Surprise Valley History Preservation and Sharing
STORIES
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD
By Maxine Heard Maguire
April 1992
We lived in the country, about two miles from Lake City, California. The
houses were about a quarter of a mile apart. The George and Minnie (Toney)
Heard’s, Harry and Josephine (Quirk) Toney, Mervin and Jewel (Franklin)
Toney, George and Mary Jane (Cole) Toney (Grandma and Grandpa to us) lived
in the neighborhood. And then there was the George and Emma Stiner and Mable
and Emery Cole (Grandma Toney’s brother).
The Soldier Creek school was a major part of our neighborhood. Mother Minnie
Heard was the teacher. Often a major part of the students were her
relatives. Aunt Jewel was the janitor. In the morning she would walk across
the road and make a fire in the high round stove in the center of the one
room school. She also had to bring fresh water as we did not have a well.
Our only cup was a dipper. In the evenings Aunt Jewel would come and sweep
the floors and tell mother the news of the day.
Soldier Creek was a one room school. The teacher teaching all grades. When
families lived too far from the school like in Nevada, Adell, the Bare Ranch
near Eagleville, children would live with other families and go to Soldier
Creek School. Winola Stewart lived with Aunt Jewel and Uncle Mervin her
first two years of school. Irene Bunyard lived with us, the teacher as her
mom and dad. Susie and Elvy were working at the Bare Ranch south of
Eagleville.
One spring day there was great excitement at our school. A family in wagons
camped in front of the school yard. They were moving from Idaho to Surprise
Valley to live on the Strod place near the alkali lake. There were several
children. Aury Smith being the oldest; Eugene was a younger boy. It really
increased the enrollment of our school. Some children who were not
relatives!
In winter when it was cold and dreary we were invited over to Aunt Jewel’s
for a candy pull. What fun! Across the road was Soldier Creek. In the winter
we often took boards and sledded on the small hill or made snowmen and snow
forts. We all bundled up with warm coats and "long Johns". My how we looked
forward to Easter Sunday. Though it was still nippy we were given the
privilege of leaving them off for the day.
The Friday before Easter we always had an Easter egg hunt. To prolong the
hunt Mother would hide peanuts. The baseball diamond was behind the school.
Mother always had quite a competitive team and would play the other schools:
Forty Nine, Lake City, Goose Creek, and sometimes we traveled as far as Fort
Bidwell. (They had a good team as the Indian children no longer had their
school on the reservation and went to the public school.)
Choke cherry bushes grew along the fence rows. School was out so we didn’t
get to harvest the berries that make a very tasty jelly. There was a barn at
the school. One side for the wood, the other side was for the Vernon’s
(cousins) and Bill Atkinson to leave their horses as they rode horseback to
school. They lived out of the district in the foot hills.
On May Day Mother had us dance the May Pole with long strips of pink and
white crepe paper. We practiced for what seemed like days getting ready for
the big day. The music was from a wind up phonograph. I can almost hear the
beat of the music. By the way, the boys went one direction around the pole
and the girls went the opposite to make the basket weave effect. There were more boys than girls, so Mrs. Heard made Kesner Tony dress up like a girl so it would work out even. Many a girl
got her shins kicked as they did a fancy little kick.
About 11:00 Mother put a flat milk pan on the stove with water. Each child
who wanted hot soup for lunch put their glass jar in the pan of water. By
noon it was hot enough for lunch. Most had home made soup, while a few had
store bought alphabet soup.
Each family had a gentle horse for us to ride. Kennon and Maxine’s was a
black horse named Peggy. Kesner, Dorothy and the rest of the Toney family
had a horse called Snip. The Stewart’s horse was named Cricket. What fun to
climb on a fence, jump on and go riding off bare back (without a saddle).
Kennon and I were fortunate to have two seated buggy called a surrey. Yes,
at one time it had fringe around the top with oil lanterns on the side.
Peggy was trained to pull the surrey. Loaded with kids we traveled around
the neighborhood.
We had dairy cows. The Toney’s had black and white Holstein cows. The Heard’s
had brown jersey cows. The milk was stored in 5 and 10 gallon cans in a tank
of water in the milk house until it was picked up by wagon and taken to the
Lake City Creamery where cheese and butter was made. We often made our own
butter. When Grandpa Toney was the driver we were allowed to ride along. The
cheese man gave us a taste of the cheese as it was being made.
In Lake City there was the town hall, the cheese factory, a grocery store
with gasoline, a post office, the Lake City flour mill and two churches, the
Lake City Baptist and the Seventh Day Adventist Churches. The town hall was
a meeting place, a dance hall and decorated every Christmas with two tall
trees for the program. Lighted candles were not used then but to us it was
wonderful. There was a sack of candy for every child prepared by the ladies
of the community. The grocery store was run by Carrie Garrett who lived in
the back of the store. The Lake City flour mill was run by the Odberts. It
was a busy place in the fall as farmers brought grain to be made into flour.
It was ground on shares. So many shares for the mill owner, so many for the
farmer. The flour made wonderful home baked goods as no additives were
added.
There were great Thanksgiving gatherings and family group pictures were
always taken.
Grandpa Toney’s (George) birthday in January was another gathering of the
family. He liked oyster stew, so that was prepared with much flair.
Another family gathering was in the fall during Quail season. Quail tamale
pie. It took all day to make big baking pans full. The wonderful aroma
filled the house. It was hard to wait for supper. (The late afternoon meal.)
Our family gathering we had at the Bare Ranch. Kesner Toney stuck red dried
beans up his nose and had to be taken to the Doctor in Cedarville. Another
outing we enjoyed during the summer was going swimming at Leonard Baths.
Auntie Winnie and Uncle Bide owned and operated the baths. There was a
natural hot springs so the temperature of the water could be controlled.
Once a week the pool had to be emptied and scrubbed down to keep it clean.
The Fourth of July was another Community and family celebration. Sometimes
it was held in the grove on the Toney place. I can remember big, big
celebrations in Lake City; with a parade; yes, "Uncle Sam" was there dressed
in red, white, and blue. They had made a platform for speeches and
presentations. In the evening after folks had gone home and milked the cows
and did the chores some returned to an open air dance.
Aunt Jewel and Uncle Mervin had an ice house. It was built with double walls
filled with sawdust. In the winter, men and boys would go to a pond behind
Uncle Mervins, on the Enoch Reynolds place, and saw huge blocks of ice. They
were packed and filled the room with straw between blocks. How wonderful to
have ice for ice cream and cold drinks during the summer. The ice usually
lasted until late July or August.
Mrs. George Stiner was the telephone operator. We all had telephones. There
was a code, different rings for different people; two shorts and two longs,
three shorts, etc. To phone out of our area you phoned Mrs. Stiner. She had
the switch board and could connect you with phones to the North and to the
South. you could pick up the received as all called went into all houses. A
great deal of eaves-dropping went on. Mrs. Stiner knew all the news.
Our oldest cousin, Jimmy Toney, Uncle Willie’s son, lived with his mother,
Aunt Gene in Hayward, Ca. Uncle Willie died during the First World War.
Jimmy came to spend the summer vacation with the family.
Dorothy Rinehart was Laurence Seyforths step-daughter. She lived on the
corner near the Heards. She was very very much a part of our neighborhood. I
remember her horse was short and round, called Shorty, enabling Dorothy to
ride side saddle (both feet on one side) bare back. What a trick. None of
the rest of us were able to master this stunt. Aunt Jewel and Uncle Mervin
had an apple orchard. In the fall we were allowed to go over from school and
gather apples. There was one I remember called a snow apple. A cider mill
was brought into the orchard and everyone came and helped. Gallons of apple
juice (cider) were hauled home to drink fresh until it began to ferment and
now it was called hard cider. It was then put into big wooden barrels in the
cellar to become apple cider vinegar. Something called "Mother" was added to
make vinegar. I never did find out where it came from. Could have been saved
from the previous year.
I remember our first battery operated radio. It was in the early 1930’s.
Kennon and Kesner kept looking in back to see where the voices were coming
from!
We got our first electric power in the late 1930’s. Kennon and Kesner worked
on putting the power line in the Valley and helped wire some houses for
electricity.
Keeping fresh meat was a problem, so hams and bacon were a big source of
meats. Everyone had a smoke house or access to one. Butchering the pigs for
meat was done in the late winter while the weather was still cold. Some took
the slaughtered hogs across the lake to a hot springs as they had to be
scalded and the bristles shaved while hot. We ate lots of fresh pork when it
was in season. Pork was ground and seasoned and stuffed in long thin bags,
dipped in lard and hung in the smoke house. Oh, yes, there was the rendering
of the fat to make lard. That was put in gallon cans for cooking. A good job
gave a nice white lard. If it was too hot or cooked too long, it was
brownish with a strong flavor.
Later on in the spring, time permitting, lye soap was made in large black
kettle. This was done outside with a bonfire. Large wooded paddles were used
to stir the water lye and meat scraps. Again if it didn’t get too hot, a
nice white soap was the results. This liquid was poured into large flat pans
to let dry and cut into bars. This soap was great for washing clothes and
household cleaning. Very hard on the hands.
During the summer when the harvest was taking place and many people to cook
for different families would take turns killing cattle for fresh meat. They
would trade front quarters and hind quarters.
(Note: The surry above was completely restored by Kennon & Ruth Heard and is
on loan at the Modoc County Fairgrounds in Cedarville.)
~~~~~~
Billie C. & Anita 'Jean' Reynolds
Armed Forces Emergency Service Caseworker
American Red Cross
Three Rivers Chapter, Yuba City, CA
---
Family Researcher of "The Last Frontier"
Modoc County, California
Here is a story from Elizabeth Reed:
My ancester--Nehemiah FitzGerald--came to California because, being a
Confederate soldier, there was no opportunity in his native Virginia. He
first tried Louisiana where things turned out to be just as bad. So the hope
of opportunity is what "lured" him to Modoc County, CA, area.
Stan Harris
(now deceased and formerly a geneologist on this list) told me that many
Confederates soldiers came to Ft. Bidwell, after the war. If they signed the
oath, the US allowed them to go to the frontier posts to protect the
settlers.
Nehemiah FitzGerald never signed the oath, had left the army, and had
finished his education before he stepped off a ship in San Francisco in
1867. He began to secure various teaching positions in Chico and Rio Seco
(1868); Quincy and Live Oak (1869), Cherokee Flat in 1870, and Gridley's
Station in 1871 before arriving in Lake City in 1872 (in what is now Modoc
County).
In addition to teaching, he bought sheep at one point and did
establish a homestead next to an earlier arrival from Oregon--the
Garrett family--and married their daughter. (It was said that they left
Oregon because they couldn't stand the rain and had heard that cattle were
cheap in California because of a drought.)
He later became the first
recorder or county clerk of Modoc County and moved to Alturas (then Dorris
Bridge) in 1874. There he also taught occasionally, did some merchandizing,
and raised cattle and sheep.
Elizabeth Reed
Tucson, AZ
From Scott Myers, commenting on the above:
It could have been gold mining sure, or possibly logging, or farming,
and the railroads were popping up in the 1870s which provided great
opportunities for land speculators, entrepreneurs, businessmen large and
small. Also, Modoc County was a crossroads for the Lassen Applegete
Trail bringing settlers north from nevada to the Oregon Trail and south
to trails leading into California's central valley, again, this influx
of people would provide a ready made clientel for the entrepreneur or
small businessman.
If you haven't done so already, perhaps you should search the BLM
Database and see if your ancestor ever got a Land Grant through the
Homestead Act? This would give some indication of whether he was
farming or ranching. Like Elizabeth said, opportunities for ranchers
were ripe as well.
Scott A. Myers
Fort Leavenworth, KS
From Billie and Jean Reynolds:
THIS HAS BEEN RETYPED FOR THE BENEFIT OF CLARITY. THE ORIGINAL PAPER
CLIPPING WAS FROM THE NEWSPAPER IN ST. JO, TEXAS. THE YEAR IS UNKNOWN,
HOWEVER IT IS VERY LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN IN 1884. AS I UNDERSTAND THE TRIP
FROM TEXAS WAS MADE IN 1883. K. W. (Buzz) HEARD
LETTER FROM CALIFORNIA
Through the courtesy of our friend, La Fayette Cobb, we were shown this week
a letter received by him from Mr. K. G. Heard, formerly of this county, now
living at Lake City, California. Mr. Heard and family appear, from the tenor
of the letter, to be in the enjoyment of health and plenty out there on the
Pacific coast, the loss of a couple of oxen, lacking only ten days of six
months travel. The journey seemed almost endless, but since it was
completed, they don’t regret having made it. Their oxen sold lately, seven
yokes, for $100 a yoke all round.
It was a Cheyenne that Parson Reynolds left them, going on to Union county,
Oregon, about 500 miles north of Heard and Lighty. Letters from him say he
Is well pleased. Heards live in Surprise Valley, just south of the Oregon
line, a valley about 60 miles long and 10 miles wide. The Sierra Nevada
mountains extend along the west side, over a mile high. The timer consists
principally of pine, fir, tamrock, cedar, juniper, alder, willow, wild
cherry, and a growth they call balm of gilead. Several lakes dot the valley,
some of them quite large. There are four towns, and at the north end of the
valley Ft. Bidwell, where are stationed several companies of soldiers.
Lake City has a good school. They have a stage route and daily mail, but the
nearest railway is at a distance of a hundred miles.
The Heards are likely soon to become large land-owners. Mr. Heard himself
has 320 acres, and two of his sons, Porter and Bud, are improving and taking
homesteads of 160 acres each.
Mr. Heard writes that the climate is mild. Though it gets colder than in
Texas, he doesn’t look on it as being half so disagreeable. It is, in his
opinion, the healthiest country he ever lived in, "chills and fever," is a
strange term there. Wheat, oats, and barley are the principal crops.
Timothy, red-top and wild grasses grow well. Fruit, especially small fruit,
is very fine.
Their gardens generally require irrigation, but cabbage-heads sometimes
attain a weight of 28 pounds. Irish potatoes, 5 pounds. Other vegetables
proportionately large.
They go fishing with pitchforks. There are plenty of deer and some few
bears. The prices of land, cattle, horses, mules, pork, &c, are about the
same as in Texas.
A letter bringing a good deal of interesting information. It was written and
started on the 4th of February; reached St. Joe on the 18th. (1884)
NOTE: Originally they were heading to Oregon - for farm land.)
Billie and Jean Reynolds
Chico CA
From Janece Carter Streig:
My husband's family came to Modoc County about 1878 from Hamburg. There was
still land available for sale in CA in some of the outlaying areas (not prime
gold country) and they purchased a homestead. The stepfather, Carl STREIG,
was dodging mandatory military service in Germany. They had been very poor in
Germany and could not possibly ever see a chance to own their own land there.
The mother, Wilhelmina, had been a servant in Germany, and once they moved to
Modoc County, she became one for the Linville family in Goose Lake, until
they had their own place.
Janece Carter Streig
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jcstreig/
