Thursday, April 20, 1972
John and Pearl Rossiter recently enjoyed a visit with their son Wesley and his wife Joyce and their two little granddaughters. They also visited with Joyce’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Everett Cox, while in Cave Junction.
Ted Friend, grandson of Jim and Viola Higgins, spent most of his 30-day leave from the Navy with his grandparents. He also motored to Portland to visit his two sisters and their families, Sharon and her husband Randy Lake and two little sons, and Debra and husband Denny Burden.
While home on leave, Ted also visited his aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Homer Friend, Takilma, and other friends he knew while attending Illinois Valley High School before going to the service.
While home on leave, Ted also visited his aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Homer Friend, and other friends he knew while attending IVHS before going into the service.
The Higggins granddaughter Rhonda, her husband Jerry Pusch and little son Jerry Jr. from McKinleyville, Cal. visited over the weekend and also went to went to Grants Pass to visit Jerry’s sister Pat and her husband Jack Sauer.
Viola also reported unexpected company, friends of Jim’s. Mr. and Mrs. Howard McGuire of Arcata, Cal. It was the first time since Jim’s retirement from PG&E since Jim and Howard had seen each other. Other recent visitors from Arcata were the Higgins’ daughter and son-in-law, Flourilla and Roy Nelson,
Bob Wilhelms and family spent part of the spring vacation with his parents, Cecil and Fran Wilhelms.
Herb and Helen Olsen, Hummingbird Lane, were happy to have Herb’s parents, Leonard and Helen Olsen visit them for five days. The elder Olsens live in Oakland, Cal. While here they celebrated Herb’s father’s birthday.
Jack Whiteman, Holland Loop Road, is home after recently having eye surgery. Jack said he is feeling fine and does not want to be thought of as an invalid. Wednesday he went to Coos Bay to be fitted with new glasses and hopes to be soon as active as usual. His surgery was performed at the Good Samaritan Hospital and Jack said he had the best doctor possible, Dr. Leonard Christensen, a first cousin of Jennie Palmer.
Visiting the Fred Kaufmans for a few days was Dorothy’s sister-in-law, Burel Owens from Gold Beach. Burel is an old timer here and found several former friends to visit also.
Grace Hart is home after a week in Josephine General Hospital and is feeling much better.
Oliver Boyd and his wife visited his mother Doris Boyd for three days. Also, recent visitors at Doris’s home were her granddaughter Patty and her husband Al Marcum and her little great grandson Drew from Sacramento.
Debbie Sue Brown, who now lives in Sunland, Cal., recently visited her aunt, Miss Esther Brown, Caves Highway. They spent a pleasant week together. The Norman Andersons, Encinitas, Cal., were also recent guests at the Brown home.
Phayo and I celebrated a quiet wedding anniversary Tuesday, our 38th. Was it 38 years ago that we blithely ran down the steps of the church in Riverside, Cal. And stepped into a waiting taxi to start our journey together? I don’t know how the time could have slipped by so swiftly, but one thing I know; we have been happy together.
Once upon a time, in the early mining days, there was a little town called Grass Flat. It was situated on the Althouse Creek in a rich gold mining area. William Mackey, a miner in the valley for many years, when writing his life story in 1934, has this to say about Grass Flat; “It was a lively little mining town, and like Browntown, which was three miles downstream, it was a great congregating point for early miners in those golden days. Grass Flat was the center of a locality on the creek which has been very appropriately called the “Wonderful Spot On Althouse.”
Herman Reinhart in the book “The Golden Frontier” said Grass Flat was only a half mile above Browntown and there were a number of large nuggets taken from the bar at Grass Flat. But where the exact location was is not important now, because the site of Grass Flat was later all washed away by hydraulic mining.
Mackey said he was born in 1859 in a hotel kept by his father, which was a resort for the miners from miles around. When he was a boy he roamed over the mountains, and nearby creeks, and the country abounded with various kinds of wild game. There were innumerable grouse, pheasants, quail, hawks, snow birds, and large bands of deer, and he picked up old horns of elk. There were also many black and brown bears, cougars, panthers, wild cats, and some grizzly bears. But he said there was a wonton slaughter of those animals for commercial purposes by men who sold their hides. The birds and animals have almost been exterminated. There are game laws now to protect them, when there are few to protect.