###

We, the undersigned, are medical providers in Humboldt County invested in the care of pregnant people in our community. We want to share a message directly from us regarding the hearing held on Aug. 29, 2025 where Providence Health and Services called into question their duty to follow the California Emergency Services Law (ESL). This law guarantees care for those with a medical complication in pregnancy that results in the pregnancy no longer being able to continue.

Providence legal counsel proposed several unsafe practices during this hearing, including requiring physicians to consult an ethics board prior to providing standard medical care, delaying care until a patient is critically ill (phrased as “certain death of mother or fetus”), or transferring patients in need of urgent care to another facility more than 100 miles away.

As clinicians, we have an ethical and moral obligation to the health and safety of the pregnant person. We do not support delaying care until someone is in mortal danger or sending people away from a facility that is equipped to provide lifesaving care. We stand firmly committed to providing competent, prompt and compassionate care in these critical moments. Someone experiencing a devastating pregnancy complication should not have to worry about politics or religion affecting their care. The only people who should be involved in decisions about pregnancy complications are a patient and their medical provider.

Furthermore, we recognize the systemic classism, racism and misogyny in statements that suggest that care involving a pregnant uterus can wait. It is a medical standard that someone presenting with a critical heart attack receives immediate care. Someone suffering appendicitis or a gallbladder infection would not be told to “wait and see” if they develop sepsis before being offered antibiotics and surgery. To propose that someone suffering a pregnancy complication should wait until they are sufficiently near death before offering medical care violates our oath, our commitment to our patients and our commitment to ourselves.

Our current local hospital leadership continues to reassure us that we have their support in providing appropriate care to our community. We applaud them for this and expect that this will continue. We request ongoing community support to make sure it does.

Our goal in this message is to provide hope and clarity. The narrative in the courtroom does not reflect the standards that we believe in as your providers. We affirm our commitment to using our knowledge and skill to provide you with high quality, safe and compassionate care. We will not be distracted by outsiders, untrained in medical care, when they propose actions that cause mental and physical harm. We are honored to provide care in vulnerable moments. If a devastating complication does arise, we will be by your side to support you. Many of us have also been pregnant and have birthed our children in this community. This is our home. Our duty is to you.

Rachael Adair CNM PMHNP
Amy Alfano CNM
Ginger Bhatki CNM
Carolyn Eldridge LM
Sage Fanucchi-Funes CNM
Carrie Griffin DO
Molly Jacobs FNP
Lisa Keller MD
Marissa Kummerling MD MPH
Beth O’Brien CNM
Timothy Paik-Nicely MD
Milad Ranjbar MD
Rebecca Smith CNM
Simon Stampe MD
Stephanie Stone CNM
Tara Vu MD
Casey Weiser MD
Melissa Wilcox MD

###

PREVIOUSLY

• Attorney General Sues St. Joseph Hospital for Denying a Woman Emergency Abortion Care
• Providence Offers ‘Profound Apologies’ to Woman Denied Emergency Abortion Care at St. Joseph Hospital
• A Local Doctor Urged St. Joseph Hospital to Change Its Anti-Abortion Policies Long Before State Lawsuit, According to Court Declaration
• St. Joseph Hospital Denies Allegations in State Abortion Care Lawsuit But Agrees to Follow State Health Care Laws as the Case Proceeds
• Judge Signs Order Committing St. Joseph Hospital to Providing Emergency Abortions, At Least For the Duration of AG Lawsuit
• Citing Religious Freedom and Catholic Doctrine, St. Joseph Health Challenges State’s Emergency Abortion Care Lawsuit on a Variety of Legal Grounds
• State Responds to St. Joseph Health’s Attempt to Get Emergency Abortion Lawsuit Dismissed
• ‘Providence Must Follow the Law’: At the Humboldt Reproductive Health Care Rally Before the Latest California vs. St. Joseph Hospital Hearing
• St. Joe’s Abortion Care Lawsuit: In a Packed Courtroom, Hospital’s Attorneys Ask Judge to Dismiss the Case
• New Abortion Care Lawsuit Filed Against St. Joseph Hospital by the National Women’s Law Center
• PBS NewsHour Reports From Eureka on the Limits of Reproductive Health Care at Catholic-Run Hospitals
• Judge Denies St. Joseph Health’s Motion to Dismiss State Lawsuit Over Emergency Abortion Care
• CalMatters: Her Miscarriage Showed the Limits of California’s Abortion Protections. Where You Live Matters
• Attorney General Says Providence is Trying to ‘Shirk Its Duty’ to Follow the Law In Emergency Abortion Care Suit
• Providence’s Effort to Back Out of Emergency Abortion Care Agreement Would Put Humboldt Women ‘Back in Harms’ Way,’ AG’s Office Argues in Latest Court Filing
• Judge Holds Providence St. Joseph to Prior Agreement as Emergency Abortion Care Lawsuit Proceeds

###

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On September 28, 2025, at approximately 2:06 p.m., a Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to the 100 block of Wagon Jack Lane in Arcata to investigate a reported burglary.

The victim reported the theft of two items from their garage:

• A fully restored 1938 Chevron gas pump, valued at approximately $3,500 (Pictured below)
• An older model Miller brand welding machine, estimated to be valued between $10,000 and $32,000.

The stolen gas pump is a unique, vintage item that may be recognizable if resold or displayed. Deputies are asking anyone who may have encountered such an item in recent months to come forward. This case is especially meaningful as the victim’s late husband had cared deeply for these items. We encourage the public’s help in locating these items to bring justice to the family.

Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539, referencing case number 202504388.

The Week Without Driving begins today! When I tell people I am doing this, they wonder if it is about the environment and reducing my carbon footprint. Well, yes. But there are other reasons as well.

For nearly a third of Humboldt County, it is not an exercise, but a reality of life. And for the rest of us drivers, it could be the new reality at any time. Illness, injury or advanced age can all limit one’s ability to drive, and those things can happen to anybody. Yes, even you, even me. Hence my reason for participating in this year’s Week Without Driving.

In 2023, I completed the official Week Without Driving. It was amazingly instructive. As a result of that experience, in 2024 I did a slightly different exercise. I drove, as usual, and also took the bus, but kept track of what I would have done or how I would have transported myself if I were not driving or able to get to my destination on the bus. Had I not been able to hop into the car and go, I might have remained isolated at home. And, for many, particularly elderly people, isolation is a serious concern.

Here are some of my daily observations from my actual Week Without Driving in 2023.

###

I’m retired, and I live in Trinidad. I had reason to be in McKinleyville Monday, Wednesday and Friday, early. These days would be my main bus days. I also had an informal arrangement on Tuesdays to help a non-driving friend with whatever transportation needs they had that were not served by the bus.

The bus is great! The drivers are friendly and competent and the routes are inclusive and satisfactory for people who live in the more central parts of the county — from Rio Dell to Trinidad. And there are challenges to depending entirely on the bus. Here’s my week:

Day one: To get to a morning appointment in McKinleyville from Trinidad, I first walked in the dark with a flashlight to the bus stop. Even with the flashlight, I was nearly run down by a speeding vehicle, impossible to identify in the darkness. When I arrived, four people were waiting at the bus stop for the 6:45 a.m. bus south.

On the way, fifteen more people got on the bus, including a cyclist with his bike. No bums or weirdos, just regular people. Folks who never take the bus have a perception that “bums and weirdos” — their words, not mine—favor bus transportation, but an actual bus ride does not bear this out.

I arrived at my destination about half an hour early.

To get home, the return bus does not come until 11:30. I had a number of small errands I could do in the wait time, but I could not carry too much around. Perhaps I would need a trolley if I did shop and then took the bus, or I would have to shop more frequently in smaller quantities. One notices that regular bus riders have backpacks or large bags.

To summarize my first day, a one-hour appointment had taken from 6:30 a.m. until noon. I managed to accomplish some other small errands in that time frame also, but not enough productivity to merit the time. Where to hang out and wait? The library is closed on Monday. Explored the adjacent Senior Center where I encountered some friendly seniors. Had a coffee in Ramone’s, an expense that would be prohibitive if I were on a limited income.

My day one observation of the Week Without Driving is that time is changed. I can’t get someplace fast and direct. I have to rely on a friend to take me to my next engagement Monday afternoon. If this were a regular occurrence, I would wear my friends out.

Day two: Awake at 5:10 to get ready to take the early bus again. But today I have to drive someone who does not drive. I will have to carry more in my car than I could easily transport on the bus. I could not take my recycling in to Hambro on the bus. And, with the wait time to catch the return bus home, I could not get my cold groceries home without some sort of insulated pack. Such errands require a car or truck. All errands without a personal vehicle require solid pre-planning.

Day three: Big improvement walking to the bus stop in the dark with my flashlight waving. Nobody tried to run me over this morning, so I was much calmer when I reached the bus stop. Again, there are four people waiting for the bus. As we proceed, I see the same people I saw on the bus Monday — the regular bus commuters who have figured out how to make it work for them.

Same routine as Monday, but this time I encounter a friend at Ramone’s, someone already going to Trinidad, so I get a ride, and I’m home by 10 AM.

Observation walking to bus stops — OMG what a lot of trash there is on the roadside! It is not even visible in a speeding car.

Day four: No car necessary today since I live in a walkable community. And if I don’t mind the fear factor of speeding large vehicles — mostly trucks and SUVs — I could walk or bike to all my destinations. More walking and biking results in better health, assuming you don’t get run over. Day four takeaway is mostly that large vehicles and active transportation are not always compatible.

Day five: It’s trash day, AKA bad bear day, so I walk with caution in the dark waving my flashlight. I see one other pedestrian, also with a flashlight. After my activities in McKinleyville, I needed to beg a ride home if I want to arrive before 2:25. My $50 worth of groceries are heavy to carry.

Day six: Saturday! Well, there will be no evening entertainment for me because there’s no getting home in the evening by bus. In fact, there is no nightlife at all for a person who depends only on the bus for transportation. Which brings to mind a train ride in Europe a few years back. Four rather drunk young men boarded a local train, joking around with one another during the 10 minutes they were on board, and got off at their destination, probably not significantly sobered up, but endangering nobody.

Day seven: Sunday, the day of rest. No bus.

###

This year I have a different schedule than two years ago. I’m finalizing my no-car planning. We’ll see how it goes.

• In His Continuing Efforts to Make Humboldt Life More Amazing For Everyone, the Editor of the Lost Coast Outpost — That’s Me — Urges You to Try Bicycling to Work, If You Can

###

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

###

John Lauretig remembers the filthy bathrooms, the overflowing trash cans and the community of people who rallied to clean up Joshua Tree National Park the last time the U.S. Government shut down.

For more than a month from December 2018 through January 2019, thousands of National Park Service employees were furloughed nationwide — but the Trump administration kept many national parks open.

Unsupervised, visitors drove through wilderness and historic sites, camped where they weren’t supposed to, and vandalized plants and buildings at parks across California. The trash — and the feces — piled up. In the days after the shutdown ended, park staff found at least 1,665 clumps of toilet paper littering Death Valley alone, where an estimated half-ton of human waste had been left outside the restrooms.

“It was insane to leave the gates open and tell the staff not to show up in the park — for our public lands, and all of our special places in this country, to be unprotected,” said Lauretig, a retired law enforcement park ranger and president of the Friends of Joshua Tree nonprofit.

Now, facing the prospect of another imminent shutdown, conservation groups and retired park service employees including Lauretig are calling to keep the gates locked at national parks and historic landmarks.

They’re among many Californians bracing for the shutdown, which is expected to begin Wednesday unless Democrats and Republicans can make a deal by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday.

As of now, the parties appear far apart, although President Donald Trump and congressional leaders are expected to meet today. Democratic leaders in Congress are demanding that Republicans reverse Medicaid cuts made in Trump’s signature tax and spending bill earlier this year and extend Biden-era subsidies used by a majority of Affordable Care Act enrollees.

In response, the Trump administration has floated firing federal workers en masse if the shutdown occurs.

“Democrats are hoping to use the one bit of leverage that they have left in Washington at this time to make it clear what they stand for,” said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at UC San Diego. “And the question is: Can they hold out against the political and policy pain that Donald Trump is hoping to impose by threatening more layoffs of government employees?”

The federal government shut down three times during the Obama and Trump presidencies. Each one presents a hardship for government employees, who are either furloughed or obliged to work without pay.

About 150,000 federal employees work in California, not counting the military service members who also will go without pay during a shutdown.

In the past when facing possible federal shutdowns, the state had a contingency plan to try to avoid disruptions in certain services. In late 2023, it planned to pay one month’s worth of federal food assistance early to advance aid to families in the event of a shutdown.

But this year there’s no such commitment yet from the Department of Finance, as Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration weighs the possibility of a lengthy shutdown.

“There isn’t an open-ended long-term line of credit where the state’s general fund can be assumed to make up for any federal fund shortfall,” finance spokesperson H.D. Palmer said.

Here’s a look at what Californians can expect to happen if a shutdown occurs this week.

Social Security and health care

Most Californians shouldn’t worry about a federal shutdown impacting their Social Security benefits or their health care access in the near term.

About 6.5 million Californians receive benefits through the Social Security Administration and those checks are expected to continue going out during a shutdown.

But, customer service could suffer depending on how many employees are told to stay home, according to the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare.

That includes “benefit verifications, earnings record corrections and updates, overpayments processing, and replacing Medicare cards. The level of disruption will depend on how many (Social Security Administration) employees the Trump administration deems ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’ during the shutdown,” Max Richtman, the organization’s president, said in a written statement.

Medicaid and Medicare, which pay for health care for low-income individuals, people with disabilities and seniors, are mandatory programs that are exempt from the annual appropriations process.

Jan Emerson-Shea, spokesperson for the California Hospital Association, said “essential services” like insurance payments to hospitals and doctors will continue.

Some discretionary programs, however, like food stamps and benefits for women, infants and children may be impacted by a shutdown.

One group that could be disproportionately affected by even a brief federal shutdown are native and indigenous populations. Many of the 723,000 American Indians living in California get health care at clinics that are funded through federal grants. The clinics are often small and may have very little reserves to weather a funding pause, said Nanette Star, policy director for the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health.

“Even a short shutdown can mean staff furloughs, service cuts, patient service delays,” Star said.

Airports and travel

You’ll be able to fly and take rides during a government shutdown, but you might experience more delays.

That’s because air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration agents are among the government employees who would be expected to show up for work without getting paid. The longer a shutdown drags out, the more likely it is that the system will strain and workers will call in sick.

The U.S. Travel Association, which advocates for the industry, released a statement last week that included a survey showing many people would cancel or postpone travel during a shutdown, which it argued would ripple through the economy.

“A shutdown is a wholly preventable blow to America’s travel economy — costing $1 billion every week — and affecting millions of travelers and businesses while placing unnecessary strain on an already overextended federal travel workforce,” said Geoff Freeman, the organization’s president.

Wildfires and disasters

A federal shutdown won’t ground firefighters, but could slow the money that pays for future disaster prep.

Nick Schuler, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, said the agency does not expect a shutdown to affect its “ability to respond to and aggressively attack fires” and will continue to operate as normal. In past shutdowns, he said, U.S. Forest Service firefighters have still been available for emergency response and pointed to California’s “robust Master Mutual Aid System,” which ensures resources respond regardless of jurisdiction.

Still, he cautioned that what keeps engines running today might not pay for the prevention work of tomorrow: “Any disruption to grant funding that supports fire prevention and wildfire resiliency could have negative impacts,” he said.

Newsom’s office said the Federal Emergency Management Agency would keep “core life-saving operations” going during a shutdown but that payments to states would stall and recovery efforts would be put on hold. That means Californians could see first responders in action but face delays in reimbursement or recovery projects.

Other science agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey could face interruptions that affect California’s disaster readiness, the governor’s spokesperson said.

National parks

National parks supporters are worried that the Trump administration again would send home workers but leave open the gates.

That’s “a recipe for even more disaster,” said Kate Groetzinger, communications manager at the Center for Western Priorities, an environmental advocacy group. “It will be worse this time than it was last time around, simply because the parks are already struggling.”

She was referring to federal staffing cuts the Trump administration carried out earlier this year. The National Parks Conservation Association estimates that the National Park Service has lost 24% of its permanent staff since Trump’s second term began, and left thousands of seasonal positions unfilled.

If a shutdown does occur, the association projects daily losses of $1 million in fee revenue for the parks, and $77 million for the gateway communities that surround them.

Morale among National Park workers is bad already — and a shutdown would make it worse, said Bernadette Johnson, a former superintendent of Manzanar National Historic Site, where during World War II the U.S. Government incarcerated thousands of Japanese Americans.

“The attack has just been so furious. And I think that federal employees are being demonized, as these lazy bureaucrats that we are not … It breaks my heart to watch,” Johnson said. “The people left behind are holding all of that work now, because the work didn’t go away.”

A spokesperson for the The National Park Service said the agency is reviewing and updating plans for a lapse in funding.

However a shutdown may play out, Lauretig over at Joshua Tree said he’s ready.

“I still have a loft (full) of toilet paper, trash bags, bleach, cleaning materials, gloves waiting for the next event — which, you know, could be imminent.”

###

Next week is the Week Without Driving — a nationwide event in which people take a pledge to avoid getting in cars as much as possible, and to reflect on their experiences. Throughout this week, the Outpost — in conjunction with the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities — will be bringing you little reports and essays from people who have taken the pledge. How are they doing? We’re going to find out!

But first, to set the stage, I want to tell you about something. And I want to make a modest suggestion.

###

It is almost exactly one mile from my house to LoCO HQ.

For well on 10 years, my daily routine was this: I would wake up in the morning; make coffee; feed the dogs; do some morning work; get my kids out the door to school, breakfasted and lunched; do some more morning work; shower; and, usually, eat something.

Then I would get in my car and drive the one mile to work, in Old Town. I would park in the same parking spot, which was one block from our office, every single time. I would work the day. Then, at quitting time, I would do whatever it is I had to do after work – usually, drive up to Arcata to pick up one or the other of my kids at the tail end of one of their afterschool obligations. Then we would drive home.

This year, things changed. My kids had both graduated from school. That meant I had no real need to have my car available to me at the end of my workday. Which meant I had no real need to drive.

Still, it took me a month or two to mentally switch gears. Why was I still driving to work, then driving back home at the end of the day? Why was I burning fossil fuels to perform this simple task? Why was I paying for gas, registration, insurance and upkeep on this stupid one-ton machine that spent most of its day, apart from 10 minutes at either end, stationary, just taking up space?

When I was young, bicycling was one of the great pleasures in life. Living in Willits, I kept two sets of quick-change wheels. One had mountain bike tires and one had “slicks” – perfectly smooth, treadless tires designed for maximum glide. The former were for weekend jaunts up logging roads to the Two Rock lookout, where you could see clear to the coast on a sunny day. The latter were for debauched midnight “drafting” sessions, where we would wait, poised, until a big rig poked its head into town. The trick was to get into its slipstream while it came south down the northern end of Main Street, then pedal like hell as it picked up speed en route to the straightaway on the south end. Do it right and you suddenly found yourself speeding along in top gear at a frictionless 50 miles per hour.

Humans can’t fly, but in my experience there are two things that come close to it – close to a thing that you dream of almost every night, if you’re like me. One is swimming. The other is riding a bicycle.

Still I drove to work.

But then, this summer, my kid’s beater pickup started sounding a bit shaky, as kids’ first vehicles tend to do. I gave him my car, because he needed it more than I did. And rather than spending money to get the pickup in order, I pulled my pandemic bike off the hook in the junk room, got it tuned up and started riding to work.

Reader, it has been amazing. There’s the pleasure communing with the elements, the feeling of the wind on your face twice a day. There are the health benefits of getting your blood pumping a little bit on a regular basis. There is steering, weaving, leaning, pedaling, downshifting, swooping around corners.

Then there is the inarguable fact that riding your bike to work, in Eureka, is just as fast or faster than driving. I cover the mile from the doorstep of my house to the door to our building in five minutes flat – easily faster than doing it in my car, when parking is taken into account. The ride home – mostly uphill – takes eight minutes. I had to start timing myself to fully understand it could be that fast. Even when I’m staring straight at the proof on my phone I can’t quite believe it.

Why did it take me so long to make this change? Why don’t more people do it this way?

I should not be unique. I am not a lithe young buck. Nowadays I am solidly in the wrong half of middle age, and my doctor would tell you that my physical apparatus leaves a lot to be desired. There are thousands of Humboldters who have essentially the same commute that I do, and who are at least as able as me. Most of them are more able still. They could be biking to work. Yet for some reason they are not.

How many? The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey estimates that there are some 51,366 Humboldt County people over the age of 16 who work at a job outside their home. Of those 51,366 people, it estimates that 46,355 – about 90 percent – get to their jobs in a private vehicle. And of those 46,355 people, it estimates that a full 11,499 of them drive less than 10 minutes to get to work.

Here is a map of those people in Eureka alone – Eureka north of Harris, which is in eminently bikeable distance to most of the city’s jobs. Click a census tract for the numbers.

Humboldt County, you may be surprised to learn, has the fifth-lowest commute times in the state. A full 22 percent of us, according to the the Census Bureau’s imperfect but best-available estimates, spend less than 20 minutes a day getting to and from work in our big, hulking, expensive, wasteful, air-polluting machines.

Why do we do that? No doubt some of those 11,499 people are less able than me. Some of them, I’m sure, need their cars to do their jobs. But I’d be willing to wager that the great majority of them are in the same place I was a couple of months ago – just doing it the same way they always did, for reasons they forgot long ago. If you’re one of those people, and especially if you’re one of those people who live in a town that is rapidly upgrading its non-motorized transportation infrastructure, then I urge you to give it a go.

There are three caveats.

One: Last week I pulled a calf muscle hauling my bike up the stairs. This put me back into vehicles for a few days. But then it got better.

Two: This has been summer. What will it be like when it’s raining? Will I brave the wet in rainclothes? Will I fire up my kid’s pickup for the little commute on very rainy days? Will I choose to fall back on pandemic-era privileges and work from home during the worst of the winter storms? I don’t know. It’s to be determined.

Three: Our household has a fallback, which is my wife’s car. We are blessed to have a house with a washer and dryer for the clothes, but there’s no good solution for grocery shopping. I’m not going to swing by the Co-Op or Natty Foods on my bike every night just to pick stuff for dinner. It would be too much – too much time spent shopping, and too much money on basics that would be cheaper elsewhere. I don’t see an easy way to avoid the weekend grocery store run. Also, we are as of yet still too young, my wife and I, to give up the opportunity to just up stakes for a weekend and take a road trip somewhere – a change of scenery for mental health purposes. And we also sometimes have family obligations out of town. I have a solution to each of these – robot taxis for the groceries, cheap and easy rental cars for the road trips – but as of yet society has not caught up to my beautiful vision of the future. One it does, I will happily divest myself of vehicle ownership forever.

So that’s that. I address myself to the people who have something tickling the backs of their brains, something telling them they should be changing up their car-bound lifestyle a bit. Do it! I think you’ll be very happy you did.

###

The national Week Without Driving runs from September 29 through October 5, 2025. It is an opportunity for participating public officials and other community members to get first-hand insights into the way many seniors, kids, people with disabilities, low-income people, and other non-drivers navigate our communities. Each day during the week, the Lost Coast Outpost is publishing reflections from local participants. For more information, visit this link.

High-severity wildfires that burn communities are obviously bad. But what about high-severity fire that burns in the backcountry? Guest Dr. Dick Hutto, Emeritus Professor of biology and wildlife biology at the University of Montana and author of the recently published book A Beautifully Burned Forest: Learning to Celebrate Severe Forest Fire, makes the case that high-severity fire has been unfairly demonized and this fire forms an important and transitory habitat type. 

Rethinking high-severity fire has policy consequences. Do we invest as heavily in fire risk reduction for wildlands or is funding better spent in and near communities? Do we invest as heavily in fire suppression where fires are burning far from human habitations? And what do we do after fires burn—do we log and replant or leave it be? Listen to hear Dr. Hutto’s prescriptions.

Want to learn more? Check out Dr. Hutto’s website on fire ecology. 

###

Bear River is a small river, twenty-five miles long, threading its way from the foot of Mt. Pierce to the mouth of the river at Capetown. Compared to the Eel River to the north or the Mattole River to the south, Bear River, bordered by privately owned land with no public access, is not as well known or traveled.

From the 1870s to the turn of the century, most of the dairying in the Ferndale area took place at Bear River. One reason for this was that Bear River had available land. The town of Ferndale was essentially bought up when Seth Shaw and Francis Francis each purchased a section of land. That was a total of 320 acres, and that land was planted with crops, such as potatoes and beans.

The tall ferns, for which the town was named, grew to the height of six or seven feet; thus, the land did not lend itself to grazing. The other important reason Bear River was ideal for dairying was the Homestead Act of 1862. A homesteader only had to be the head of a household and at least twenty-one years of age to claim a 160-acre parcel of land. Each homesteader had to live on the land, build a home, make improvements, and farm for five years before they were eligible to “prove up.” A total filing fee of $18 was the only money required.

Access to Bear River is gained by traveling the Wildcat Road. This road begins at the south side of Ferndale where the sign reads “Capetown-Petrolia.” In the Ferndale Enterprise it was reported that

On Monday. April 8, 1884, work started on the building of the Wildcat Road. W.L. Collins, the gentleman awarded the Wildcat Road bid, expects, if nothing happens, to have the road open in six weeks. He employs forty Chinamen and a few white men and intends to push the work while the ground is in good condition.

The Wildcat road remains the dominant access road to Bear River.

Prior to the Wildcat Road being built, the only route to Bear River was from Centerville (west of Ferndale) to Capetown, either via the overland route or on the beach. The solid ground route was by way of Fleener Gulch and Guthrie Creek and finishing up at Oil Creek, which flows along West Point Ridge. The beach route was faster but more dangerous. Knowing the tides was essential, as travelers wanted the sand to be firm and the tide going out. Slippery rocks were exposed, waves could be huge, and there was a bad undertow.

In 1976, retired Ferndale High School teacher Bill Crane wrote a historical novel entitled Franz and the Bear River Horse, or a Swiss Boy Comes to Humboldt. The book was published posthumously by his son. William Crane. Jr. The story tells of the difficulties of taking the beach stage.

At one time they were overwhelmed by a huge breaker and horses and riders were for a considerable time floundering in the seething waters and in imminent danger of being swept to sea.

(The novel is based on the real life of “Franz” — Frank Vogel, who came to the United States from Germany in 1884. with his mother Lena Teichgraber Vogel, to reunite with his father Karl Vogel. They stayed overnight at the hotel run by the Marble family at Capetown and were taken six miles up the river by Mr. Marble’s team of horses, only to find that Karl had been killed by a falling tree at the same time they were traveling from Germany. Lena later married Martin Barbettini, whose ranch was upriver from the Schmidt ranch where Karl had worked. Martin had a dairy and made butter, as did all the dairies at that time.)

###

Butter making was the chosen means of making a living because it was the most suitable product for such an isolated area — of utmost importance was that it could be stored until transportation was available. The necessary ingredients were cream, butter kegs, and salt. The dairy cows at Bear River weren’t the typical Jerseys, Holsteins and Guernseys of today. They were a Durham breed, a sturdy red cow that almost resembled beef cattle.

Cows were typically milked in the corrals. Milk was then put in pans to cool and to let the cream rise to the top. A cream skimmer was used and cream went in one bucket, skim milk in the other. Skim milk was often given to the pigs, mixed with grain to make a mash. The cream was churned into butter by a work horse going round and round, turning solid redwood planks that were three feet on the sides with ends approximately thirty inches square. When the cream became butter, the buttermilk was drained off and the butter was placed on a round table that could be spun around to remove as much moisture as possible. Then salt was mixed in as a preservative, just the right amount per pound to keep the butter edible months later.

Isolated dairy ranches had to stock up in fall with enough butter kegs to last until spring. There was a “cooper shop” at Capetown across from the old schoolhouse, as well as one on the way from Capetown to Centerville near Mazeppa Ranch. They made the 25- and 50-pound butter kegs the ranchers would be filling from October of one year to May or June of the next. The kegs were made of spruce and had metal hoops and a lid. Hoops were loosened to fill the kegs to within an inch of the top with butter, the top was placed in its groove, the hoops were tightened, and brine was poured into a three-quarter inch hole in the top. Barrels would have been stored on the coolest site on the ranch. At the Barbettini ranch there was a butter safe in the creek, deep in a grove of pepperwoods, and the cool water ran over it constantly.

From 1870 to 1900 there were as many as twenty-five dairies at Bear River. The Southmayd Ranch is believed to be the first dairy on Bear River, as well as the first house, in 1856. Since the Homestead Act did not take effect until 1862. Southmayd may have been purchased using the Preemption Act, a statute passed in 1841 in response to the demands of the Western states that squatters be allowed to preempt lands. Settlers could stake a claim of 160 acres and after fourteen months of residence purchase it from the government for as little as $1.25 an acre.

John Lewis Southmayd.

John Lewis Southmayd came to Humboldt County in 1853 from New Hampshire. Additional recordings show that he purchased more property adjacent to his original section. His nephew, C.H. Southmayd, had nearby property, and in The History of Northern California of 1891 he’s listed as milking 127 cows on his ranch. J. L. Southmayd married Ella Bartlett, also from New Hampshire, in 1871. He died at age sixty-six from an “ailment of peculiar nature” where his foot was diseased and his lower limb flesh was absorbed by the disease. as related in the Ferndale Enterprise obituary.

East of Southmayd was the Walch ranch, homesteaded in 1865. The original home burned down in 1925 and was re-built the next year. In photographs of the original house, a dairy barn is in the background, and that barn is still standing today. Sanford and Dorian Lowry now own the property. Sanford’s grandfather and grandmother, Robert and Katherine Lowry, homesteaded a ranch just west of Southmayd called the Lowry “Upper Place.” Sanford’s mother and father, Will and Mabel Lowry, had the “Lower Place” at the confluence of the south fork of Bear River and main Bear River when they married in the early 1930s. Part of their house was the original cabin of Knyphausen “Foss” Geer, who had his own dairy in the 1860s. Foss enlisted in the 1st Battalion of Mountaineers, California Volunteers, and became a captain in 1864 at Fort Humboldt. He fought Indians all over Humboldt County and had many battles in the Bear River area, including a clash with the Bear River Indians on the south fork of Bear River at the Russ home. Mountain View,

There were several different owners of the Southmayd Ranch over the years. In the 1920s brothers Sam and Bill Graham bought the ranch. Sam lived on another ranch nearby with his wife Mildred. Bill lived in the house at Southmayd with a mail order bride from the east coast, and her son Blair. Maxine Goff of Ferndale remembers that times were tough in the big cities back East during the depression and women were attracted to the lure of the frontier. But it was lonely and she remembers that Bill’s wife also spent time at an apartment in Ferndale. Bill and his wife attempted to make a living at Southmayd by borrowing money from William Russ to build cabins on the property to be used as “honeymoon cottages.” When this endeavor did not prove lucrative. Bill and his bride lost the ranch. According to Sam’s son Elwood Graham, his father, who worked for the Russ Co. for over sixty years, had wanted to buy the ranch back for himself. But Mr. Russ chose to make it a wedding present for his daughter Viola, and her intended husband Rex McBride. Elwood Graham is still ranching on his parents’ property, past Southmayd, at the foot of Mt. Taylor.

Maxine Goff’s father, George Robinson, had dairy bulls to rent out before the days of artificial insemination. He pastured forty dairy bulls at Sam Graham’s ranch until such time as they were needed back in Arlynda Corners. Sometime in the late 1920s Maxine and her father rode out to Grahams to check on the bulls. She lived at the was in a hurry to be back in town for New Year’s Eve. It was the first time she had ridden in snow and it was “rough goin’.” The horses had their shoes on which collected snow and would build up to four or five inches, making it like being on stilts. If you were lucky the clumps of snow would break away and if not, it was like skiing. She did get back for New Year’s Eve!

Elwood Graham remembers at one time they pastured eighty dairy bulls. His mom insisted on a high picket fence around the house. One time she was trapped in the outhouse, surrounded by bulls. After that her husband built a chute (to hold the bulls in place) and they cut off all their horns.

Another time when Maxine was only ten years old and her sister Letha just eighteen months older their dad sent them to Bear River with “pasture stock” to turn over to Sam Graham. They met Sam up on Bear River Ridge but when they turned back for home it was foggy and they were lost. They would send the dog out but he kept coming back with sheep. They tried to reconnect with Sam but he had already started for home. Finally they made their way to Bonanza Ranch and were able to stay the night. One of the hired help had to ride to Capetown to call their parents regarding their delay. The next day they followed the horseman packing cream out to the Wildcat for the stage. Maxine said she cried all the way, thinking she would never see her parents again. She was just sure the man didn’t know where he was going. Later they thought if they had just given their horses free rein they probably would have led them through the fog safely.

###

Although Viola Russ inherited many ranches, Southmayd was always her favorite, and she spent many happy hours there, despite no electricity or phone and being isolated from the world. She and Rex were rearing their three children there in the 1930s when Viola’s father died, and she was left to run all his enterprises. It took her away from her family much of the time and the family was forced to live at ranches closer to town. In later years however, Viola spent much of her time at Southmayd, painting and writing and enjoying leisure life in the country. Because several people had been buried at Southmayd over the years, creating an existing cemetery, Viola was able to have her wish to be buried at Southmayd. The cemetery includes a man, George Eades, who fell off his horse and died while passing through Southmayd in 1882, and a young boy, son of Peter Hansen, who died in 1879 after an accident on the ranch.

Many different employees of the Russ/McBride ranches lived at Southmayd over the years. One was Joe McAlister, who was known to be a good horse handler. Nila Morrison, longtime resident of Bear River, remembers sitting on the porch at Southmayd sipping tea with Nola McAlister while the men sheared sheep down at the barn. Nila’s husband Sid sheared sheep for a living and lived his whole life on the Morrison ranch at Bear River. That ranch was also a dairy at one time, and the shed where the milk cooled is still on the property today. Nila was the teacher at Capetown in the early 1930s, when she met Sid. She is now 97.

After the turn of the century, ranches at Bear River began raising sheep and later beef cattle. Although Southmayd Ranch is now a cattle ranch, it is still owned by the McBride family, and it still has neither a telephone nor electricity.