If Mendocino County history fascinates you, there is a great source of entertaining information in the 60 year old publications of the Mendocino County Historical Society. Readers can find them in libraries, in the archives of museums, and if you’re really lucky at a thrift store for one dollar.
I picked 20 of these monographs, as the Historical Society called them, to share. Some were organized into a series, like logging, law, adventure, biography and autobiography, and some belonged to no category. They were all written by volunteers with hand drawn covers. Some were six pages long and some over 30 pages long. Binding was three staples along the side with tape over it. They were labors of love by old folks focusing on a single topic.
Three monographs in the Kelley House Museum in Mendocino were undated and seem to be from the 1960s. “Lore of the Coast: Fact or Fiction” offered five stories on singing fish, killer bears, the Chinese people and the County’s first election. “Logging with Ox Teams: an Epic of Ingenuity” focused on the south coast. “The Saga of Little River: 1854-1865” has a great tale of an alligator found in Little River Bay. “Mendocino County Vignettes” has law and adventure stories with the long involved story of the Mendocino Outlaws, Black Bart and Sheriff Doc Stanley. Another volume on logging, “Where There is a Will There is a Way,” looks at unusual logging and lumbering methods on the Mendocino coast, with nine photos.
“Tales of Mendocino County” in 1966 was the first in a series of collected stories from around the county. Nine tales and a great poem are included. “Reminiscences:L Early Days on the Coast” covers Fort Bragg, Kibesillah, and one man’s memories for 19 pages. “The Saga of Redwood Valley:Last of the West” told of white people settling the valley. Again, once man shared 28 pages of “Memories of Redwood Valley”. There’s “Bridgeport” 16 pages on a tiny coast town, and “Tales from the Redwood Coast” with stories from Rockport to Navarro.
“Valleys of Mendocino County” gives history of 45 locations in the county. Some, like Gravelly Valley and Coyote Valley are under lakes now. Some like Lost Valley and Wheelbarrow Valley I’d never heard of . “Footprints of the Mendocino Coast “ is the biography of Reverend John Simpson Ross with 3 pages of his missionary work from 1871-1903. “Harry Beeson Story: the last Bear Flagger 1829-1914” referred to the coast’s “living landmark” being alive in 1908 after having witnessed the Bear Flag Revolt in1846. “A Pioneer Lumberman’s Story: Autobiography of John Simpson Ross II (the second) was completed in 1927. Ray Schultz wrote “A Boy in the 1900” about growing up in Ukiah.
Last but not least in the Kelley House collection was “Bear Tales and other stories” with 17 stories about bears around the county — some guaranteed to be true. There are a dozen place names in this county with the word bear or grizzly attached.
One story here is by Charles Brown of Philo and is a bear hunt told in poetry in 1940 and printed in the Mendocino Beacon.
Turning to my own library shelves I also found ”Reward $300 for the Arrest & Conviction of the Mendocino Outlaws” by John Keller at over 35 pages long and “Boontling-Strange Boonville Language” by Myrtle Rawles. There was the “Potter Valley Story” and “Eden Valley: Epic of Yesteryear.” And another saga, this one of “Round Valley” with photos.
So wherever or however you find them, be aware that these little jewels of county are out there to discover.
Very cool and thank you!