Attempted Murder In The Senate 1856

Think things are getting rough with all of the name calling and such in our nation's capital today? Well, imagine what took place in the 1850s.

It was decided that not even the slightest attack, the slightest insinuation of an assault on the character of others in the Senate, would be tolerated. But, that didn't stop Democrat Representative Preston Brooks from brutally beating Republican Senator Charles Sumner as a result of Sumner's speech attacking the pro-slavery policies of the Democratic Party.

While verbal assaults in Congress have been a part of our Republic since the beginnings of our nation, Republican Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts wasn't prepared to be physically attacked by a Democrat in retaliation over a speech that Sumner gave over a two day period.

The incident actually took place on May 22nd, 1856. Charles Sumner's speech was an attack on slavery and slave-owner Democrats. Of course while it was about Sumner criticizing slavery and its practitioners, the attack was also about Sumner naming names of slave-owners in his speech. One of the slave-owners mentioned in that speech was Democrat Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina. He was the cousin of Representative Preston Brooks.

While there is nothing notating the reaction of Butler to Sumner's speech delivered on May 19th and 20th on the Senate floor, when Representative Preston Brooks over in the House found out out about Senator Sumner's speech attacking slavery and slave-owners, specifically his kin, Brooks wasn't very happy about it all. In fact, Brooks felt duty bound to stand up for his family's honor. It's said that after the attack, others who saw Brooks as standing up for the honor of the South actually sent Brooks more canes.   

The incident became known as the "Caning of Charles Sumner" or the "Brooks–Sumner Affair." The attack has been considered one of many events that seriously broke-down our ability to conduct reasoned communication and compromise prior to the Civil War. 

Sumner speech was to denounce the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1856. His speech was titled Crime against Kansas. His speech argued for the immediate admission of Kansas as a free state and went on to denounce slavery and what he called "the political arm of the slave owners." Sumner believed it helped the Democratic Party with numbers of "constituents".

During his long speech, he also attacked the authors of the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1856. They were Democrats Senators Andrew Butler of South Carolina and Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois.

Sumner equated slavery to a mistress that Butler was smitten with. As he put it, the "Senator from South Carolina has chosen a mistress to whom he has made his vows, and who, though ugly to others, is always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sight—I mean the harlot, slavery. For her his tongue is always profuse in words. Let her be impeached in character, or any proposition made to shut her out from the extension of her wantonness, and no extravagance of manner or hardihood of assertion is then too great for this senator."

Sumner stating that Butler was a chief defender of slavery was not without merit. Fact is, Andrew Butler was a proponent of slavery and was in fact a slave owner. This sort of back and forth in Congress has always taken place. Sumner himself was earlier ridiculed and insulted by Butler and Douglas over Sumner's opposition to the Fugitive Slave Law and the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Butler is said to have called out Sumner on the Senate floor while making crude sexual innuendo about Sumner and black women. It's said that Democrat slave-owners routinely accused Republican  abolitionists of wanting to free black women for sex and to promote interracial marriage. 

Besides the subject of slavery, Sumner is said to have mocked Butler's speech patterns which had been impeded by a recent stroke. That also didn't sit well with Brooks. Representative Preston Brooks, Butler's cousin, later said that he intended to challenge Sumner to a duel. He even consulted fellow South Carolina Representative Laurence M. Keitt on dueling etiquette and what was needed to shoot Sumner.

Representative Keitt told Brooks that "dueling was for gentlemen of equal social standing, and that Sumner was no better than a drunkard."

With that, Brooks is said to have seen Sumner as no gentleman. Since Sumner did not deserve any sort of honorable treatment, Brooks figured that he did deserve a beating. A beating to humiliate him. That's why Brooks beat Sumner with a cane in public. It was meant to humiliate Sumner.

As for the day of the attack, Congressman Keitt and Virginia Congressman Henry A. Edmundson backed up Brooks with pistols to make sure there were no interference while Brooks beat the tar out of Sumner. Image that!

And by the way, it was not a spontaneous attack to avenge his family's honor. In fact, it was a very well planned out attack. Fact is, Congressmen Keitt and Edmundson supported Brooks' plan of whipping Sumner.  In their plan, the three Congressmen actually waited for the galleries to clear, making sure that all of the women were gone before they would act. It was considered dishonorable to ambush someone in the presence of ladies. In fact, it was considered bad form to let ladies witness such an act.

So after the women left, in what really was an almost empty Senate chamber, Brooks walked up to Sumner as he sat at his desk and said in a low voice, "Mr. Sumner, I have read your speech twice over carefully. It is a libel on South Carolina, and Mr. Butler, who is a relative of mine."

As Sumner began to stand up and before Sumner could reach his feet, Brooks struck Sumner on the head and face with a thick gutta-percha cane with a gold head. The force used in his blows are said to have shocked and actually blinded Sumner. Yes, blows were so serve that Sumner actually lost his sight almost immediately.

Later Sumner said, "I no longer saw my assailant, nor any other person or object in the room. What I did afterwards was done almost unconsciously, acting under the instincts of self-defense."

Knocked down, Sumner was trapped under his desk that was bolted to the floor. Because Sumner's desk chair was on a track and pulled up to his desk, the way Sumner fell pinned him between the desk and the chair -- completely defenseless as Brooks kept beating him.

To Sumner's credit, he finally got to his feet and believe it or not ripped his desk from their bolts in the floor -- all in a valiant effort to get away from Brooks who was mercilessly beating him. While Brooks said later that he wanted to humiliate Sumner, for all intents and purposes during the attack it was believed that Brooks was trying to kill Sumner. Yes, kill him to make a point that that would be the fate of any Republican fighting slavery.

Blood poured down his face which actually blinded Sumner as he slowly tried to get away from the barrage of blows coming from Brooks. Besides his head, Sumner would later bear wounds of the assault because of the blows that he tried to block with his arms. It's said that Brooks followed Sumner up the aisle, beating him the whole way. Brooks later said he intended on beating Sumner "across the head, face, and shoulders to the full extent of my power."

When Brooks finally broke the cane during his beating of Sumner, Brooks didn't stop. He actually used the gold head of the cane to strike and gouge at Sumner.

"Oh Lord," Sumner screamed, "Oh! Oh!" Then he fell unconscious.

Brooks said, Sumner bellowed like a calf" when he finally went out. But Brooks wasn't done.

Democrat Representative Preston Brooks sense of honor must have completely escaped him since he's said to have grabbed the falling Sumner, held him up by the lapel with one hand, and continued to beat him with the gold cane tip.

So now you're wondering, why didn't others stop what took place? It's said that while several of the other Senators there actually tried to step forward to stop the attack, they were blocked by Congressmen Keitt and Edmundson. In fact, Edmundson and Keith draw canes and then their pistols to stop others from interrferring in the ambush.

At one point, Keitt who had a pistol pointed at the Senators is said to have shouted, "Let them be! Let them alone, God damn you, let them alone!"

At one point it looked at though South Carolina Representative Laurence M. Keitt was going to shoot and murder Kentucky Senator John J. Crittenden when the Kentucky Senator tried to stop what was taking place. It's believed that an angry Congressman Laurence M. Keitt would have shot and killed Crittenden if it weren't for Georgia Senator Robert Toombs. Toombs who would later be one of the organizers of the Confederacy, stopped Keitt from killing Crittenden. Toombs then stopped Brooks from killing Sumner though he later said it wouldn't have disappointed him if Brooks had.

While Sumner was beaten close to death and after the ordeal needed to be hospitalized, Brooks actually hit himself above his right eye in the process and needed medical attention before leaving the Capitol.

As for the cane itself? Believe it or not, its gold cap made it into a museum. As for the rest of it, many of the Southern lawmakers made rings out of other pieces that Congressman Edmundson picked up off the blood soaked Senate floor. The Democrat lawmakers wore those rings around their necks as a symbol of support for slavery and their fight to keep it. Of course, pro-Democrat newspapers celebrated the attack as a victory for pro-slavery while pro-Republican newspapers reported the attack as an assault on free speech.

So yes, Democrat Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina walked into the Senate chambers and up to Sumner who was at his desk putting stamps on his speech to send it to his constituents. Brooks used a cane to attack Sumner viciously. The beating is said to have almost killed Sumner, yet Democrats treated fellow Democrat Congressman Preston Brooks of South Carolina as a hero in much of the pro-slavery South. Brooks was treated like a celebrity after nearly killing Sumner.

What I find interesting is that while Keitt was censured by the House for using a pistol to help the attack along, Brooks received no official censure from the House of Representatives. In fact, he not only did not receive a censure but his fellow Democrats immediately started looking at Preston Brooks as a possible Democrat candidate for the presidency. 

As a result of that attack, what some described as the attempted murder of Sumner in the Senate, members in both the House and the Senate started carrying hideout guns to protect themselves. And while Brooks had admirers who saw him as a courageous hero of Democrat slave-owners in the South, there were Republicans who didn't see him that way at all. In fact, one Republican who would become famous in his own right publicly challenged Brooks to a duel. Not just once, but a few times. A challenge that Brooks shirked because he knew he would be killed.

But as for that story, that story comes next! 

Tom Correa

Kansas Rancher Educates Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

A rancher recently wrote an open-letter to Democrat Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In her letter, Kansas rancher and beef producer Brandi Buzzard Frobose addressed Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez's bizarre attack on "farting cows."

In the very short time that New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been a member of Congress, she has shown that she has the ability to upset folks with her asinine over-the-top proposals such as her Green New Deal. The particulars of that plan includes upgrading every building in America, providing free medical care, free college, free housing, free everything, while taking away cars and trucks and planes and trains, and cows because cows fart.

She is self-identified as a Socialist but sounds more like a full blown Communist who has absolutely no idea how the economy works even though she supposedly has college degrees in International Relations and Economics. Some sources say she only minored in Economics. Yes, imagine that. While she gripes that people are concerned about how to pay for all of her free stuff that she wants everyone to have, she refuses to address the cost. This is probably because she has no idea of the exorbitant cost involved. Cost that no industrialized nation can afford.

As for the farting cows, she stated in her Green New Deal FAQ section: "We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast."

She then went on to say that ranchers and farmers would need to make changes in accordance with her Socialist green energy agenda, stating, "Work with farmers and ranchers to create a sustainable, pollution and greenhouse gas free, food system that ensures universal access to healthy food and expands independent family farming."

Well, Kansas rancher and beef producer Brandi Buzzard Frobose read the Congresswoman's Socialist agenda and took her to task over what she had to say. In her letter, published on the website Buzzard’s Beat, the Kansas rancher who also happens to be the Communications Director for the Red Angus Association of America, attempted to educate the New York Democrat in regards to how ranchers and farmers are the true stewards of the land.

Below is what she wrote to the New York Democrat Congresswoman:

Hello Congresswoman,

You don’t know me from Adam but I’ve been following your actions for several months now; both leading up to the election and, now that you’ve taken office, even more so. I swell with pride at the sight of so many women in leadership positions in our nation’s capital and the most recent State of the Union Address highlighted the start of a new chapter in American politics; one that has women more heavily involved than ever before. That’s a great thing and I support this new normal!

However, as a beef producer in rural Kansas working with my family to raise cattle, I feel the need to point out some facts about agriculture that were misrepresented in your Green New Deal. As a rancher, I am proud to produce safe, healthy and affordable beef for a hungry nation. We are producing beef in the United States more sustainably and efficiently than ever before – did you know that the U.S. produces nearly 20% of the world’s beef with only 9% of the world’s cattle? That’s pretty amazing and tells a great story of our efficiency using the resources available to us!

As a rancher, I can tell you that we take the quality of the great outdoors very seriously – air, soil and water quality are all of utmost importance to us here because, well we are the ones living here in the sticks. Which is why our segment of agriculture actively works to reduce our impact on the environment every. single. day. For example, from 2005-2011, the U.S. beef industry reduced its greenhouse gas emissions and water use by 2% and 3%, respectively. That reduction in air emissions puts our figures at just 2% of the sum total of U.S. GHG, according to the EPA. Comparatively, the U.S. transportation sector contributes 28% of GHG emissions.

You might wonder how us farmers and ranchers are lessening our footprint? Good question:

• We are using better genetics from cattle to produce animals that yield more tasty beef using fewer inputs from water and land.

• Every year we are utilizing the best technology available to us to help us manage the health and growth of our animals so we can be efficient with our resources.

• Did you know that cows are great up-cyclers AND recyclers? Cows are able to take foods like sugar beet pulp and carrot tops – things that would otherwise be wasted as food production by-products – and turn those into beef. This reduces the overall amount of food waste in our great nation. Additionally, what other animal do you know that can take grass and turn it into a delicious steak? Seriously, cows are like superheroes.

Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, I appreciate your dedication to improving our earth and pursuing sustainable futures but I beseech you to please have a conversation with your constituents and colleagues that have an agriculture background. Cows are not the problem – the nearly 264 million cars on the road in the U.S. are a glaring issue. I applaud your efforts to make vehicles more environmentally friendly and if you can commit to working on transportation, I assure you that my fellow farmers and ranchers and I will continue to improve our practices to keep reducing our already negligible impact on the environment.

I would welcome your questions, comments or even a visit to our little ranch property for a tour of the cows.

Thank you for your time – I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Brandi Buzzard Frobose
Rancher, wife, mama and steward of the land

Every once in a while, I read about someone who I just have to tip my hat to. Brandi Buzzard Frobose is one of those folks who I tip my hat to with all sorts of respect and admiration.

In her letter, she attempted to educate the New York Democrat in a direct yet polite manner. She told her, while not beating around the bush, that ranchers are already efficient in reducing their environmental impact. She made note of the fact that "the U.S. produces nearly 20% of the world’s beef with only 9% of the world’s cattle."

She pointed out how America's beef industry is already reducing greenhouse gas emissions despite the myth of the "farting cows" through research and innovation. As she stated, "We are using better genetics from cattle to produce animals that yield more tasty beef using fewer inputs from water and land." And she went on to explain to Ocasio-Cortez how ranchers are "utilizing the best technology available to us to help us manage the health and growth of our animals so we can be efficient with our resources."

Since she knows how much Democrats love recycling, she made the point of saying, "Did you know that cows are great up-cyclers AND recyclers? Cows are able to take foods like sugar beet pulp and carrot tops – things that would otherwise be wasted as food production by-products – and turn those into beef. This reduces the overall amount of food waste in our great nation. “Additionally, what other animal do you know that can take grass and turn it into a delicious steak? Seriously, cows are like superheroes."

While it is very obvious that the self-proclaimed "Radical Socialist" knows nothing about ranching or farming, and I believe that it's a safe bet to say that Ocasio-Cortez never took a single ag course while studying Marxism, Communism, and hate for America. She really should have consulted a rancher or two, or more, to get an honest picture of what's going on in the beef industry before making herself look like a fool by talking about "farting cows."

Brandi Buzzard Frobose was a lot more polite than I am when she stated, "Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, I appreciate your dedication to improving our earth and pursuing sustainable futures but I beseech you to please have a conversation with your constituents and colleagues that have an agriculture background."

Of course, that would mean actually talking to a rancher or ranchers, beef producers, who actually live the life, work the job, tend to the land, and have real-life experience when solving honest problems. That would mean letting go of Socialist ideals of government take-over of beef production, of letting go of Communist ideals of controlling every aspect of our lives, of letting go of the idea that you know what you're talking about when you don't have a clue.

My advice to Ocasio-Cortez is that she may want to read up on the history of cattle in America. If she can't read, then maybe she can have her handlers read to her. Either way, she should find out that prior to the advent of cattle being introduced to America, that there were millions upon million of bison that roamed this land pretty much from coast to coast. Yes, for thousands of years long before the introduction of cattle and horses, long before the arrival of Europeans, even long before the arrival of Native Americans who arrived here by crossing over from Siberia.

What do bison have to do with this? Well, bison are bovine no different than cattle. They did not destroy the land long before the arrival of humans to this land. Not with their hoofs or by farting. So frankly, the whole farting cows complaint is just hot air coming from Environmentalist wanting to over-regulate the beef industry. It's a con game being played on Americans who don't know better and will believe such a scam.

Tom Correa

Has The News Always Been Bias?

While it is said that there were all sorts of false reports, what is termed "fake news" today, in newspapers as far back as the American Revolution, I was once under the impression that the Copperhead Democrat newspaper attacks on President Abe Lincoln during the Civil War was the worse examples of bias and hate speech coming from the news media. Looking at things today though, the news media has them beat with 24 hour news and commentary that is vicious and actually venomous when talking about President Donald Trump. What's being presented in the news today is hate and bias on a personal level that's really never been seen in American history. 

Of course, if you think that CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, the BBC, or even the NPR's bias reporting are all something new for 2019, you will probably be surprised to know that biased reporting and spin in the news media has been around for years. Take for example the following story of Pancho Villa as reported by newsman Norman Walker in 1923.

Texas newspaper reporter Norman Walker was born in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1883. In 1907, while in his early 20s, he relocated to El Paso, Texas. In El Paso, he began his career in the newspaper business as a reporter for the Associated Press and later the El Paso Herald. Later he became city editor of the El Paso Herald. On June 30th, 1952, he died in Big Springs, Texas. He was 69 years old at his passing.

He is well known for covering the Pancho Villa uprising in Mexico for the Associated Press. During that revolutionary period in Mexico, Walker worked as the representative for the Associated Press in El Paso. It was during that time that he became an eyewitness to history taking place on the border. 

While that in itself would have been an impressive resume, believe it or not, some have reported that Norman Walker was more than just a newspaper reporter at the time. Fact is he became a close personal confidante of Pancho Villa. Yes, in fact, Walker is actually known to have advised Villa. 

One report states that when General Fransico Pancho Villa wanted to impress American President Woodrow Wilson by defeating Mexican President Carranza, Villa consulted Walker as to whether his timing was right for a raid on the town of Ojinaga. During the Mexican Revolution, Ojinaga was the scene of the Battle of Ojinaga. That battle was between Pancho Villa's revolutionary troops and the Mexican government. Walker is said to have advised Villa on his strategy for the attack. 

Knowing how close Walker and Villa were on a personal level, it's not difficult to understand Walker's article below. Walker's admiration for Villa is obvious when he wrote the following article about Villa's death in 1923. Below is an El Paso Times article from 1923 by Associated Press reporter Norman Walker:

Pancho Villa, Who Lived by the Pistol and Died by it, Passes Into Mexico History

El Paso Times
July 21, 1923

By NORMAN WALKER

PANCHO VILLA, the Robin Hood of Mexico, was a strange combination of horse sense and impulsiveness which made him one of the most unique characters Mexico ever produced. A mountain man with an ability to ride, shoot and swear, Villa learned his military strategy in the hard school of experience when little more than a boy in the Sierra Madres of western Chihuahua.

The story of why Villa turned bandit has many variations. The accepted one is that he sought to avenge a wrong done his sister by an officer high in the ranks of the Diaz federal army. Killing the officer, Villa was pursued into the mountain district of western Chihuahua, where he lived the life of a bandit until Madero started his revolution in 1910, when Villa came down with a few followers and joined the little leader from Monterey who upset the old order of things in Mexico and started that county on its ten years of revolution and bloodshed.

Appears at El Paso

Villa first appeared on the El Paso border early in 1911, when Madero showed up opposite the smelter. At that time he was a colonel and attracted no more attention than did Rauol Madero, Garibaldi, Roque Gonzalez Garza, Eduardo Hay and the other Madero leaders. Villa was a colonel in the Madero revolutionary army and had a command of his former mountain men in camp near the old acequia madre on the Mexican side of the river. 

Villa attracted a little local fame to himself by shooting a deserter who attempted to swim the river and escape and by threatening to kill Garibaldi, commander of the foreign legion, in the Hotel Sheldon lobby. C.E. (Henry) Kelly, then mayor, persuaded Villa to surrender his pistol and prevented a killing in Madero’s staff. Villa took part in the battle of Juarez May 8, 9 and 10, 1911, and was given a major portion of the credit for capturing the town, as he led the hardest fighting in the vicinity of the monument during the three days battle.

Loyal to Madero

With all his faults, Villa remained loyal to Madero to the end. There was a strange attachment between the under-sized provisional president and the big, broad shouldered mountain man who was one of the bravest fighters. Villa prevented a mutiny among Madero’s forces in Juarez after the capture of that town in 1911 by declaring he would attack the mutineers led by Pascual Orozco. 

After Madero pardoned Villa and permitted him to escape from the penitentiary in Mexico City, this attachment became almost an obsession with Villa. It took the form of a hatred for the “red flaggers” who made up Orozco’s revolutionary forces opposing Madero’s army. He killed all the prisoners he took, placed a premium on Orozco’s head and always was bitter in his denunciation of those leaders as “traitors and cowards.”

When Madero was killed in Mexico, Villa, who was in El Paso at the time, after having been liberated from prison in Mexico City, again took the field with a few men, five mules and two sacks of flour. He crossed between El Paso and Columbus, N.M., went to the Palomas country of western Chihuahua, where he organized a force and made his first stand at San Andreas, Chih.

Broke and Discouraged

A story that Villa told at the time was generally accepted by his friends. After he reached El Paso from Mexico City and was staying at the old Hotel Mexico on South El Paso street, broke and discouraged, he said he was going to quit fighting and was trying to get a job as section foreman on the Southern Pacific railroad. 

He said his wife, Luz Corral de Villa, was about to become a mother and he wished to bring her to the United States, take her with him to Arizona or California and settle down to the quiet life of a family man. When the news of Madero’s death reached him, he sent out a rallying cry to his men, then living on the border; crossed the line and started a movement which finally resulted in the overthrow of the Huerta government.

Villa’s character was a peculiar complex. All the stories told of his lust were mostly imaginary. Villa’s greatest weakness was his uncontrollable temper. From a sane man, laughing and joking with his friends, Villa could turn into a maniac at a moment’s notice. 

His eyes would become blood-shot, he would pitch his voice several tones higher and he would pull his pistol and fire at the slightest provocation. All of the bloody deeds attributed to him were directly traceable to his temper, and Villa often admitted his weakness when talking of his career.

Friend of the Poor

Villa was a friend of the poor. He distributed many thousands of dollars to the poor people of the country over which he ruled like an emperor. When he captured a town, he would open up some of the stores, give the poor people permission to help themselves and would often issue food and clothing to the poor who constantly besieged him at his headquarters for aid. 

At one time he kept a number of the orphan sons of his former commanders in school and one of the first things he did at Canutillo after taking possession of the ranch which the Mexican government purchased for him was to set up a school house and invite all of the children of his former followers to attend school.

Personally Villa was sloppy in dress, rarely wearing a uniform and then only under protest. He proffered an old, sun faded khaki shirt, a pair of hand-me-down trousers which puckered around his ankles, high-toed tan shoes and a Stetson hat, almost snow white in color. He never wore a white collar and seldom wore a tie. He said they choked him and hurt his neck. 

When he made a contract with a moving picture company to film some pictures on a fifty-fifty basis, one of the stipulations was that he was to wear a fawn-colored uniform, cap and sword. He wore it once and was so disgusted with himself he never wore it again. When he went to Fort Bliss with Obregon to call on General Pershing, Villa left his hat on in General Pershing’s quarters. He was told to take off his hat as he was in the general’s home.

Keeps His Hat On

“You Americans don’t take off your hats when you come to my headquarters, do you? He answered, and left his hat on the back of his head.

That visit to the border was the last one Villa made as person grata. He and Obregon, both Carranza commanders of the constitutionalist army, were making an inspection trip of the Mexican border garrisons, and made the trip in a private car from El Paso to Nogales. They were given reception at every town on the American side and were apparently good friends. Obregon then was a striking looking man and Villa felt ill at ease beside the Sonora leader, who had the polish and training of a well-to-do ranchero. 

A short time after their return Villa, and Obregon became bitter enemies, Villa declared the Carranza banner for his own revolution, started to shoot Obregon at Chihuahua City, freed him only to regret it a few hours later and started a special train after him as Obregon fled south and escaped. Villa admitted that this was a tactical error, as Obregon later defeated him at Celays and broke the backbone of the Villa revolution.

Denies Columbus Raid

Villa and his leading generals always insisted that he was not present at the Columbus raid. According to the most authentic story obtainable at the time I visited Villa at his ranch, Villa claimed to have been ill at Paloma Springs, below the Columbus border and that Pablo Lopez, brother of Villa’s second in command, led the raid into Columbus which caused the Pershing punitive expedition. I talked to his general at the ranch and on the train and all told the same story, although many in Columbus claimed to have seen Villa.

After the Pershing expedition Villa was very bitter toward Americans. He was approached by Americans who offered to finance a moving picture of him and his men, to be taken soon after the surrender at San Pedro. Villa declared empathatically that he never wanted his pictures shown before an American audience and said he did not want any Americans to approach him on the subject. Later he was said to have reconsidered this ultimatum, but he had ceased to be a front page story and the moving picture company interested in making the picture declined to go ahead with their part of the proposed agreement.

Grows Fat as Farmer

He grew fat after quitting the field and when I last saw him at the Canutillo ranch he weighed more than 300 pounds and lost much of the resiliency he had when as leader of the north, he would outride, outshoot and outmarch any man in his command. Villa liked to eat good food, American preferred, and he said one of the reasons for considering the offer for him to retire was the fact that he could get the kind of food he liked best after a monotonous fare of beans, tortillas and chili in the field.

With the passing of Villa the most picturesque character Mexico has produced in modern times takes his place in the history of the war-torn republic. Feeling toward Villa among the Mexican people is divided. To some he was a hero, patriot and a liberator, while to others, who had lost their families and fortunes at Villa’s hands, he was a bandit of the worst breed.

Hates White Collars

Illiterate, he had a grudge against the order of things in Mexico which deprived him of the education he felt he was entitled to. Hating the white-collar crowd, he took his revenge in killing, looting and slaying. Yet I have often thought that Villa, according to his own lights, believed he was a patriot and that he was doing something for his country. 

There was no question about his military genius. Whatever Napoleon, Grant and Lee had, Villa had in less degree. He knew instinctively how to maneuver men to the disadvantage of the enemy. Whether this was a heritage from some Aztec ancestor, or whether he acquired it dodging federal troops in the Chihuahua mountains, will never be know. But his gift for leadership was unquestioned, and his record of 10 years in the field as a military leader proves it. What his place in Mexican history will be, it is impossible to tell now. But Villa will live in the hearts of the poor people of Mexico as half saint, half devil.

Pancho Villa lived by the pistol and died by it. Thus endeth the chapter of the most interesting character of contemporary Mexican history.

-- end of El Paso Times article from 1923.

It is not too hard to see the admiration that Walker had for Villa. Yes, so much so that Walker started his article by calling Villa "the Robin Hood of Mexico" and then finished his article by comparing Villa to Napoleon and Ulysses S. Grant.

If you notice, there is no mention of Villa ordering the January 11th, 1916, mass murder of eighteen Americans. That was one of his attempts at getting the attention of President Woodrow Wilson. The massacre took place when Pancho Villa stopped a train at Santa Ysabel in Chihuahua state. He had his men force 19 American mining engineers who worked for American Smelting and Refining Company to get off the train. He then had them all shot as a message for President Wilson.

One of the men survived by playing dead after the initial volley of fire. He rolled off into some bushes and Villa's men figured he was dead so they didn't go after him. As for the rest, they weren't as fortunate.

During the massacre, Villa had his second in command Pablo Lopez loot the train and find Americans to kill. Lopez was heard saying, "If you want to see some fun, watch us kill these Gringoes."

Villa had the 19 Americans shot and then shot again. It's true. Villa had Lopez order the "tiro de gracia" which was to shoot those who were still alive. Villa's men placed the ends of their rifles at their victims' heads and fired to put the wounded men out of their misery as one would do to a wounded animal.

As I said before, Walker conveniently left that massacre out when talking glowingly about his friend. Of course if one uses newspaper periodicals of historical information, it's reporting like this in Walker's 1923 article that skews history. For those who take such articles as true without researching such things as who Walker was to Villa, this information can lead someone to think that Villa was someone that he really wasn't. Then again, that's the whole point of Walker's article. It's to paint his friend in a different light with the hopes of fooling people.

Fact is, Walker's account is a great example of having to take things with a grain of salt and work to verify such stories. When reading something like the death of Villa as told by Walker, or say for example reading the newspaper accounts of what took place at the shootout near the OK Corral by the pro-Earp Tombstone Epitaph versus reading the accounts as published by the pro-Clanton Tombstone Nugget, one has to try to ferret out the truth the best one can. And frankly, sometimes it's not easy.

The good thing is that some newspapers simply didn't have a dog in the fight and really play things straight. The sad thing is that not all news reports can be trusted. Yes, no different than reading newspapers or watching the news on television today.

Tom Correa

The Wreck of the Northerner -- The Treacherous Mendocino Coast

From what I was able to find, the first ship to run aground on the Mendocino Coast was the Fannie. She was a pilot boat that wrecked off the Mendocino Coast in 1852.

The Arispe was built in 1853. When she grounded off the Mendocino Coast in 1854, her captain was named Pierce. She was 131.5 feet long, had a beam of 30 feet and displaced 336 tons.

The Donna Maria, by some accounts The Donna May, was a brig. She grounded off the Mendocino Coast in 1854.

The Anor was a two-masted schooner that wrecked off the Mendocino Coast in 1855.

The European disappeared after she departed Noyo, California, on October 14th, 1857, with 20 cords of firewood.

The Charles and Edward. That ship was a 50 ton sailing schooner which was stranded off the Mendocino Coast in 1857. Her captain was named St.Claire.

The Wreck of the Northerner

The paddle-wheel steamer SS Northerner was the first paddle-wheel steamer lost in operations by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company.

The Northerner was built in 1847 by William H. Brown, of New York City, as a companion to the SS Southerner for the Spofford & Tileston Company's line of steamers serving Charleston, South Carolina and the East Coast of the United States. The Northerner was sold to a Mr. Howard and sent to the Pacific under Captain Waterman.

In 1850, the Northerner rounded Cape Horn. She was purchased by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company to make the run from San Francisco to Panama and back again. She was in active mail service for the next ten years.

To give one an idea of her cargo, in January of 1851, the Northerner is said to have arrived from San Francisco with $2,600,000 in gold and treasure while carrying 500 passengers on board. In August of 1851, the Northerner broke the shaft of her starboard wheel soon after leaving Panama. She completed the voyage to San Francisco in 22 days using only one paddle wheel.

On one run from Panama, she carried at least one man in irons. It's true, when she arrived in San Francisco on September 8, 1851, she had 20 tons of freight and 350 passengers. Yes, that's including at least one mutineer from the steamer Commodore Stockton. He was given passage, but was clapped in irons for disorderly conduct by the Captain.

The incident with that mutineer was recorded in the newspapers. On August 31st, 1851, the Daily Alta California of San Francisco reported the following:

Mutiny on board the Commodore Stockton

On the morning of Tuesday, the 8th inst., the steerage passengers on board the Commodore Stockton, which had put back to Panama for repairs, went aft in a body and demanded their passage money. 

This not being furnished, they proceeded forward, stopped the hands at work, took possession of the vessel, and commenced destroying the rigging. 

At the request of Capt. Ackley, solicited the aid of the government; a body of soldiers were dispatched to Taboga, to suppress the mutiny. On the appearance of troops, the ship was surrendered to the proper officers.

-- end of article.

On September 9th, 1851, a San Francisco report had a story on Daniel Whilden, Captain of the Northerner. It stated that "a mutineer on board the Steamer Commodore Stockton was brought into their Custody by the name of Daniel Whillden. After a full examination, we discharged the Prisoner from our custody on the ground that it was a case not properly before us."

Captain Daniel Whilden statement of what took place is as follows:

"I am Capt. of the Northerner, Daniel Whilden started from Panama in the Propeller Stockton, and he with others created a mutiny on board and drove the Capt. and crew off the ship. He [the mutineer] came on board my ship as passenger at Panama. The first I see of him, he was urging the steerage passengers to go and take the Cabin passengers fare and said follow me. As soon as I heard that for fear they would make a rush, I stepped up to him and put my hand on his shoulder requested him to be quiet. He said no and struck me. The steward, ship's Doctor, and 1st mate then took hold of him. I ordered him aft and put in irons. He has since threatened my life and the mates."

After 1853, the Northerner carried mail and passengers between San Francisco and Oregon as far as the Columbia River and the gold fields at Fraser River. She arrived for the first time there on September 3, 1858.

On October 10, 1858, southbound from Olympia to San Francisco, the Northerner was hit broadside by the Steam Tug Resolute in Dana's Straights. Since thousands of dollars of damage was done to both vessels, and it was a clear night in a mile-wide passage, the ship owners filed cross-suits in the Washington Territorial Courts. The owners of the Resolute were unsatisfied with the Washington's court decision, and filed their case in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Northerner sailed for the last time from San Francisco with 108 persons on board at the time of the wreck, 58 passengers and 53 crew on January 4, 1860. She left San Francisco on her regular route to Victoria and Olympia with the mails.

At 4 p.m. on January 5th, the ship was sailing in a smooth sea and south winds. Four miles from Cape Mendocino, the steamer passed between the cape and a group of offshore rocks known as Blunt's Reef when a slight bump was felt. On examination, it was found that several planks on the bottom of the ship were scraped off. The captain realized it was impossible to save the ship, and headed to land.

Passengers and crew bailed the filling ship while the winds increased to storm levels and a huge surf pounded the beach. In heavy seas, the ship beached 20 miles below the mouth of Humboldt Bay, near the small town of Centerville. Wrecked on Centerville Beach, the first boat over the side, piloted by first officer Mr. A. French was filled with four ladies and four children all of whom arrived safely on shore. The next boat capsized and two of her crew drowned, while another lady on this boat washed to shore and was rescued. The third boat also capsized between the wreck and the beach and four crew were lost.

The ship's chief engineer and two firemen, took the quarter boat, rowed to land and placed a line between land and the wrecked ship. Other boats were filled with passengers and crew, although many of the survivors used the line directly to get to shore. Mr. French took his boat back out to the wreck to save others, but it was stuck in an eddy under the wreck and Mr. French and three of his crew drowned.

The last boat off the Northerner was sent to shore with Mr. O'Neill, the chief engineer, bearing a line. When he reached shore, a larger rope was pulled ashore and passengers tried to follow the line to shore. The force of the surf resulted in many of them being washing away, even those who had tried to tie themselves to the line were lost. Others were killed when hit by wreckage being tossed in the heavy waves.

That night, local residents were alerted by distress signals coming from the Northerner. When they arrived, the residents of Centerville worked to get survivors ashore during the night. Residents of Centerville helped the injured, taking the ladies to the two buildings of town. Seventy survivors made their way through crashing surf to shore and were aided by local people. Of those, there were 38 passengers, including five of six women and all four children on board, and the remaining 32 crew members that were saved.

In the morning, fourteen dead were found lying on the sands, one female passenger was found still tied to the wheel, and the remaining bodies were lost to the ocean. In all, that shipwreck took the lives of 38 people. Of the 108 on board initially, 17 passengers and 21 crew members were lost. All the bodies were buried near the beach.

The survivors were cared for at Centerville until the next day when the steamer Columbia, also owned by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, took the survivors and the 45 recovered bags of mail northward. Property lost on the steamer Northerner included 13 bags of mail and $14,000 in U.S. Government funds.

The Centerville Beach Cross marks the resting place of some of the victims whose bodies were recovered. A bronze plaque was placed on the site as a monument to commemorate the 17 passengers and 21 crew members who died in the shipwreck of the SS Northerner on January 6, 1860. The vessel, owned by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, struck a rock near Cape Mendocino and wrecked on Centerville Beach, in Humboldt County, California. The monument is registered as California Historical Landmark # 173.

The first Centerville Beach Cross monument placed there was in 1921. The Ferndale Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West placed a cross and marker on the hill overlooking Centerville Beach. The first marker was destroyed in the 1992 Cape Mendocino earthquakes. A new marker was placed and rededicated on February 11, 1995.

There Have Been Many More

While I haven't been there for years, I was told that the cliff which the Centerville Beach Cross sits on is eroding and it may have to be moved. I've don't know if that's still the case or if that has already been attended to. My concern for the cross is that as with many such monuments today, I can only hope that it will but left alone and allowed to stand. It should be left alone and not torn down for political reasons. Besides commemorating the loss of life with the wreck of the Northerner, I feel the Centerville Beach Cross also stands as a monument to all of those lost along the Mendocino Coast.

While the wreck of the Northerner was horrible, there have been many ships lost on Mendocino's treacherous coast. And no, frankly there is no knowing how many lives have been lost along those waters.

To give you an idea of how many ships that have been lost there, below you will find a list of ships that wrecked on the Mendocino Coast from 1863 to 1950. While the list is not complete, as I'm sure I couldn't find them all, you may be surprised how many ships have been lost there.

The Cuffeys Cove was a two masted sailing schooner owned by John S. Kimball. She was wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1861.

The Curacao was a sailing brig that was stranded off the Mendocino Coast in 1862.

The C.W. Gunnel was a sailing schooner stranded off of the Mendocino Coast in 1862.

The Constantine was was sailing schooner wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1862.

The Alcyona was a two masted schooner launched in 1861. She was swamped and capsized at her moorings in the Noyo basin on January 13, 1863.

The Elizabeth Buckley was a sailing ship that became stranded and lost off the Mendocino Coast in 1863.

The Francis Helen was a sailing schooner stranded off the Mendocino Coast in 1863.

The Caroline was a two masted schooner commanded by a man only known as Johnson. Displacing 80 tons, she was wrecked off the Mendocino Coast in 1863.

The Far West was a two masted sailing schooner stranded in a gale off the Mendocino Coast in 1863.

The Galveston was a sailing brig stranded off the Mendocino Coast in 1863.

The first ship to be named the Golden State was a two masted schooner and lost on May 18th 1865 at Point Arena in a storm. According to the Mendocino City newspaper, "November 27th, 1865 - Storm Cloud, a schooner, was discovered bottom up on the beach as the day dawned. She had been driven on shore by heavy seas. The ship was a total loss. Jerome B. Ford and others, including the Mendocino Lumber Company, were its owners."

The Flying Mist was a sailing schooner that was lost off the Mendocino Coast in 1867.

The Columbia was a two masted schooner. She displaced 59 tons, and was launched in 1865. She was owned by her captain who was only known as Barstow. She was wrecked off the Mendocino Coast in 1868.

The C. P. Huestes was a 57 ton sailing schooner captained by a man named Peltz. Launched in 1862, she capsized off the Mendocino Coast in 1868.

The A.F. Mouje was was a schooner that was stranded and lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1869.

The Ajax was a 74 ton two masted schooner owned by E.W. Burr. She was commanded by Captain Ahern. She parted her moorings and was lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1869.

The Ann Sophia was a schooner commanded by Captain Berry and was wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1870.

1870 to 1879

The Florence was a schooner which sailed under Captain Josslyn. She was stranded off the Mendocino Coast in 1870.

The Ballard was wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1872.

The Elsie Iverson displacing 62 tons was owned by Iverson’s Lumber Company. Her captain was named Jensen. A two masted schooner she was wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1872.

The C.A. Drew was a sailing schooner that stranded and wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1872.

The Elia Florence was owned by the Mendocino Lumber Company. She was a 67 ton two masted schooner. She parted her moorings and was lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1872.

The Fannie Jane was a sailing schooner and was stranded off the Mendocino Coast in 1872.

The Ella Florence was a two masted sailing schooner displacing 87 tons and owned by the Mendocino Lumber Company. The Ella Florence parted her moorings and was stranded in March 1872 in Mendocino Bay.

The Brilliant was owned by the Mendocino Lumber Company. She was a small two masted sailing schooner. She was a frequent visitor to the doghole ports of the Mendocino Coast before she was stranded and wrecked in Mendocino Bay in the winter of 1872.

The Annie Iverson was a two masted schooner displacing 42 tons. She was stranded and wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1873.

The Annie was a sailing schooner wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1874.

The Carrie Heywood was a two masted schooner that was lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1875.

The Glenarm was a sailing schooner launched in 1864 owned by Thomas Pollard. She parted her lines and was lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1875. Her captain was named P.B. Nelson.

The Curlew was a sailing brig that was stranded off of the Mendocino Coast in 1875.

The Ellen Florence was a two masted sailing schooner wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1876.

The Amazone was a two masted schooner. She was commanded by Captain Schmaling,  She parted her moorings and was lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1876.

The B.F. Lee was a two masted schooner that displaced 98 tons. She was wrecked in a collision off the Mendocno Coast in 1877.

The Albert and Edward was a 96 ton two masted schooner launched in 1875. She was stranded and lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1877.

The Artful Dodger was a 53 ton two masted schooner. She was commanded by Captain Colman when she was stranded and lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1877.

The Golden Rule, actually a second ship with the same name, was a two masted schooner launched in 1866 owned by Beck Iverson. She displaced 118 tons. She was grounded and lost in 1878 off of the Mendocino Coast.

The A.F. Jordan was a two masted schooner commanded by Captain Crack. She displaced 181 tons. She was wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1878.

The Emily Franssen was a 69 ton two masted schooner under the command of Captain Christiansen. She was stranded and lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1879.

The Annie Stoffer was a two masted schooner launched in 1870 displacing 119 tons. She was wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1879.

1880 to 1889

The California was 98.5 feet long with a 28 foot beam and displaced 119 tons. She was a two masted schooner launched in 1869. She was wrecked off the Mendocino Coast in 1880.

The Eliza Miller was a two masted schooner wrecked off the Mendocino Coast in 1880.

The Barbara Fritchie was a 55 ton two masted schooner. She was wrecked off the Mendocino Coast in 1880.

The David And Nettie was a 69 ton two masted schooner launched in 1875 she was wrecked off the Mendocino Coast in 1880.

The Free Trade was a two masted schooner launched in 1869. She was 86.5 feet long, 26.3 feet in the beam and displaced 87 tons. Commanded by Captain Jensen she became a total wreck at Noyo on February 2, 1881.

The Emily Stevens was a 98 ton two masted schooner owned by Beadle Steamship Co. launched in 1879. She capsized and was lost off the Mendocino Coast in 1881.

The first ship with the name Golden Rule was a 72 ton two masted schooner launched in 1860 owned by Captain Hendrix. She was commanded by Captain Kuhn. She parted her moorings and was lost of f of the Mendocino Coast in 1881.

The Elia Adelia was a two masted schooner launched in 1864 she was wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1883. The Elia Adelia displaced 54 tons, was 75.5 feet long and 24.5 feet across the beam.

The Alviso was a two masted schooner wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1883.

The Cora was a two masted schooner displacing 155 tons She wasbuilt in 1867 at Port Orchard, Washington. It is not known when she was acquired by J. G. Jackson of the Caspar Lumber Company. The Caspar Lumber Company lost the Cora in 1883. The "Cora", while loaded with 1,200 posts and 25,000feet of lumber, was wrecked at Caspar on April 13, 1883 when her hawsers and mooring lines parted while a heavy sea was rolling into the harbor. The vessel struck on the south rocks and quickly broke up.

The Charles G. White was a 169 ton steam schooner launched in 1884. She was lost in the same year when she was stranded off of the Mendocino Coast.

The Ellen Adelia was a two masted schooner launched in 1864 the Ellen Adelia was lost on August 6th, 1884, when she sailed from Bowen’s Landing and then was wrecked off Point Reyes. She was 75.5 feet long and 24.5 feet in the beam and she displaced 54 tons.

The Anna was a two masted schooner wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1885.
The Fairy Queen was a 99 ton two masted schooner launched in 1869 was stranded during a storm and lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1885.

The Golden Gate was a sailing schooner wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1885.

The Don Leandro was a 86 ton two masted schooner, “Don Leandro” was lost between November 17th and 23rd 1885 in a terrible storm at Little River.

The Alfred was a two masted schooner launched in 1870 displacing 88 tons. She was commanded by Captain Olsen and was owned by Captains Olsen, Blair and Hendriks and J.C. Ford. She parted her moorings and was lost off at Mendocino Bay on January 20, 1886. It is said that she was "slowly pounded to pieces and lumber in her hold was ground to sawdust."

The Elsie Iverson which was the second ship of this same name displaced 77 tons. She was owned by Iverson and Johnson. She was launched in 1884. Her captain was named Beck. A two masted schooner she was wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1886.

The Agnes Nicholson was a 68 ton two masted schooner launched in 1876 under the command of Captain Nicholson. She struck a rock, lost her rudder and was lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1886.

The Fannie A. Hyde was a 90 ton two masted schooner owned by Captains Jensen and Petersen was wrecked and lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1886.

The C. H. Merithew was a two masted schooner launched in 1875. Commanded by Captain C.H. Johnson she displaced 95 tons, was 84 feet long and 22.3 feet across the beam. She parted her lines and was lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1887.

The Caroline Medan was a 73 ton two masted schooner commanded by Captain Hansen. She was wrecked and lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1887.

The Georgia R. Meridith was commanded by Captain Samuelson. She was a 95 ton two masted schooner launched in 1875. She was stranded and lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1887.

The Aeriel was lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1888.

The Adelaide was a two masted schooner launched in 1880. She displaced 130 tons, was 96.5 feet long and 28.25 feet in the beam. She was commanded by Captain Mortenson. She parted her lines and was lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1889.

The Cochief was a sailing schooner wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1889.

The Albert Walter was abandoned and lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1889.

The Charlotte was a two masted schooner launched in 1861 owned by Iverson’ Lumber Company. Commanded by Captain Larson, she was wrecked off of the Mendcino Coast in 1889.

The General Ord was a two masted schooner launched in 1869 owned by Gus Scheultz. Commanded by Captain Knudson, she was 87.5 feet long, 25 feet across the beam and displaced 93 tons. She was stranded and lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1889.

The second ship to be named the Golden Gate was a two-masted schooner built in 1874 by Hans D. Bendixsen in Eureka, California. The Golden Gate was the first vessel to come into the new harbor at Fort Bragg with a cargo of 120,000 feet of lumber for use in the construction of the Fort Bragg mill. The Golden West was the first ship to tie up at the Union Lumber Company mill in Fort Bragg in 1885. The Golden West brought that material from Newport.

The Golden West was driven ashore at Whitesboro by a storm on November 23, 1885, pulled off and repaired. She went ashore on the beach at Point Arena in April 1889. Carpenters made some repairs after which she was towed to San Francisco by the steam schooner, Alcatraz. Two trips later, she became a total loss at Point Arena at the south end of Manchester Beach. Remains were salvaged and refined into building material for construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.

1890 to 1899

The Abbie was a two masted schooner, displaced 146 tons, 98.5' x 29.5' x 8.3', and was built in 1876 by H. D. Bendixsen, at Fairhaven, California, for J.G. Jackson the owner of the Caspar Lumber Company. She was stranded and lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1890.

The first merchant ship known as the Albion was a 202 ton collier, a coal hauler, launched in 1861. She was 120 feet long and 31 feet across the beam. The Albion was commanded by Captain Jacobs and owned by Richardson Co. She ran aground and was lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1893.

The Bill The Butcher was commanded by Captain Peterson. She was a two masted schooner, 84.5 feet long, 26.5 feet across the beam and displaced 85 tons. In 1893, she parted her lines and was lost off of the Mendocino Coast.

The Gussie Klose was a two masted schooner launched in 1876. She was wrecked in 1893 off of the Mendocino Coast.

The Bobolink was built in 1868 in Oakland, California by L. S. Allen. She was owned and operated by Asa H. Simpson, with her home port being San Francisco. She was a two masted schooner, measured 104 ft x 29 ft x 9 ft with a single deck and could carry 170 gross tons or approximately 200,000 board feet of lumber. In 1881 or 1884, the ship was sold to J.B. Ford of the Mendocino Lumber Company.

Whilst under the command of Captain Peterson, on March 24, 1896 in a calm sea she drifted onto the beach at Kent’s Point so close to shore that lines were put on board and the lumber taken off and hauled to Little River. Before the wind and sea came up to wreck her completely, a couple of pictures were taken. By the next day, the Bobolink was so battered by the sea that she was a total loss. One sailor, Pete Nelson, a native of Sweden, lost his life in the wreck.

The second California was a two masted schooner commanded by Captain Peterson. The California displaced 114 tons. She was launched in 1883 and lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1897.

The Caspar Lumber Company had three steam schooners named, “Caspar”. The first schooner was a wooden steam schooner. She displaced 300 tons and had a 150 hp engine. This Caspar was 132.5' x 33.0' x 11.0'. She was built in 1888 by Hanson & Frazer, San Francisco for Caspar Lumber Co.

The "Caspar" (first of that name) had its first trouble when it went ashore at Noyo in 1893. She was refloated in leaking condition and towed to San Francisco by the steamer, "Noyo" and repaired. It was only a few years later that she met her end. She left San Francisco on October 22, 1897 to go up the coast and after passing Point Reyes, she was into a southeast gale.

While watching for the whistling buoy off Point Arena at midnight, the fog closed in. The noise of the storm being so great, the crew did not hear the buoy and struck on Sanders Reef at Point Arena. The boats were swung out but the steamer careened and they were washed away and lost. A big wave washed the crew of the Caspar overboard. There were fifteen men in the crew but only two survivors, Captain Anfindsen and Chris Larson, a sailor, who managed to make a raft of some wreckage. The two men were seen at daybreak and about noon two men at Iverson's Landing managed to launch a boat and rescue the two survivors.

Beached hull of the 300 ton steam schooner Caspar, wrecked on Saunders Reef, four miles south of Point Arena on October 22, 1897. In pictures that were taken at the time, salvage workers could be seen standing by the bow.

The Caspar was a total wreck, the machinery having dropped through the deck. News of the wreck was telegraphed to W. H. White of the L. E. White Lumber Company, and he ordered the steamer, Alcazar, to travel to the wreck, fifteen miles to the south. The Alcazar recovered bodies, but no more survivors were found.

The second Charlotte was launched in 1880. She was a two masted schooner and displaced 48 tons, was 67 feet long and 21 feet in the beam. She was wrecked in 1899 off of the Mendocino Coast. 

The Chilcat was built at Astoria, Oregon. She displaced 215 tons. She was stranded off of Humboldt on April 2nd, 1899.

1900 to 1909

The Barbara was a two masted schooner built at Little River by Henry Coombs, and launched in 1877. She was commanded by Captain Beck and owned by L.G. Peterson and others. She displaced 113 tons, was 89 feet long and 29 feet in the beam. She was wrecked and lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1901.

The Bettie Danielson was an 85 ton two masted schooner commanded by Captain Anderson. She was blown on the rocks off of the Mendocino Coast in 1902.

The Crescent City was a 701 ton steam schooner that was launched in 1882. She was 147.3 feet long and 21 feet in the beam. Commanded by Captain Pain, she was stranded and lost off of Fish Rock on the Mendocino Coast on January 30th, 1903.

In the picture to the left, the Amethyst is second from left, and the scow, Sacramento is second from right. Lined up waiting to load lumber at Albion wharf on August 15, 1897.

The Amethyst was a sailing schooner known to have worked the doghole ports of the Mendocino Coast before she was lost.

The Andrew Peterson was a three masted schooner that wrecked off of the Mendocino Coast in 1905.

The Alice Blanchard was built by Blanchard and Wheeler in Tacoma, Washington, in 1890. She displaced 393 tons. She was stranded off of Shelter Cove on June 10th, 1907.

The Alcazar was a wooden steam schooner built in 1887 by Alex Hay of San Francisco, owned and operated by the Lorenzo E. White Lumber Company. She was 132 feet long, 32 feet across the beam and displaced 263 tons. The captain of the Alcazar was Captain Fagerlund.

Like most of the schooners we know of that plied there trade along California's Mendocino Coast, the Alcazar came to a watery grave. That happened when she grounded and wrecked June 10th, 1907, without the loss of life, on Needle Rock on the north coast of Mendocino. Yes, the same day when the Alice Blanchard was lost off of Shelter Cove.

The Berkeley was built by John Lindeman at Aberdeen, Washington, in 1906. She displaced 571 tons. She was lost by fire off Point Conception on November 14th, 1907.

1910 to 1919

The second ship with the name Albion was a wooden steam schooner built in 1893 by C.G. White in Alameda, California. She measured 120 x 31 x 9 feet with a single deck. 

She was powered by a 110 hp compound 2 cylinder engine and had a 250,000 board foot capacity. The Albion was originally owned by H.A. Richardson (1907 - 1908).

The Albion, commanded by Captain Jacobson, put into Stewart’s Point on March 21st, 1913 to complete its cargo of lumber, while on its southbound trip from Bowen’s Landing for San Francisco. 

While taking aboard ties from the end of a long wharf, a southwester swept down the coast, and began to roll the vessel against the bulkhead, parting several of the mooring lines. Capt. Jacobson ordered the vessel to clear away and stand off at sea, but the storm proved too powerful.

The ship was abandoned by the 15 man crew shortly after 3:00 am when the craft refused to hold by its anchor. The Albion broke up on the reef, at Stewart's Point and wreckage was scattered along the beach for several miles.

The Acme was built in Alameda, California, in 1901. She displaced 416 tons. She was stranded and lost a St Coquille, Oregon, on October 31st, 1914.

The Claremont was built in John Lindstrom in 1907 at Aberdeen, Washington. She displaced 747 tons. She was stranded off of Coos bay in 1915.

The Alliance was launched in 1899. She was commanded by Captain Louchy and owned by Jean Albia. She was a two masted schooner displacing 105 tons. She grounded and was lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1915.

The Aberdeen was built by Lind in 1899 at Aberdeen Washington displacing 499 tons. She was stranded on the San Francisco bar January 23rd, 1916.

The Excelsior was a wooden steam schooner displacing 526 tons with a 366 hp engine. She was built 1893 by P. Matthews at Eureka, California. Purchased either in 1915 or 1916 probably from Northwestern Steamship Co. The Excelsior was in a collision and sank at San Francisco on February 7th, 1916. The company owned the "Excelsior" the shortest period of time, as shortly after she was purchased she was rammed by the well-known passenger steamer "Harvard'' at San Francisco on February 1, 1916, and was so badly disabled that she sank soon after near the Mile Rock in the Golden Gate.

The Fifield was built by Kruse & Banks at North Bend, Oregon in 1908. She displaced 634 tons. She was stranded and lost off the Coquille River in 1916.

The Coronado was built by Pollard Lumber Co. at Aberdeen, Washington in 1900. She displaced 578 tons. She foundered off Point Arena on April 27, 1917.

The Del Norte displaced 301 tons, was 158 feet long and 32 feet in the beam. Launched in 1890 in Tiburon, California, she was owned by Hobbs, Wall & Co. and commanded by Captain Hoffman. She was stranded and lost off of Point Arena on July27th, 1917.

The Dunkerque was a five masted schooner with two auxiliary engines owned by the French Government. She was 260 feet long and displaced 3,000 tons. The Dunkerque was lost off of the Mendocino Coast the year she was launched, 1918.

The steamer Girlie Mahoney was wrecked in Albion harbor on the north side of the beach December 23rd, 1919. The Hamm brothers, Bill and Emil told us (the Mendocino Historical Review un-named author) of her tragic ending as it was told to them.

Ready to sail for San Francisco, the stern line of the vessel became entangled in the propeller and no-one on board could release it. A diver was called and he agreed to go into the sea to free the disabled propeller – for a fee of $500. The captain of the Girlie Mahoney considered the amount exorbitant as the water was calm and the situation seemed without danger. The diver left the scene.

The next day the sea became so rough the diver did not dare to carry out his mission even for $500. The steamer Sea Foam attempted to aid the helpless vessel but a line could not be transferred between the vessels because of the rough sea.

The Girlie Mahoney struck the wharf and finally broke through taking 150 feet of the wooden structure with her. She landed on the beach and there, pounded by the unceasing waves, became a total wreck. All hands were saved and unharmed.

The Girlie Mahoney was launched in 1904 and had a capacity of about 400,000 board feet of lumber. She was a vessel of 392 tons built in Aberdeen, Washington by Lind in 1904. She was 141 feet long and 34 feet in the beam. In 1915 Captain Eliason commanded her and at the time of her demise she was commanded by Captain Hansen. The Girlie Mahoney started out as the James S. Higgins, built by John Lindstrom in 1904. No date as to when she was renamed.

1920 to 1930

The Aurelia was built by G.Ross in Prosper, Oregon, in 1902. She displaced 424 tons. She sank in 1920.

The Daisy Putnam was built by Mathews Shipbuilding Co. in Hoquiam, Washington in 1913. She displaced 886 tons. She was stranded and lost off Punta Gorda on November 22, 1920.

The Arctic was a wooden steam schooner built in 1901 by H.R. Reed at Bay City, Oregon, for J.S. Kimball of San Francisco. She was was 392 tons, 145 x 32 x 11 feet with a single deck. 

Used for the coastal lumber trade, she had a 350 h.p. triple expansion engine and 325,000 board foot capacity. Among her owners was the Hammond Lumber Company. 

She was sold in 1908 to National Steamship Company and sold again in 1919 to Union Lumber Company. The Arctic wrecked at Point Arena on July 5th, 1922.

The C.A. Smith was built by Kruse and Banks at North Bend, Oregon in 1921. She displaced 1,878 tons. She was stranded off Coos Bay on December 16th, 1923.

The Cuatemoc was a gas screw schooner launched in 1916. Displacing 79 tons, she was stranded and lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1924.

The Avalon was built by Mathews Shipbuilding Company in 1912 at Hoquiam, Washington. She displaced 881 tons. She was stranded off Cape Shoalwater on April 29th, 1925.

The Escola was wrecked in a storm off of the Mendocino Coast in 1926.

1930 to 1939

The Brooklyn was built by John Lindemann at Aberdeen, Washington, in 1901. She displaced 333 tons. She foundered and was lost on the Humboldt Bar on November 8th, 1930.

The Gualala was a steam schooner that worked the doghole ports of the Mendocino Coast. She was built in 1901 by John W. Dickie at Alameda in California. She displaced 228 tons. She was stranded and sank on Blunts Reef in 1931.

The Fort Bragg was built in Fairhaven, California by J.H. Price and launched October 20, 1910. It was operated by Charles H. Higgins, a shipping firm in San Francisco. (The letter ”H” is prominent on the smokestack) At some time before 1930 she was lengthened and increased her masks from two to three. In 1930, after she was lengthened, she was 188 ft in length with a 40 ft. beam. 912 gross tonnage, 498 net tonnage. She operated with a 550 horsepower steam engine. On September 7, 1932, the Fort Bragg was stranded on the south jetty of Coos Bay, Oregon and was no longer used.

The Cornell was built by Hall Brothers at Winslow, Washington, in 1905. She was stranded and lost off of Cypress Point, California on September 2nd, 1934.

The Frank D. Stout was built by St. Helens Shipbuilding Co. at St. Helens, Oregon in 1917. She displaced 1,113 tons. She was stranded and lost at Port Oxford in 1937.

The Dorothy Wintermote was a steam powered ship displacing 2,010 tons she was commanded by Captain O. J. Olsen. She foundered and was lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1938.

The Daisy was built by J.H. Price at Bandon Oregon in 1908. She displaced 679 tons. She foundered in Humboldt Bay on September 18th, 1939.

The Ernest H. Meyer was built by St. Helens Shipbuilding Co. in St. Helens, Oregon in 1917. She displaced 1,057 tons. She was broken up in 1939.

1940 to 1950

The Daisy Mathews was built by Mathews Shipbuilding Co. in Hoquiam, Washington in 1916. She displaced 943 tons. She foundered off Trinidad Head in 1940.

Annette Ralph was built by Rolf Shipbuilding Company in 1918 at Rolph, California. She displaced 2,361 tons. She was broken up in 1944.

The Del Monte was a 50 ton schooner with an oil fired engine. Launched in 1939 she was stranded and lost off of the Mendocino Coast in 1950.

This list was compiled from a number of various sources. I hope you found it interesting.

As I said before, besides commemorating the loss of life with the wreck of the Northerner, I feel the Centerville Beach Cross also stands as a monument to all of those lost along the Mendocino Coast.

Tom Correa