Notes on Early Italian Settlers in the Yuba River Region of the Sierra Nevada in California

Columbus Day, 1890s, CA
Courtesy of the Calaveras County Archives

We have just celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day, formerly known as Columbus Day. It’s unlikely that the second Monday of October will ever revert to Columbus Day again because, in the spirit of discovery, we are more aware now and must correct course. This year (2021) President Biden acknowledged the obvious by recognizing the importance of the people native to the USA.

 

None of this rethinking is inspired by negative impulses toward our valued Italian-American community, who deserve a day to celebrate their roots like the Irish (St. Patrick’s Day), Black Americans (Juneteenth) and Chinese New Year – there are plenty of other examples of cultures that celebrate their contributions to the American mosaic.

 

In 1492, after nearly ten weeks at sea, Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer-entrepreneur representing Spain, landed on what is today San Salvador island in the Bahamian archipelago thinking he was in India. He was greeted by the Lucayan-Taino people who called the island Guanahani. Archaeologists believe the aboriginal settlers arrived 800 years prior to Columbus. Personally, I think that the “finding” of the America continent is a topic worthy of historical accuracy. It’s very important to be clear about who was here first and preposterous to credit a foreign explorer for “discovering” a place where people already lived, and to reflect on what happened in our history after that, in terms of the colonization, then displacement and oftentimes genocide of those people.

 

Columbus was hardly a hero, but his continually propagandized story sanctioned the “founding” of the United States by European Christians. Well before the creation of Columbus Day, Kings College in New York was renamed Columbia College in 1784, the District of Columbia was created in 1790, and Columbia, South Carolina was named in 1786, while Columbus, Ohio was named in 1810. There is also the Columbia River and hundreds of other places with similar names. Then there is the female personification of the United States as Columbia who was commonly used in patriotic graphics until the Statute of Liberty largely replaced her about 1920.

 

John Gast’s 1872 painting American Progress, depicts Columbia as the Spirit of the Frontier, carrying telegraph lines across the Western frontier to fulfill manifest destiny, another imperialistic rendition of superiority and sanctity because, supposedly, was God's will. 

American Progress by John Gast, 1872
(Note the Indigenous People and Buffalo being run-off their land)

It’s telling to note that both Indigenous peoples and Italian-Americans sought respect and recognition on the national level after suffering oppression.  Most Italian affinity groups, like the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), don’t exonerate Columbus for his crimes, they believe that the holiday’s true meaning, Italian-American cultural pride, shouldn’t be sacrificed. San Francisco’s Italian Americans celebrated their first Columbus Day in 1869 and in 1882, a group of Irish Catholic priests founded a fraternal service group called the Knights of Columbus, which grew to have a heavy Italian American membership.

Front Page of a Newspaper in 1888
The Caption Says: "Italian Immigration and its evils – A summer night scene in the Italian Quarter, 
New York City"

Despite living and working for hundreds of years in what would became America, Italians were vilified and faced religious and ethnic discrimination. In 1891 there was a mass lynching of eleven Italian Americans by a mob in New Orleans (there were so many Sicilians in the French Quarter at the time that it was known as “Little Palermo”). Six Italian men were accused of murdering the police chief, but despite a trial resulting in six not-guilty convictions and three mistrials, the city went wild. Italian Americans sought a way to mainstream and humanize themselves in the face of rampant discrimination. Meanwhile in the same year, in Sierra County California, where many Italians had settled, the Messenger, despite world-wide news coverage warning of potentially dangerous Italians, editorialized in their support: “They are fully the equal of any other class in everything that goes to make good citizens.”

 

In 1850 a group of unnamed Italians discovered a quartz ledge in Sierra County that would later become the famous Sierra Buttes Gold Mine. It was situated at 5,292’ and ultimately produced $17-20 million dollars in gold. The nearby towns of Downieville and Sierra City were based on gold mining employing a considerable number of Italians who also planted gardens and orchards on terraces that they created in the steep North Yuba canyon. Prior to the gold rush most of the east coast Italians lived in ghettos where they worked as laborers. 

 

California’s landscape and climate are similar to Genoa’s where most of the early migration originated. Within Genoa is the region of Liguria where there are 25,000 miles of terraced hillsides, peaks as high as 6,500’ and an average altitude of 3,200’. Italian miners, at home in the north-central Sierra Nevada, began buying agricultural land, tending shops and pursuing professions like stone masonry, carpentry and charcoal manufacturing. 

 

Charcoal Flat, North Yuba River 

 

Italians in California did not confine themselves to winemaking. The giardinieri (or gardeners) developed a thriving industry growing produce on the outskirts of San Francisco and other towns. The size of their gardens ranged from small plots on the edge of town to large ranches. John Lavezzola arrived in Sierra County in 1851 and settled at Charcoal Flat where he created a large potato patch. G. B. Castagnetto who was from a farming family in Genoa, arrived in California in 1854, and in Sierra County in 1857. He settled in Sierra City, where he engaged in ranching and merchandising. Other early residents included Antone Costa, Joseph Mottini, and Michael Lavezzola. Other ranches included the Romano Ranch, the Lagomarsino Ranch, the Bottaro Ranch, the Costa Ranch the Lavezzola Ranch and Joseph Maria Pianezzi’s place at China Flat. These industrious people typically identified with the regions where they were born – Italy wasn’t united as a country until 1861. Most arrived as single men, eventually traveling to Italy to find wives and then returning to California to raise families.

Lavezzola Ranch

 

For authoritative research on the Lavezzola, Costa, Romano and other Italian families of Sierra County, California I recommend Corey Peterman who is a historian for the Sierra County Prospect. He is a descendant of the Mottini family, who first came to California from Domodossola, Italy in 1869.(https://sierracountyprospect.org/2021/02/24/corys-historical-corner-2-24-21/)

 

STONE MASONRY & LANDSCAPING

The regions of Liguria and Piedmont are steep and were extensively terraced so Northern Italians were practiced at stone masonry and dry-wall rock stacking and brought their skills with them. In the 1970s I remember the elders of Downieville, mostly men of Italian ancestry, meeting on the public bench and discussing the building of Highway 49 in the 1920s, a road that required many rock retaining walls and frequent repairs. Several of these men worked for the highway department and were clearly the experts with tales to tell that featured their superior craftsmanship. Many of the dry-stacked rock walls in the Sierra Nevada foothills were created by Italian Americans, although after the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, there were also Chinese work crews building ditches, roads, trails etc. This kind of work was always available and not limited to a specific group.

 

Tyler-Foote Crossing Road, 1923
Photo by Ed Bawden

In 1913 Tyler-Foote Crossing Road was built to connect North Columbia and the Alleghany mining regions by crossing the Middle Yuba River. On the south side of this narrow and steep canyon a road was carved into the hillside then secured with dry-stacked rock retaining walls and bolts that are daring in design, perform efficiently and display marvelous craftsmanship. Most of the laborers were Italian, Swiss and Slovenian.

 

GOLD MINING

As early as 1850 unnamed Italians discovered hardrock gold on the Sierra Buttes and by 1852 there were 20 arrastras functioning. The Arrastra was a circular milling device, of Spanish origin, that utilized drag-stones for milling that were powered by mules or water. It’s not certain that Italians were using those first 20 arrastras, but they appeared to have an affinity for this technique. According to Farriss & Smith’s Sierra County history (1882) arrastras were used in the ravine below the Sierra Buttes Mine. At the time there were 30 in operation, all powered by water and all run by Italians. Those men were John Trombetta, John Fopiono, Mateo Arata, Isaac Martinetti and Ned Tartini, and John Lavezzola.

Water-powered Arrastras near Sierra City
Photographer Unknown

An article in the Daily Alta California on February 14, 1888, reports that Italians were heavily involved in mining in the mineral counties of California, especially in Amador, El Dorado, Calaveras and Sierra, and in the State of Nevada. Actually, they were ambitious and worked at many jobs, but preferred ranching, farming and underground gold mining.

 

CHARCOAL BURNING

Until the early 1870s charcoal manufacturing was pursued solely by the Chinese. In Truckee, when the transcontinental railroad was completed, Sisson, Wallace, & Company hired 350 Chinese laborers who cut wood and produced up to 58,000 bushels of charcoal a week for smelters in the gold and silver mines of Virginia City. As intolerance and persecution against them reached a feverish pitch the Chinese were forced to yield the trade to the Italians. 

 

The charcoal making trade was ancient in Europe but in the American West it was a multifaceted industry requiring a labor force that included: wood cutters, muleteers to transport the timber, kiln or pit builders and charcoal providers (retail or shipped). The kiln or pit controllers were responsible for monitoring the varying temperatures inside. Once the charcoal was produced it was bagged and loaded onto freight wagons and then transported to smelting furnaces. That kind of solvency applies only if you’re working for a big company. Life for most Italian charcoal burners was extremely harsh; they were required to live outdoors most of the year in makeshift camps near their wood sources.

Charcoal Kiln Near Gaston, South Yuba River, n.d.
Photograph Courtesy of the Nevada County Historical Society

Charcoal requires slowly heating wood in the absence of air (pyrolysis). Slow charring removes moisture and volatile gasses producing a light, black form of carbon resembling coal. Charcoal burns much hotter than wood (twice the heat of seasoned wood) and more evenly and consistently. Carbonization leaves a low ash content and low amounts of trace elements like sulfur and phosphorous, meaning it produces “clean” heat that is intense enough to reduce iron oxide into pig iron (2,600 ̊F to 3,000 ̊F). Charcoal is also much easier than wood to transport and store with one-third its weight and one-half its volume. Before the 1830’s all iron in the United States was produced by using charcoal as the fuel. After the Civil War coal and coke iron production became significant, but production of charcoal iron increased until 1890 and remained significant until after World War I. 

 

California charcoal producers typically used an open pile, or meiler, or temporary surface ovens. They were shallow fire pits with tightly packed wood billets stacked on their ends to form a conical pile with openings at the bottom to admit air and a central shaft to serve as a flue. The whole pile is then covered with soil, turf or moistened clay. The firing begins at the bottom of the flue, and gradually spreads outwards and upwards. It took constant surveillance and considerable skill to keep the smoldering wood from bursting into flame and losing the charcoal. In the 1980s, while conducting an archaeological survey at Wild Plum, near Sierra City, I was mystified by shallow circular and rectangular features on the ground in an even-aged forest of black oak and incense cedar, until I realized they were surface ovens for producing charcoal. Discoveries in the field are way more exciting than breakthroughs in a book or document – it must be the fresh air. In the 19^th and 20^th centuries there was charcoal making observed in the Yuba and Bear River watersheds at Sierra City, Gaston, Chicago Park and other places.

Carbonari in Sonoma County
Photographer Unknown

Professional charcoal burners were called colliers, the same term used to describe coal miners. In the Sierra Nevada foothills colliers were usually Italian and they were called Carbonari. It was a lonely and smoky job, they had to tend the wood piles for long hours and ensure that fires neither flared up nor died out. It took 35 cords of wood to yield 1,750 bushels of charcoal. Once the charcoal cooled it was broken into short lengths about six inches long and was placed in sacks for distribution. Charcoal manufacturing in California was a minor industry when compared to similar industries in the state, such as sawmills, shake manufacture, planing mills, and other forms of lumber manufacturing. An aspect of charcoal production that is seldom discussed was the through depletion of trees and the slow growth and regeneration after a decade, or so, of woodcutting.

 

Gaston is no more, but it was once the site of a former mining community in Nevada County. At an elevation of 5,062’, Gaston was mid-slope between Washington on the South Yuba and Graniteville on the San Juan Ridge. In 1898 the Gaston Ridge Mine employed 20 men and by 1900, there was a population of about 200, enough to support a town with stagecoach service, two stores, a hotel, a saloon, a hardware store, a post office, a water system, a fire company and a school. In 1904, the town boasted electric lights and a telephone line to Nevada City. By 1934 there was a 40-stamp mill in operation. About 1910 a group of Italians from southern Italy arrived, enough to warrant a “New Town” below the “Old Town”. Many of the Italians were employed to cut wood and produce charcoal for use in the mine’s forges.

 

In the Nevada County towns of Nevada City and Grass Valley Italian names were frequent in the City Directories where they had long been prominent in business and other professions. Among the family names are Gallino, Personeni, Seghezzi, Ghidotti, Pardini, Falconi, and Tassone to name just a few. In the 1880s J. Debernardi was a charcoal dealer on Spring Street in Nevada City, while in the same town G. Ramelli sold cedar posts and charcoal. If you were looking for something exotic to dine on while downtown you could sample Italian Swiss confectioner, Antonio Tom’s Nevada City restaurant, which served "ice cream and oyster dinners" (Nevada Daily Transcript July 3, 1885).

 

There were also Italians living near Camptonville, in eastern Yuba County, which included the Martignone, Massa, Zerga, Cassano and Pendola families.

 

Antone Agostini and Louis Orzalli settled near what would become Chicago Park in about 1875. They and other Italians worked as woodcutters and charcoal manufacturers. Most of them left when the trees were depleted, but Antone Agostini remained and was a member of the first school board in Chicago Park in 1898. In 1881 the Orzallis purchased 40 acres in Chicago Park and planted an orchard and vineyard. In 1901 Mary Orzalli opened Orzalli’s Pine Grove Resort, a stop on the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad.

After 1880 most of the emigration was from the Mezzogiorno, or southern Italy. The vast majority were farmers and laborers looking for a steady source of work – any work. By 1920, when immigration began to taper off, more than 4 million Italians had come to the United States and represented more than 10 percent of the nation's foreign-born population. This new generation of Italian immigrants was distinctly different in makeup from those that had come before.

 

There is seldom any mention of women in California history until American foreigners first started settling in Alta California in the 1840s. Up front, there is no mention of Indian women at all. The most visible women in the gold rush were Indigenous, Mexican, Chilean, French and Chinese women who worked in the domestic marketplace and in commercialized leisure. Most white women were prevented from more robust participation in the gold rush economy by Victorian mores and men who saw them as possessions. Most white women enjoyed a comparatively luxurious lifestyle, being spoiled by men looking for their companionship and their hand in marriage, while minority women had a much different and adverse experience during the California gold rush.

 

Prostitution was not normally found in Indian tribes, but due to the hardships of war and starvation some Native women were vulnerable and white men found they could kidnap and rape native women with little fear of retribution. Chinese women were also imported into California for the sexual gratification of men. In the 1850’s hundreds of Chinese women were slaves imported by wealthy Chinese merchants and sold to brothel owners at regular auctions.

 

Mexican women were actively engaged in the gold rush. They sold food on the streets and in restaurants, took in laundry, worked as entertainers, as waitresses and they ran Faro and Monte games. When Josefa, a card dealer in Downieville, refused the unwanted advances of a drunken man she killed him with a knife and she was hanged the following day after a sham of a trial (see: Josefa of Downieville. Yuba Trails and Tales. June 28, 2019). Because French women were often running hotels, restaurants and gambling halls they were sometimes assumed to be loose and accessible. Women of different races and cultures were considered subordinate to the white population which made it acceptable for the men to ignore their religious and moral codes.

 

Generally speaking, an Italian man seeking a wife returned to Italy for one, married her there, then brought her back here. Some families settled in Italian communities and some did not, they seemed to value the community they chose to live in. The Italian culinary legacy is especially apparent in California and Italian women played a large role in this facet of cultural expression – they did most of the cooking and a lot of gardening in far more labor-intensive times. Italian agriculturalists introduced key crops such as eggplant, bell peppers, broccoli, and artichokes. They also played an integral role in the development of the state’s wine industry.

 

One Italian woman who lived about ten miles from the aforementioned Josepha was Madam Romargi. Her story, like Josefa’s, is often repeated with free-ranging opinions about “what really happened.” She and her husband operated a way-station, or stage stop, on the road between Camptonville and Downieville for over three decades.

 

Their original venture was called Florida House and was located on the trail to Goodyears Bar. Soon afterwards she moved it to the main road and called it the Sierra Nevada House. Most people crudely called it “Nigger Tent” because supposedly two black men set up a blacksmithing shop or made shakes at this location. It was well known as a dangerous hangout for thieves in a dark and remote part of the forest.

 

She and her husband were Italians and were sometimes referred to as gypsies (?). According to her friend, local stagecoach driver Bill Meek, she was beautiful and escaped a bad marriage in Florida by running away to California with an organ grinder named J.D. Romargi and his monkey. They, all three, played in mining camps until changing professions and settling at this location in a dense forest at 5,000’.

A Wanted Poster for Algi Romargi after He and Another Man Escaped from Jail in Downieville

Madam Romargi’s road house (she was clearly in charge) was constantly badmouthed as a rendezvous for bad men and bad women, yet it was a popular watering stop for stages, with whom she had good relationships. Meek, based in nearby Camptonville, was a stage driver for most of his life (1856-1936) and knew Mrs. Romargi from the time he was a young boy and was her friend as long as she was in business. In his autobiography he admitted that the house was often full of “rough characters” but he was always treated with kindness and never had any problems with her or her associates. But according to local newspapers, other people did. Wells Fargo and Co. carried gold from the mines and robberies and holdups were becoming too commonplace in this locale, so they sent their detective, Captain Charles Aull, to investigate. After a stagecoach robbery on the LaPorte Road he was able to gain enough evidence to convict Algie D. Romargi, Mrs. Romagari’s grandson, and send him to Folsom Prison. Jane Romargi suffered acute blood poisoning from a wound on the back of her hand and died at the age of 78.

In 1936, J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI’s director, began to secretly surveil individuals and organizations he deemed likely to side with the enemy during the impending war. A year later President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Columbus Day a national holiday, largely as a result of intense lobbying by the Knights of Columbus, an influential Catholic fraternal organization.

John Florea/ The LIFE Picture Collection/ Getty Images

Then, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. Though war had not been declared on Italy, FBI agents began arresting Italians anyway in anticipation of entering the war in Europe. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued a series of proclamations that declared citizens of Japan, Germany and Italy to be “alien enemies of the United States.” One hundred forty-seven Italians were already in custody when the U.S. declared war on Italy on December 11, 1941.

 

In 1937 President Roosevelt created Columbus Day, a national holiday. Naturally the indigenous peoples of this hemisphere objected to the holiday that commemorated them being “discovered” and subsequently colonized and enslaved. On Columbus Day in 1992, the 500^th anniversary of Columbus’ landing in this hemisphere, Berkeley, California became the first U.S. city to switch to Indigenous Peoples' Day. This year, San Francisco, a city with a profound Italian presence in its past celebrated its first Italian Heritage Day. We’re moving in the right direction.

Nisenan Basket

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Note: A few miles east of Sierra City and over the summit is Sierra Valley, a large, flat and beautiful grassland/wetland area that is the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Feather River. A group of Italian-Swiss from a similar region in the Alps settled here because it resembled their homeland – but that is another story (see: The Sierran, Spring/Summer 1998). 

 

BEDROCK MORTARS IN YUBA RIVER COUNTY

 

Bedrock Mortars on a bench above the South Yuba River

Bedrock mortars are anthropogenic circular depressions in a rock outcrop or a large boulder or slab, used by people in the past for the processing of acorns, seeds and other food products. There are often a cluster of mortars in proximity indicating that people gathered in groups. Mortars are used in conjunction with pestles with a variety of shapes, often with modified surfaces, for other food preparation and ceremonial functions. Pestles, because of their size and/or graceful shapes, are often removed from the site by collectors. Bedrock mortars are the most prevalent artifacts (or archaeological features) found in California from the east side of the Sierra Nevada to the Pacific coast. Even though they exist in many other parts of the world California, by far, has the greatest density.

They are reminders of the peripatetic, yet focused, hunters, fishermen, plant gatherers and herbalists who skillfully managed these lands for thousands of years. Originally, indigenous people were focused on big game hunting but over the centuries shifted to a reliance on botanical foods. Their descendants are still here. The people who made the bedrock mortars are called hunters and gatherers, but that’s a woefully inadequate description for a range of activities that encompassed efficiency and a deep understanding of ecology blended with practical, social, spiritual and aesthetic dimensions.  

Cut-Eye Fosters Bar. North Yuba River

Bedrock mortars are generally associated with the settlements and camps of indigenous peoples, but here in the Sierra Nevada foothills they appear at various elevations and in different ecosystems, from meadows with springs to ridgetops with wetlands, near creeks and rivers, on flatlands and slopes and in many other settings. They also can be isolated or scattered in “neighborhoods” along a creek or in a shallow valley. Outcroppings and boulders usually contain from one to twenty mortars and sometimes more. “Tco’Se”, a former Miwok settlement, also known as “Chaw Se”, or “Indian Grinding Rock State Park”, near the town of Volcano in Amador County, California, has an outcropping with over 1,000 mortars.

Dry Creek, a tributary of Bear River

Although they are most often associated with acorn pounding they were not limited to that function. Early and modern ethnographers, as well as those who used them, acknowledge the use of mortars to process nuts, roots, berries, herbs, medicinal plants, fungi, insects, small animals, rodent and fish bones for soups, for softening dried fish and meats, as well as for paints, pigments and substances used in ceremonial contexts. Shallow mortars may represent multifunctional tools and workstations for tasks other than acorn processing.

Fragments of a milling slab, or "metate", used for milling or grinding small seeds.
Round Mountain, South Yuba. 

Sugar pine nuts in sub alpine forests and gray pine nuts in lower elevation rolling hills are other desirable foods. There are hundreds of bedrock mortars in sugar pine habitat within the Yuba River watershed. Nut hunters would often camp at a favorable elevation then search for the most productive trees. Archaeologist David Hunt applied GPS data and statistical analysis to the location of Nisenan and Washoe campsites in the watersheds of the Middle and South Forks of the American River and determined that sugar pine nuts were collected at many locations and processed at numerous small bedrock mortar locations. In his opinion sugar pines probably extended farther westward than they do now.

Archaeologists refer to bedrock mortars as “BRMs” and estimate that they were widely used in the Sierra Nevada appearing about 1,300 years before the present era (BPE), and that this adaptation was coincident with the arrival of the bow and arrow. Since there is no way to accurately date BRMs archaeologists used associated artifacts such as projectile points with distinctive shapes and created a typology based on radiocarbon and obsidian hydration dating of artifacts from key regional sites. This is less than ideal because the stone tools may have been left before or after the BRMs were in use. There is no direct correlation.

Bedrock mortars at Starvation Bar on the South Yuba River

In the early 1960s California archaeologists hypothesized there might be a relationship between mortar size (as measured in volume) and population size and/or duration of occupation of the site. They theorized that the amount of stone removed from the grinding process is important. If a volume change rate per unit of meal created in the mortars could be found it could provide insight into the amount of food consumed in a specific time period. Other archaeologists followed, testing similar research designs. Eventually the California Office of Historic Preservation developed a new series of archaeological site recording forms, including one specifically designed for recording attributes of bedrock milling features. In time this focus began to shed light on women’s activities and suggested that they had more authoritative control than was represented in many of the ethnographic accounts collected by male anthropologists.

 

When BRMs were found between 6,500’ and 7,500’ within what is now Yosemite National Park archaeologists surmised that either lots of people gathered for a relatively short time span to process acorns or fewer people habitually reused the same bedrock mortars. They asked, what prompted the change from “portable” mortars to bedrock mortars? Since portable mortars are, despite the name, way too heavy to transport, I think the answer seems obvious.

 

An influential 1985 study of bedrock mortars at Crane Valley, divided mortars into three classes according to their depth. Depth followed function, according to the contemporary indigenous Western Mono people. The Crane Valley study determined that to render hulled and peeled acorns into a useable flour, or meal, shallow “starter” mortars, less than 2.2” deep, were used, followed by pounding in medium depth “finishing” mortars, between 2.2” and 3.75” deep. Mortars deeper than finishing mortars enabled the processing of hard seeds. It’s a valuable study, providing considerable insight, but the quantitative approach to mortar typology is highly reductive. Crane Valley is hundreds of miles south of the Yuba River, where I’m writing from. 

Foothill Women Pounding at a Bedrock Mortar

The Nisenan, Koncow, Northeastern Maidu and Washoe people of the Yuba River watershed were mobile for most of the year following the patterned ripening of plants and the movements of animals and fish within two to three ecosystems. They participated in ecological processes and influenced outcomes by the judicious use of burning as a tool. They also adjusted visits to seasonally accessible camps based on available resources such as food, medicine, basketry materials, flicker feathers, woodpecker scalps, etc., to coincide with trade opportunities, the ceremonial cycle, socio-political necessities and visiting. Two Nisenan events, similar to what westerners  call holidays, were Weda, or the first flower ceremony, signaling spring and the splendor of nature’s fecundity. And in the fall was the Big Cry, when the dead were honored, and it was also the time for acorn gathering. Both of these events and others featured feasting, singing, dancing, gambling and socializing.

Julia Parker Winnowing Acorns

Lizzie Enos, a Nisenan woman who preserved Nisenan knowledge and skills into the 1960s had this to say about Weda, “From all over they come, and when that dance end, maybe it was here or down in Auburn, then pretty soon they have another one up there at Colfax. Then from there, oh maybe next ten days. They have another Flower Dance over to Grass Valley and Nevada City. Every camp have to have that Flower Dance in spring.” Her comments show that Nisenan culture was very much alive in the 20^th century (Enos was born in 1881) and her rendition gives a positive feeling of jubilation and cultural revitalization. Moving from place to place was part of the fluidity and resiliency that characterized Nisenan lifeways and was not perceived as drudgery.

 

Two common misunderstandings about bedrock mortars have been hanging around for many years. Many observers speculate that mortars deepened though wear; that they deepened as a result of pestles striking their bottoms. This notion holds that the deeper the mortar the older it is. The Crane Valley study, and other sources, demonstrated that this is not true. There is a second, and even more prevalent, misconception that mortars are grinding holes. Native women use bedrock mortars to pulverize shelled and hulled acorns by pounding and not grinding. There is always a layer of acorn meal between the pestle and the interior of the mortar. Acorn pounding is a skill with very high standards and any rock chips or grit in the finished product is not acceptable. The demonstrations of Lizzie Enos and Julia Parker, indigenous cultural interpreters, exemplified this detail.

Lizzie Enos Pounding Acorn Meal
Photo Courtesy of Richard Simpson

Archaeology is conducted within theoretical constructs and insists on its scientific validity by heaps of measurements and statistical analysis. As computer-generated site recordation forms evolved, they have become more data-intensive at the expense of the flavor and feeling of a locale and its constituents. Even determining site boundaries has become more problematic because of modifications in the historic era. Concerns about property ownership and “cultural resource management” considerations can hinder the designation of a site as an agglomeration of neighborhoods (or loci within a large site) because there is a tendency to create separate sites for ease of management. Many technological advances are valuable, but humans of both the past and the present can be unpredictable, endlessly creative and sometimes tricksters. It’s difficult to keep an open mind in a sea of conveniences.

Mortars on a Tributary of Rock Creek/South Yuba River

The appeal and usefulness of the scientific method is in its continual theorizing, testing of hypotheses, comparisons and an extreme reluctance to arrive at conclusions (especially in archaeology, which in my opinion, straddles social science and humanities). This isn’t necessarily a problem because concluding or “knowing” tends to close the discussion. It’s important to feel uneasy with conclusions because the search for knowledge is an ongoing process. In Ursula LeGuin’s, Four Ways to Forgiveness, she concludes that “All knowledge is local. All knowledge is partial.”

 

Bedrock Mortars in the Lower Foothills
Near Dry Creek/Bear River

In the latter half of the 19^th century many bedrock mortars were impacted by ferocious bouts of placer gold mining that was prominent in Yuba River country. There is still gold, and its allure remains a threat today, but try to imagine how many bedrock mortars were destroyed, tumbled over, re-located, inundated and buried? I worked as a field archaeologist and historian in this region for over twenty years and I remain a curious rambler, so I have seen hundreds, if not thousands of bedrock mortars. Often, they are all that remains of an aboriginal campsite or settlement – the remnants of an archaeological site that has returned to the earth, or a place that has been destroyed, or looted. 

Appropriating Bedrock Mortars at Sweetland Creek/Middle Yuba River

My response to bedrock mortars and their settings has always been more visceral than scientific. I find them sculpturally simple but complex, both metaphorical and literal, stark (but formerly lively) and enduring forever, at least in human terms. The bedrock mortar’s place in space is persistent, but dynamic because soil-creep, mass-wasting, duff accumulation, alluvial deposits, erosion and other natural processes have covered many outcrops. In time, many of them are folded back into the earth and become invisible. Are they then gone? A place where young children hovered around their mothers, where women pounded foods and medicines while joking, gossiping, sharing skills, ideas and songs? How will sub-surface bedrock mortars affect behavior on the newly formed surface fifty or a hundred, or thousands of years hence? Will the place have a certain “vibe?” Why do some places have a special or “magical” feel about them? 

Bedrock Mortars on the South Yuba River/ Canyon Creek

Americans have grandiose notions and specific ideas about monuments. Examples include Mount Rushmore, Maya Lin’s Viet Nam Memorial and the toponym that designates a unique geological feature in the Sacramento Valley of California as the “Sutter Buttes.” Today, California’s bedrock mortars serve as diffuse cultural “monuments” or touchstones, if you will, that honor and promote reflection on the unique and effective practice of hunting and gathering, and women’s important role in that process for centuries to come.

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NOTES ON TRAIL SAFETY AND GOOD MANNERS

South Yuba River near Maybert

With so many people enjoying the outside it’s time to review trail safety and etiquette. This post highlights what I consider to be the most probable safety hazards, but hopefully there’ll be none. Realistically, unforeseen or unpredictable things can happen in the natural world, both good and bad. Be proactive and plan your hike, not too structured, but with a few less unknowns. The best preparation is to approach your adventure with a combination of alertness and humility.

 

PLANNING

Consult some maps to get a general sense of your destination. What’s the elevation? Are you dressing appropriately? How long do you anticipate being on the trail? Bring a spare battery for your device, flashlight or headlamp. Leave a map with someone who cares, including those areas where you might be wandering, and your expected time to return.

 

PACKING

Food and water are both essential. Eat what you want if you’re doing a day hike. I once spent a hot and arduous day with a locally admired politician who coasted all day on a plastic bottle of water and a bag of potato chips. If you’re staying longer, think in terms of fuel, sustainability, and weight. Water is the heaviest thing in my pack because it’s a necessity. But there are new systems available for purifying water from streams and ponds. Perhaps that’s why I’m seeing more hikers with small, streamlined daypacks 

 

Pack another layer (and perhaps a windbreaker), a flashlight or headlamp, a simple first-aid kit, enough water, a rudimentary map and a bandana. Wear a hat. A pocket-knife is handy and it’s wise to use sunscreen.

 

DRIVING TO THE TRAILHEAD ON BACK COUNTRY ROADS

Whether the road is paved, or not, some drivers are overcome by a sense of “freedom” on rural roads that prompts them to drive too fast. Not recommended – you don’t know what’s behind the next blind curve – it might be a deer, a tree, a boulder, or someone driving in the middle of the road. There could be a landslide or a washout or even a person walking. Did you know that mountain manners give the right-of-way to vehicles coming upslope?

 

A common complaint of people living near dirt roads is that visitors, and sometimes locals, drive too fast. Obviously, this endangers children and pets, but it also “washboards” the road and coats everything with dust. Who wants a gritty omelet? You want to be neighborly. Besides, you just might require their roadside assistance before you return home.

 

Donner Pass – South Yuba River

 

POTENTIAL HAZARDS

The most likely risk is to fall or trip and sustain an ankle injury or something worse. To minimize this possibility, wear decent shoes with tread and ankle support and pay attention to your surroundings. If you are climbing or rock hopping, make sure that your footing is sound before transferring your weight. When climbing a vertical rock slope maintain some distance between you and your partners and if you should dislodge rocks, logs or branches be sure to call out to those below you.

 

Learn to identify poison oak and avoid it. Remember that it’s oily and sticks to your clothes and your dog’s hair. Wash your hands in cold water when you can, before it spreads. 

 

WILD THINGS

Ticks can be troublesome – I worked in tick habitat for decades and I’ve had many bites, but no serious problems. On the other hand, I know people who have been bitten once and it’s changed their lives forever. To avoid ticks, stay out of the brush, wear light-colored clothes so that they can be seen and examine your body (or have someone else do it) after a hike. They are particularly abundant after a spring or summer rain. Some people even tape the bottom of their pants legs to keep them out. If bitten keep an eye on the bite, read the voluminous writings on the internet and/or see a doctor.

 

Rattlesnakes are very well hidden in dappled light

There is an inordinate fear of snakes. They definitely get our attention, but don’t be killing snakes just because they are snakes. Learn to identify rattlesnakes and avoid them. Snakes play an important role in keeping the rodent population under control. Other snakes in the watershed include garter snakes, pacific gopher snakes, striped racers and king snakes, less common but especially beautiful, are coral bellied ring necks and mountain king snakes. The only poisonous snake in the Yuba watershed is the northern pacific rattlesnake.

 

Snakes, mountain lions and black bears would rather avoid you. If bitten by the normally reclusive rattlesnake try to stay calm. The best remedy is the key to your vehicle – get to a hospital. Statistically, most bites happen to people who are teasing or tempting snakes. Rattlesnakes blend well with their surroundings so be alert, especially if you are the lead person hiking on a trail or road.

 

Bears are hungry all the time. They smell well and seem to know that backpacks contain food. So don’t stash your pack as you bag a peak, because if you’re in bear country they will find and shred your pack. I’ve heard this story repeated many times. A black bear attack is highly unlikely, unless you are threating their cubs. But don’t tease or tempt them.

 

Mountain lions are reclusive and seldom seen these days but they’re around and may be watching you. They are savvy hunters and are unlikely to take on an adult primate, but they will occasionally eat pets and threaten small children. I’ve had several meetings with mountain lions, and I’ve never felt threatened, but they are watchful and opportunistic so if you spot one, stay calm and if you can’t make a graceful retreat, keep an eye on it until it moves on.

 

If a wild animal allows you to approach, it may be sick or dying. Don’t handle “friendly” creatures.

 

DOGS

People love their dogs and often take them hiking. That’s fine but of course you’ll see less wildlife with a dog. When I’m out guiding a group, I won’t allow dogs because if it’s OK for one person to bring a dog then it’s OK for all the others to bring theirs. You have no way of knowing the chemistry between dogs and it can be a problem. Occasionally I see people carrying their dogs because they couldn’t handle the heat, terrain or a new and over-stimulating environment.

 

South Yuba Trail below Washington

HEAT

Carry enough water. Excessive sweating can cause a loss of trace minerals and salt that can result in cramped muscles. There are drinks and powders that contain electrolytes as well as foods like bananas and potatoes that provide a natural source.

 

Heat Exhaustion is a serious matter. The symptoms include pale and clammy skin, muscle cramps, profuse perspiration, nausea or vomiting, dizziness, headaches, a staggering gait and fainting. When these symptoms occur treat the victim for shock, apply wet cloths to the forehead and neck and offer sips of salt water. You may also consider cancelling your hike because heat exhaustion can escalate to heat stroke.

 

Heat Stroke is life threatening. It is caused by extremely high body temperature and a breakdown in the body’s ability to sweat. Symptoms include red, hot and dry skin, high body temperature, confusion, severe headache, a rapid, high pulse rate and sometimes a loss of conscious. Treat for shock and try to lower the body’s temperature.

 

Hopefully this will never happen to you and your companions on a hike because we are all looking out for each other, and we will notice unusual behavior and physical changes. (note: hypothermia, heat exhaustion and heatstroke all include confusion and bad decision-making as symptoms). Once, when I was on a fire-fighting crew, our boss became very confused because he was in the early stages of hypothermia, and we had to override his authority.

 

South Yuba River gold mining landscape

HYPOTHERMIA

Although I’m writing this in June, I think that awareness of this possibility is valuable because hypothermia can sneak up on you even in the summertime. It’s sometime called exposure which doesn’t really convey the danger of this condition. Pay attention – when you begin to lose heat faster that your body can produce it the process begins. If you continue to lose body heat your energy reserves become depleted, eventually reaching your brain depriving you of judgement and the ability to reason. You will not necessarily be aware of this seductive process and hypothermia will take your life.

 

If the weather is cold, not necessarily freezing, or if you are soaked by rain, melting snow or even perspiration and the wind picks up and increases the chilling effect, hypothermia is a possibility. This can happen in mid-summer.

 

Symptoms of hypothermia include uncontrollable shivering; vague, slow, slurred speech; memory lapses and incoherence; fumbling hands; a stumbling or lurching gait and drowsiness. The desire to lie down and sleep is almost impossible to resist, but it is crucial to remain awake. I have had a few close calls with hypothermia and have become very aware of its sly approach.

 

After spending a few days on the Pacific Crest Trail in late September I was surprised by an early snowfall, so I began to hike toward my truck which was only a few hours away. It was wet and slushy snow. As I descended there was more rain than snow and as I reached a lakeside resort I was soaked, and a bit confused about where I parked. It doesn’t take much snow to lose a subtle trail. I found a simple A-frame, dry, with a bench inside. Elated, but tired and shivering, I immediately wanted to rest. Sometimes I was cogent enough to realize that I needed to get out of my wet clothes and into my sleeping bag, but there was a very strong desire to lie down and rest. Somehow sanity prevailed, I made it into my dry bag naked, and I know I’m lucky to be here now. I got into trouble because I wasn’t prepared. I should have had a companion, someone who might have noticed my symptoms, and where was my rain gear? No excuses.

 

KNEES, HIKING POLES AND EFFECIENCY

Knees inevitably become less efficient. A few years ago, my right knee hurt so bad that hiking was not pleasurable, and I thought I’d have to let go of my healthiest addiction. I’ve always been astonished at how many of my friends have opted for knee surgery (even sedentary friends) – I thought maybe it’s my turn? Mostly I dreaded the recuperation period and all the hiking I’d miss. Eventually I talked with my doctor who is an active outdoorsman, and he recommended a simple, no frills, elastic sleeve to slip over my knee. I couldn’t believe how effective it was, especially combined with the use of hiking poles or “sticks.” I’m not offering medical advice – this may not work for you. It’s not a cure, but, relief from a painful condition for under $8 plus the cost of poles is worth a try and it’s still working for me. 

 

I never used hiking poles until I had the knee problem. Most of the outdoor jobs I’ve had required the use of my hands and even recreational poles were seldom seen in my crowd. Only “older people”, the infirm, and gear junkies used poles, as far as I was concerned. Admittedly, poles were essential for cross country skiing. They were useful for navigating tricky terrain and even enhanced the basic kick and glide function – they also added finesse and efficiency, making it easier to find the groove or zone.

A duck on the Pacific Crest Trail – North Yuba River

I correctly assumed that poles would absorb some of the shock and wear on my knees while descending, but they provided more than that, even while straightforwardly hiking. After a few years practice I use them in many situations and there are times when I almost feel like I have four legs. There is a 15-mile segment of the South Yuba Trail between Poorman Creek and Grizzly Hill that I’ve walked several times, both with and without poles, and I’ve noticed that with the poles I’m more efficient (faster) and arrive less tired. I’m a convert.

 

COURTESY

Trail etiquette is not limited to our interactions with other primates but also extends to how we treat plants, animals, water sources and courses, geological formations, archaeological sites and private property. The now seldom-heard advice to “Leave no trace” has been replaced by the even more pointed slogan, “Pack it in- Pack it out.” That seems straightforward enough but still some hikers leave wads of used toilet paper, cigarette butts and wrappers on the trail with ultimate faith in its biodegradability. True, it will eventually decompose but not before many people have viewed it and maybe even surmised that it’s all right to behave this way. This is a degradation of the trail’s aesthetic dimension – even if it doesn’t bother you, you owe some consideration to others. While apples and oranges are biodegradable their cores and peels are as different as, well, apples and oranges. I had a friend who ran pack trains to the mines in the upper Downie River (North Yuba) region in the 1930s and 1940s. He said that they always planted apple and pear cores at places where they stopped to water animals and take breaks. Sure enough, I’ve been to many of those places and there are indeed fruit trees growing there. Oranges on the other hand never grow in conifer forests and it’s slightly jarring to find a vivid display of orange peels in the typically restrained palette of forest colors. They tend to hang around for the season and just don’t belong there. I know it sounds fussy, but the forest is not a dump – pack it in, pack it out.

 

SANITATION

For starters, do your business away from the trail, please. Generally speaking, the most effective enzymes for breaking down fecal matter are located in the top eight inches of soil. You want to dig a hole deep enough to inhibit the movement of disease-carrying organisms by humans or animals, by storm runoff and flying insects. Find a place far from bodies of water, streams, campsites and trails.

 

Above the timberline the bacterial element in soil is virtually non-existent. Ideally, we’d pack it out but realistically that seldom happens. However, with so many careless people out there, it might someday be required. So, in the meantime, dig a hole and cover the waste, discouraging animal curiosity with an adequate rock.

 

None of us likes to see toilet tissue alongside the trail or blowing in the wind. This is an aesthetic and biological affront and bad behavior by any measure. Create a simple toilet kit with plastic baggies for takeaway, hand sanitizer, etc. One more thing, don’t burn toilet tissue. In 1998, a man while burning his toilet paper, inadvertently started the “49er Fire.” That fire consumed 33,500 acres, 148 homes and 356 other structures. Today, because more people have moved into the grasslands and forests and the climate is so much drier, fires are far more catastrophic.

 

Valley Oak – Lower Yuba River

FIRE

Smoking during fire season is dangerous and anti-social. Especially in California where we get dry summers and I’m sure you’ve noticed it’s getting dryer. It’s hard to imagine but now safety, etiquette and sanity demands that we camp without campfires. Don’t assume that because you are aware of the situation you can be the careful exception. I’m writing this on my deck in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in the first week of June where it’s hot and dry. The subtle breeze intermittently bursts into short bursts of strong winds coming from various directions and I can hear sirens off in the distance. There used to be a “fire season” but now, we who live here, find ourselves thinking about fire all year. If you’re visiting, it’s less of a concern to you. Add a less concerned attitude and no concern attitude and multiply that by 80,000, the number of visitors we had last year, and you can see why the locals might see you as a potential fire hazard.

 

WHERE ARE WE

Pay attention! Every group of hikers includes people fidgeting with their glowing devices. They are seeking a message from on high about where they are. There is no denying that satellite navigation is valuable, but it does mitigate direct experience. Don’t lose your ability to mentally note landmarks, vegetation, features and vistas along the trail. Engage with the landscape to get to know a place.

 

Sand Pond – North Yuba River

Be safe but don't dampen your enthusiasm. I'll leave you with a quote from The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, "In the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing the lawn. Climb that goddam mountain." 

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