) . On h1s retirement, he and. h1s family moved. to Ukiah from their f arm in Po t ter Vali ey.

GEORGE MCCOWEN

George was the old.est son of Thomas and Amily McCowen. H e was born in Mason, Ohio, March 18, 1833. Soon after his graduation from Bloomingdale Acad.emy in Indiana in 1854, he started. for California. A f ter spending five years in the mines of Placer and Nevada Counties, he came to Potter Valley at the recommendation of h1s brother, Hale. He became a rancher, and. in this capacity saw the need for blacksmiths, so he studied to be one and soon was a very busy man. At the same time he missed. no opportunity to 1mprove his ranch, agriculturally. A t the outset of his ranching, he had no horse or wagon, so he carried apple trees on h1s back from Nevada County and. set out one of the very first apple orchards in Mendoc1no County. He also set out the first peach and plum trees. As for gardening, he believed that such f ertile lands should. produce, so he was the first to raise garden vegatables. I t was from this success that the neighbors followed h1s example and Pot­ ter Valley became a fru1t and. vegetable bearing area. Seeing the need for wagon manufacturing and. repair, he incor­ porated these activities in with his blacksmith shop. H a v ing accom­ p li s h ed. t h i s m u c h , G e o r g e M c Cowen l o o k e d a r o u n d f or n ew f i el d . s t o conquer. He dec1d.ed. that he would. 11ke to become a d.entist, so he placed. all of h1s enterprises 1n the care of others and. left for St. Louis. Here he entered. the School of Dentistry and graduated with the class of 1871. On h1s return to Mendocino County, he establ1shed. his of­ f1ce 1n Ukiah where he spent the rest of h1s life.

HALE MCCOWEN

The son of Thomas McCowen, Hale was born on August 17, 1848 near Indianapalis, Ind.iana. He crossed the plains with his fam1ly as a boy of nine. A t the age of 18 he returned to the East and entered an acad.emy 1n Havana, Illino1s. In 1867 he was given the pos1tion of Deputy County Clerk. Later he was elected to the position of County Clerk and from then on, for over twenty years, he was County Clerk of Mendocino County. He married Fann1e Thomas, and they had two children, Hale McCowen, Jr. and Mary L. (Mrs. Cunning). HELEN MCCOWEN CARPENTER

Helen was the daughter of Dr. Thomas McCowen, an early settler in Potter Valley. Sh e was born 1n Ohio and educated in Ind1ana at the Bloomingdale @raker A.cademy. After her parents moved to Kansas, she met and marr1ed A.. O. Carpenter. T hey came to Potter Valley in 1858. I t was here that she was one of the early teachers in the valley. H e r ab111ties were displayed in all phases of community act1vities. L a t er, after the family moved to Uk1ah, her activ1t1es expanded and she vras famous countywi s e. Her fame included being the mother of the tw1ns, Grant and Grace Carpenter (Hudson). A m ong other activities was 1ncluded the establish­ m ent of t h e Carnegie Library in Ukiah.

CLARINE NICHOLS

Actually, ine should recognize Mrs. Nichols as Clarine Carpenter N1chols. D u ring her 11f ctime she won national acclaim for her act1vi­ t i e s . She was born in Townshend, Vermont January 25, 1810, of Eng­ lish and Welsh stock. S h e was interested in education 1n public and pr1vate schools, which included the establishment of a young lad1es sem1nary at Herkimer, N.Y. 1n 1835. After her marriage to her second husband, George W. N1chols, she was unexpectedly forced to step into the newspaper work. H e r husband was editor and publisher of the Windham County Democrat, and became 1nvalided, so she took over the paper. Sh e was editor for 13 years. Under her efforts, it became the leader of the New England press 1n t he 1 n t e r e s t s o f edu ca t i on a nd eq u a l r i ght s o f wom e n b e f o r e t h e l aw and reform in general. At that time the laws of Vermont, as well as many other states, gave women no r1ght of property in their separat e earnings, or their personal apparel, no matter how worthless or degraded. her hus­ band might be. S h e used the power of the press as well as personal and private efforts. S h e s ucceeded in going invited to address the legislatures of Vermont and seven other state leg1slatures. Sh e was successful 1n Vermont and other states in achieving her goal, A f t er moving to Kansas', she continued her work for women and addressed the Constitut1onal Convention (by invitation) and was again able to in­ f l u e nc e t h e c on v e n t i o n a n d su c c e e ded i n g et t i ng equ a l r i ght s f or wo­ men 1n everything but suffrage. Her children were Mrs. Frank Dav1s, C. E. Carpenter, A. O. Carpenter, Ukiah, and George N1chols, Potter Valley. A n outstand­ 1ng woman, followed by generat1ons of 1llustrious descendants.

AURELIUS O. CARPENTER

A.. Q. Carpenter was born in Townshend, Vermont November 28, 1836. At the age of 10, he went to work on h1s stepfather's news­ paper, The Windham County Democrat. H e was lucky to have the tute­ lage of both his mother and h1s step-father, for his future was to be much 1nvolved with the publ1shing bus1ness. H e went to Kansas, where he assisted in surveying the town of Topeka. L a ter when the first newspaper was started (The Herald of Freedom) in Lawrence, he set the type for the first edition. L a ter he founded an other pub­ l i ca ti onn , "The Fr e e S t a t e . " O n Christmas Day, 1856, he married Miss Helen McCowen. T h ey

22 crossed. the pla1ns 1n the following year and settled. at Grass Valley where he was employed. in var1ous occupations until 1859, v rhen t h e y moved. to Potter Valley. When E. R. Budd became interested. in estabi1shing a newspaper in Uk1ah, Mr. Carpenter became associated. vr1th the paper (1863-5). Later they founded. the Mendoc1no Herald. A t this time they moved. t o Uk i a h . From 1865 to 1883 he was United States Assistant Assessor of the Revenue Department. I n 1879 he purchased the Uk1ah C1ty Press. He was engaged. in numerous public and. private enterprises and d.ef1n­ itely left his mark on the d.evelopment of Mendocino County. He was the father of four children, May, Grace, Grant and Frank. Although all were active, it was the tw1ns, Grant and. Grace, w ho l e f t the greatest mark on the world.

GRACE CARPENTER HUDSON

Grace Carpenter, daughter of A,. O. a nd Hel e n C a r p e n t e r v ra s b o r n in Potter Valley, February 21, 1865. At the age of 13 she showed such outstanding talent that her parents sent her to San Francisco to study at the School of Design (lat e r k n o w n a s t h e H o p k i n s A r t I n st i t u t e ) . T wo year s l at er sh e w a s awarded. a Gold. Medal by the President of the San Francisco Az't Assoc­ 1ation for the best full-length study in crayon. As a s t u d .ent h e r r ec­ o gnit 1 o n g r e w a n d g r e w , and after her return to Ukiah, s he mar r i e d Dr. Hud.son, a practicing physic1an there. He and Gr a c e w e r e s o i n t er ­ ested. in the Indians and their artifacts that he gave up practic1ng h1s profession and. d.evoted. his later life to this vrork. Although she did paint other sub „'ect s, her primary 1nt crest vras the Indians of Mendocino County, and. her e s h e h a s a c h i e v e d h e r g r ea t ­ est fame. It has been said that of all of the portrayers of Ind1ans and their lives, her portraits, character studies and illustrat1ons of the Pomos and. the domest1c lives of their vromen and children were consid.ered t h e b es t . S he passed. away i n Uk i a h M a r c h 2 3 , 193 7 .

GRA5T CARPENTER

To complete the saga of this illustrious family, Grant Carpen­ ter should not be omitted.. He vras born in Potter Valley, be1ng the twin of Grace Carpenter. H is f a me , i n h i s f 1 el d., w as as g r e a t , p er ha p s , at the time, but not a s l a st i ng a s h i s s 1 st er ' s , He d.id. not spend his adult lif e in Mendocino County, H e was a vrriter and playright as well as a lavryer. One of his friends once complimented him by sayings " He knows e v e r y ­ t h i n g e e

MRS. MIRANDA BARNES HASKETT

Miranda Haskett was the daughter of Dr. Thomas and. Laur enda Burbank Barnes. S h e was the eldest of the1r seven children. Miranda was educated 1n the schools of Carthage and the Young Ladies Seminary o f Jacksonville, Illinois. In 1854 she was married. to Samuel W. Haskett. The1r h o n eymoon was spent crossing the plains to Petaluma. In 1869 they moved. to Potter Valley. H ere she was engaged. to t ea c h s c h o o l . She ta u gh t i n the "Black Republican" school. I n 1863 she and her husband moved to Ukiah, and there she continued her teaching. She was Uk 1a h' s f 1r st t eacher , a n d s he c on t i nu e d. t o t ea c h l n v a r i ou s d . is t r l c t s i n t h e cou n t y until 1913. I n 1912 the teachers of Mendocino County presented her with a beautiful silver loving cup as a token of their love and respect for her. I n 191I the State Department of Education granted. her the teacher's pension in recognition of her long llf e of useful service in educational work. She taught for fifty years. SAMUEL MEWHINNEY

Samuel Mewhinney was born in Ohio on August 18, 1810. H e and h i s family moved. to Indiana when he was about ten. I n 1800 he moved. to M issouri . I n 1849 h e ca m e t o Ca l i f or n i a and . engaged. in mining for about three years, then he returned to his family in Missouri. The cold. weathere there bothered him, after his stay in Californ­ ia, so he sold. his farm ln Illinois and. moved. to Kansas. H e soon r e a l ­ i zed t h a t t h i s wa s n o i mpr o v e ment f o r wea t h e r . At t h i s t i me h i s son s , John and Hugh, announced they were going to California. The el d.er Mewhinney's talked the matter over and they decided. to Join the sons and. go to California. W ith o x t e a ms an d 8 0 h e a d o f c at t l e , t h ey sp e n t t h e n e xt m o n th s crossing the plains, O n t heir arrival at Healdsburg, the father and. sons left the family and went out to look for land. they could. home­ stead.. They went to Lake County and. returned. to Heald.sburg through Potter Valley. T his was exactly what they had. dreamed of, s o t h e y brought the family up and homesteaded three plots of 160 acres each. Samuel became one of the valley's most successful farmers, as well as a community leader throughout the years. Samuel's first wife d.led in 1842 leaving four children. He then remarried., Et was his second wife who was so beloved in Potter Valley. She was a natural nurse and. was constantly called upon to aid, e specia l ­ ly as a mid-wife, and. during 21 years of practice she never lost a p ati e n t . Samuel's son, John, remained in Potter Valley, following in his father's footsteps by becoming an outstanding farmer. H ugh so l d. h i s farm and. moved. to Texas.

WILLIAM P. VAN NADEH

Van Nad.er was born in Ohio in 1836. With the aim of find.ing greate r o p p o r t un i t i es t ha n we r e f ou n d l n hi s na t i v e s t at e , h e d. e c l d.ed. to come to California. H e was twenty when he crossed the plains. He arrived. ln Potter Valley ln 1858. Apparently his arrival here was with a friend, or to visit a friend who had. settled here. He was so impressed with the area that he stayed. to help build his friend.'s log cabin. H e then built a cabin and a store building in Porno. Later he built a saw mill there, Eventually his farm in­ c reased t o f i v e hu nd r e d a c r es . It was Mr. Van Nad.er who was responsible for the drum that was used in the first Fourth of July celebration in the valley.

HUGH P. McGEE

Hugh McGee, who was born in 1831 ln Missouri, was at the impres­ sionable age and. was inspired. by the discovery of gold. in California w hen he l e f t hi s ho m e and. crossed. the p l a i n s t o O r e gon and. then t o California. After llvlng ln various areas from 1850-59, he moved, to Potter Valley. Hls ranch of 160 acres was about two mlles northwest of Centerville, He engagecL ln farming and stock raising. He was marrlect tvrlce. Hls first wife was the former Elizabeth Hughes~ his second. wife was a widow, Catherine Llerly SicLes.

THADDEUS W. DASHIELL

Thadd.eus vras a native of Naryland, having been born January '18, 1818. As a young man he left home and travellecL and lived in several stat es, being engaged ln a variety of occupations, r unnin g a s a w m i ll , teaching school and seeing the country. H e vras attacked. by the gold. fever in 1849, and he crossed the plains with seven others. A ft e r four years ln the mines, he and his cousin, W. A., Dashiell of Sacra­ m ento, w en t i n t o t h e h or s e m a r k e t bu s i n e s s . After a year he came to Sonoma County and. finally, in i859, he settlecL in Potter Valley. He servecL as a supervisor for his district for four years, and t vro t e r m s a s Deput y A s s e s s o r . He and. Kezi a V a n n we r e ma r r i ed i n 185 1. They had a family of s ev en ch 1 ld.r en.

ISAA.C Y. GRIFFITHS

Although Isaac Griffiths was born ln Nlssourl ln 1832„ h i s family moved. to I l l i no i s „ wh er e h e gr ew t o m a n h ood.. In '1848 he left for Iowa where he learned. the tailor trade. He and his wife, the former Nary J. Simely, left for the gold fields in 1853, Fo r the next four years they ran a board.lng house in the "d.lgglns." A fter a so)ourn in Sonoma County the family moved to Potter Valley in 1859, ~here he farmed. ancL raised stock on his 240 acres.

TAYLOR S. VAMN

The first 20 years of Taylor Vann's life were spent in Nlssouri, where he vr as bo r n l n Ap r i l , 18 36 . I n 185 6 h e a n d. h i s pa r en t s c"ossed the plains by ox team. A f t er spending four years in Napa Valley, they moved to Potter Valley. The parents homesteaded a farm "n upper Potter. A f ter his father d.led. in 1876, h e r a n t h e f a r m. In 1879, he vras married to Niss Sarah Conrad. o f Texas .

JOHN W. Nc CI OUD

A. native of Ohio, born in 1820, he moved with his parents, as they lived in several mid.-western states. In the early 1840' s, while still in Iowa, he learned the coopers trade. H e followed. this until he came to California. After working ln various areas of the Gold.en State, he settled. in Potter Valley in 1869 and. raised. stock. I n 1 874 h e m a r rl e c L Nl s s Nattl e V a n N a d.er. CHARLES NE1I

A. Virginian by birth (born ln 1808) his family soon moved to Tennessee. A s he grevr to manhood, he left the family home and spent several years farming in several states. Crossing the plains in 1859 with his vrlf e, the former Nargaret Kennedy, and their children, he spent two years ln Sonoma County, then settled on sixty acres in Pot­ t er Val i e y .

25 JOHN HOPPER

The Hopper family were Virginians, having settled. there in the 17th century. A s t1me went by, the fam1ly continually moved. westward, so that 1n the middle of the 19th century they were living in Lone J a ck, Mi s sour i . The interest in going further west was the result of their cousin, Charlie. His doctor adv1sed. him to go west for his health, in 1845, which he d.id.. He left for Cal1fornia in the spring of 1845 with two friend.s. After a year in the Sacramento and San Jose areas, they re­ turned to Missouri. Incidentally, Charlie's health was now excellent, and hi s t wo companions d.ied. on the return trip. H e was now a Californ1a booster, and. immediately began organizing a wagon train for California. The train consisted of 10 men and. their families and. the best equipment t hey c o u l d buy . In the group was the John Hopper family consisting of his wife and. three children, and. young Tom Hopper, John's brother. C harle s w a s wagonmaster, and John Hopper was second. in command.. After six months t he g r o u p a r r i v e d . i n S a n J o s e . When the gold. discovery was announced, John and. his brother, 'lorn, moved to Sonoma County and. began raising cattle. In the Fall of 1862, the family purchasecL a thousand acres of land., at $ 1 . 2 5 p e r a c r e, on the east side of Potter Valley. The property is still known as the H opper p l a c e . All of their farming was cLone by ox team. W h ile breaking oxen, John was g o r e cL by o n e o f t h em. H is l u n g w a s p u n c t u r e d, a nd. he n e v er fully recovered. H e passecL away in 1889. The fam1ly holding grew and. they owned. a large area, whi.ch was divid.ed. among the children as they married. J ohn d.eed.ecL one a cr e o f land for church and school purposes, Th e high school now stand.son t hi s l a n d . . Although only a couple of the d.escendants now live in the valley, in 1969 the Hopper family hacL thirty living grandch1ldren, fifty-four great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grand. children.

JOHN GEORGE BUSCH

Mr. Busch was born in Hamburg, Germany 1n June 1826. A t t h e age of seven, he came to the United. States, and f o r 17 ye ar s l i v ed. i n St . Lou i s . I n 18 50 h e ca m e t o t h e C al i f o r n i a go l d . f i el d . s . He and his three companions tried. mining, but John soon gave that up and started a store. I n face, he expanded. his business to having stores in three towns in the "diggin's." On e of his store s wa s i n Hangtwon (Placerville) and. it was here he met h1s future wif e. His wife, who was the former Ann Sweeney of Slige, Ireland., was b orn i n De c e mber , 183 6 . Her f ami l y i mm ig r a t e d . t o t h e Un i t e c LSt a t e s in 1801. On the long trip across the Atlantic, her mother became ill and. died.. The rest of the family settled. in Wisconson, for the next eleven year, when they sold. their farm and. came to California. She found employment in a hotel 1n Hangtown, and there met her fut­ ure husband.. They were married in August, 1856. About a year later, Hohn d.ecid.ed he had. enough of the gold. min­ i ng c o u n t r y , s ol d . o u t , a nd . h e ad.ed. fo r c o a s t a l Ca l i f or n i a . They l i v ­ ed in And.erson and. Ukiah Valleys before finally settling in Potter Valley in 1863. H e purchased. the Potter and Wright ranches, about eleven hundred acres. H e lived here with his family and farmed un­ t i l h i s d. e at h 1 n 19 1 1 . 26 AMBROSE CARNER

The Garner family left Iovra in May, 1860. I t wa s a g en u i n e family activ1ty. Th e group consisted of Leander A. Preston and. his family, as vrell as his father-in-law, Ambrose Carner, h1s wife and three young child.ren and four married sons, Hiram, Madison, Richmond., and. Jason Garner and. their families. Unusal circumstances kept the party on the tra11 for over a year. T hey arrived in Meridian, Sutter County, in July 1861. I t w a s during this time that Charles A. Carner, later to become one of Pot­ ter's outstanding citizens, was born. H e carried the title of "Cov­ ered. Wagon Baby" for the rest of his life. In 1864 Ambrose and part of his fam1ly, Hiram and. Nad.ison and un­ married son, Melvin, moved to Pot t er Valley by way o f Upper Lake. H is s o n s - i n- l av r , P r es t o n a n d R o s s , also accompanied them. Several days were required to get their wagons down the road into Potter Val­ ley. After a short stay in Point Arena, the family returned to Potter Valley where the family founded their permanent home.

NOSE QUESENBERRY

Mose, his vrif e and two sons and. daughter came to Potter Valley in 1864. H e settled. on the Bob Miller place, His daughter married Dan Hughes. H i s descendants were 20 grand. children, 25 great-grand.­ children and 29 great-great-grand. children. The Quesenberry Redwood.s were named. for him.

JAMES L. HUGHES

Like many early settlers in Potter Valley, James Hughes vras born in Kentucky and moved, at an early age, to Missouri. T he gol d. fever got to his family also, and they left for California by ox team in 1849. A f ter living in the Sacramento valley for a fevr years, they moved. to Sonoma County, and, in 1865 they located in upper Pot­ t er. In January, 1856, he married Atlant1c Ocean McGee. She vras born in 1805 in Chilicothe, Nissouri and. came to California in 1863. She once said. that actually she had vralked. all the way to California. The couple had six children. WILSON LIERLY

In 1867, Wilson Lierly arrived in Potter Valley. H e immediate­ ly purchased land and started. farming. He vrasalso very active in community affairs. It was no wonder that he vras considered one of the best educat­ ed. men in Potter Valley. H e and. his nine brothers and.sist e r s v r e r e educated. by their father, a German immigrant who was the first school teacher in the Carolinas.

JEREMIA.H LIERLY

Jeremiah was born in North Carolina. In 1867 he settled. in the Mt. San Hedrin area, while his brother, Wilson, c hose Po t t e r Vali ey . Like his brother, he was consid.ered a man of culture as vrell as having a fund. of comprehensive and diversified. collection of knowl edg e. 27 Is it any wonder that he was such an excellent host at his popular summer r e s o r t ? He was closely identified with the development as well as the politics of the area.

CHAM ES RADER

The Rader family left their home in Qiwa in April, 1863 and. came to California 1n a 47 wagon train, H e drove a m ul e t eam i n ­ stead. of oxen. A fter many hard. ships the wagon train reached Cali­ forn1a . After a short rest, the fam1ly came on to Sonoma County and after three years in the Nark West Springs section, they moved to Potter Valley. H ere Nr. Rad.er purchased two hundred acres of land at 427.00 per acre. H ere the family lived. and the child.ren grew up, married, and. en Joyed. the f crt ile valley.

JOHN SPENCER

Spencer was born in Ind1ania in December, 18g1. H is p a r e n t s had. come to Ind.iana from Kentucky. He grew to manhood in Indiana. Seven years after his marriage, (April, 1856j to Sarah DeSelma, they moved. to Illinois. T h 1s move actually was Just a base for their move to California. T h ey Journeyed by covered. wagon,wit h t h e i r f ou r y oung c h i l d r en . Nr. Spencer had been selected captain of their wagon train. On their arrival in California they spent two years in Contra Costa Coun­ ty before settling in Potter Valley in 1870, They settled on the east sid.e of the valley, north o f P orno, at t he f o o t o f t h e f am o u s S p e n ce r H i l l . Here Nr . Sp e n c e r w a s b u s i l y en­ gaged i n di v er s i f i ed . f a r m in g , i n cl ud . 1ng r a i s i n g w h e a t , hop s , cat t l e and anything and. everything necessary to sustain a large and. lively family of eleven child.ren.

SPENCER FAMILY DESCENDANTS

It is impossible to carry biographical sketches beyond the year 18'79, but since a greater proportion of Spencer d.escendants have re­ mained in the valley, it is fitting that some of these be mentioned.. The el d.est d a u g h t e r , Lau r a , married Jerry Lierly. Russell and Mary Smith Spencer had. three c h1ldr e n , D o r a , Gl ad y s and Russ e l l . Homer and. Rose Smith Spencer had. four children, Wesley, Nelson, Francis and Mild.red. Addie married Joseph Spottswood and they had. seven children, ten grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and. innumberable great-great­ g rand. child.r en . The Spottswood family followed in the footprints of the Spencer trad.ition. The girls married and their families are all "pillars o f s o c i e t y " i n Nen d o c i n o C o u n t y . Among the names are Shimmin, Chr1s­ t of f e r s o n , Pi c k l e , Ni ck ol s , W hi t co mb , N a z e , a nd. Boynt o n .

28 THE POTTER VALLEY STORY

Copyrighted. 1972 by the Mendocino County Historical Society, Inc. 603 M. P e r k i n s St . Ukiah, California 95482

Publications Headquarters 2LJ3 M. Bush S t . F ort, Bragg, California 9 5 4 37

Proceeds of the sale of thi.s oooklet i.s for t he b e n e f i t of t h e Mu s e u m Fund, of o u r So c i et y

Ed.i t or J uli a L . Mo u n g o v a n

Cover b y D oroth y C a i n

The Mendocino County Historical Society a ssumes no r es p o n s i b i l i t y f or t h e statements of facts or opinions expressed. by co n t r i bu t o r s .

Monograph No . 7 i n a s er i es o f s t o r i es of Men d o c i n o C o u n t y

Fi r s t Ed i t i o n

Copyri g h t ed. Ju l y , 19 72