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Posts published by “Malcolm Macdonald”

Anna Morrison Reed

In the 1800s women were seldom accorded their own identity in print. Emblematic of that was the newspaper notice of a baby born on New…

Coast Hospital: Under New Management

The Mendocino Coast Hospital District held their December Board of Directors meeting on January 10th. If that seems puzzling, strap in for further confusion. One…

Charges Against Coast Hospital/CEO Pile Up

On January 3rd Mendocino Coast Hospital held a special board of directors meeting. The agenda for the meeting appeared straight forward: a short open session…

Life & Family Ties of Gunman Mart Frost

In the 1860s the Frost and Coates families of Little Lake engaged in a running feud that culminated in a shootout outside Baechtel's Store on…

Of Lawmen and Lawbreakers

In the 1800s the Mendocino County Sheriff held a second job, that of tax collector. In the autumn of each year this duty entailed traveling…

Melburne History

A hundred years ago, in 1918, the Melburne Post Office closed, signaling a dwindling end for a once prosperous community along the Comptche Road, about…

Tom Bell’s Flat

Along the Comptche-Ukiah Road, east of the nearly forgotten town of Melburne, is a spot known to locals as Tom Bell's Flat (or Tom Bell…

Wayward Cattle

Here, along the Albion River, we are getting some much needed rain. A hard rain often sends our cattle uphill. Unfortunately, some of the current…

“Destroy This Document”

This starts innocuously enough with an email from Mendocino Coast District Hospital (MCDH) on November 9th announcing the agenda for the November 13th meeting of…

A Slice of Life from 1911

Here on the Macdonald ranch mid-autumn is a time to pick apples. In my youth, keeper varieties were stored in rectangular wooden bins on the…

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