Press release from the Eureka Police Department:

On April 11, 2026, at approximately 4:00 a.m., Officers with the Eureka Police Department responded to a burglary alarm at a business in the 200 block of 4th Street. Upon arrival, officers determined the business was secure.

At approximately 4:30 a.m., officers responded again to a second alarm activation. The business owner, who was monitoring the property via camera, reported that two suspects were seen attempting to gain entry through a side door using a crowbar. The suspects were confronted by the owner through the camera system and fled the scene when the alarm was activated.

Surveillance footage was shared internally by the Eureka Police Department and on social media by the business, leading to the identification of the suspects. On April 11, 2026, at approximately 10:45 p.m., officers located and arrested Michael Aubrey, 56, of Eureka, and Derek Aldrich, 37, of Rio Dell. Both were taken into custody on charges of burglary, conspiracy to commit a crime, and petty theft.

The Eureka Police Department would like to thank the community for their assistance in identifying the suspects.

Press release from United Indian Health Services:

United Indian Health Services (UIHS) announced today that it has become the first Indian Health Care Provider (IHCP) in California to successfully receive Medi-Cal reimbursement for Traditional Health Care Practices. This milestone follows the October 2024 federal approval of California’s Section 1115 CalAIM waiver, which authorized Medicaid coverage for cultural healing services as part of substance use disorder treatment for the first time in state history.

UIHS recently satisfied a claim under new California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) regulations, marking a significant step in integrating culturally rooted healing practices into mainstream healthcare.

“This milestone represents the culmination of decades of advocacy and the resilience of our communities,” said Elizabeth Lara-O’Rourke, CEO. “Recognizing the healing practices of our people as part of comprehensive care affirms what American Indian / Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities have always known - that culture is healing.”

For generations, Native communities have relied on traditional healers and natural helpers to provide holistic wellness, though these services were historically not eligible for reimbursement. By working through the state approval process, UIHS can now offer these culturally based healing services as part of everyday care and be reimbursed.

This milestone reflects UIHS’s ongoing commitment to making culturally grounded healing more accessible for Native communities.

About United Indian Health Services (UIHS) United Indian Health Services is a healthcare organization providing comprehensive, culturally competent care to AI/AN communities in Northern California. UIHS integrates medical, dental, vision, behavioral health, and traditional health services to support holistic wellness and continues to lead in advancing culturally grounded care.

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After three years of unprecedented closures that devastated California’s fishing industry, commercial salmon fishing is poised to reopen this spring.

The return comes with a catch: Regulators at the interstate Pacific Fishery Management Council will strictly constrain fishing dates and impose harvest limits for both commercial and recreational fishing to protect the threatened California Coastal Chinook. The council is set to finalize the details this weekend.

It’s not the season the fleet had hoped for after years of closures. But those who survived the shutdowns fear a graver threat: state and federal decisions could reshape California’s water systems and rivers.

“Water policy in California is about to change drastically and irreversibly, and nobody has the energy to pay attention to that,” said Sarah Bates, who fishes commercially from San Francisco. “I am concerned that salmon is going to be (commercially) extinct in our lifetimes.”

For the first time since 2022, Bates was preparing her century-old boat, the Bounty, docked at Fisherman’s Wharf. She ticked off the boat’s needs: an oil change, a hydraulics check, a run-through of the steering system, the anchor. Her fading fishing permit, now four years out of date, still clings to the outside of the cabin.

“Pay no attention to my paint job,” Bates said. “Try not to make my boat look bad.”

Looking at its cracking paint and tangled ropes, Bates — who wrestles waves and weather for a living and uses a fishing float dented by a massive shark bite — seemed a little daunted by the tasks ahead.

Without income from salmon, Bates allowed critical upkeep to lag. “There’s been a lot of deferred maintenance,” she said. “I’m actually a little worried about everybody charging out into the ocean in May to go fishing.”

‘A tremendous, avoidable hit’

Salmon is king in California. It’s what keeps the markets and restaurants buying, the industrial-scale ice machines running, the tourists booking charter boats and visiting the coast.

“It’s iconic,” said retired charter boat captain John Atkinson. “We have people who will fish every week for salmon. And for the other species, they come out once.”

But dams, water diversions, low flows and poor ocean conditions have driven decades of decline.

California experienced its driest three year stretch in history from 2020 through 2022 — worsening that burden and causing populations to plummet. Interstate fisheries managers cancelled commercial salmon fishing for an unprecedented three years in a row, and barred recreational fishing for all but a handful of days last year.

The financial damage was severe. California estimated the closures cost nearly $100 million in lost coastal community and state personal income during the first two years alone.

The fishing industry says these numbers vastly underestimate the economic and human costs: Boats went to the crusher, tourists took their money to other states, suppliers went out of business and fishers fled California or the industry altogether.

“This was a tremendous, avoidable hit. We have survived droughts throughout recent history, but none had impacts this drastic,” Vance Staplin, executive director of the Golden State Salmon Association, said in an email.

First: Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco on March 20, 2026. Last: Sunlight pours through a window of the Bounty, a commercial fishing vessel, on March 20, 2026. Photos by Jungho Kim for CalMatters

Sarah Bates, a commercial salmon fisher, stands at the wheel of her boat, Bounty, at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco on March 20, 2026. Photo by Jungho Kim for CalMatters

California has requested disaster assistance from the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. But federal aid has come slowly, and fallen short. The U.S. government has released only $20.6 million, and only for the 2023 closure.

“The entire framework for fishery disasters has to be totally redone,” said U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat and ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee. “We need something that is much faster, that is less political, that doesn’t depend on all the vagaries of multiple federal agencies and congressional appropriations.”

Rain, but little respite

The rains returned in 2023 — bringing the flows and cool water young salmon need to survive and complete their ocean migration.

Now, the Pacific Fishery Management Council projects that roughly 392,000 Sacramento River fall-run Chinook salmon are swimming off the coast. These are the mainstay of California’s salmon fishery — and the forecasts are better than last year’s, though still a fraction of the millions that returned historically. But the limited fishing season is not the respite that the industry had counted on.

“We’re happy to get some fishing this year,” Staplin, of the Golden State Salmon Association, said, “but if we want to preserve the businesses and families that define California’s coastal and inland salmon economies, we need a little compromise and balance in prioritizing water during droughts.”

A plan or a patch?

Two years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom released a plan aimed at protecting salmon from climate change.

The plan received mixed reactions.

Some scientists and members of the fishing community credited state agencies and the Newsom administration with concrete efforts like hatchery upgrades and cutting-edge genetic fish tagging. One$58 million state and federal effort — the Big Notch Project — connected salmon and other fish to prime floodplain habitat in the Yolo Bypass through seasonal gates.

“Anything that can be done is a help right now,” Atkinson said.

But others say that the strategy papers over policies that rob salmon of the cold water they need. California is built around nature-defying engineering that funnels vast amounts of water away from rivers to supply cities and the state’s $60 billion agricultural economy.

“As soon as it stops raining or snowing, we’re going to be back in the same situation with the salmon season closing,” said Jon Rosenfield, science director at The San Francisco Baykeeper. “If we don’t protect river flows and cold water storage, then we’re not protecting salmon.”

Some of the fiercest fights are over the contentious Delta tunnel and Newsom’s controversial deal with major water users, backed by $1.5 billion in state funding, to overhaul how farms and cities take water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the rivers that feed it.

Carson Jeffres, a senior researcher at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, takes a more moderate view — the effect on salmon will depend on how California agencies manage these projects, but the status quo isn’t an option.

“I just don’t see a world where the salmon are prioritized over human water needs — and I think we should plan for it,” he said. “Then that might be a more sustainable place.”

On top of state policies is a Trump administration that called for “Putting People over Fish” and adopted a plan in December to send more Northern California water to Central Valley farms.

State wildlife officials said at the time that Trump’s actions “run counter” to California’s efforts to improve salmon populations, “harming the California communities that rely on salmon for their livelihood.”

California Secretary of Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot acknowledged the state’s finite water supply can’t satisfy everyone’s priorities.

“There’s no shortage of finger pointing by some groups who argue that not enough water is remaining in our rivers for salmon and aquatic habitat, and other groups that suggest that not enough water is being diverted for California communities and agriculture,” Crowfoot said.

“Water management in California,” he said, “involves balancing water across these needs.”

Last year, the Newsom administration announced that nearly 70% of the salmon strategy’s action items were underway, and more than a quarter were already complete.

That’s “crazy math … What is your outcome measure?” said Bates. “For us, our outcome measure is enough fish to go fishing.”

Adapting to survive

In the absence of enough fish, the industry has been piloting new strategies to survive.

Back at Fisherman’s Wharf, a few rows over from Bates, Captain Virginia Salvador was getting ready to take a group out to troll for halibut and striped bass. Her French bulldog, Anchovy, wandered the deck between the ropes.

Salvador started her charter boat business, Unforgettable Fishing Adventures, during the salmon shutdown — and had to quickly expand her offerings.

Now, she runs barbecue and barhopping cruises around San Francisco Bay and takes passengers to McCovey Cove during Giants games. She teams up with food influencer Rosalie Bradford Pareja to offer a chef experience. And she still holds down a second job working in a hospital pathology laboratory.

“When you rely on a natural entity for your income, you have to learn how to deviate, pivot, expand,” Salvador said.

Captain Virginia Salvador on her boat, Unforgettable, at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco on March 20, 2026. Photo by Jungho Kim for CalMatters

Where the front row of charter boats line the street like storefronts, Bates’ row at Fisherman’s Wharf has the feeling of a neighborhood. One fisherman clambered down the ladder to Bates’ boat, where they swapped great white shark stories. Bates hollered to another neighbor every time a tourist wandered down the dock, bucket in hand, looking to buy fresh crab.

This neighbor, a tattooed and lanky and exhausted fisherman named Shawn Chen Flading, had been out all night. His 12 hour mission to retrieve crab pots turned into a 26 hour ordeal when his throttle cable broke.

At the time Flading bought his boat, before the shutdowns, it looked like a pretty good living.

“A lot of people — the older generation — put their kids through college, bought their homes. And it just disappeared,” Flading said. “I lost basically half my revenue for the past three years straight.”

He tries to fill the gap by advertising on social media and selling Dungeness crab directly off his boat. But the crab season, too, he said, has been disappointing.

Now, salmon fishing is once again on the horizon.

“Whatever limited opportunity we have for salmon, at least we’re getting the ball rolling,” Flading said to Bates across the water between their boats, over the San Francisco mix of cars, construction and seagulls. “Without that, we’re just stuck.”

Bates, leaning on the railing of her own boat, agreed. “I really understand why people are upset,” she said. “But also, I’m so excited to catch some fish. Even though it’s not enough. It’s not even close to enough.”

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Despite President Donald Trump’s putting his thumb on the scale, California Republicans refused to unite behind a single candidate for governor this weekend.

The party faithful, many of whom sported ‘Trump 2028’ ball caps and paid more than $1,000 in hotel and flights to gather in sunny San Diego, split their votes relatively evenly between Steve Hilton, a businessman and former Fox News host who received the president’s endorsement, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.

The final tally was 49% for Bianco and 44% for Hilton, both shy of the necessary 60% threshold to earn the party’s endorsement.

Hilton, a British-American who is leading all candidates in polling, entered the weekend as a relative party outsider. He called blocking Bianco’s endorsement “a major success” and said he remained “very confident” that he would secure one of the top two spots in California’s June 2 primary.

“Chad Bianco came into this convention assuming he’d got the whole thing in the bag,” Hilton said. “I think we made great progress this weekend to make it roughly even.”

The sheriff, who for months courted delegates and party insiders for the endorsement, was adamant that the final tally didn’t accurately reflect how much party support he has.

Hilton, one of the race’s top fundraisers, has raised more than $6.6 million so far, exceeding Bianco’s haul by more than $2 million.

“This changes nothing about our campaign,” Bianco said after the vote Sunday. Despite failing to garner even a majority of the votes, he also insisted, “I have the supermajority of the support from this room, way more than what that total indicated.”

“Endorsements are silly,” he added, before also acknowledging that an endorsement from the party “would have been nice.”

Amy Reichert, former candidate for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, films gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco at the California Republican Party convention in San Diego Resort on April 11, 2026. Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

Bianco made headlines last month for seizing hundreds of thousands of ballots cast in the special election for Proposition 50, the Democrats’ plan to redraw congressional districts, which voters approved. CalMatters was one of several news organizations that went to court to unseal the warrants that granted his seizure of ballots.

Uncertainty about GOP future

There was no denying that Republicans nationally could face brutal losses in the upcoming midterm elections, although the ocean breeze, harbor views and sunny mid-60s weather might have taken the edge off. Even some of the party’s conservative stalwarts acknowledged the uphill battle.

Speaking on a congressional panel moderated by former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Rep. Darrell Issa acknowledged that Republicans “may not hold the House in the midterms.”

Issa, who chose to retire rather than seek reelection after Democrats significantly redrew his 48th District as part of their Proposition 50 redistricting plan, agreed Republicans need to focus on local issues — not just national talking points — as a way to combat what he called “Trump derangement syndrome.”

“Is our base fired up?” Spicer asked Rep. Tom McClintock, who also spoke on the panel.

“I think maybe by summer,” McClintock said, “once we’re past all of the turbulence from Iran.”

Bashing Democrats provided some comedic relief and unity despite the bleak outlook — the president’s party almost always suffers losses in a midterm election. California Republicans reveled in the downfall of Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, who has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault and until this weekend was the Democratic frontrunner in the race for governor. His potential toppling added fuel to the Republican argument that Democrats, whose gubernatorial vote is split among eight candidates, are incapable of coherent leadership.

“It’s been a couple of hours, so I think we’re due for another Eric Swalwell ‘intern’-ruption,’” Hilton joked at the start of his remarks during a candidate forum on Saturday. “Good thing the Democrats have a great backup plan.”

Trump ‘should’ve stayed out of it.’

Political strategists theorized that Trump’s endorsement of Hilton would guarantee a Democrat’s victory in November, since it would consolidate the GOP vote and eliminate the possibility that Republicans could lock the Democrats out of the top-two primary in June.

But the party faithful in San Diego remain convinced that both Hilton and Bianco will continue to outperform a dysfunctional field of Democrats. Corrin Rankin, the California GOP chair, pointed to numerous polls that show Hilton and Bianco finishing in the top two.

“I don’t see why that wouldn’t still be the case,” Rankin told reporters on Friday. “Californians see that these two Republicans are better than any of the candidates the Democrats are offering.”

Rankin also said she was surprised that Trump weighed in on anything California-related. “This is not something that he typically does,” she said.

Bianco said he was unbothered by Trump’s decision to endorse his opponent. Throughout the weekend he received the celebrity treatment, strutting around the resort complex with an entourage of supporters in tow. Fans stopped him for selfies and videos for their social media channels. Many of them waved flags and signs bearing his name and phrases like, “Only the sheriff can save us now!”

“This has never been about an endorsement for me,” Bianco said after Saturday’s forum, where candidates for statewide offices made their final pleas to delegates. “This momentum, that excitement, was amazing. It certainly fires me up. It proves to me that I’m doing the right thing, and we’re gonna save our state.”

The sheriff’s supporters were similarly undeterred by Trump’s endorsement of his opponent.

“I’m not changing my vote. I don’t care who he supports. I’m voting for the best candidate for the state of California, and that’s not who he endorsed, in my opinion,” said April Huckabey, a delegate from Santa Barbara County. “He should’ve stayed out of it,” she added. “Let us run our state.”

Huckabey and her friend Leigh Collier, also from Santa Barbara, agreed the president’s endorsement would not sway Bianco supporters. But it might make some people who were on the fence consider Hilton more strongly.

Some of Hilton’s supporters were cautiously optimistic about the president’s endorsement, but they were also clear-eyed about how his association with Trump could backfire with people who don’t like the president.

“There’s so many people that just hate our president that you wonder, ‘Could it have a negative effect?’” said Pat Frizzeli, a delegate and the treasurer of the Calaveras County Central Committee. “You just worry.”

Vicky Reinke, chair of the Calaveras County Central Committee, said she was impressed by Hilton’s background in business as a startup founder, as well as his experience working for British Prime Minister David Cameron. She also liked his can-do attitude and willingness to follow through.

Their county’s annual Lincoln-Reagan dinner fundraiser, where Hilton was scheduled to be the keynote speaker, came on the same day as the funeral for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. Reinke was impressed that Hilton came to their event after attending the funeral in Glendale, Arizona.

“He could have canceled,” she said. “But he made sure he was still at our event as well as going to Charlie Kirk’s. We were very impressed by that.”

“Promises made, promises kept,” echoed Frizzeli.

Hilton argued that the Trump endorsement could only help him by firing up the party base, since Democrats would try to tie a Republican candidate like him to the president regardless. And despite party leaders’ hopes, he was also confident that there wouldn’t be a top-two GOP sweep in June.

“It’s very clear that I’m going to be in the top two. I don’t know who the Democrat will be, but it’s certainly going to be a Democrat,” Hilton said.

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Rep. Eric Swalwell suspended his campaign for California governor Sunday evening, days after two news outlets published explosive allegations of sexual assault and misconduct from four women, including a former staff member. He continued to deny the allegations in an announcement on social media.

Swalwell’s campaign collapsed Friday soon after the first report in the San Francisco Chronicle, in which the unnamed former staff member said Swalwell solicited oral sex from her while she was working for him and twice sexually assaulted her when she was too drunk to consent. The account was corroborated with medical records and by people the woman spoke with after the last incident, which she said took place in New York in 2024.

CNN later Friday published the same woman’s account, as well as those of three other women, one of whom said he kissed and touched her inappropriately and two of whom alleged he sent unsolicited nude photos and other inappropriate messages on Snapchat.

Dozens of supporters and staffers quickly dropped their support for him. Major unions and congressional candidates pulled their endorsements.

In his post, Swalwell apologized to his “family, staff, friends, and supporters,” saying “I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.”

Because he is leaving the race after a state deadline to file for or withdraw from a race, his name will still appear on the June 2 primary ballot.

One of the leading Democratic candidates for governor, Swalwell appeared to have dug his heels in Friday night. His attorney, Elias Dabaie, gave an interview on CNN saying he was still in the race. Swalwell himself spoke only in a video he posted to Instagram, calling the allegations “flat false.”

But by then he had already hemorrhaged supporters from across the Democratic establishment. Major labor unions on Friday suspended their support and over the weekend held emergency meetings to withdraw their endorsements. Democratic congressional leaders called for him to drop out, staffers quit or distanced themselves from him and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced it would look into the alleged 2024 assault.

He also faces mounting pressure from colleagues to resign from Congress, where he has represented parts of the San Francisco East Bay since 2013.

Reached by phone Sunday morning, campaign manager Yardena Wolf, Swalwell’s former congressional chief of staff, said she and other campaign staff had not spoken with the congressman. She said she was remained on Swalwell’s payroll to sign her subordinates’ paychecks.

Wolf was with Swalwell at a town hall in Sacramento last week where he forcefully denied rumors of inappropriate behavior to reporters and said he had never had any sexual encounters with any staff.

Swalwell ran primarily on his antagonism toward President Donald Trump, telling voters that fighting Trump is the California governor’s “number one job.”

In a field of seven major Democrats, he had better name recognition with liberal voters than many other candidates from his frequent appearances on cable news and his role chairing the second Trump impeachment in 2021. He quickly rose to the top of the polls among Democratic candidates, and garnered the largest share of support from state Democratic Party delegates during a convention in February.

He was also the center of controversies, including challenges about his California residency and questions about who invests in his AI campaign finance startup, which is used by some of his Democratic colleagues in Congress.

For much of the past two weeks, he was in a three-way tie for lead Democrat in the race, along with Katie Porter and Tom Steyer, all of whom trailed the two Republican candidates, Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco, raising concerns among Democrats that the two Republicans could take the top two spots in the June 2 primary election, advance to November and lock Democrats out of the seat.

Swalwell’s exit could allow another Democrat to surge into the lead, if most of his supporters flock to the same candidate.

Editor’s note: Anna Morrison Reed published accounts of her three trips to Humboldt County in her magazine, The Northern Crown, of May 1917. The text of the article has been made available by John E. Keller, her grandson, a resident of Lafayette, Calif., who published it in a book, Anna Morrison Reed, 1849-1921. This item covers his grandmother’s trip in 1872.

— The Humboldt Historian

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In the beautiful days of late spring, vocal with song of bird, and the murmur of running water, it was once the writer’s privilege to travel horseback over the old government trail from Cahto, Mendocino County, to Hydesville, in Humboldt.

Only a schoolgirl then, that imperative duty had called her from her books at Mrs. Perry’s Seminary in Sacramento, to a more active field of endeavor, and accompanied by her brother, only thirteen years of age, these two intrepid youngsters made this trip overland in the year of the Modoc War.

Much of the way was through an unbroken forest, where the curse of the ax and the blight of fire had not yet fallen.

Where the clean copper-brown boles of the giant trees, made a columned way for the riders, fern-fringed, and flower-bordered and fragrant with a thousand green, growing, blossoming things.

And through the more sacred hush of the greater silence of the denser woods, until the leaf-filtered sunlight seemed to fall through aisles of grandeur most sublime, where had echoed the anthem of the wind harps through ages of living song.

The start was made from Willits, then called Little Lake, later Willitsville, and now Willits, on May 4, 1872.

Anna M. Reed, in an author’s photo from an 1896 book of poetry. Public domain.

We had bought two horses for the trip from a blacksmith named Cameron, a bay horse of rather ungainly build and awkward gait, for Eddie, my brother, and a little white mare, neat and sure-footed for myself. Alex Montgomery, editor and owner of the “Mendocino-Democrat” at Ukiah, had given me a black leather side saddle, and Mart Baechtel, of Little Lake, sold us a boy’s saddle for Eddie. As we took no pack animal for baggage, I left my trunk, guitar and other belongings at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Baechtel, of Little Lake, and packing things absolutely in an old fashioned carpet sack, to hang on the horn of my saddle and a corresponding bundle to tie behind Eddie’s saddle, we started in good shape, and lightweight on the morning of the 4th of May.

Jim Burger, a well known stock buyer, at the time, rode out a few miles with us, giving us directions and warnings about the route we were taking.

We arrived at the Cahto Hotel, 24 miles from Little Lake, late in the afternoon, tired and hungry and were welcomed and refreshed by the hospitality for which Robert White and his wife were famed and took a good night’s rest for an early start in the morning.

On Sunday, May 5th, got away from Cahto in good season for the 25-mile ride to Blue Rock. Ezra Simpson, a brother of Mrs. Robert White, rode with us as far as the Pine Woods, in Long Valley, to see us safely on the trail.

Our way was over broken country steep and rugged, and it was after sundown when we reached Blue Rock. We were made comfortable by the family of Mr. Davidson, the brother of Joe Davidson, who was the mail carrier on the route. My last recollection of that evening, was that I went to sleep in the room ‘ with Mrs. Davidson and several little Davidsons while my brother Eddie was relegated to the stockmen’s quarters near the barn and corral.

Our next day’s ride brought us to Center Station, 34 miles from Blue Rock. We had ridden all day against a north wind, with occasional showers of cold rain and sleet, this day being the only bad weather encountered on the trip.

Center Station was a small log hut, where a boy whose name I have forgotten stayed to look after the horses for the mail carrier. The evening that we arrived the usual week’s supplies had not come in, and the sum total of provisions on hand were three withered potatoes, an empty flour sack, an onion and a slice of fat pork. Out of the vegetables and pork I made a stew, and shook the flour sack for enough flour to thicken it, and we fared sumptuously. After the collation we retired. The sleeping accommodations were two bunks, one above the other, and several gray blankets, but no mattresses. Eddie and the boy took the upper bunk and I the lower, which was harder than any board on which a Monk had ever done penance, and through a wide chink in the wall of the cabin the wind blew against my head all night. The next morning the supplies arrived, and we had a cup of black coffee before starting.

On May 7th, we only rode as far as Elk Prairie, 20 miles from Center Station. The trading post and stopping place at Elk Prairie, was kept by Ferris & Carroll. John Ferris, who impressed me as a university man, anyway a scholar and gentleman, had an Indian wife who cooked vension to perfection. We were very tired and hungry and the meal was delicious. In the large living room were two beds, in opposite corners and in front an immense fireplace, filled with generous logs. The flame lighted the room for ordinary purposes. After supper Eddie and I were assigned to one bed, the Indian wife of Ferris and another Indian woman took possession of the other, and presently, when all were still and presumably sleeping, Mr. Ferris and a little Indian boy about 8 years old came in quietly and laid down before the fire, covered by a blanket, and slept until early morn.

Reached Hydesville on the evening of May 8th, very tired. The trip along the river bottom lands after leaving Elk Prairie, was undescribably delightful. The trail ran under the giant redwood trees through light and shadow, and fragrance of the morning. Had we known that lurking near us was a band of marauding Indians intent on mischief, we might not have so thoroughly enjoyed the way. But such was the case, as witness the following letter from Judge Wyman, editor of the Humboldt Times, which appears here.

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J.E. Wyman. Photo via the Humboldt Historian.

Editorial Correspondence

San Francisco, May 13th, 1872

DEAR TIMES.—As you know I left Eureka on the afternoon of Wednesday, the 8th, instant, for San Francisco, overland, and believe a few lines concerning my trip will be acceptable. I sit down to write.

In company with Frank Farley I left Eureka for Hydesville, when after a speedy and pleasant ride in one of Messrs. Bullard & Sweasey’s turnouts, we arrived, stopping at Boynton Cheney’s hotel. During the evening I was favored with an introduction to Miss Anna Morrison, the accomplished and talented lecturess in whose company I spent an hour or two very agreeably. Knowing that before this time she has fully acquainted the people of Humboldt County with her views upon the declaration of principles as enunciated in the “Woodhull & Clafflin” platform. I will only add that her head is eminently “square” upon the question of “Woman Suffrage,” and it is to be hoped that she will meet with the cordial reception she certainly merits.

At half past four on Thursday morning a summons at the door warned me to prepare for a start. Got up and partook of breakfast which was in waiting, after which, at a quarter past five, in company with that “prince of good fellows,” Mr. Joe Davidson, the mail rider, the start was made. “Old Ben,” the animal provided for me by Messrs. Bullard & Sweasey, a veteran on the route, was the right “horse” in the right place, for he manifested a great aversion to being behind, always needed checking rather than urging. We were not long on the way before we struck the “Long Valley Wagon Road”—save the mark! I will only digress so far as to suggest the Board of Supervisors constitute themselves into a committee of three, for the purpose of “interviewing” that institution before authorizing the expenditure of any more of the public moneys after the style in which it has been laid out there.

At twelve o’clock we reached the opening at Camp Grant, on Eel River. Here we had quite a little “scare.” As we came to the bank of the river a woman — her name I do not remember — having a young child in her arms and two or three larger ones, came running towards us, from one of the houses on the campgrounds, screaming as she ran. When she had recovered her breath sufficiently, she answered our inquiries as to what was the matter.

She said that while absent from her home with her children a short time between nine and ten o ‘clock, gathering berries, the Indians had been there and robbed it of everything in it of value, including a small sum of money, and utterly destroyed whatever remained that they did not want to carry away. The husband of the woman was away, and she had been shouting from the bank of the river for two hours to alarm Mr. Dobbyns, who lives directly opposite and keeps the ferry, and have him come over with the boat to her assistance, but she could make no one hear, and she had come to the conclusion that Mr. Dobbyns and his family had all been murdered. It is the custom of the mail riders, by shouting, to notify the ferryman of their arrival and desire to cross. Mr. Davidson had already done this as we approached the river. After hearing the woman’s story he commenced shouting again and did so several times, receiving no answer.

We began to think something was indeed wrong, and Mr. Davidson was about to alarm some ranchmen down the river, but before doing so he sent forth another yell that went echoing in the distant hillsides. This brought the anxiously sought Dobbyns, and the suspense was soon over. We crossed the ferry, took dinner while the mail was being changed, and at one o’clock were again on our way. As we left, a few of the residents near the ferry were preparing to go in search of the Indians.

The family referred to are poor and by this depredation lose everything in the world they have. At three o’clock we reached Elk Prairie, changed animals and at half past three again started, and arrived at Center Station, a distance of fifty-five miles from, Hydesville, at a quarter past seven.

On Friday morning at six o’clock my journey resumed, but with new company. I had been obliged to part with “Old Ben,” and soon found that I had suffered by the change, but will not stop to say wherein.

Our road now lay pretty well up in the world, and was enveloped in a fog so dense that we could scarcely see a hundred feet distant, which made the ride at this early hour anything but comfortable or agreeable. Occasionally the high points over which the trail passed would reach above the fog, giving them the appearance of small islands amid a vast ocean of waters. At twelve o’clock we reached Blue Rock Station, twenty-eight miles from Center Station, where we took dinner and changed animals. At one o’clock started for Cahto, distance twenty-two miles, which we reached in the evening at six. At Bob White’s, where man and beast were kindly cared for, we took two square meals and a good night’s rest, which about this time were greatly appreciated by your humble servant.

On Saturday morning I jumped aboard the stage and whirled along over hill and down dale, up and down grades, through Sherwood Valley, Little Lake, Calpella to Ukiah, a distance of forty-five miles, where we arrived at 5 p.m.

The next morning, Sunday, at six o’clock, we got aboard a fine new Concord coach, drawn by four horses and, driven by Mr. Wm. H. force, our mail contractor, and having in all “only” twelve passengers for a load; passed through villages of Sanel, fifteen miles from Ukiah, thence to Cloverdale, sixteen miles further, where we arrived at one p.m. Got dinner and went on board one of the cars bound for Donohue, which left at two p.m. Passed through Healdsburg, 17 miles from Cloverdale, Santa Rosa, sixteen miles from, Healdsburg, Petaluma, sixteen miles from Santa Rosa, arriving at Donohue, six miles from Petaluma, at half past four. Thence we transferred to the steamer “Antelope,” which shortly left, arriving in San Francisco, at quarter before eight in the evening. Thus you see that I have made the trip through from Eureka to San Francisco, a distance of three hundred and twenty-six miles, in four days and five hours, including the four night’s stoppages.

I have no time to write further.

W. (Judge Wyman)

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Part of the trail ran over Uncle Sam Mountain, and it was steep and narrow, with insecure bridges over deep, rough waterways.

Eddie’s horse fell with him, an accident that was nearly serious, as his foot was caught in the stirrup, but my little mare stepped over the trail as sure-footed as a goat.

Mrs. Cheney, wife of the proprietor of the hotel at Hydesville, was very motherly and kind to the two wanderers, and after supper I was introduced to Judge Wyman, editor and proprietor of the Humboldt Times. He publishes at Eureka, who was on his way to San Francisco, overland. He is a kind and intelligent gentleman. A guitar was secured, and I played and sang and learned a new song from a young man whose name I do not remember. The song “I’m as Happy as the Day is Long,” was very sweet, and just suited my mood and I forgot the fatigue of the long unusual trip, knowing that I could rest for a day or so and get in trim to lecture and earn the money so needed.

On May the 9th I rested nearly all day, but we took a short drive with Mrs. Cheney, to look at Hydesville and its surroundings. Also made arrangements to lecture on the next evening.

May 10th, I lectured in the church to a good audience. My collection was $15. The following evening lectured in the same place, collecting $10.

On May the 13th, we went to Rohnerville, having forwarded an announcement of my lecture there. I spoke in Strong’s Hall, was introduced by Dr. Dorr, who I met sometime before in Trinity County. My collection was $20. Lectured there the next evening, having a collection of $16.

I sent announcements to Ferndale and lectured there on the evenings of the 15th and 16th, collecting $21.25.

We reached Eureka on the 17th of May. Stopped at Hogaboom’s hotel and arranged for a lecture at Ryan’s hall on the next evening, where I spoke to an overflowing house. My collection was $42.00. The Humboldt Times said this, among other things, of my lecture:

Her lectures are interesting throughout, and we see in Miss Morrison the elements of a first-class lecturess.

Her manner is pleasing, her language is good, and modesty marks the entire discourse.

She will deliver her farewell lecture on Saturday evening. May 25th, at Ryan’s Hall, which will doubtless be both instructive and interesting, and on which occasion the Eureka Brass Band will be in attendance.

We are requested to state that Miss Morrison will lecture at Arcata on Monday and Tuesday evenings, and at Trinidad on Saturday and Sunday evenings, of next week, and it is with pleasure that we commend her to these communities.

I lectured at Ryan’s Hall, as announced, on May 25th, and my receipts were $40.25. I had also spoken on the 22nd, collecting $30.25.

The following is the testimonial given me by the citizens of Eureka, upon the occasion of my benefit lecture

Having listened with pleasure to the lecture delivered by Miss Anna M. Morrison in Eureka, and recognizing her ability and the worthy object she has in view in her public addresses, we cheerfully unite in the expression of hope for her future success and bespeak for her a full house on Saturday evening, on the occasion of her lecture as announced, upon the subject of “Moral and Social Reform.

Signed: Joseph Russ, W.H. Havens, J. Carr, C.T. Roberts, David E. Gordon, John T. Young, C.H. Heney, Capt. E. Tomilson, Wm. H. Pratt, Dr. D.U. Lindsay, J.E. Wyman, J.W. Henderson, John Kelcher, T. Walsh, M.H. Mooney, A.G. Brown, C.T. McKay, John Miller, P.H. Ryan, F.A. Week, N. Bullock, B.L. Wait, Chas. W. Long, J.E. Hitchborn, W.B. Thorpe.

Eureka, May 24, 1872.

The Humboldt Times also said:

We bespeak for her a full house. The object she has in view is a noble one, which is the purpose of obtaining means to assist in supporting her father’s family and to complete her own education.

After lecturing at Arcata and Trinidad, on May 27, 28, 29 and 31, collecting for the four lectures $91.12, we returned to Eureka to prepare for our journey to Crescent City. Our adventurous trip to that place will be described in another article.

The observations and experiences of this trip left a deep impression of the beauty, resources and possibilities of Humboldt, which was expressed in the following tribute written sometime after I left the county:

HUMBOLDT
by Anna M. Reed

The mem’ry of thy sunny vales
sleeps in my heart;
Where berries gleamed in golden heat
Beneath June’s softly ling’ring feet;
Where, on the summers slumb’rous breast
The Winds the yielding days caressed.

Thy blossoms, wet with fragrant dew,
have brushed my cheek;
While wandering in the woods along,
I heard the birds’ exquisite song;
And marveled not that life should seem
So like a sweet, delicious dream.

From streams of water cold and pure,
my lips have quaffed;
Where, in the forest dark and deep.
The somber shadows seem to sleep;
Where pallid lilies bloom and die.
Denied the radiance of the sky.

My wond’ring feet went o’er thy hills
in sweet content;
That destiny to me assigned
A pleasant task of heart and mind;
And led me, for a little while.
Beneath the blessing of thy smile.

The glorious promise of thy years
Spoke to my soul;
And in the future thou shalt meet
A grand fruition proud and sweet;
And bloom untouched by blight or ban,
A country blessed by God and man.

Sandra ‘Sandy’ Cofer passed away on March 29, 2026, in Vancouver, Washington surrounded by her two daughters and one of her grandsons.

Sandy was one of four children born to Illa Deadrick and one of five children born to Rene Daignault on April 18, 1941, in Lily of the Valley Hospital in Lewiston, Idaho. The first few years of her life were spent with her mom, dad, and brother Pete. After her parents divorced, she stayed with her mom until the age of twelve at which point she took a train from Minnesota to Oregon to live with her dad and brother Pete. While in Oregon they spent some time living in North Bend where a love of nature was inspired by exploring the local coast. They also spent some time living in Eugene.

The three of them finally settled in Eureka. Sandy was very fond of a trampoline class that she took in high school and would often talk about how it taught her to fall correctly so as not to hurt herself. She graduated from Eureka High School in 1959. She started working at a local paint store and decided to pursue a nursing degree at Humboldt State University. She decided that nursing wasn’t her thing and ended up quitting college, but while there she met the love of her life, Larry Cofer. She saw him walking down a hill on campus. He was wearing some wing-tipped shoes, and she thought he was a pretty ‘snazzy’ dresser. She had the fortune of officially meeting him at a frat party that she was attending as the date of his best friend. They were married on November 9, 1962, at a Methodist Church in Eureka. Sandy and Larry were married until his passing in January 2014.

In the mid-1960s, Sandy started working as a phone operator for AT&T. While there she got to try her hand at acting in a couple of plays that the company produced for their employees. She loved dressing up. ‘Dressing to the nine’ she would call it. She loved fancy things, especially the little white convertible MG that her and Larry took on an unforgettable road trip to stay at Timberline Lodge by Mt. Hood in Oregon.

She and Larry started out their married life living in a triplex where they met lifelong friends that she also attended Scared Heart church in Eureka with. There were a lot of dinner and house parties. As children started getting added to the mix the social circle just got bigger. The families spent lots of time at Sequoia Park. Later in life her and Larry belonged to a dance club. They would get all dressed up, leave their daughters with a babysitter, and go out dancing.

Sandy become a mom for the first time on June 13, 1966, to her daughter Cindy. Three and a half years later she became a mom to daughter Pamela. After having Cindy, she quit the phone company and decided to try her hand at in-home childcare. She also started teaching CCD for the church and helped with the children’s programs.

In 1976 Sandy and her family moved to the Grace Park area of McKinleyville. She became actively involved with Christ the King Catholic Church in McKinleyville where she continued to teach religious education as well has becoming a Lector and catechist for different children and adults. She also started working as a teacher’s aid at Morris School and as a playground monitor at McKinleyville Jr. High. The job Sandy ended up working at until her retirement in 2014 and the one she will be most remembered for was as a salesclerk for what was Ron & Betty’s Drug Store. The drug store eventually became Rite Aid. She was well known in the community for her friendliness, kindness, and generosity. She was full of compassion and had a gentle soul.

Sandy was actively involved in looking in on and helping with her extended family. She loved all the holidays and decorating the house. She hosted the family holiday dinners. She loved taking things she collected from nature and making ‘educational’ nature displays. In her early adult years, she dappled in charcoal drawing and described herself as an artist and writer. She also enjoyed painting ceramics. She loved crazy socks and had a very colorful coordinated closet full of clothes. She loved jewelry and shopping.

In 2016 Sandy was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and relocated to Vancouver, WA to be closer to her youngest daughter’s family. She was always in good spirits and was always willing to try something new even as her illness progressed. She was very fond of eating out.

She is survived by her daughter’s Cindy and Pamela; grandchildren Zac, Josh, and Brielle; great-grandchildren Nick, Emma, Waylen, Clint, Luke, and Charlie; her brother Joe and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband Larrry; her parents Rene and Illa; and her siblings Michael, Peter, Andy, Evelyn, and Linda.

The service will be held on April 17, 2026, at 9 a.m. at St. Bernard Catholic Church in Eureka. A graveside service will be immediately following with a gathering back at St. Bernard parish hall.

Arrangements under the direction of Sanders Funeral Home, Eureka.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Sandy Cofer’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.