October 16, 1858 - Logging contractor Daniel Milliken received payment for overseeing the construction of the Piers. According to “Big River was Dammed” by Francis Jackson, the four piers were “man made islands constructed in the main river channel” whose purpose was to stop logs from being washed downriver and out to sea. The piers were part of the boom, “a barrier of sorts, logs roped [...]
Recently, the Kelley House Museum received a generous donation of teaching materials dating from between 1891 and 1906. The items had been collected from various sources and pasted into a large attendance book from 1901. Among the artifacts are notices from the Board of Education, newspaper clippings with math puzzlers, and graduation exam questions for the Grammar Schools of Mendocino County. The book belonged to Matilda [...]
October 11, 1884 - The Mendocino Beacon reported that the stagecoach from Cloverdale to Mendocino had been robbed by two highwaymen just north of Boonville. “Thomas Bennett was driving and he was ordered to throw out the express box and the mail. He threw out one light mail bag, but protested that he could not throw out the box as his leaders were so restive that [...]
October 9, 1883 - The schooner Sacramento went ashore on Ten Mile Beach. She had sailed from San Francisco with a load of lumber, headed for Newport. In early November, the San Francisco Examiner reported that repairs of the Sacramento were complete, and the tug Rescue was on the way to make a second attempt to tow her off the beach. However, the tug “was prevented [...]
October 4, 1953 - The 65-foot fishing trawler “Georgene M” ran ashore on the sandy beach behind the Russell Biaggi ranch home in Manchester. The boat, owned by George Moskovita of Southern California, was on her way from Portland, Oregon, to San Francisco to pick up her crew for albacore fishing off the Farallon Islands. Captain A. V. Nelson, alone on the ship, was working on [...]
October 2, 1877 - A destructive fire burned near the Garcia Mill, about six miles from Point Arena. According to “Mills of Mendocino County,” this mill was built in 1869 and "had a double 60-inch circular saw, a 48-inch pony saw, an edger, 2 trimmers, a slab saw, a picket saw, a siding saw, and 3 planers worked by about 150 men. A 6-mile long flume, [...]
Sailing schooner, Sailor Boy, is being loaded by wire chute at the shipping point in Caspar. Superintendent C. J. Woods stands on the platform pointing to the wire. A load of lumber, suspended from the travelers, will start down from the chute house and stop over the ship's deck to be unloaded and stowed in the hold and on deck. (Gift of Verda Wakerley) “Thomas H. [...]
September 28, 1912 - Auggie Heeser, editor and publisher of the Mendocino Beacon, appeared before Justice William True Wallace of the Big River Justice Court to file a formal complaint of prostitution against Mendocino residents Pearl Grant and Myrtle Cannon. Pearl and Myrtle pled not guilty. Additional complaints were filed against their landlord Joseph Peck of Ukiah for “renting a house for immoral purposes.” This house [...]
September 26, 1877 - August Geschwartner leased the Caspar Hotel (including the barn and outhouses) from Frank Anderson for $40/month for five years. August advertised in the Beacon, “Having opened the above named Hotel, I will be pleased to see my friends… In connection with the Hotel is a GOOD STABLE, where feed for horses can always be had. The BAR will be supplied with the [...]
The year was 1938. The Mendocino Mill had been shut down due to the Depression, and nobody expected it to ever reopen its doors. Spring freshets no longer supplied the mill with logs. And suddenly - bingo! A huge windfall of logs headed UP the river from the open sea, and the ensuing weeks found the mill busier than ever. “BIG RAFT BREAKS IN TWO OFF [...]