BOOKER:
…there
was quite a deal, that is in other words, with the going into Russian
Meadow. Frank Shell always had a bunch of horses around and being the bagodosha that he was he was going to get premium pay,
that is in other words, for leading the contingent, that is in other words, the
wagons—covered wagons—that was into the Russian Meadows. Of course they
went up, that is in other words, to the old South Fork Road. His team
confronted, that is in other words, up to about eight inches of snow down as
far as the South Fork Ridge; but they played out there. And Henry Beck,
being the party that he was, my dad never went on the picture himself, but my
dad made sure, that is in other words, that he had plenty of hay and rolled
barley, that is in other words, for the other animals. And they attempted
to use another team to break the road that is in from South Fort into Russian
Meadows on the north side of Lyons damn. And the next team, they
played out in the first quarter of a mile that they were using, and finally,
this Henry Beck, he says, “my teams is in good shape,” he says “I’ll break your
road.” But he says, “You’re going to pay premium, that is in other words,
for doing it.” So as they went on in, the team broke the road as by
contract. I think it’s about as near as I can recall, that is in other
words, it is about five miles from the South Port Bridge into Russian
Meadows. Well, the team broke their road as per contract, and they were
the first team that went in and they broke out into the meadow. Then they
brought out, that is in other words, their show team and out (___), that is in other words, the rest of their
filming with their star and what not. I know this because the team was
the one that actually done the work. And I don’t know what the price was, but
it seems to me that the price of the team—four horses and a wagon—was probably
at that time less than ten dollars a day. That is in other words, they
broke it in, and I think they got a fifty dollar bonus, that is in other words,
for breaking the road in.
HODGE:
It
must be tremendously hard then.
BOOKER:
Well,
if a team is in good shape, that is in other words, that they can stand, that is
in other words, a little extra. But they were working into about eighteen
inches of snow by the time they got into Russian Meadows. So, in other
words, it was hard on them, but if a team is in good shape, it doesn’t tell on
them. But Frank Shelly would go around and tried to steal barley from the
other teams.
HODGE:
Oh
dear.
BOOKER:
He
and Henry Beck got into it very strongly at this particular time.
HODGE:
This
movie called the Covered Wagon would provide entertainment even for us
today.
BOOKER:
It
is.
HODGE:
What
did you do for entertainment on long winter evenings out at the Booker Ranch?
BOOKER:
Well,
you had kerosene lamps, there was naturally school work that you had, that is
in other words, with times of school. Will Shype, who was Anne Booker’s
youngest son, was quite an auto mechanic. He rigged up a Model T Ford
generator, my dad had a six-inch Peloton water wheel, there was a reservoir of
water on top of a hill with a part leading out of it. Further pipe was
added to it in the turn and from the reservoir to the point of the water wheel
was about a forty foot drop. The six-inch Peloton water wheel, as I
recall, had a five vase of an inch Orpheus in it; but one six-inch Peloton water wheel in
it. Well, they used the piece of garden hose, that is in other words, as
a coupler between eh peloton water wheel and the generator. They used
the, as I recall, it was much heavier than automotive wire—I would say probably
a number ten wire for about, oh, about 150 feet up to the house where they had
a six volt (__) sort of battery. And then
the house was wired with the lamp cord and special, not head light lamps, but
screw-in light bulbs, that is in other words, up to, I would say, twenty candle
power, maybe forty at the most, and t house was wired with two of these lights
to each room.
HODGE:
that
was really unusual.
BOOKER:
It
was…
HODGE:
What
year was this?
BOOKER:
Well,
that was about 1922, 1923, up until…, in other words, it was…dad died in 1927,
I don’t know how much the (___) family used it
after that, but it was in use for a good four years. It beat the amount of
light that a lamp would put out. We didn’t have those reflectors on it,
but two of the lights—one of these lamps would give you far more light, that is
in other words, than a kerosene lamp would. But then Will Shipe thought up a new radio, and in keeping
there, that is in other words, the battery charge on that, and the dry cells
that it used along with what we were able to get to radio stations, get good
reception out of Salt Lake City. Well, it was KMX out of Los Angeles, KFI
out of Oakland, KSL out of Salt Lake, KGO out of San Francisco. I don’t
recall any station coming out of Oakland.
HODGE:
The
rest of Blanket Creek didn’t get electricity…
BOOKER:
Oh
no, no, no, no. They were…it wasn’t until the late thirties or maybe even
early forties before they started putting in electric power, that is in other
words, out there.
Stranger speaking up: How about telephone?
BOOKER:
Well,
telephone, that is in other words, the present telephone system, the forerunner
of that…I went out on the ranch and went to school in 1918. And the
farmer’s line, 36F, was in place at that time. My dad was one of the
instigators of it. It was a one-wire system that started in at the present—
where May Francis lives at the Francis home—tied into the present day Pacific
Bell system, came out the first customer out of Sonora was at the Henry
Sanguinity’s, would add on after the old original Sanguinity house as where
Johnny and Henry and all of them were children. Now, that was the first
service. Then next service was at Sullivan’s Creek to the
Hess’s. The next service went up, that is, to right across from Brawley’s
Restaurant—the second Hess family—the house. It went up to the forks of the
road…of the old Mono Road and to Phoenix Lake Road to the Davis House—the Davis
family. Then it went up to the Fayhee place above Phoenix Lake—that was
the end of the line. Then at Sullivan’s Creek the line branched. It
came out to the, well, the automotive shop is right across from, what is it,
Villa Estes, or whatever that shop of Cowden
development is in there where the minimart is. Hesse’s head of house there, and
it hit McCulluck’s, I branched and went down to Harvey’s, Tinnen’s, not to
Murphy’s. Jim Garshel came in later years, and I don’t know whether Will
Richards got—he was on the line—but I don’t remember whether he came in from
Tinnen’s. I think he came in from Tinnen’s. Then it went up the
road and it hit Charlie Myers, it hit Joe Bookers, Charlie Myers, Wablum’s,
Charley’s French, and Berg, and my dad. They was the original party line
out there, and Jim Garshel came in and after my dad and got in on the line and
maintained the line, that is, after my dad had passed away because my dad was
pretty good at engineering and mechanics, but they had their one-wire line and
my dad was always going back and forth to town with the wood contract, so he
maintained the line pretty much, that is, on account of that. But I know
on several occasions, he got quite out when he found out what it was—that the
line would go dead and they couldn’t get out and finally found out that my
uncle Joe had out a break in the line up there, so when they wanted to go out,
when they wanted a telephone, they’d cut off the rest of the line and the rest
of the line back there couldn’t get any service. And when he found that
out, why, he took it out. It was after my uncle Joe had passed away that
he’d finally found out just what had happened. Because they pulled the switch
and they forgot to put it back on and he had a little test that he used…
HODGE:
He
played a trick on a woman.
BOOKER:
Oh,
well, the line finally went down to Burton Noland’s that I down from Will
Richard’s Place which is where Miller Sydella lives now, or did before his
passing. And then there, well, this was amongst my dad and the Rablums,
that is in other words, they got it up. But they could hear, that is in other
words, an eavesdropper coming in on the phone, that is in other words, you
could tell when a receiver would come up. They finally figures out who it might
have been. It was Mighty Nowland down at Burt Nowland’s mother, that is,
down at the old Nowland place which Frank Nomyer owns now. So they
figured up some sort of little tale about her and they were talking amongst
themselves and they sprung this on her. She says, “It’s a damn lie and
you know it.” (All laughing). I don’t recall just what the words were,
but anyhow, they had it worked up amongst them that they were going to do this.
They do it, “it’s a damn lie and you know it.” So, but they…actually in
those times our particular ring was three-long, two-short. Tennan’s was
one-long-and-one-short. Rabrin’s, I forget. Charlie Smangeborg—you
very seldom ever heard his. His mother lived with him. He was a
bachelor at that particular time, but his mother lived with him and they raised
goats up on the shelf of Booker Mountain. But the McCalluck boys, one of
the McCalluck’s and Shaw—(___) Shaw—that is have today. I have seen, that is in
other words, Charlie Spanginbergh take a twenty –rod quirel of wire and on the
fence line that he was putting in at that time start at the base of the
steepest part of the Booker Mountain and go clear to the top of it without
stopping.
HODGE:
Oh
my. Got stamina.
BOOKER:
He
did. He was a German, but boy, he had the stamina and he made it.
HODGE:
Booker
Mountain was named for your family?
BOOKER:
yeah,
it was the area that was…it’s on some maps, and on some maps it is not; but,
well, from there they use it today, that is in other words, it’s just a
landmark today. That is in other words, all the presence in this particular
area here, that had been taken from the top of Booker Mountain. There’s
another one over here, that is in other words, behind where the motor shop is
over there—the truck repair shop—the big one right on Tuolumne Road.
There’s a point right there that they shot down in here to get this, oh,
Starwalt shot that in the um…
HODGE:
I
see. Mr. Booker, Morgan Chapel of the Methodist Church out at Blanket Creek, do
you recall going there occasionally as a child or any special events…
BOOKER:
Well,
I remember, that is in other words, it was quite small, when my mother was
still alive I remember, that is in other words, once they had a camp meeting
yup, that is, in front of where Albert lives, and they had another one that
they called a camp meeting that is down at the Morgan Chapel. That one I
don’t recall too much of because it was before, that is in other words, that
one that they had up the hill. I don’t know why, that is in other words, they
went up to the old Blanket Creek School suite, except that it was evidentially
more…a little more open around there at that particular time, and they didn’t
have the water down there, but they had the well that was up there at
Albert’s. In every area that they’d have a good spring that would
form…that would produce water, generally had a watering trough around there and
whoever owned the property could make maybe ten dollars a year supplying water
in the watering tank. This is an incident, that is in other words, that I
have recollection to. I don’t know; I never went in it, I never saw it,
but I know, that is in other words, that it’s there because of the amount of
dirt that was taken out of the hole had to be that across, that is in other
words, from Mormon’s place where they get the water up there, the spring up at
the borderline of the property there. They pick up the water. I
don’t know whether they have a well there or not, but there is a tunnel up in
there. But they went back in there about twenty or thirty feet to try to
dry up one of the springs up there at the old school house and what not.
It never caved in, but evidentially Dad went and inspected it and he’d never
done anything about it, but, that is in other words, that there is, or was,
tunneling back under there where we picked the water up. But, I know this, that
is in other words, that part of the property that I deeded to my grandson,
Jimmy, and my oldest boy, that is, Leslie in Sacramento, had a homestead of my
aunt, Clara Maggenedy, that is in other words,
where the old house was there that it was literally was a kind of a Sobby that was built in there, that is in other words,
it is a homestead place. That is, it’s out in the opening area, that is in
other words, a person still see the results of it. They should build a
strong coral to keep livestock. The coral—the outline of it is still
there. It needs a lot of work on it, but it would still hold down.
There’s actually…
HODGE:
Did
you go to church there?
BOOKER:
Mother
used to hold Sunday school there. Periodically, that is in other words,
in my time, that is in other words, Dad would go over to go to church there and
Sunday school. Not too many time, but, Oh, I would say in the period of
from 1918-1927, probably about four or five times that we have gone over there.
It was—in later years—it was used, that is in other words, more or less a kind
of community meeting place. I don’t know what the organization was, but I
would say it would be a forerunner of the present-day farm bureau.
Whoever was in the Ag Commissioners office before the time of Mr. Sherard was
instrumental, that is, in having a farmer’s organization. And when he
left, Sherard took over, that is in other words, Sherard came into the area.
But they had a farmer’s organization. Primarily, it was to get water into
the particular area. They had extensive surveys, that is in other words,
when I say survey it would be, say, two or three people walking an area with
maybe a compass. I don’t think they had an aneroid for a barometer for
elevation. But they would kind of walk an area and they were going to
pick up water somewhere, that I in other words, they can walk up as far as Brown’s Meadows as a dam sight. And that would
have been, that is in to her words, it must have been before 1920s, that is in
other words, somebody had said, that is in other words, there was a drainage
ditch, as my dad called it, that is, across the Ball Hill up there. I
don’t know, you can probably still see it. But they said that; but my dad
always spoke with that with more or less as drains
to stop erosion. And he took it around into the growth over there or back
into a wooded area there; but that is to take and stop the erosion from coming
off of that hill up there, because it did start to erode in a couple of places
and he stopped that erosion—especially out there where the offset is in the
fence line in there. Now, that particular road—this is before the days of my
dad or about the time my dad and mother got married—that particular road went
on the other side of the fence in front of your house.
HODGE:
Oh,
I think you can still see through it there.
BOOKER:
Oh,
you can still see that. But do you know why that was done? Because (_____) Red Minners were the ones to change the right
of way to stop travel through there, but actually…
TAPE IS RUINED FROM 21:19-22:00
HODGE:
...in
those days in your childhood, it was such a long distance form Sonora and obviously
the phone service wasn’t too reliable how did you…
BOOKER:
Well,
generally things were taken care of, that is in other words, if there was a
child had come it was a case of a midwife. Miney Noland was literally a
midwife and I think she was in care of mother, that is in other words, when my
sister was born. Today they call it childbed fever that is the result of asepto Cecilia, blood poisoning, whatever the case may
be. That is, they had different names for different cases as they had developed.
But they relied a lot on home remedies in those days. If you had a fever, you
took the full-blown elderberry blossoms, steep the tea out of it, two or three
cups of tea, and you break you fever.
HODGE:
Must
have done the job.
BOOKER:
It
did. It did. I’d taken it, and it would break a fever
alright. But you take the full-blown elderberry blossoms and dry them,
put them in a can, keep them…
HODGE:
Must
have been a few years in the hospital.
BOOKER:
yeah
I…well, at the time my mother was…my sister was born, I spent, oh, I can’t say
how long, but I spent time in Chinese Camp. There I contracted double malaria. I remember, that is on other
words, Bob Edwards drove a Model T Ford a drove my mother, that is in other
words, my dad and myself, that is in other words, down to Stockton. A
short while after that—after mother passed away—I still went back down to
Chinese camp at the Cavanero Fam…I’m trying to think of the party’s name.
Hollenbet lived in the place there at Chinese
Camp where the Cavanero Family had at that particular time. But my mother
passed away in Stockton. She was under the treatments of…let’s see, what
is it? I’m trying to think…was it a doctor pluck? But anyhow, in other words,
that is where she passed away. But I spent about…I must have spent pretty
close to a years at the Brownley Sanitarium with the malaria. I looked
like a piece of saphernt cake with the amount of
whinine that they fed me. But finally my
dad, that is in other words, leased a ranch out and he took me to Oakland, to
my aunt Angie’s-well…Oakland-Berekely right along the side of each other on the
border of Oakland and Berkeley. And there was a Chinese doctor by the
name of Dr. Wong Hem on Webster Street in Oakland. And when he saw me he
says, “I can treat you.” But he says, “My boy (another Dr. Wong Hem), he’s a
graduate at the University of California. He can treat you either Chinese
treatment with herbs or he can treat you as an American medical doctor.”
So my dad took me over there. He took over every day for six weeks—taking
the herb treatments. In three months I came back on the Fourth of July to
Sonora and I have never had a touch of malaria since.
HODGE:
Wonderful.
Was malaria a common ail mate?
BOOKER:
Well,
it was because it was mosquito transmitted. Well, there’s one of the
thing that stopped, you know, had problems in
the Panama Canal. But Chinese Camp at that time was full of little prospect
holes where they dug for gold and most of the gold, you know, the water would
accumulate and with water in stagnant holes, the mosquitoes were
prolific. Now, that is in other words, those same holes just nothing but
little rolling hills. There is no place for a pot of water. But
that’s the thing, that is in other words, with the malaria—if you’ve got
stagnant water, why, that’s when malaria become pertinent.
HODGE:
I
see.
BOOKER:
You
can even get malaria out of your garden here if it comes right down to it if
you use too much water on gardens and what not.
HODGE:
Mr.
Booker, we thank you for your contribution to Tuolumne County’s Oral History
program, and I think we are all on the (____)
for all of the information that you have given us today.
BOOKER:
Well,
a person can keep talking about various things, that is in other words, what’s
amusing, that is in other words, how things can become disoriented through
time. I remember in one specific occasion, at the time that the bridge
was being built down here at Jim Garsoles, a fellow in the name of Parsons was
a contractor. Dad was working on it. Whether he walked back and
forth from here to, you know…
HODGE:
To
the bridge?
BOOKER:
…to
work on the bridge or not, I don’t know, but I do remember mother hooking up
the horse and buggy and I was just a little shaver before. Of course, it
was mother and I. That was before my sister was born, so it had to be
before 1915 when they built that bridge and we parked, at least, tied the horse
up, that is, above the present water that goes out and take care of that area
and that was a long ways down to that bridge in those days.
HODGE:
It
still is.
BOOKER:
But
now it’s just a hoop and holler.
HODGE:
It’s
still very picturesque.
BOOKER:
But
one of these days they’ll have to widen that bridge.
TAPE IS BLANK FROM 28:05-28:12 (END OF
TAPE)
END FO TAPE
General Information:
Interviewer: Booker, Robert
Interviewee: Black, Agnes
Name of Tape: Blanket Creek (booker_r_1)
When: 1988
Transcriber: Ariella (11/25/08)