Archeologists have determined that Wiyot people occupied Indian Island for at least 1,000 years — possibly much longer — including the village of Tuluwat, one of the several locations where the tribe held annual World Renewal ceremonies. During one of these ceremonies, the night of Feb. 26, 1860, Tuluwat was one of about a dozen […]
Barry Evans
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William Carson and his Mansion
“[The Carson Mansion] will stand as a monument to a life of unexampled energy and honest integrity. — Humboldt Gazette, April 25, 1887. It’s hard to find anyone who had a bad word to say about William Carson on record, other than his usual uncomplimentary label — “lumber baron” — and the fact that he […]
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A Day’s Drive to 10 Beautiful Places
My wife, Louisa Rogers, and I offer what has become a popular class through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), Cal Poly Humboldt’s continuing education program for learners aged 50 and better. It’s so popular that our recommendations for “destinations that lie easily within a day’s drive” have made it into print, right here. (Note: […]
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Hesiod: Farmer, Poet, Misogynist
“[Hesiod’s] personality behind the poems is unsuited to the kind of ‘aristocratic withdrawal’ typical of a rhapsode but is instead argumentative, suspicious, ironically humorous, frugal, fond of proverbs, wary of women.” — The Oxford History of the Classical World Misogyny — hatred of or contempt for women — goes back a long way, at least […]
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Dolos No. 1972 Finds a New Home
“Without the dolosse, we wouldn’t have an entrance bar. We wouldn’t have commercial fishing. We wouldn’t have sports fishing. We wouldn’t have ship traffic. We wouldn’t have any of that. That’s how important these [dolosse] are.” — Leroy Zerlang, Chair of the Humboldt Harbor Safety Committee I bet you played jacks as a kid. I […]
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The Rise and Fall of Klamath County
Living, as my wife and I do, in Old Town Eureka, we’re very aware we’re on the land of the Wiyot, whose territory once extended from Little River to the Bear River ridge south of the Eel. Tribal borders were strictly adhered to — especially if the neighboring tribe was unfriendly — but it took […]
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Island Universes, Part 2
Last week, we discussed how, in 1755, Emmanuel Kant predicted the existence of “island universes” — what we now call galaxies — located at vast distances from our home galaxy, the Milky Way. Continuing the story: The Third Earl of Rosse William Parsons combined his love of theory (he graduated from Oxford with first-class honors […]
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Island Universes, Part 1
“We thus observe, that with each successive increase of optical power, the structure has become more complicated and more unlike anything which we could picture to ourselves as the result of any form of dynamical law, of which we find a counterpart in our [Milky Way] system.” — William Parsons, Third Earl of Rosse, on […]
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Finding Humboldt Bay
The popular myth about Humboldt Bay, one that I’ve been guilty of promoting, says that Josiah Gregg “discovered” the bay in 1849 after a tortuous overland trek from near present-day Helena, resulting in the first ship, the Laura Virginia, entering it on April 14, 1850. (I discussed Gregg’s expedition in Josiah Gregg in California, April […]
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Midsummer Puzzle Answers
Here are the solutions to last week’s challenge. If you haven’t tried it yet, don’t peek — go to www.northcoastjournal.com to find the questions online. The Mistake It’s the extra “the.” Pedal to the Metal Infinitely fast. The car needs two minutes to drive two miles at 60 mph. But those two minutes have already […]
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Midsummer Puzzles
It’s that time of the solstice when days start to get shorter and Journal readers get to sharpen their brains with Ye Olde Puzzle Edition. Check back in next week’s issue for the answers. Let’s start with an easy one: The mistake Pedal to the metal A car goes 30 mph for 1 mile. How […]
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The Mystery of the Wiyot and Yurok Languages
Take a look at the accompanying map, which shows the extent of the so-called “Algic” superfamily of Indigenous languages. (Algic from Allegheny + Atlantic.) Most of these belong to the Algonquian family of about 30 languages, all descended from the Proto-Algonquian that was spoken about 3,000 years ago and whose speakers are now found from […]