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This excerpt was taken from the diary of Kate McFarlan, which she kept from August 23, 1874 through December 4, 1875.

Kate was the oldest of seven children, two of whom died as infants. Her parents, George and Catharine, moved to Humboldt from St. Andrews, New Brunswick and began their family. According to the 1870 census, George was a logger.

The diary documents Kate’s last two years as a young, single woman in Eureka. It is filled with dances, picnics, boating, horseback riding, and visiting with her friends and relatives. Alex Gregor looms large as her beau and eventual husband. Besides her personal entries, it is an exceptional record of Eureka’s social life during the early 1870s and also mentions many old Eureka families, such as the Carsons, Cousins, Ryans, etc.

The diary and a full transcript are available at the HCHS research center. This excerpt has been edited for readability.

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Sept. 21, 1874

Tuesday at half past seven Sam (1) brought my horse up to me (Billy by name), then I rode down and joined Mr. and Mrs. McFarlan and Maria Carson. Then off we started for Freshwater to join the rest of our company. We got there at nine o’clock, then the rest joined us: Mr. H. Wilson (2), Mr. J. Baldwin and Mr. Thompson.

Then off we started again and rode seven miles uphill all the way [until] we reached Mrs. Nellis’s, a very beautiful place indeed. We remained there about half an hour [and] had some plums and pears so we felt very much rested. Then we mounted our horses again and rode four miles farther … [to] Mrs. Fitzgerald’s (3), where we stopped and cooked our dinner, which we all enjoyed very much.

At three o’clock we again mounted our horses and rode three miles farther, then we reached our destination. The men were busily engaged unpacking the house and making everything as comfortable for us as they possibly could. While they were engaged, Nellie and I built a large fire out of old fence rails and began to prepare supper.

After supper we all sat around the camp fire and sang songs till after ten o’clock. The moonlight was perfectly beautiful. I thought I never saw a full moon look so bright before.

At ten o’clock we retired to the barn, where we remained the rest of the night. Ellen (4) fell asleep as soon as she laid down, but Maria and I did not get to sleep until after one o’clock, the horses made so much noise.

We got up at four o’clock and prepared breakfast, then the men went out hunting. After we got our work done up, we took a walk up on a hill and gathered some acorns. Then we came back to the camp again and cooked dinner. At eleven o’clock the men came in from hunting and we had dinner, which consisted of stewed grouse, bread and butter, hard gingerbread, cheese, and tea. We all enjoyed it very much.

After dinner Mr. Thompson came to us and said that Skeff (5) had sent for his horse and he had to go and take it home. We understood how it was­­ ­— the men made up that story just to get rid of him because we did not want his company any longer. We took our blankets and made an awning to keep the [sun] off us, so we sat there the rest of the afternoon. We composed a piece of poetry as follows:

My friends and I camped all alone,
Out on the Bald Hills far from home,
Some killed grouse, some killed quail,
And we cooked them in old [Norcer?] pail.

If I had Davy and he was mine,
I’d dress him up and make him shine,
Send him on his homeward way,
Hoping to meet him another day.
Ha Ha Ha &c

As we were sleeping in the barn,
Secure we thought we were from harm,
Up jumped Davy Bub Bub Bub,
Up jumped Sam and gave him a rub.

So we were sitting on the hay,
Sam was full of fun and play,
He’d took something, I don’t know what to call it.
I don’t know but I think it was the Colic.

In the eve Mr. Wilson cooked a rabbit and a squirrel. We all had a taste of it but did not admire the taste very much—­it tasted rather wild.

At eleven o’clock we all retired to the barn and slept all night till five in the morning, then we got up. Mr. Wilson had breakfast all ready for us, which consisted of fried bacon, hot biscuit, tea, gingerbread, and canned meat.

After breakfast the men went out hunting again. They came in about ten o’clock with three or four grouse, half a dozen quail, and a large gray and white squirrel.

At half past two they packed the horses and we started for home. Got as far as Mr. Fitzgerald’s and had supper there and slept in their barn all night. Slept very good indeed as I was very tired.

We got up and got breakfast at six o’clock. It consisted of bread and butter and tea. It was not very much, for our state of provisions were nearly exhausted. At ten o’clock we left Mr. Fitzgerald’s for Mr. Nellis’s.

Arrived there at twelve, then we got off our horses and had dinner. I tell you, it tasted splendid – the first square meal we had had since we left home. I thought Ellen never would get through eating. But I hadn’t better say anything, for I did not eat a very small dinner myself.

At half past two we mounted our horses again and started for home. We rode eight miles, then we reached Jim Wilson’s house. Ellen and I went over to Mary’s, did not get off our horses, then we came back as far as Sandy Wilson’s (6) and had supper. Then we went back to Jim’s to join the rest. At seven we again started for home and got there at nine o’clock, all agreeing that our trip to the Bald Hills had been a very happy one.

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ENDNOTES:

1. Probably Sam McFarlan. His wife, Ellen, also went on the trip.

2. Probably Hugh Wilson, who was a Freshwater pioneer. He was a native of Charlotte County, New Brunswick and would have been about 34 at this time. (Obituary, Arcata Union, Thursday, 1 Feb 1923)

3. Perhaps Margaret Fitzgerald, who lived with her family at Kneelands Prairie. 1880 Census.

4. Ellen McFarlan, wife of Samuel W. McFarlan

5. Skeffington Carson. We don’t know what he did, but Kate apparently forgave him, because after her first husband died, she married him almost twenty years later.

6. Alexander Wilson’s obituary mentions his brother, James Wilson of Dows Prairie and his sister, Mrs. William Carson. They could be the Sandy and Jim Wilson named here. Humboldt Times, 4 August 1894

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The story above was originally printed in the Summer 2020 issue of The Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society, and 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.