Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published by “Malcolm Macdonald”

Apocalypse in Historic Perspective

One century, one decade, a year, and a day before our current publication date, Mark Twain died. A day earlier Halley’s Comet had reached perihelion…

The Pioneer Burkes

Ever see the sign for Burke Hill south of Ukiah and wonder who Burke was? Here's part of the answer. Alexander Burke was born in…

A Gruesome Tale, 1880

A grue is a grisly, short comic poem, with a sadistic bent to it and a twist of some sort in the final line or…

The Disappearance of Mrs. Strong (Part 3)

(The previous two installments described the imprisonment of R.G. Strong in 1873, the 1874 murder of his wife in the Sherwood area, the trial and…

The Disappearance of Mrs. Strong (Part 2)

John Simpson (think Simpson Lane south of Fort Bragg) and Robert White, early white settlers of the coast and employees of the Mendocino Indian Reservation at Noyo, traveled inland

The Disappearance of Mrs. Strong

Sherwood, or Sherwood Valley if you like, lies sheltered from both the dense fog and high wind that can bedevil the coast of Mendocino County.…

Mr. Mudgett’s Murder

The year, 1896. The season, autumn. The time, murderous. A neighbor discovered the half cremated body of John Mudgett, a wealthy rancher of Usal, among…

Counting Crows

At its February 10th meeting, the Fort Bragg City Council unanimously approved sending a letter to the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors.  The first two…

-