“…even when a memory is proven wrong, beyond all doubt, a person still remembers it.”

— Sallie Tisdale, Harper’s Magazine, November 2023

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I’ve been thinking about memory a lot lately, after experiencing several “senior moments.” (“They’re just normal at your age,” my physician says, which kinda-sorta reassures me — what’s normal five years from now? Ten years from now?) Author Sallie Tisdale, no stranger to memoir writing, wrote an essay in the November Harper’s about memory which touched many nerves for me. In particular, she offers the thought that we are incapable of distinguishing accurate memories from false ones: All memories feel true!

She cites a study by the late psychiatrist-researcher Daniel Offer challenging the common belief that “adolescence is inherently a time of storm and stress.” That’s certainly my experience, and talking to others, I’ve rarely heard someone say, “I had a very happy childhood.” (My wife used to think she had an unhappy childhood, but changed her mind!) In his Offer Longitudinal Study, he interviewed 73 14-year-olds about their lives, most of whom were pretty happy with their lives. That was in 1962. He re-interviewed them (other than two who had died) at 48-years-old, when the majority remembered their teen years as times of great sadness and turmoil. Specifically, when going into details, their “…recollections were about the same as would be expected by chance.”

“Memory” (1896), bronze door by Olin Levi Warner. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building. (Carol Highsmith, public domain)=

In another study reinforcing the notion that our memories are tenuous, Elizabeth Loftus (famous for challenging sexual abuse allegations in many court appearances during the 1990s) and Lawrence Patihis managed to convince 30% of volunteers that they’d seen a video of the crash of Flight 93 following 9/11. There is no such video,

As far as early memories are concerned, they’re all based on photos or stories we’ve heard — our ability to form permanent memories doesn’t kick in until we’re at least age seven, and usually later.

My own particular problem with memory, besides forgetting faces and names, is that I selectively remember what I’d just as soon forget! For example, instead of remembering, with great joy, the wonderful week we spent in a town in the Dolomites a few years back, the first thing that comes up is the negative review we received on booking.com (our only one!) when we left dishes in the sink after leaving in a hurry to catch a train. Even though the review was written in German, Gott sei Dank, I’m still mortified. (It makes sense, of course, that we selectively remember negative experiences — they’re the ones that our ancestors learned from back when life was “nasty, brutish and short.”)

Nearly 100 years ago, psychologist Frederic Bartlett (cited by Tisdale) summed it up: “Remembering is not the re-excitation of innumerable fixed, lifeless and fragmentary traces. It is an imaginative reconstruction.” (My italics.)

Ah yes. I remember it well.

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Press Release from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office:

On 12-07-2023 at 6:18 PM, Deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office received a missing person report regarding 63-year-old Scott Graves (see photos).

Scott was last heard from by family members on Monday, 12-04-2023, at about 9:30 AM. Scott informed family he had tried to leave his property in the 73000 block of Island Mountain Road in Piercy (California), but it was too wet and the roads were unsafe for travel. Scott informed family he would instead attempt to leave on Tuesday, 12-05-2023.

When family members had not heard from Scott by Thursday, 12-07-2023, they became worried. Family members then traveled to Scott’s property, but they were not able to locate his whereabouts.  It did not appear Scott had left the property as the majority of his personal belongings and vehicle were at the property.

On 12-07-2023 at about 11:00 PM, Deputies arrived in the 73000 block of Island Mountain Road in Piercy. Deputies and family continued searching for Scott until 3:00 AM but were unsuccessful in located him.

The Sheriff’s Office deployed local Mendocino County Search & Rescue resources for a further search during the morning of Friday, 12-08-2023.

Search & Rescue was unable to locate Scott and were deployed again on Saturday, 12-09-2023, and are still actively searching at this time.

Mendocino County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue resources are currently in the planning stages for additional searches for Sunday, 12-10-2023, and Monday, 12-11-2023 with the use of Search and Rescue mutual aid resources.

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After more than 70 years of service, off and on, the Fieldbrook Market & Eatery may close its doors for good. The owners of the beloved neighborhood grocery store took to Facebook on Friday morning to announce the “very difficult decision” to close the market “for the foreseeable future.”

If you’ve been to the Fieldbrook Market, you know it’s a lot more than a convenience store and sandwich shop: It’s an essential part of the community.

“It’s a really special place,” Lisa Springer, co-owner of the Fieldbrook Market, told the Outpost during a recent phone interview. “It’s always been a part of the community. We have a really tight-knit community here, so this is pretty rough news for our local folks.”

Springer and her husband Clark befriended the previous owners, Kelli and Ross Costa, after moving to Fieldbrook from Pennsylvania. A little over two years ago, Lisa said, she was talking to the Costas about using their commercial kitchen to make ramen when they asked if she and her husband were interested in buying the market.

“They had owned it for about six years at that point and were feeling like they were ready to let it go,” Springer said. “My husband and I felt like we were at a stage in our lives with our family that we were ready to take that on. We’ve had an absolutely amazing time doing it, you know, getting the community jazzed up again after COVID and being that community hub again.”

Unfortunately, rising costs have made it difficult to make ends meet, Springer said.

“I think it’s common knowledge that our local communities are struggling with the change in the economy, and we’ve been struggling too,” she said. “We’ve been trying to be creative with different pop-up events, trivia nights and more live music to get more people up here but we’re really remote. We can’t survive without people patronizing us, but I get it. Everyone is really struggling.”

When asked whether she and her husband would be open to selling the business, Springer said she’s open to the idea but they’re not quite sure what their next move is. 

“We’re just going to take a moment,” she said. “I don’t know exactly what that looks like right now. After the new year, we’ll probably have a firmer grip on what we’re doing and what the future looks like for the market. I just don’t want to put it in one box right now.”

Springer’s going to keep using the market’s commercial kitchen to make ramen for delivery and pick-up. She said she’s still figuring out the logistics, but folks interested in grabbing a bowl should keep an eye on the Fieldbrook Market’s Facebook page for more information in the coming weeks.

The market will be open during its regular hours this weekend and will close next week. They’re planning a big party on Friday, Dec. 15, with food, live music and one very, very special guest.

“Santa’s coming to town, which is a big deal for our local community,” Springer said. “He’ll arrive on the Fieldbrook firetruck around four o’clock. We’ll also have live music from the Lost Dogs.”

Do yourself a favor and grab a tri-tip sandwich before the market closes. Here’s hoping it won’t be closed for too long.

On this week’s EcoNews Report, Humboldt’s preeminent bird nerd, Ken Burton, drops by the show to discuss the bird buzz.

The Christmas Bird Count is coming up. This bird count is very important to understanding long-term trends in bird populations and identifying species that require conservation attention. If you would like to help our local Redwood Region Audubon Society with this year’s count, please visit their website. 

Local birders are atwitter because of a new visitor to the area: a purple gallinule! This striking bird boasts a purple, blue and turquoise plumage with long yellow toes. Often found in tropical settings, this is a first time visitor to our area who somehow got far afield from its Florida breeding grounds. 

Bird names are changing! Out are bird’s named after someone—no more Stellar’s jay or Anna’s hummingbird—in are more descriptive names to be determined. And you can help. Our Redwood Region Audubon Society is looking for suggestions for the birds that call our area home. Give them a hand!

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The six survivors of the Greely Arctic Expedition. Back: Fredericks, Connell, Long. Front: Biederbick, Greely, Brainard. Circa 1885.

In 1888, Maurice Connell was appointed observer at the Eureka weather station, located in the Buhne building at Second and G streets. Connell had gained his appointment to Eureka’s station as a result of his participation in the ill-starred Lady Franklin Bay Polar Expedition, more commonly known as the Greely Expedition, which had been marked by governmental dysfunction and by rumors of bizarre and even gruesome circumstances.

Maurice Connell was born in Ireland and immigrated to the United States in 1864 at the age of twelve. He lived with an uncle in New York until 1869. His desire for adventure took him to many new and foreign places, including Panama, South America, California, and finally to San Francisco where he enlisted in the United States cavalry. His military service lasted ten years, during which he fought in several Indian battles. During that time he was promoted from the rank of private to sergeant. In 1881 Connell resigned his rank as sergeant and joined the Greely Expedition led by Lieutenant Adolphus Greely. The team set out from Greenland on the steamship Proteus on July 7, 1881.

The expedition’s ostensible purpose, as publicly stated, was to possibly discover and rescue members of the Jeanette, a previous expedition that had not been heard from and was presumed lost. In reality, its other and undisclosed purpose was to reach a point farther north toward the North Pole than had been reached by Britain, thus breaking the polar exploration record that had been held by Great Britain for three hundred years. The Greely party was successful in achieving that goal for the United States. The twenty-five-member expedition, however, was poorly prepared for the ordeal that lay before it. None of the group had any polar exploration experience, and personality conflicts, inadequate supplies, and complaints of rigid and inflexible leadership were contributing factors that led to unbelievable hardship and suffering, and the death of nineteen members of the party.

As previously planned, a government resupply ship was sent to the Greely party in 1882, but failed to reach it, as did another attempt in 1883. The Greely group, without needed supplies, was hopelessly stranded at a point called Cape Sabine, and although it was successful in its goal of achieving polar exploration supremacy, the members of the expedition now had but one mission: survival.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, D.C., officials convened an investigation into why both resupply missions, each with supplies for one year, had failed. After considerable political infighting, a third rescue ship was launched in August 1884. This rescue mission succeeded and the members of the Greely party were brought home.

There were six survivors of the ill-fated venture, among them Maurice Connell.

The investigation revealed that much of the blame for the unsuccessful 1882 and 1883 rescue attempts lay with the Secretary of War, Robert Todd Lincoln, son of the late President Lincoln, because of his lack of interest in polar exploration and his refusal to provide needed funds for the rescue parties.

In spite of Lieutenant Greely’s attempt, as leader of the expedition, to cover up many details that led to the men’s desperate fight for their lives, Washington was shocked at what was disclosed. Further investigation brought to light not only harsh criticism of Lieutenant Greely’s leadership style, but also the execution of one of the party for stealing food, the questionable death of the group’s medical officer, and what was regarded as most shocking of all, acts of cannibalism.

All but one of the other five survivors swore they had no knowledge of what the investigation discovered, and remained loyal to their cause. Maurice Connell was that lone dissenter.

In 1885 Connell transferred from the U.S. Cavalry to the Signal Corps and in 1888 was serving as an assistant weather observer in San Francisco. He had long believed that he should be promoted from private second class to the rank of sergeant and, apparently, realized he had a way to achieve that. In a letter to Lieutenant Greely, Connell wrote, “If you are aware of the pressure brought upon me to talk on certain subjects and which I’ve so far resisted, you would think differently of my conduct.” Connell threatened to speak out and to even write a book about the extreme hardships, suffering, starvation, and the unimaginable challenge to the human spirit endured by the members of the Greely party if Lieutenant Greely did not see that he received his promotion.

And in a short time he was promoted to private first class, and then to sergeant. That wasn’t all that Connell wanted. He wanted a transfer to the weather station in Eureka because it was, as he said, “an easy station and a good climate.”

Maurice Connell was the last observer in the Signal Corps to man Eureka’s weather station. During his tenure there, he married Hettie L. Bast of Eureka, a teacher at the Eureka Academy.

Lieutenant Greely, with help from influential government officials, was successful in keeping much information concerning the tragic fate of the Greely Expedition from the general public, and as a result one could assume that the residents of Eureka had no knowledge of Maurice Connell’s adventurous but tragic and possibly even gruesome background, or that it was blackmail that brought him to Eureka.

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NOTE: The author of this story, Mary Dawn Cunningham, passed away last month.

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The story above was originally printed in the Summer 2015 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.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Eric Michael Matilton, of Hoopa, CA. He passed away with his family by his side on December 2, 2023, at the age of 38.

Eric was born on March 21, 1985, to Clyde Jr. and Jeanine Matilton. Eric leaves behind his loving wife, Carrie “Shells” Ames, along with his three sons: Eric Jr., Kaydon and Cam Matilton, and step-daughter Lillian Neuroth.

Eric is also survived by his siblings: Billy (Naomi) Matilton; their children Jacob and Josie, Tara Matilton; her children Kiera and Jaylee; Quentin (Tescheanche) Matilton, their children Jett and Quinn; Jerrett Matilton, Christina Carpenter, her children Ryan & K’idiwisch’e; and Shirley Matilton.

Uncles and Aunts include Tis-mil (Shannon) Matilton, Ernie (Francene) Marshall, Bradley Marshall, Steve Matilton, Kevin Matilton, Tammie & Tommie Evenson, Sheryl and Teresa Matilton; his grandmother Erma Marshall; nieces and nephews Ryan Ames, Rianna, kionna and Jesse Bain; and Peyton Dean, along with numerous cousins and extended family and his fur baby Tek. Eric also leaves behind his long-time childhood friend Johnny Blake.

Eric is preceded in death by his grandparents Clyde Sr. and Lynette Matilton, Vernon “Snooks” Marshall, Nella Evans Johnson, and Elsie Smith.

Eric was a proud member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe, was born and raised on the beautiful Hoopa Reservation. He attended Hoopa Elementary and graduated from Hoopa Valley High School in 2003. Eric participated in youth & high school football and was very involved in the Hupa Language.

Eric was a devoted husband and father. His children were the center of his world. Eric’s light was always brighter when he was participating in activities with his sons. He truly enjoyed cutting wood, fishing, hunting, taking photographs and carving with his sons.

Eric was also a faithful San Francisco 49er fan. Whether it was in the heart of the Bay or surrounded by family and friends in his parents living room, Eric was always there rooting for his team. He, his father and brothers shared many memories that will forever last a lifetime.

Eric was most known for his kind and gentle nature. His smile warmed your heart and his character lit up a room. He was always doing kind gestures to make his family smile. His caring demeanor also showed in his love for animals, as he was always taking in stray dogs and cats.

Pallbearers include: Billy, Quentin, Jerrett, Ryan, Tis-mil, and Kyle Matilton, David Schnoor, Johnny Blake and Bronson Lewis. Honorary Pallbearers include: Eric Jr., Kaydon, Cam, Jacob, Steve, Kevin, Jett and Page Matilton.

Services will be held on Friday, December 8th at 1pm at Tish Tang Campground with a reception following at the Hoopa Fire Hall. In lieu of flowers, please donate to a local animal shelter or rescue mission or consider becoming an organ donor.

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Dorothy Joyce Lyman Mather died on November 26, 2023 in Arcata. She was born in Grand Island, Nebraska on October 30, 1930.

She and her parents Ralph and Dorothy Lyman came to Arcata in 1936. She was a graduate of Arcata Union High School and San Jose State University, where she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority. After graduation, she returned to Arcata and worked as executive secretary to Robert Matthews at A. Brizard, Inc. until her marriage to Deane Mather in 1952, when she became a full-time homemaker.

Joyce held various offices and served on the executive boards of Humboldt Sponsors, Jacoby Creek P.T.A. and Arcata and Eureka Republican Women’s Clubs. She was a member of RN chapter of P.E.O., Arcata chapter Order of Eastern Star, Baywood Golf and Country Club and Arcata First Presbyterian Church.

Her greatest joy in life was being with her family. She liked to play bridge, and belonged to several bridge clubs. She also liked to travel, especially exploring the culture, sights and foods of France.

Joyce was predeceased by her husband Deane Burdett Mather, her parents Ralph and Dorothy Lyman, and brother Richard Fulton Lyman.

She is survived by her children Karen Schrage, Debra Mather, Terri Morris and Michael Mather; son-in-law Gary Schrage, son-in-law Clair Morris, daughter-in-law Deanna Mather; grandchildren Tiffany Mashburn, Trevor Schrage, Timothy Koch, Ashlyn Mather, Ellise Mather, Max Mather and Reid Mather; great-grandchildren Kaylin and Jace Mashburn.

At her request, there will be no services.

Memorial donations may be made to Humboldt Sponsors, P.E.O., or the donor’s favorite charity.

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