Press release from Humboldt Bay Fire:

On 3/18/2024 @ approximately 03:20 Humboldt Bay Fire responded to a reported house on fire on Surfside Drive in the Humboldt Hill area of Eureka. Humboldt Bay Fire responded with 1 Chief Officer, 3 Fire Engines and 1 Fire Truck for a total of 14 professional fire service personnel.

The first fire crew arrived on scene and reported a fire burning in the home. Units quickly went to work to simultaneously search for trapped occupants, remove smoke from the residence, and extinguish the fire. The fire was extinguished in about 45 minutes. It took approximately 2 hours to stabilize the entire incident. After the fire was extinguished Humboldt Bay Fire Department investigators began to determine the cause of the fire, which is still under investigation at this time. PG&E responded and removed the utility hazards.

Total estimated property value saved is $400,000. Damage is estimated at $175,000, and there was no civilian or firefighter injuries.

Humboldt Bay Fire would like to remind everyone that overloading a home with belongings can lead to significant fire danger. This can cause difficulty evacuating in an emergency and if there is a fire it can cause very heavy smoke and flame conditions making an already dangerous problem worse.

Press release from the Fortuna Police Department:

Chief Day!

On Friday, March 15, 2024, Fortuna Police Chief Casey J. Day graduated as a member of the 289th session of the FBI National Academy. The graduation took place at the National Academy in Quantico, Virginia on March 15, 2024. Chief Day is the first executive from the Fortuna Police Department to ever complete this prestigious program. Nationally, fewer than one percent of officers have the opportunity to attend the program.

Internationally known for its academic excellence, the National Academy offers ten weeks of advanced communication, leadership, and fitness training. Participants must have proven records as professionals within their agencies to attend. On average, these officers have 21 years of law enforcement experience and usually return to their agencies to serve in executive-level positions. Chief Day has been the Chief of Police in Fortuna since July of 2020.

The 289th session consisted of one-hundred and ninety-seven law enforcement officers who graduated on Friday from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. The 289th session of the National Academy consisted of men and women from 47 states and the District of Columbia. The class included members of law enforcement agencies from 23 countries, four military organizations, and five federal civilian organizations. Quote from Chief Day: “It was an honor to be selected and to attend the 289th session of the National Academy”. “I want to thank my wife Amber and my family for the overwhelming support while I was away”.

“I also want to thank the members of the Fortuna Police Employees Association, my command staff, City Manager Merritt Perry and the Fortuna City Council for their unwavering support while I attended the National Academy”. The National Academy is one of the finest leadership institutions in the world and I will always be grateful for the opportunity to attend”.

Bio Chief Day:

Casey is the 18th Chief of Police for the Fortuna Police Department. Casey has a Masters Degree from Arizona State University in Criminal Justice and a Bachelors Degree in Organizational Leadership from Simpson University. Casey is a graduate of the POST Management Course and POST Executive Development Course and is also a graduate of the prestigious POST Command College. Casey is the Region 1 Representative for the California Police Chief’s Association Board of Directors and served as the immediate past President for the Law Enforcement Chief’s Association of Humboldt. Casey is a United States Marine Corps veteran and served domestically and abroad.

About Fortuna Police:

The Fortuna Police Department is a full service municipal police department serving the City of Fortuna, which is located in the Eel River Valley region of Humboldt County California.

About the FBI National Academy:

FBI Academy instructors, special agents, and other staff with advanced degrees provide the training; many instructors are recognized internationally in their fields. Since 1972, National Academy students have been able to earn undergraduate and graduate credits from the University of Virginia, which accredits many of the courses offered. A total of 54,985 graduates have completed the FBI National Academy since it began in 1935. The National Academy is held at the FBI Training Academy in Quantico, the same facility where the FBI trains its new special agents and intelligence analysts.

Annette Marie Adams
June 23, 1949 – March 15, 2024
74 years old
Ferndale, California

Annette Marie Adams, a beloved mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, and dear friend, passed away peacefully on March 15, 2024, at the age of 74, in Ferndale.

Born on June 23, 1949, in Scotia, Annette was the daughter of Mary Ellen Laffranchi and the late Severino Laffranchi. She grew up alongside her brothers, Robert and Donald Laffranchi, in a loving and large family.

Annette is survived by her mother, Mary Ellen Laffranchi, her brother, Donald Laffranchi, as well as her children: Kassie McCall, Tina White, Paula Dickerson, and James Adams, along with their spouses: Rodney McCall, Paul White, Maggie Adams, Danny Dickerson, Jeremy Farley, and Sean Hamilton. Annette’s legacy continues through her grandchildren: Jordan Kortus and husband Ben, Wyatt McCall and wife McKenzie, Myranda Hamilton, Madison Adams, Austin White, and Emma McCall, Samiro Adams, and Taviano Adams as well as her great- grandchildren: Cooper, Reign, Jackson, Ramiri, Walker, Baker (to arrive in June), and another great-grandchild on the way. She is also survived by her sisters-in-law: Cheryl and Carol Laffranchi and her nieces and nephews: Donald Laffranchi, Lauri Laffranchi, Michelle Laffranchi, and Nicole Laffranchi.Annette was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Samuel Adams, her father, Severino Laffranchi, and her brother, Robert Laffranchi.

Annette attended California Polytechnic State University, in San Luis Obispo and had a deep love for flowers. She found joy in tending to her flower gardens and decorating the Church of the Assumption with flowers for holidays. Annette’s generous spirit was evident in her love for hosting family reunions and events, where she cherished spending time with her large family and extensive network of friends. Over the years, Annette enjoyed raising her children at home, working for Home Depot Corporate office in Atlanta, Georgia, and spending over twenty years employed with C Crane in Fortuna, where she developed a work family that she treasured over the years.

Throughout her life, Annette’s kindness and compassion touched the lives of all who knew her. She lived in Ferndale most of her life but also had the opportunity to live in Germany, Texas, and Georgia.

Annette’s memory will forever be cherished by her family and friends. She leaves behind a legacy of love, generosity, and warmth that will continue to inspire those who were fortunate enough to know her.This obituary was created in celebration of Annette’s life by her children.

A viewing and rosary will be held for Annette on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Church of the Assumption in Ferndale at 7:15 p.m.

A celebration of Annette’s life will be held at The Church of the Assumption in Ferndale on Saturday, March 23, 2024, at 9 a.m. with a graveside service and reception to follow.

Annette had a love of flowers, however, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Church of the Assumption in Ferndale in Annette’s honor.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Annette Adams’ loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.

“All new thinking is about loss/In this it resembles all the old thinking.”

— Robert Hass, Meditation at Lagunitas

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So much of my, and perhaps your, experience of life centers around loss and absence. Aging is the loss of youth, sickness the loss of health, homeless the loss of home, hunger and thirst the absence of food and drink, divorce the loss of a stable relationship, dementia the loss of sanity, dark and silence the absence of light and sound, death the absence of life…

In my experience, loss feels much more important than gain: Louisa and I have a game we play, when one of us finds something that was lost — keys, phone, library book. “Are you are as happy to have found it as you were unhappy when it was lost?” we ask the other. No, never. Loss is so much more intense! Loss is visceral — I can feel it in my body when my phone goes missing. But when I find it, it’s just, “Oh good, move on.”

It’s said that we only really appreciate someone by their absence. That was sure the case with “losing” both parents: regrets at not having this or that conversation, asking them questions that I’ll never know the answer to, wishing I’d said this or that I hadn’t said that. (For instance, they both lived through the depression, which was as catastrophic in Britain as it was in the US, if not more so. I wish I’d asked my Mum and Dad about their experience in the thirties.) Is that why we, at least as a society, fret about death? The loss of this body (presumably, unless death conquers all, including the First Law of Thermodynamics), the loss of memories (Second Law), the loss of sensation, of sunrises and sunsets, aroma of coffee, rain, stars at night?

I don’t hold with those who cling to the forlorn hope that death isn’t a loss at all, but a gaining of many good things in a blissful hereafter. Nor would I want that. The ancient Greeks, facing the approaching loss of life, were more down to Earth about their prospects; their hereafter was dull, dreary and boring as hell. Not Hell, though. Hades wasn’t a place of punishment, and (at least in their early mythology) saints and sinners shared the same fate: Your essence/psyche departed from your corpse, and there you were, rich man, poor man, beggar man and thief, stuck for ever in the gloom.

So, loss: Intrinsic to life and death. Alexander Graham Bell said that, when one door closes, another opens. Which, to this realist, sounds like sour grapes. Better to spend a few minutes or years fully grieving one’s loss than carrying on stoically and optimistically. And to remember, we feel loss acutely for good reason, because there were and are lessons to be learned in life. We’d never learn if we didn’t feel the pain/guilt/remorse which accompanies loss. And, if all else fails, there’s always Janis singing Kris Kristofferson: Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose…

We lost Janis, who joined the 27 Club (along with Brian, Jimi, Jim, Kurt and Amy) in 1970. That’s one loss I still grieve.

Jean Carolyn Johnston Lawry — longtime bookstore manager and proud mother, grandmother, sister, and auntie — passed away at her home in Eureka on February 20, 2024. She was 81.

The middle child of Wayne and Virginia (Mullin) Johnston, Jean was born January 17, 1943, in Oakland. Along with her older siblings Bill Johnston and Judy Johnston Giannini, the family moved to Eureka in 1945, where Jean was later blessed with two more siblings - Helyn Johnston and Wayne (Corky) Johnston.

Following in the footsteps of her big sister, Jean attended St. Bernard’s High School in Eureka, graduating in 1961. It was at St. Bernard’s where she first met Neal Tierney (Class of ‘59). The two married in 1963 and had three children together - Jennifer, David, and Michael. Although the marriage ultimately ended, Jean and Neal remained friends throughout their lives.

In her early twenties, Jean worked for a few years as a teller at Bank of America in Eureka. Soon, however, her true calling became too strong to ignore, and she went to work in the family business — Fireplace Bookshop, located at the old Eureka Mall where Winco, Michael’s, and CVS Pharmacy are today. Jean helped her parents run the store very successfully for many years, eventually taking over as owner in 1990. For decades, Fireplace Bookshop had been renowned for its impressive inventory (30,000 titles spanning 50 categories) and excellent customer service. Jean was great with people, and it showed in her work and the many friendships she made over the years. Unfortunately, amid the rising challenges of competing with the national bookstore chains that had come to Eureka (not to mention a little startup online bookstore called Amazon), Fireplace Bookshop was forced to shut its doors in 1996.

It was during this period of her life that Jean met Richard (Rick) Lawry, and the two were married in 1990. Jean remained close to the Lawry family, even after the marriage ended several years later.

After closing the bookstore, Jean was undeterred from her lifelong love of books. She was soon hired by the College of the Redwoods bookstore in 1997 as a Bookstore Assistant, and she worked in this capacity for 10 years before landing a promotion to Bookstore Manager in 2007. Reporting to the Vice President of Business Services, Jean brought her considerable business and interpersonal skills to the manager role for five years before retiring in 2012. Jean often reflected on how much she enjoyed working with the students, faculty, and administration at College of the Redwoods.

In retirement, Jean had more time to devote to the things that she loved the most in life: reading, tending to her beautiful flower gardens, watching birds feast in the feeders that she always kept well-stocked, and spending time with her family. She was a proud and involved grandmother who rarely missed a ball game, recital, or performance, and after-school pickups and hangouts at Grammy’s house were a common (and fun) occurrence.

Family meant the world to Jean, and some of her fondest memories were the family gatherings at Gigi and Papa’s (as her parents were known to their grandchildren), where Papa would play the piano and everyone would sing songs, or when she was a child and Papa’s sister Auntie Beryl would pull up to the house at Christmas in a car jam-packed with the most exquisitely wrapped packages for Jean and her siblings. It gave Jean unending joy to pass on the history and Irish heritage of the Johnston and Mullin families through storytelling - usually leaving the listener doubled over in laughter! Even if a story had been told a hundred times before (and sometimes it had), you always wanted to hear it again, the way Jean told it.

Throughout her life, Jean also found great enjoyment in following the San Francisco pro sports teams, especially the Giants and the 49ers. And if you stopped by Jean’s place on a summer afternoon, it was not unusual to hear the quiet, soothing sounds of golf coming from the television, just as it had during the many summers spent at the Johnston family cabins in Petrolia or Willow Creek over the years.

Jean was a huge music lover, with Barbara Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Dave Brubeck, and the Kingston Trio among her favorite performers. As a young lady, she would listen to these artists on the radio in one of the several “cool” cars that she drove, whether it be the MG (with the top down), the Volkswagen Beetle, or the ‘57 Thunderbird. Jean also dabbled in modeling for local advertisers in her younger years.

Those of us who were fortunate enough to know Jean will always remember the joy that she brought to our lives through laughter, celebration, music, and the love that she held in her heart for her family and friends - the same love that they held in their hearts for her. She was one of one… as Irish as the day is long… and a beautiful soul we will never forget.

Jean was preceded in death by her parents, Wayne and Virginia Johnston, her brother Bill Johnston, and her sister Judy Giannini. She is survived by her daughter, Jennifer Tierney of Roseburg, OR; her sons David (Kristin) Tierney of Eureka, and Michael (Lizette) Tierney of Arcata; her grandsons Jacob Tierney of Sacramento, Jordan Tierney of Santa Rosa, and Wiyot Tierney, Santiago Tierney, and Patrick Tierney, all of Arcata; her sister and best friend Helyn Johnston of Eureka; her brother Corky Johnston (Vida Holguin) of Manhattan Beach, CA; her brother-in-law Nick Giannini of Eureka; her nephews John Giannini of Lake Havasu City, AZ, Matt (Linda) Giannini of Citrus Heights, CA, Tom Johnston of Carlsbad, CA, and Drew Johnston of Lebanon, OR; her nieces Felicia (Mark) Costa of Eureka, Sarah Johnston of Hollywood, Carrie DeBonis of Woodstock, MD, Jessica Johnston (Jessemin Sage) of Portland, OR, Virginia “Gina” Johnston (Keola Delatori) of Redondo Beach, CA, and Kathryn “Katie” Johnston (Michael Masenga) of Gardena, CA; and 14 great nieces and nephews.

Jean, Mom, Grammy, Auntie, sister, friend… until we meet again, may the road rise to meet you, and may the wind be ever at your back.

A memorial mass will be held at 3 p.m. on Friday April 12 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Eureka. All family, friends, acquaintances are welcome, and all are invited to wear a touch of green in celebration of Jean’s Irish heritage. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, a donation be made to the charity of one’s choice.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Jean Lawry’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.

Spice up your life by checking out the spectacular dunes of Humboldt County! Just like the shifting sands of Arrakis in the iconic Dune series, these sandy landscapes are home to unique and fragile ecosystems, adapted over millennia, which were once at threat from exploitation. And who are the Fremen that protect our dunes from OHVs, invasive species, and other threats? Meet Suzie Fortner, the new executive director of Friends of the Dunes. Suzie and outgoing executive director Mike Cipra join the show to discuss the restoration and education work of the Friends and why our Dunes are worth fighting for!

Need some gear? Check out the annual Get Outside Gear Sale on April 6 (open for members starting at 11am-noon and the general public 12-6pm). Or donate your own used gear! *No Stillsuits, used helmets, weapons, skis, snowboards, moldy/rusty items, and other similar items.

Want more? Meet the original Muad’Dib of the dunes, Hortense Lanphere.

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Humboldt State Normal School opened its doors on April 6, 1914 after a short but intense battle for the location of the school between the cities of Arcata and Eureka. The battle was fought in the meeting rooms of the board of trustees and more publicly in the local press. After three months of political maneuvering, intense press coverage, and caustic editorials, Arcata won the battle and the school opened in the Arcata Grammar School. Joy Gastman’s political cartoon postcard After the Battle depicts the major figures and backstory of the battle. This essay will examine how the caricatures in the cartoon portrayed the site selection process, controversy, and the roles played by the individuals involved.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a normal school was an institution for the training of primary school teachers. Isolated on the California North Coast, potential Humboldt County teachers had to travel to normal schools in San Francisco, San Jose, Chico, or farther afield. In 1911, the Humboldt Chamber of Commerce began efforts to bring a normal school to Humboldt. In the promotion of the legislation, a location for the school was purposely not specified. While many assumed the school would be located in Eureka, it was felt that a greater proportion of the County would support the efforts if a location was not named. Legislation creating the school was signed by progressive Governor Hiram Johnson on June 16, 1913. The location of the school was yet to be determined.

The legislation created a seven-person board of trustees charged with opening the school. Governor Johnson and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Edward Hyatt were appointed to the board as ex officio members. Johnson also appointed five local trustees, including three from Eureka: Dr. William E. Cook, a dentist and president of the Eureka City board of education; Henry J. Bridges, manager of the Eureka Ice Company; and Charlotte Gale, president of the Eureka High School Parent Teachers Association. From Arcata, Johnson appointed Reese M. Wiley, editor of the Arcata Union newspaper, and from Fortuna, Edward W. Haight, president of the Bank of Fortuna. These local members of the board were to administer the process of opening the school, including selecting a location. Eureka was the county seat and had the largest population, so, along with a three-person local majority on the board, they assumed the school would be located there. How, then, was Arcata able to wrest the location of the school from Eureka?

Haight and Wiley: “Congratulations”

Trustees Haight and Wiley are portrayed shaking hands celebrating their victory. A minority on the board, they had managed to secure the location for Arcata. The first round of the battle that would result in locating the school in Arcata occurred at the November 13, 1913 Board of Trustees meeting. Prior to the meeting, board secretary Charlotte Gale had notified local chambers of commerce that the board would be choosing a site for the school at that meeting.

Requirements for proposals included a written two-year lease of a building for college use free of charge. Arcata did not accept the assumption that the school would be located in Eureka and came to the meeting with a complete written proposal. Arcata’s proposal included a free two-year lease of the Pleasant Hill school, an offer of free land for future expansion, and twelve thousand dollars in community-raised funds. Fortuna offered twenty acres of land and the choice of using an existing building or constructing new. Eureka’s offer included a lease of Winship school and an “indeterminate sum of money.” Crucially, Eureka’s offer was verbal and was therefore deemed inadmissible. When the vote was taken, Eureka trustee Charlotte Gale sided with Haight and Wiley and Arcata won by a vote of three to two.

This was only the first round of the battle. With the assistance of Eureka attorney Lawrence F. Puter, the Eureka trustees appealed to state Attorney General U.S. Webb. Eureka argued, and Webb concurred, that the November 13 meeting had been illegal. As members of the board, Governor Johnson and Superintendent Hyatt had not been notified of the meeting as required. Webb ruled that since the meeting was illegal, all actions taken were invalid, including the selection of the location. Webb later added that a quorum of four was required for the board to conduct business. Webb’s rulings negated the earlier decision for Arcata and his ruling on a quorum set the stage for Arcata’s eventual victory.

Following Webb’s ruling, it became apparent that Gale would reverse course and vote for Eureka. On December 5, prior to that evening’s scheduled board of trustees meeting, Haight and Wiley visited Gale at her home to try and secure her vote for Arcata. Their attempt to retain her vote was unsuccessful, Gale saying she would exercise her “free judgment.” Haight and Wiley then told Gale they would not attend that evening’s meeting. With only the three Eureka Trustees in attendance the board lacked a quorum and could not conduct business. Wiley and Haight continued to boycott meetings on December 12, 19, 24, 29, and January 2. By refusing to attend the meetings, they prevented the Eureka trustees from reversing the earlier vote and “stealing” the location from Arcata.

The last round of the battle occurred in Sacramento. Wiley and Haight called for a meeting of the full board, including Governor Johnson and Superintendent Hyatt, on January 31, 1914 in the Governor’s office in Sacramento. The three Eureka trustees claimed the meeting was illegal and did not attend. After this meeting, the Governor telegrammed the three Eureka trustees, calling for a meeting of the full board in his office on February 4. At this meeting, Johnson and Hyatt joined with Wiley and Haight in voting for Arcata, deciding the matter in a vote of four to three. Arcata had prevailed in the end, as symbolized by Haight and Wiley shaking hands after their boycotting strategy turned out to be a success.

Charlotte Gale: “What Will the Harvest Be?”

Depicted as a farmer eyeing her crop, Charlotte Gale’s vote for Arcata at the November 13 board of trustees meeting would indeed bear a rich harvest. Why did she vote for Arcata? She had expressed support for locating the school in Eureka both before and after that meeting.

There are several possible answers, starting with the fact that Eureka’s offer was inadmissible. If she thought a decision had to be made that night, then Arcata’s offer was both legal and the best. Why not then vote to delay the decision, allowing Eureka to submit a written proposal? It may be that she thought a delay would be unfair to those who had submitted proper proposals.

Gale had a great deal of personal investment in the administrative process and was probably frustrated with Eureka’s poor performance. She had worked with Wiley to develop the board’s constitution and bylaws. She spent several weeks traveling to other normal schools in the state “gathering data upon the organization and matters appertaining to the starting of schools, courses of study, etc.” She had sent out the notice of the requirement for a written lease and knew that Cook was aware of the requirement. She had even worked with Bridges to secure a written lease for Eureka, but Cook said a written lease was not required. After all of her work, Eureka’s poor performance may have made it easier for her to reject her hometown’s first proposal and vote for Arcata.

Dr. William Cook: “Normal School Graft”

As an example of a political cartoon attempting to predict or shape future events, Dr. Cook is portrayed as being kicked out of Eureka City Hall by the Eureka voters, an inaccurate prediction of his future. Cook played a big role in securing the normal school for Humboldt. In 1912, he had chaired two local committees promoting the school. He had regularly traveled to Sacramento in support of the legislation. The Humboldt Standard even credits Cook with drafting the legislation itself, a questionable claim as others were most likely involved. His long-term commitment to the school, as well as his position on the Board of Trustees, makes Eureka’s oral proposal blunder all the more inexplicable.

There was good reason for Eureka’s dissatisfaction with Cook’s performance. In a public apology printed in the November 16, 1913 Humboldt Times, Cook acknowledges Gale and Bridge’s attempt to secure a written lease for a building in Eureka and his erroneous advice that an oral proposal was sufficient.

Why were Cook and the city of Eureka so ill-prepared? Jerry Willis, author of a 1959 history of Humboldt State College, gives two possible explanations. First, Cook may have believed the Eureka Trustees were united and would vote to delay the vote until Eureka prepared a written proposal. Secondly, Willis proposed a more personal, and financial, reason for Cook’s actions and a possible reference to “Normal School Graft” on Gastman’s cartoon. Cook might have been attempting to purchase land that he could resell to the school. As the purchase had not been finalized, Cook may have wanted to delay the vote until the purchase was final. Regardless of his reasons, Cook was the person most responsible for Eureka’s poor performance.

Gastman’s prediction that the Eureka voters would oust Cook does not appear to be accurate. A year later, he was still on the normal school board of trustees and was still President of the Eureka board of education.

Larry F. Puter: “I won’t fight any more Mr. Police”

James Coonan: “This Place Don’t Seem Like Home”

Eureka attorneys Larry Puter and James Coonan are depicted as being censured either by a police officer, in Puter’s case, or by symbolically hurled bricks in Coonan’s. The decision for Arcata at the November 13, 1913 board of trustees meeting sparked an editorial war-of-words. The Eureka papers attacked Wiley and Haight for failing to perform their duty and attend meetings and the Arcata Union and Fortuna’s Humboldt Beacon accused Eureka of attempting to “steal” the location from Arcata. Puter and Coonan were prominent in these editorials supporting Eureka and criticizing Arcata. After Eureka’s first defeat, Puter assisted the Eureka trustees in preparing their appeal to Attorney General Webb. Later, he drafted a resolution sent to the Governor calling for the removal of Haight and Wiley, claiming they “persistently [violated] every principle of trust imposed upon them by law” and that they “betrayed their duty” by boycotting the meetings.

Coonan was also vocal in his criticism of Arcata and of Haight and Wiley. He participated in an editorial exchange with the Arcata Chamber of Commerce with letters printed in the December 16, 23, and 26, 1913 editions of the Humboldt Times including saying that Wiley and Haight “violated their oaths of office by willfully absenting themselves from the meetings.” Arcata fired back throwing “verbal bricks” (as symbolized in Gastman’s cartoon) via letters to the Times on December 18, 23, and 24. Arcata accuses Coonan of using “misleading and very erroneous points” and even participating in “rank fraud.” Final resolution of the school’s location ended the editorial battle with Gastman’s portrayal the Eureka lawyers being reprimanded either by a police officer in Puter’s case or by Coonan taking shelter from Arcata’s verbal bricks.

Henry Bridges: “My It Has Been Hot Lately”

Eureka trustee Henry Bridges is shown cooling off, symbolically sitting on a block of ice and drinking ice water, an allusion to both the reduction of tensions following the end of the controversy and a play on his position as manager of the Eureka Ice Company. Other than his support for Eureka, his role in the affair had been relatively low key. His low profile and association with the ice company makes him a good symbol for the reduction of tensions. After the successful February 4, 1914 meeting in

Sacramento, things did rapidly cool off, with Eureka supporting the normal school in Arcata. The Humboldt Times wrote, “there is but one thing for every loyal citizen of Humboldt County to do — help in every way to make [the school] a success…. Eureka is with you.” On February 17, at a reconvened meeting of the local board of trustees in Arcata, it was the Eureka trustees Cook and Bridges who moved and seconded the resolution to locate the school in Arcata. From there, staff was hired, the building prepared, and on April 6 the school opened with an enrollment of 61 students. The battle was over and the story of Humboldt State Normal School began.

Nelson Van Matre: “Success”

Nelson Van Matre, first dean of Humboldt State Normal School, is depicted looking at the normal school in Arcata with “success” printed on the walkway leading to the school’s front door. Van Matre, formerly superintendent of Eureka schools, had been the pick of the board from early in the process. As early as the ill-fated November 13, 1913 meeting, Van Matre had been named as the dean, an appointment subsequently annulled by Attorney General Webb along with the site location. However he remained the only choice of the board and was officially appointed at the February 17, 1914 meeting. Van Matre served as president of the school until 1924.

During his tenure, the school survived the stress of the early years at the Arcata Grammar School and of the First World War. In 1916, he relocated the school to temporary buildings on the donated Preston property. In 1921, he managed the reorganization by the state and the name change to Humboldt State Teachers College, and in 1922 constructed Founders Hall, the first permanent building.

In Conclusion

Joy Gastman’s “After the Battle” political cartoon postcard portrays the backstory of how Humboldt State Normal School (and ultimately Cal Poly Humboldt) came to be located in Arcata.

The heart of the story lies in two questions: Why was Eureka so unprepared for the critical November 16, 1913 board of trustees meeting, and why did Eureka trustee Charlotte Gale vote for Arcata at that meeting? While there were possible nefarious reasons, the most likely reason Eureka came to the meeting without a legal proposal was arrogance.

They thought they had the location won and put very little effort into their proposal. This also leads to the answer of why Gale voted for Arcata. She took her position on the board seriously enough to travel to other normal schools on a fact-finding trip. She was aware that Eureka knew of the requirement for a written lease and had even been thwarted in her effort to secure one. When Eureka had such a poor presentation, one can see why her frustration manifested in her vote for Arcata.

Regardless, Arcata clearly had the better offer. Today, we can thank Gale for her vote that evening, the harvest of which has been a growing and successful educational institution, ultimately resulting in Cal Poly Humboldt.

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From the author: This article is the result of my interests in history and postcard collecting. In retirement, I’ve been taking history courses at College of the Redwoods and Cal Poly Humboldt. A class last Spring taught by former HCHS President Thomas Mays gave me the opportunity to dig into the story behind the postcard, which I had obtained a few years earlier, and write the research paper that resulted in this article. Many thanks to Professor Mays, the HCHS archives, the special collections department at Cal Poly Humboldt, and Humboldt Historian editor Wendy Platt Hill for their assistance with this project.

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The story above was originally printed in the Spring 2023 issue of the Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society. It is reprinted here with permission. The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County’s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year’s worth of new issues of The Humboldt Historian at this link.