Hey LA!

Have a couple of your civil engineers make a book report on the following work by Jey Jeyapalan, "Advances in Underground Pipeline Design, Construction, and Management."

San Francisco

There were, at least, five Sheehans in San Francisco, California in 1898

Solar Power

I may not be able to profit from my own solar power set up.
Still ,,,,,,, it is interesting.

The idea that battery-based back-up power can ensure power even when the grid is down attracts me. The maintenance of such set ups may be a good business for someone. However, a propane powered generator set-up is probably cheaper and even easier to keep up.

I guess, that here in California, we still can't sell electricity that we produce even though net metering for credit is allowed. I think that one can check on selling rights, tax credits, rebates, and the like at www.dsireusa.org

A grid-tie system with back-up may have been useful at Camp Thunderbird, but here at this little JT House Edison is probably good enough.

A catalog from Appropriate power got me reviewing thoughts of solar power. you can contact them at appropriatepower.com.

California Teachers Are Still Losing SS Quarters

Teachers pay into their retirement account. Their pension is not a free benefit. Unlike many corporate workers teachers have been required to pay 8% of their salary into an account with the California State Teachers Retirement System. This is a higher rate than most workers pay into Social Security.Further, by a great travesty of law, teachers lose most of all moneys they earn under
SS. Teachers made and make their monthly contributions in good faith and deserve not to lose the modest pensions they were promised.

I had SS deducted from my pay for forty years. Why must I lose that just because I taught for 20 Years.

Around Camp Thunderbird

Felt well enough to do quite a bit of work around the property today. Perhaps a talk with family and friends about taking care of my health helped.

The place is looking so good that a cute, speedy kangaroo rat has moved into the house.

Watched the sun go down as I played with my water and reestablished my play river in the back.

A Question of Indians

What kind of food was "pechita" among Spanish speaking Indians near the boarder of Northern Mexico and Southern California?

Who has information about the hot and cold water wells of Coachella Valley Indians from the earliest times?

What did "Piatopa" mean to Coahuila Indians and how was it related to Mt San Gorgonio?

In What ways are the Pima similar to the Cocomaricopa?

How are the Apache similar to the Yuma?

What is the history of the Yaqui as miners?

Is there a good translation of Geronimo Boscana's ethnographic work on the Luiseno of Southern California? It was written not long before 1830.

Where can I get information about the Yaqui-Mayo rebellion of 1740?

What is known of the early sea trade of the Yaqui with people of Baja California? The trade was active in about 1800. At that time Yaqui were crossing the gulf in their 'canoes' from Guyams to Loreto about 140 miles across pretty rough water.

Was there and Apache revolt in New Mexico in about 1680?

Who will tell us something about the Hachedun Indians who lived along the Colorado River?

Alvera Street Roots

By Gloria Lautt

California Drivers

Understand the laws and rules of the road. Pay attention, avoid distractions, be courteous.

Take a sample written test at dmv.ca.gov

Something Fishy?

Dead fish.
Lots of dead fish floating on the river July 13th.
Too many dead fish floating on the river and accompanied by a strong strange unpleasant smell.
Many dead fish floating on the Colorado River near Parker Arizona.
The river seems clearer than usual.
Live fish were swimming in the same water, so perhaps the kill happened elsewhere.
What caused this big fish kill?
Where might we get more information?

1. 
   

Why Octopus?

I like historical novels in which there is an adventurous hero with whom I may enjoy identifying. I've gotten a useful feel for other times and places from such works. Many lesson of great use to us here and now may be found in them.

Even historical novels without heroes easy for me to identify with have been enlightening pleasures to read. One such novel which helped me to a better understanding of important aspects of the history of California with its lessons in economics and personal power from just after the advent of statehood to shortly after our Civil War, is The Octopus. In fact, this novel by Frank Norris does much to help one find lessons in our history during the period 1870 - 1900 in particular.

As you read the novel you may find it useful to remember that:
~ in 1848 gold was discovered near Sacramento,
~ the following year the 49ers came,
~ in 1850 California was admitted as a free state,
~ in 1853 the U.S. made the Gadsden Purchase to provide a southern route to California,
~ Wheat(a crop valuable enough for Rome to invade Egypt)was grown in Tulare county from about 1855,
~ in 1856 wheat was regularly quoted on the market reports in NY.
~ after 1860 California became one of the world's largest exporters of wheat,
~ in 1861 the Central Pacific R.R. was organized under the incorporation law of California(to learn more check names like Stanford, Huntington, and Crocker in your history book),
~ in 1862 the Union congress created the Union Pacific R.R,
~ in 1867 labor unions began to form in the state,
~ in 1869 the transcontinental R. R. became a fact.

I hope to continue this discussion in the future.
Your Librarian will find the novel for you.

May You Be Safe on Your Bike

In California and in many other states we have agreed that bicycle riders are to follow the same rules it is mandated that motor vehicle drivers follow. Five rules that it is good for bicycle riders to follow for their own safety are:
1. Consider wearing a helmet. Californians have agreed that bike riders under 18 must wear one.
2. Keep your bicycle in good mechanical condition.
3. Follow traffic laws. Signal your intentions before making a turn or changing lanes. Four wheel motor vehicle drivers tend to lose sight of bicycle riders as often as they loose sight of motor cycle riders. It's often a good idea to consider making eye contact with a nearby car driver just before making a lane change or turn.
4. Ride with the flow of traffic and use dedicated bicycle lanes where they are available.
5. Do not ride a bicycle if you have used alcohol or drugs recently. In California, if you are under 21 but over 13 and ride under the influence, your drivers license will be suspended or delayed one year.

I wish all a safe ride.

Grass Valley Philosopher

Josiah Royce (remember Royce Hall) was born in grass Valley in 1855. In his early youth I imagine him walking the foothills there and thinking his first thoughts of history and philisophy.

He studied at Berkeley and Johns Hopkins, and taught at Harvard.

He was befriended and mentored by William James.

Could be worth checking out.

RSEI Database -- chicagotribune.com

About air quality in 29 Palms.
Check out the site below.
Can you help interpret it.?
The site probably has information about area important to you.
Can you help us understand it?

RSEI Database -- chicagotribune.com

Chem-Trails Over the Mojave

Why can't we get information about the enormous number of "chem-trails" obscuring the sky over the Mojave desert of California?
What is the source of this pollution?
Who is doing it?
Why is it so different from con-trails?
They are very ugly?
How dangerous are they?
When they are present I experience trouble breathing through my nose and often experience throat irritation.
Why are citizens kept in ignorance.

CRTA Notes

CRTA has been characterized by grass-roots activism.
All its officers serve without pay.

Who can give us biographical information on Laura E. Settle, the first president of California State? There is no mention of CRTA in Wikipedia!

What connection did Ethel Andrus Percy, founder of AARP, have with CRTA?

I wonder how candidates and winners of college scholarships for future teachers are selected by CRTA.

California has not yet reduced obligated contributions to the state teachers' Retirement Fund or to the Supplemental Maintenance Account for purchasing power protection. I wonder how much SS would pick up if they did.

Is prevention.com associated with CRTA?

We realize that we can accomplish more united than each of us can alone. United we can accomplish more than each of us can alone.
www.calrta.org

California Retired Teachers' Association

Happenings and times important to CRTA people:
1913 First retirement law was passed by the Legislature granting teachers $500 annually.
1925 A group of nine teachers met in Pasadena and created what would later become the first division of CRTA.
1929 The first car radio was made by Motorola.
1929 Retired teachers met at Sycamore Grove and organized the "Southern California Retired Teachers Association." At a second meeting that year they dropped the word "Southern."
1931 The Star spangled Banner became the national anthem.
1939 WWII began.
1941 CRTA Board signed the Articles of Incorporation.
1951 Laura E. Settle died and CRTA created the Laura E. Settle Loan and Scholarship Fund.
1954 Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama which set the American Civil rights Movement in Motion.
1964 The Beatles appeared on the E Sullivan Show.
1968 The First CRTA Business Office was opened in Napa, California
1969 Man first walked on the moon.
1989 The www was 'invented.'
1989 The Supplemental Benefit Maintenance Account (SBMA) was established to maintain the purchasing power of retired teachers.
1996 The first sheep was cloned.
2000 The Fremont-Union City-Newark Division was formed bringing the total number of CRTA divisions to 88.
2008 CRTA successfully lobbied to increase the SBMA to 85% from 80%.
2009 You identify and help create your lobbies.

San Fernando Valley

Thanks to my friend Don for this view of the San Fernando Valley in the southern California of about 1900.

Just thinking of what to do with my life now.

From Dream to Dream

Stephen W. Kearny may not have been a sweetheart but he was the top pre-Civil War Army officer of his time. He is import for reasons other than his part in the conquest of California, but it is that conquest that interests me at the moment.
The Kearny Code for governing government behavior towards Californios may not have been great, but it was much better than that behavior actually became. What it became may not have been as bad as Federal behavior became during Reconstruction, but there are comparisons.

Kearny (pronounced "Kar-ney" sounds Irish) was born in 1794 in New Jersey and died in Missouri in 1848. Remember the "'49ers?" He was of a 'good family' being able to trace his roots back through General William Alexander and Sara(Lady Stirling)Livingston.
In 1826 he was appointed the first commander of the new Jefferson Barracks in Missouri. While there he married Mary Radford, the step-daughter of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
While at Jefferson Barracks, Kearny organized a regiment of dragoons on the lines of a cavalry unit. The U. S. Cavalry eventually grew out of that unit.

Kearny left for California with a fighting force of 300. They arrived tired in California and were stopped in their tracks by Captain Leonardo Cota of the Californio-Mexican cavalry under Andres Pico at the Battle of San Pasqual where Kearney was wounded. Even after Kearny was helped by Commodore Stockton's navel force at San Diego it remained a "Mexican stand-off for some time. After the Battles of San Gabriel and La Mesa with subsequent control of Los Angeles the Anglos gained the upper hand. They were helped some by a lack of trust for the Mexicans which had grown among the Californios.

Still for a short time, a bit like Camelot, 'the days of the dons' had been a bit like the dreams of the Caliphs.

Understood, Appreciated, and Acknowledged

"It-Spo-Iotisi" is from the Ajunan-wi language of Pitt River People. I tis close in meaning to the English word 'truth.' It means straight talk. It is a spritual agreement with the self to tell the truth. It is a hallmark of true humanity. It-Spo-Iotisi is truth made visible by living in a good way and cherishing life.

It is good to be reminded that the cleanliness of truth exists.

Pitt River People know that the Sacramento Valley was once a great lake 'as long as the land.' They know that a tremendous earthquake opened the coastal range allowing the great water to drain into the Pacific. When it did, there was San Francisco Bay, and in it Bright Rock Island. That island is now called Alcatraz. A truth was there. The Mouse Brothers may have brought a strong consciousness of that truth to the People.

When the Pitt River People were taken away by force in many directions, some were taken to Alcatraz.

Truth will set us free. Truth must be understood, appreciated, and acknowledged.

The words above are broadly paraphrased from an article in "The Californians" by Darryl Babe Wilson who learned from Elder Craven Gibson.

Introduction to 1823 -1826 in California

I'm beginning to post a series of notes I've made while reading The Romero Expeditions 1823-1826 by Bean and Mason. This somewhat rare work was published for the Palm Springs Desert Museum by the Ward and Fitchie Press pf Los Angeles in 1962. Double quotations marks show my use of the authors words.


The wealth of the early Californios was in their cattle and horses. The Yuma 'rebellion' had closed California to large scale importation of livestock. Before the Yuma uprisings a few cattle and horses had bee brought up for the tiny military force mostly on the coast.

The opening of the Anza rout made 'the days of the Don's' possible. The rout made immigration and large scale importation of cattle possible. Cattle were used to pay to pay off military veterans. After 1781 there were large herds and abundant cattle in the California province.

By the end of Spanish rule in 1822 the total population of California, exclusive of Indians, was only about 3500. California, at that time, was more isolated from Europe the east coast of North America, and Mexico City than was Manila and had been accessible only by sea for forty years.

"As a result of the war of independence in Mexico, no money or supplies were sent to California after 1811 and a series of rebellions in Mexico from 1810 through 1821 prevented the Government for sending help to California. " From 1817 until 1821, .....Trade with Russian, Americans, Englishmen and others was practiced." It was during this period raw hides became know as California dollars.

Governors of California suggested that trade and colonization between California and New Mexico would benefit both provinces. Pedro Fages who governed between 1783 and 1791 and Diego do Borica who governed between 1791 and 1793 are examples. Their recommendations included mention of routs laid out by Fages, Anza, Rivera and others.

After 1815 Spain's control of trade with California was strongly challenged and even her sea rout from San Blas to California was threatened. From 1780 to 1820 Russia, the United States, and Great Britain firmly established trading posts all along the Pacific Coast of North America. Illegal prate-like attacks were mad on Spanish settlements. Raids by Bouchard and Cochraine are examples of such attacks.