Lorna Jane Petersen of Eureka passed away peacefully on March 2, 2023 due to complications from Alzheimer’s Disease. She was 88 years old. Lorna was born to Hilmer and Elvina Pederson in Arlington, South Dakota on April 17, 1934. The oldest of five siblings, she grew up playing sports and spending time with her friends and siblings, including her sister and best friend, Bonnie. In sixth grade, Lorna was asked to play on the girls softball team, eventually becoming pitcher while Bonnie played catcher. Lorna and Bonnie also played basketball together, Lorna as a forward, Bonnie as a guard. As a teenager, she won first place in a foot race down main street in Arlington during their hometown celebration.

Lorna married the love of her life, Dennis Petersen, in 1954 in Arlington, South Dakota following his return from serving in the U.S Army during the Korean War from 1952-1953. They were briefly stationed in Tacoma, Washington where they had their first son, Michael, then returned to South Dakota where they took over the running of Dennis’ family’s farm. There, they had 2 more children, Monica and Mitchell. Dennis loved the coast, and in 1962, the family relocated to Humboldt County, California, eventually settling in Eureka. Lorna worked in a number of positions, including as the manager of the Yardage Department at JC Penney, in the cafeteria at Zane Junior High School and at Pat’s Market for a number of years while Dennis ran his own backhoe service. Dennis and Lorna brought their love of farming to the coast, their backyard was always beautifully maintained and they had fruits and vegetables growing year-round. They had a tent trailer and went camping regularly, often at Fish Lake in Orleans and Swimmer’s Delight near Carlotta. Lorna was a fantastic cook and made the most wonderful meals on holidays or special occasions, including her tradition of making Pizza Burgers on Christmas day, a celebration that the family adored and looked forward to every year. Anytime the family was together, Lorna would have everyone stop and gather around so she could take pictures. She enjoyed knitting and sewing and always made blankets for the children in the family. Lorna was a breast cancer survivor who walked in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life with her daughter, Monica, who was also a cancer survivor.

Following their retirement, Dennis and Lorna bought a lovely log cabin on a ¼ acre lot that had a beautiful view of Campbell Ridge in Willow Creek and sat just above the Trinity River. They continued their love of gardening and grew fruits and vegetables which they enjoyed sharing with friends and family. They enjoyed going on drives to explore the Willow Creek area and learn about the local history. She stayed in close contact with her siblings and was incredibly proud of her children who she always remained in close contact with. She and Dennis also loved to dote on their grandchildren and regularly attended their sporting events and school performances.

In 2012, Dennis’ health began to decline and they moved back to Eureka to be closer to family. They purchased a beautiful home in Cutten set in a redwood grove where they could watch deer and other wildlife from their living room window. Sadly, Dennis passed away in 2014, but Lorna continued living in the home with family visiting frequently. Dennis and Lorna’s grandson, Josiah, attended school nearby, and every Friday, they would walk to her house together. Josiah had always loved his Great Grandparents and he and Lorna became best buddies during their time together, always teasing and joking with each other. Eventually, however, Lorna was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and required additional care, so moved into an assisted living facility where she continued to have loved ones visit regularly while receiving wonderful care.

Lorna was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Dennis Petersen, her parents, Hilmer and Elvina Pederson, and her siblings LeRoy Pederson and Geraldine Wiederman. Her granddaughter, Heather Petersen, passed away two weeks after Lorna from breast cancer.

She is survived by her three children, Michael Petersen (Melinda) of Eureka, Monica Caetano (Frank) of Bayside and Mitchell Petersen (Debra) of Corning, Calif. She is also survived by her two siblings, Bonnie Mullet of Goshen, Indiana and Loren Pederson of The Dalles, Oregon. She is also survived by her five Grandchildren, Crystal Hisaw, Nicole Petersen-Log, Michelle Petersen, T.J. Wilson, and Shelby Wilson, as well as six great-grandchildren: Josiah, Daphne, Killian, River, Kianna and Farrah.

The family wishes to thank Lorna’s in-home care provider, Deana Gurney, the exceptional staff atEspecially You Assisted Living and the wonderful folks at Hospice of Humboldt for their kindness and continuous care in her later years. Per Lorna’s request, no celebration of life will be held, but please feel free to share your memories of her at www.lostcoastoutpost.com.

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On Tuesday December 18, 1928, two armed men disrupted the morning routine of the First National Bank of Coquille, 20 miles upstream from Bandon, Oregon. When they failed to gain access — the Vice-President of the bank slammed the door in their faces — they drove off in a stolen car. At the edge of town, they abandoned the vehicle and took to the woods, chased by several townspeople who had been alerted by the bank’s alarm. A local furniture dealer took aim at one of the would-be robbers, bringing him down with one shot. Thus ended the criminal career, and life, of Marion Rube. He was 33.

Rube was a Klamath Native American from the Hoopa Reservation, as was his half-brother, Harrison Smith, a man who served time in San Quentin after a stabbing incident at Martin’s Ferry. After being released, Smith illegally brought whiskey onto the reservation. When confronted by Oscar McCardie, a Hoopa policeman, he was drunk and resisted arrest, and the encounter ended with the policeman shooting Smith dead. That was in February 1915.

Although Smith’s death was ruled justifiable, Indian law demanded that his family be compensated. They refused the $250 offered by McCardie who, from then on, lived in fear for his life, eventually quitting his job and turning to ranching. Six years later, in May 1921, he was shot and killed by Marion Rube, avenging the death of his half-brother as demanded by family honor. Rube was no stranger to firearms; he’d been a sharpshooter in France during World War One. After two trials, both of which ended in a hung jury, Rube was acquitted. Now it was Rube’s turn to compensate McCardie’s family, in accordance with tribal law.

Lacking the necessary funds, Rube determined that banks represented his best hope because, as bank robber Willie Sutton would later explain, “That’s where the money is.” (Apocryphally — a reporter interviewing Sutton in prison actually came up with the phrase.) For his first target, Rube picked the Bank of Fortuna, now the Harland Law Firm on Main Street. It was an unfortunate choice. In a sequence worthy of the Mack Sennett’s Keystone Cops, he and his prizefighter accomplice did indeed rob the bank, but they failed to get away cleanly. They got as far as Carlotta, with a posse of cars in hot pursuit (is there any other type of pursuit?). There, the Oldsmobile which they’d stolen four days earlier quit on them, its wheel bearings burned out after a high-speed chase.

Both men were subsequently captured, Rube meanwhile having stashed his share of the take, $16,000, “at three different locations on the mountain within a half mile of downtown Pepperwood.” according to his then-wife Alice, interviewed in 1988 at age 92. According to one story, the money was never found; another version has Alice driving an expensive new car (a Stutz-Bearcat, for aficionados) soon after the robbery.

After spending seven years in San Quentin, Rube escaped, three times in the same week, the third time successfully. The story only gets weirder from here. After two months on the lam, Rube shot dead a rancher that he’d mistaken for one of the deputies looking for him. Two months later, he and a partner made their unsuccessful attempt to rob the National Bank of Coquille: see above. According to Jerry Rohde, who records the saga in detail in his book Both Sides of the Bluff, Marion Rube promised he’d never be taken alive. He got his wish.

If you’re a bookish type, you know Solomon Everta. As of today he’s owned Eureka Books for exactly one year — happy anniversary! — and he was stationed behind the counter at the historic “J-Lo Building” for several years before that, dispensing recommendations and helping you find what you were looking for, even if you didn’t know quite what you were looking for yourself. 

Everta is an excellent guest for the second episode of Humboldt Tea Time, in which the Outpost’s resident tea aficionado, John Kennedy O’Connor, gets to know a member of the community. This week, O’Connor was pleased to suffer through his guest’s ghastly herbal concoction because that guest was such an interesting guy.

Topics discussed: Everta’s early experiences volunteering for Food Not Bombs. Much later, his stint working for the County Clerk-Recorder’s Office. How both those experiences inform his work today, not only as a bookseller but as an author of “fabulist” history about his adopted hometown, which he loves very much.

His egalitarian vision of the shop goes far beyond moving merchandise. “Eureka Books is a place people can find their stories,” Everta says, “then use stories that have been told in the past to build the story of the future.”

Brew up a pot of your own — ginger-lemon, if you must — and tune in via the video player above. Then, join the anniversary celebration at Eureka Books during Arts Alive! tonight. There will be cake.

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Tune into the EcoNews Report for big news about Eel River dam removal – PG&E is finally taking dam safety seriously! On March 16 the company announced big changes to how they will manage Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury reservoir, based on an updated evaluation of seismic stability and dam safety. Dam removal advocates at Friends of the Eel River have been ringing alarm bells about dam safety for years and are hopeful about what this could mean for expediting the dam removal process.

• Free The Eel 
• PG&E Admits Scott Dam Faces Serious Seismic Risks

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Humboldt Historian editor’s note: The following story regarding Yurok doctors comes from the book To the American Indian, written by Lucy Thompson, Che-Na-Wah Weitch-Ah-Wah, in 1916. The work has been republished by Heyday Books of Berkeley and features all of the original reminiscences of the Yurok woman in addition to several new photographs.

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Women doctors are made and educated, which comes about in a very peculiar way. They are usually from the daughters of wealthy families. Most of them begin quite young, and often the doctors will take one of her daughters that she selects along with her and begin by teaching her to smoke and help her in her attendance on the sick, and at the right time will commence with her at the sweathouse, while others will have a dream that they are doctors, and then the word will be given out. And in either case along in the late fall all will be made ready, the day being set.

Lucy Thompson, circa 1916. Photo via the Library of Congress. Public domain.

The sweathouse (which is the white man’s name and does not have the same meaning in our language; we call it Ur-girk) being selected, they take her to it, dressed with a heavy skirt that comes down to her ankles and which is made of the inner bark of the maple, with her arms and breast bare. They all go into the sweathouse, there being from fifteen to twenty men and women in number, she having a brother or cousin, sometimes two, that look after her. All begin to sing songs that are used for the occasion, dance jumping up and down, going slowly around the fire and to the right. They keep this up until she is wet with perspiration, as wet as the water could make her, and when she gets so tired that she can stand up no longer, one of her brothers or cousins takes her on his back with her arms around his neck and keeps her going until she is completely exhausted. Then they take her out and into the house. There she is bathed in warm water and then allowed to sleep as long as she wishes, which revives her and gives her hack her strength. On awakening she appears rested and vigorous, with a Beautiful complexion. She can now eat her meal, such as is allowed her.

While she is training for a doctor she is not allowed to drink any water or eat any fresh salmon. All the water she gets is in the acorn mush or in the manzanita berry, pounded to a flour and then mixed with water, made into a sort of mush, and warmed. They are allowed to eat all other kinds of food. These dances are kept up at intervals all through the winter months until late in the spring, when they will take her far back on the high mountains and keep her there all through the summer, never allowing her to drink water, only as mixed with mush, nor eat any fresh salmon. In the fall they bring her back home to the river, when she will go through the same performance in the sweathouse.

Sometimes she will be from three to ten years before being ready for the final graduation exercises, when she will be taken back to some almost inaccessible place on a high peak or on a very high rock where they will smoke, pray and fast for from three to five days. While at this place none eat or drink, and on leaving it the pipes are left secreted so as to be found on the next visit. On this trip there will not be more than three or four with her, and always one of them is an old doctor so as to care for her, and on coming back, after they get down the hill part way to a suitable place, they make a stop and all eat and take a rest.

The young doctor bathes herself, loosens her hair and washes it, then dries it and combs it with a hone knife. These knives of deer horn, about the size of a table knife, have a hole bored through the handle and a string tied through it, and fastens around the wrist; and in carrying it the point of the blade is up and lays against the arm so that a person would hardly know that she carried it. This comb is beautifully carved and checkered with black stripes. She gently strokes the hair with it until it is dry; then she thrusts the point through it, close to the head, gently pressing the blade down through it. She keeps the comb in motion until the hair is perfectly straight and glossy, and then she parts the hair in the middle of the forehead; then takes strips of otter skin and ties it up, letting it hang down on each side of the head and in front of each shoulder.

This girl is a virgin, as perfect in stature and active in movement and health as God can make her. She can hear hardships and punishment without complaint or murmur that would make a bear whine. After all have rested they start for home, which will perhaps take them two or three days to reach, and all the time her health is looked after to see that she is in good spirits and does not become wearied. And on arriving home she is allowed to rest for two, three or four weeks, when all is made ready to give her the final degree, this time preparing one of the large living houses for the purpose by taking off a part of the roof and fixing it so that all can come and get a chance to see the whole performance. The time is set and word is sent all up and down the river, and at the appointed time they will be there, some coming for many miles to see and take part in giving the young doctor her final degree.

At sundown the fire is made in the center of the living room, and at the commencement of the hour of darkness she is brought in, goes through the door and down into the basement, takes her place, when the others that are to help her take their places, forming a circle around the fire, and all start singing in a low and monotonous voice, jumping up and down, the young doctor taking care of herself at first and taking instructions from the old doctor who sits close by but takes no part other than to instruct her. After keeping this up for two to four hours, the young doctor becomes very warm and fatigued, and they keep close watch of her until the time comes, when one of the men takes hold of her and holds her up and helps her to stand, still wearing her down, until two men take hold of her by each arm and in this way keep her dancing until she is helpless and so limp that she can no longer go on. Then they lay her up and out of the way, still keeping on with the ceremony until daylight in the morning, when all repair to their places to sleep for a few hours, then arise, go forth, bathe and eat and go back to their homes. The young doctor does not always go through this ordeal and come out safely, as sometimes she became so warm that she would never recover from the effects of the severe punishment, but this seldom happens.

After going through this, she is pronounced a doctor and can begin practicing her profession. She is now allowed to get married if she so desires, and the most of them do and raise large families and live to be very old. They wield a big influence among the tribe if they are successful as doctors, and some of them are very successful as doctors, while others are of the ordinary class. These women doctors are seers, as when they are called to doctor the sick, they claim to tell what is the cause of the sickness and what will cure it. They suck the body where the pain is located and sing in a sort of chanting way for a while, then suck the body again and keep this up for four or six hours. If it is a serious case there will be two doctors and sometimes three, and in this case they will not agree as to the cause; if the patient gets well, there will be one of them that gets the credit for the greater part of it and sometimes all of it.

When there is a case of sickness, the relatives of the sick one decide on the doctor, and the amount of money or other valuables, or all valuables just as they may; go to the doctor, and lay it before her, at which she will accept or refuse the offer. But if it is satisfactory she will prepare to go with them, and if it is rejected she will demand more; and sometimes she will call for some valuable relic which she knows the family has in their possession, sometimes an article that has in years gone by been in the doctor’s own family, and she will strive to get it back again. If the sick one should die while she is trying to get more, they will make her pay to them all that they have laid down to her, but if she accepts the money and goes and the patient dies, then they make her return all that was given to her. If there was two or three doctors, then they all have to return all that was given to them, and then they will debate among themselves as to which one of the doctors is the best.

Some of the doctors were very successful and hardly ever lost a patient, and accumulated great wealth, owning the best fishing places and large tracts of land where they could gather acorns, hazelnuts and grass seeds, besides many slaves. They were great talkers and always had a ready answer to every question, and were almost habitual smokers, using a large pipe and smoking often. They had a wonderful constitution.

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The story above was originally printed in the Winter 1994 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.

The pandemic is over and we are moving on!

Even I can’t tell if I’m being sarcastic or serious, and like almost everyone I have mixed feelings about the last three years and what they portend for the future.

No more daily or weekly reminders about what we should be doing, what we should wear, how we should act, what we should take, who we should hang out with — FREEDOM! I’m ready, especially since my job involves being the person who tells you what to do. It’s not my natural temperament and really, you’d hope that most people are good and will make responsible choices.

She wears a cross, but you wouldn’t cross her! Pictured is the prototypical modern nurse — slightly world-weary, sexy as hell, endlessly bemused at the myriad variations on the theme of “being human” she encounters on the daily. Before this lady the nurses all dressed like nuns and slapped you with a ruler. Photo: Public domain, via the National Library of Medicine.  

And we have reason to still be hopeful for that. The pandemic made huge changes in our society - we are all a little different. While hindsight is 20/20, there are some clear needs for the next time we face a similar crisis: knowledge, credible information, critical thinking, no jumping to conclusions, and kindness.

If we keep looking at public health issues in the right way, and kindly bring the stragglers along, we’ll be much better prepared next time, right? RIGHT??? To my readers, keep up the excellent work.

With the end of the official COVID pandemic, this will be my last column on LoCO — for now. If things heat back up, information is hard to find, or some other virus rears it’s head, I’ll come back and politely remind you to wash your hands.

So for now, I want to leave you with a grab bag of resources to guide you as the official journey ends, and we each begin our own individual health adventures, ready or not.

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Numbers of COVID-19 vaccinations, cases, hospitalizations, and deaths that have been reported in the U.S. are available here for anyone who wants to keep up with the information. The map of the U.S. gives an idea of transmission rates in each state or region, and you can also use the tracker to see trends in your community. The community-level information is updated weekly, while other data is updated daily.

Prevent, prevent, prevent! Vaccines are still high on the list of preventative measures against COVID-19. Aside from that, avoiding people who are sick with a viral illness, improving ventilation and taking activities outside if possible while community transmission is high are all effective strategies to stay healthy. Try to keep your body strong by moving every day, eating right, staying hydrated, and getting plenty of sleep.

Because not everything that “happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” you may want to get tested for COVID if you start feeling “off.” If you are tired or have a sore throat, chest congestion, runny nose or fever, please stay home from work and get tested.

Where can you get tested? Now that the community testing that has been available for years has closed, there are some other options for testing that I was able to find (click here). Rapid tests are available through public health departments, or free tests can be mailed to you (click here).

If you do test positive, it is recommended that you get medical attention and consider a treatment option. Don’t use the emergency department unless you are having trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, new confusion, inability to stay awake or bluish lips or face. Know when to go.

If you do not have a provider you can use this service to see a provider and get prescribed appropriate treatment.

What is the appropriate treatment? The National Institutes of Health have a website with updated treatment guidelines; the FDA has some information here and the CDC have some information here.

Have we seen the last of COVID? Well, no, no we haven’t. Check the tracker for that info, but even if COVID was gone, pandemics happen, and we need to be prepared for the future. Emerging infectious diseases have been discovered over the last several years worldwide, including Ebola, Zika, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and Chikungunya, in addition to COVID-19. Being prepared means having the plans, resources, and capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to any infectious disease threats. What have people been saying about preparing for the next one?

• Strengthen the healthcare systems - infrastructure, supplies, workforce
• Technology - investing in research and development of tests and vaccines; streamlining regulatory processes; building manufacturing capacity; ensuring equitable access; encouraging international collaboration and cooperation
• Public awareness and education-providing accurate and timely information in culturally appropriate ways; encouraging behavior change; empowering communities; increasing access to mental health resources; investing in health literacy

Here is a reputable place to keep up with COVID news and information.

One last thing. Oh, I shouldn’t do it, but I’m gonna. What about those masks??? Some people heard that “masks don’t work.” I am leaving you with the resources to do what you want, but I do want people to know that after working in healthcare for over 40 years (yes, I was 16 when I started working in healthcare), a lot has happened in the world of personal protective equipment and recommendations for healthcare workers to protect themselves. Just know that if I see you in public, also wearing your mask, I’ll give you a big warm smize.

(Link, link, link.)

Take care of yourselves and each other. Wash your hands. Be safe!

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Michelle Lewis-Lusso (she/her) is an Infection Prevention and Control nurse at United Indian Health Services, serving the 11,000+ clients and staff at their seven area clinics. She will be wearing her mask and getting some exercise, and encourages you to do the same.

Mapuana Jessica Alyce Zuleger née Arioli peacefully passed away at the age of 94 at home with her family at her side on February 24, 2023.

She was born to Mary Madaline and Walter Peter Arioli in Honolulu Territory of Hawaii on January 6, 1929.

When she was 8 years old, Mapuana lived in Honolulu, Hawaii at Pearl Harbor. She remembers being at the Catholic cathedral when soldiers entered during mass. They went to the priest to tell him we were being bombed and everyone to go home for shelter. The whole family gathered at her grandfather’s house in the cellar with the men outside.

After attending the University of Hawaiii and St Luke’s School of Nursing, she was registered in the State of California, practicing for 41 years first in San Francisco and Oakland hospitals as a surgical nurse, then Blue Lake and McKinleyville as her husband’s nurse.

Mother and father meet in St Luke’s Hospital, where father was a doctor. After they married, they went into the Army, Third Armored Division, for two years. When my parents’ got out of the military, they came back to California to start a practice. In 1958, my father wanted to be a country doctor and Simpson Lumber Company in Korbel invited him up to work here. At the time there were only 24 doctors in this area with Trinity Hospital in Arcata. He was offered the moon and an office in Blue Lake. It worked. Their last two children were born here.

We saw a lot of work in those days. The mill was working 24/7. Dad did house calls and would take patients in to the hospital if they could not make it there themselves. She worked as his nurse and took care of five children. Many of the patients remember her for her patience and her beauty. Years later, several patients confessed they had fallen in love with her. She loved clothes and when she first came up here, she would wear dresses only. Her friend told her she could wear slacks like Jacqueline Kennedy.

In 1964, during the great flood, she stayed at the house with us while father was at the triage center. She had to deal with us and people knocking at the door.

In the 1970s, she decided to open a restaurant, Al Capone’s Pizzeria in Arcata, to keep even more busy. One customer would buy a loaf of bread every day to eat on the way to work.

She loved dark chocolate and would eat it every day if she could. On one of her birthdays, she got 200 pounds of Cherrie Royals from Partrick’s Candy and ate them all. She loved dogs and always had one.

She is survived by her much-loved children Peter and wife Diane, Mary, Jamie and Louise; and sister-in-law Lois Arioli and family of Shawnee, Kansas. She was predeceased by her husband, Doctor Rolf August Zuleger.

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