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Native Sons of the Golden West The Native Son Volume 59 June—July 2019 Number 1 2019 –2020 Grand Officers Grand President James King Grand Treasurer Tim Tullius Grand Trustee Ethan Phillips San Miguel #150 Golden Gate #29 John C. Bidwell #21 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Junior Past Grand President Grand Trustee – Chairman Grand Marshal Kris Nelson Carey D. Pearce, George Adams Nicasio #183 Santa Lucia #97 Napa #62 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Grand Inside Sentinel Grand First Vice President Grand Trustee—Secretary Gary Arosio Joe Castillo Steve McLean Excelsior #31 Rio Hondo #294 Excelsior #31 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Grand Ouside Sentinel Grand Second Vice President Grand Trustee Brice Walker Gary Padgett Ron Brocco Observatory #177 Sonoma #111 Sonoma #111 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Grand Trustee Alfred Jones III Grand Organist Grand Third Vice President Arrowhead #110 Mark Spaugh Jeff Schmidt [email protected] Georgetown #91 Georgetown #91 [email protected] [email protected] Grand Trustee Dave Schaefer Santa Rosa #28 Grand Historian Grand Secretary [email protected] Erik M. Christeson, Thomas W. Perazzo Excelsior #31 Sea Point #158 Grand Trustee Marcia Skelton [email protected] [email protected] Redwood #66 [email protected] THE NATIVE SON — JUNE — JULY 2019 PAGE 2 GRAND PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE It was suggested advocating that we do away with our newsletter, it by our Editor, is potentially the best format for leaving a historical Brother Tom Wid- record of our work. What I am championing is the lund, that my first wholesale adoption of an electronic version, one message to the that could be published monthly, one with color entire order photos, live links to websites and email addresses, should paraphrase and no limitation to the number of pages that can my installation be published. speech since only a few could be there Our website continues to evolve to better inform in person. So, if our members about the goings on in our Order. I the following hope to see it grow into a site where non-members sounds familiar, will come to learn about our fair state and about the Grand President, James King that is why. Native Sons’ place in, and contribution to, its histo- ry. But, believe it or not, websites are already con- Against all the odds, despite broken bones and car sidered to be “old news” in this new age. crashes, I have survived to take a place in the line of my esteemed predecessors. I am honored by the Even Facebook, a phenomenon that I have never trust that has been placed in me and it is my sin- apprehended, is getting long in the tooth and losing cerest hope that I will prove worthy of this office. favor among many. That may be just as well in the long run as I hear that our Facebook page seems to Ultimately, I stand here today only because of the have become little more than a place for backbiting, support and faith of others. The list is long but it complaining and the berating of others…speaking includes my wife, fellow Grand Officers, Past Grand of things that MUST change. President’s, my Brothers in San Miguel Parlor and every other Parlor. We have joked and laughed, Twitter is still a popular means of spreading news debated and argued, celebrated and planned. I but our presence there is virtually non-existent. thank you all for your friendship, your faith in me The last posting was almost 3 years ago. Instagram and your support. is another popular platform whereupon we are just starting to stake our claim. And there are others. Dats der vey mine vadder did it, dat’s der vey I do it! I am proud to announce that at the suggestion of my Grand Historian, Past Grand President Erik My father used to joke about my mother’s family of Christeson, the Native Sons of the Golden West will hard-headed Nebraska “Dutchmen.” Change can be be producing a podcast, a popular way to entertain painful and frightening at times, but often it is nec- and inform. Equipment has been purchased and essary for our very survival. several interviews have already been conducted. The results, I think, have been even better than ex- An organization like ours, steeped in tradition and pected. When a suitable library of shows is ready, glorifying the past, views change with a skeptical they will be published with links on our website eye. But in the end, change we must, not for chang- and, hopefully, elsewhere. es sake but to keep pace, to survive and thrive. To paraphrase part of a speech by Past Grand Presi- Likewise, I have asked him to set up a YouTube dent Christeson: we must differentiate between val- channel where we can publish videos of Native Sons ued traditions and habits. at our best, doing those things that we do; dedicat- ing historical markers, presenting checks to hospi- Some changes will come about organically, as they tals, walking tours of historic sites or museums, should, in their own time. On Tuesday, 14 May hosting historical speakers, re-enactments, fishing 2019, we elected our first woman to the Board of trips, shooting events, meet your neighbor break- Grand Officers. Our newly minted Grand Trustee fasts…the list goes on. These may well turn out to Marcia Skelton did not run for office to make a be the first exposure to the Native Sons that some point or to break down some wall. Brother Skelton people have. ran, with an amazing resume qualifying her for the position (a resume that I am truly envious of), be- Continued on Page 6 cause she wants to serve our Order, nothing more. Congratulations, Marcia. We live in a new age, an electronic age, yet we cling to our printed and mailed newsletter, an expensive and confining media, in an age of instant communi- cation. It is imperative that we adapt. I am not THE NATIVE SON — JUNE — JULY 2019 PAGE 3 RETRO RAMBLINGS By Douglas Love, Past President—Napa Parlor #62 Long before the Spanish came to California, long be- Contact. fore a soft, shiny metal lured hundreds of thousands here from across a continent, long before the fertile One of these places is Chaw’Se Indian Grinding Rock soil and mild climate made California an agricultural State Historic Park. Located in a meadow between paradise, there were those who lived in our Golden the towns of Pine Grove and Volcano, Chaw’Se Indian State. From what is now the Oregon Border to what is Grinding Rock SHP is one of the few places where the now the Mexican Border there may have been as native peoples, primarily the Sierra Miwok, left per- many an estimated 1,520,000 native people living in manent remains. The centerpiece of the park is a what is now California. These people were split into massive limestone outcropping covered with over 500 subgroups and spoke more than 300 dialects of 1,100 mortar holes and 360 identified petroglyphs. 100 different languages. They were primarily Neo- There are also two smaller “grinding stones” near the lithic hunter gatherers who lived off the abundance of largest outcropping. Chaw’Se in Miwok means the land and sea. For thousands of years, the Native “mortar cup”, thus giving the park its Miwok name. peoples lived here long before European contact. Near the large stone, there are three reconstructed Miwok dwellings, known as U’macha, a reconstructed Very little remains of the native way of life here in acorn granary and a reconstructed ceremonial round- California even though California has the largest pop- house, known as a Hun’ge, which is still used by local ulation of Native people in the United States; some native people today and a smaller “practice house” for three quarters of a million. Throughout the 18th, the Native celebrants to practice their various dances. 19th, and into the 20th centuries, the Natives of Cali- The park is also home to the Chaw’se Regional muse- fornia were harried off their lands, decimated by dis- um, which houses artifacts from various tribes in the ease to which they had no natural resistance, forcibly Northern Sierra Nevada. Of special note is the muse- “civilized” during the Mission and Rancho periods, um’s collection of baskets and ceremonial items. enslaved, and finally, all but exterminated. Their trails became roads and their village sites became Continued on Page 11 towns. Yet, they too, are a vital part of California’s history and there are still a few places one can visit to catch a glimpse of what life was like before European THE NATIVE SON — JUNE — JUY 2019 PAGE 4 PARLOR ACTIVITIES Sonoma Parlor #111 Napa Parlor #62 • June 09, 2019—Annual Bear Flag Celebration & 5th Monday Initiation Chicken BBQ @ Sonoma Plaza—Help celebrate Napa Parlor will be holding a formal grand the Raising of the California Bear Flag. The day officer initiation at the NSGW Hall in Napa starts off with a Bear Flag ceremony followed by on the 5th Monday of July on the 29th. our famous Chicken BBQ, Bear Flag re- You and your parlor members are cordially enactment, and live music. Contact—Dean invited to attend and bring any candidates Zellers—(707) 996-5282 who have been obligated but not initiated. Please contact the Napa parlor in advance if Argonaut Parlor #8 you have initiates that want to attend. • June 2, 2019—Family BBQ and Picnic 10:30 AM.
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