Siskiyoumom
Veteran Member
Siskiyou Islands Chapter 8 and 9
After making coffee Bubba, Marta, Ghost and I sit down and have long conversation. Marta reported that the eastern part of Siskiyou county was reeling from the increase in after shocks and was in large part under the control of the National Guard and California Highway patrol. Arnold our esteemed governor was still in office and had declared a state of emergency.
According to the news reports our coastal area had endured the tsunami with a limited loss of life (estimated to be 75,000) from the San Fransico bay area up to the Oregon border. Oregon faired very well due to their long standing tsunami warning system in place since the early 80’s.
She also told us of the many miracles in Humboldt County. The local NEST (Neighborhood Emergency System) and Red Cross had been able to convince the local county government to implement the draft tsunami response system written in early January.
The result was a surprising amount of cooperation between state and federal agencies to warn citizens to get to higher ground. A lot of property damage had occurred and key infrastructure (sewer, power, phone/communication) systems were heavily damaged or outright destroyed.
The cooling ponds for the spent nuclear fuel at the old Humboldt Bay Power Plant did go critical. The emergency evacuation of the local school, the mall, the junior college and the down town area had reduced possibe loss of life ten fold over the most dire predictions.
She also said she had great news regarding the two classes from Orleans who where on the coast for field trips. Both classes shared the bus ride over to go to the Mad River Dunes, Patrick’s Point Park and Chapman’s Rock Shop in Fortuna. The teachers had decided to cut the trip short and were almost all the way to Willow Creek when the first big quake hit. Due to a land slide they were stuck in Willow Creek and decided to wait it out at Trinity Valley Elementary.
Due to it’s high elevation, Willow Creek sustained very little damage from the back wash of the tsunami as it traveled up the Klamath and the Trinity Rivers. The students and teachers were waiting it out until they could find a back way home to Orleans.
She also reported that FEMA was impressed with the search and rescue operation in Orleans. The local volunteer fire department had been able to warn a significant number of locals about the high water coming and moved many of the residents to higher ground. FEMA flew in tents and a medical crew to help provide shelter and medical care. The most seriously injured were flown to Yreka, the dead were being identified and buried in the old Karuk burial grounds.
Although the town was scoured out by the water, almost all of the survivors chose to decline the offer to be flown to the FEMA relocation camp in Happy Camp or Yreka.
The National Guard was in the process of securing Bailey Bridges for the four washed out bridges on Highway 96. She told us how the FEMA Coordinator was relieved that folks in Somes Bar, Orleans, Forks of Salmon, Sawyers Bar and Cecileville were choosing to stay put. The coordinator confided to Marta that FEMA could barely meet the bare minimum of help for those already in the camp at the Fairground. Our little hamlet were officially designated "isolated pockets of humanity" and were low on the list of priority assistance for the feds.
With Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen acting up FEMA planned to relocate as many people up into Oregon to the Rogue Valley Area. She also told Marta that FEMA was scrapping plans to relocated folks from the coast to Willow Creek and Hoopa Valley.
Hoopa (name of the area) was still underwater in most of the valley and the tribe had taken a stand of being sovereign in determining what emergency relief would be provided there. The tribe had long standing relationships with other tribal nations around the country and relief supplies and aid was being flown in from tribal nations through out the west.
Hupa (the name of the tribe) Tribe had in the past decade participated in mutual relief operations assisting in Wildland fire operations and disaster relief projects and were now reaping reciprocal assistance.
The Hupa were providing assistance to both the downriver Yurok tribe and the upriver Karuk people all the way up the Klamath to Happy Camp.
Marta also spoke at length of the sheriff officially recognizing the Jefferson State Militia. Up to this point the militia had been a very loosely organized group of men and women who wanted less government and more say in local politics. Now they were being given “official” training and recognition. The county supervisors implemented price controls of all commodities and arranged for the transfer of all the county jail prisoners south to Oroville’s newly enlarged county jail. The Siskiyou county jail had suffered major water and quake damage and the supervisors felt it was in the best interest of the county prisoners to be moved to a more safe and humane facility.
Marta also reported that there was a large number of unsolved murders in the Happy Camp area. Seems that all of the men and women on the “Megan’s Law” website had suddenly died under suspicious circumstances. Megan’s Law was passed to post the identities and addresses of paroled sex offenders. For far too long rural counties in California had become the dumping ground for parolees.
As Marta continued talking Ghost and I made dinner. We pulled out an elk roast out of the freezer, put it in our pressure cooker with onions, garlic, celery, red peppers, carrots and a can of chicken broth. With in a hour dinner was made and eaten with much enthusiasm.
We shared with Marta the story of the Burly Man and shared a bottle of home brew our neighbor Eric had given us. After dinner Bubba and Marta headed home and we finally went to bed.
The next day we did our morning chores and then drove to Mike’s place on Look Out to try and get a message to Jennie, the Burly Man’s lady. Mike was able to connect with the Forest Service Office in Happy Camp. We passed on the message along with an invitation for the family to come down for a visit once Burly got back to Happy Camp.
On our way back home we noticed an increase in tire tracks on the forest service road. We stopped at the homes we had agreed to check on and found a lot more of our neighbors had made it home.
At Drake and Mandy’s we found that both had made it back safely. Mandy had been pretty much stuck in Yreka by FEMA and road blocks. Luckily by the time Drake had made it to Yreka, he too had been diverted to the fairgrounds. He located Mandy and with his forest service credentials and being on the local fire department roster, they were cleared to travel back to their home.
Mandy reported that most folks at the camp were getting antsy to leave. Those locals who were able to prove that they could sustain themselves (after giving up half of their provisions to the FEMA escort which accompanied them to their homes) were able to go home.
The Interstate 5 travelers who could show valid identity cards were allowed to go on their way. Those with out valid identification were being bussed to a camp in Chico. Folks who chose to stay in the camp were mostly the very poor whose homes were uninhabitable or who had no food or money to get it. The county was trying to assist them in locating relatives out of the area to bus them to.
A large amount of residents were choosing to stay put and organize their own relief. Often there were conflicts in just who had jurisdiction and who did not. The National Guard and FEMA did not like the Jefferson Militia deputized but could not prevent it.
As the major highways opened up to interstate travel the local Wal Mart and Ray’s food market were fully stocked and running. Fuel was delivered to the local gas distributor and the National Guard provided a Field Hospital to alleviate the loss of most of the Yreka Hospital.
The four retirement/elder care facilities were evacuated to Redding.
God only knows why they were moved with in the possible destruction zone south east of Mt. Shasta.
The reservoirs of the north state were being drained due to the earthquake damage and as a result there was significant flooding in the upper Sacramento valley.
Beal Air Force base had been closed for some time. Now it was re-opened to relocated the Air Force and Army out of the greater Sacramento area.
White Power radicals in Butte, Yolo, Tehama and Shasta counties had been having a hey day attacking immigrants, African Americans, Native Americans and Asians. The Jewish temple in Redding had been burned to the ground and the rabbi and his family brutalized and left for dead. Their neighbor finally came out and with the power of his shot gun sent the perps to an early demise. He was arrested and then let go the next day. Turns out a rotten LEO was one of the perps. If the neighbors wife had not gotten some of the attack on video, the neighbor would of faced murder charges.
The concept of militia caught fire and over the last two weeks more and more counties were offering training and deputizing both men and women. Patrols were being established and neighbors sought out neighbors to assist in mutual protection and provisions.
After the Sacramento Bee got a hold of the story of how FEMA was taking half of any vital supplies from families choosing home over camp talk radio went nuts. FEMA continued the practice, but many citizens got smart and learned how to share less by declaring less.
FEMA specifically asked residents about arms, ammo, shelters, stored preparedness food and fuel. Local businesses were asked to hand over the sales records for major purchases of fuel, arms and ammo, hunting and fishing license records, preparedness supplies and food. It was amazing Mandy said that all the records were lost due to the power outages and flooding.
The local funeral parlor was doing a hefty business due to the loss of life due to lack of power to the frail and elderly who were dependent on life sustaining medical equipment, the loss of power to the hospital resulted in many deaths as well. Factor in the murders, car wrecks and vendettas getting paid, Mr. Jones and Son’s was busier than in his entire career.
The mentally ill in Yreka were roaming the streets and it was decided to round them up and send them south or north, to what ever agency would take them in.
Mandy and Drake split up our list of neighbors to check on and after lunch we went on our way to our next to nearest neighbors place. All was well there and we hope to see them home soon.
We decided to start locking the gates again and after the long drive in we found a strange SUV parked in front of the cabin. We stopped the truck and pulled out our shotguns. As we approached the house we heard the sound of children laughing and playing. As we walked down to the garden we saw the green house door open and saw through the glass strangers weeding the plant starts. Who were these people?
As we made our way around the green house As we made our way around the green house I saw two young boys and beautiful woman in her mid forties diligently weeding my long neglected plant starts.
Marshall covered me as I neared the door and said, “Hello in the green house, please put your hands in front of you and sit on the dirt.” The boys looked up and smiled and promptly sat down. I thought that was odd since I had a shotgun pointed at them. The woman slowly turned, I could see the handgun belted to her bulging belly and she to sat down quickly with a huge smile on her face.
She said, “Hello Sis, I am Jennie and these are Burly’s and my sons, Lincoln and Edison. My side arm is loaded, and if you wish I will take it off and hand it to you.”
I was startled once again. How did she get here and know who I was?
I replied, “Jennie, nice to meet you. No, it is ok. Please get up.”
Both she and the boys got up and rushed me, giving me huge hugs and almost knocked me over.
I yelled out to Ghost, “It is ok, it is our Squirrel friends.”
Ghost shook his head and joined us in the greenhouse.
Ghost and I introduced ourselves properly and asked Jennie how they got to our place.
She relayed the following story. Seems that two days before she started having dreams about Burly being in trouble. She told us that a beautiful red headed lady visited her and the boys the day before. The lady had said that there had been an accident and that Burly was hurt and that Sis had helped him. And that Burly was going to be ok. And that she should head to Sis’s home near Somes Bar. The lady had a very strong scent of roses and had the calmest reassuring presence. When Jennie started to ask her a question, all of a sudden the lady had virtually disappeared in thin air. Then she got a knock on the door and a forest service employee had the message from us.
She was able to convince the forest service employee to let her use the phone at the forest service office to call the hospital where Burly had been transferred. He had gone through emergency surgery to repair as much of the damage to his hand as possible. He was supposed to be in the hospital for two more weeks but was putting up a fuss to come home. He had connected with the Life Flight Crew and could get a ride out of Redding back to our area on the next med flight out. He was biding his time, ready to get out of Dodge, and planned to check himself out even if the hospital did not recommend it.
He told her how to get our place the back assward route in. She loaded up her SUV to the gills, got out her GPS system and early this morning found her way to our hide away.
She asked if she could set up her yurt and stay with us until Burly made it home. As her son’s continued to play we sat down for a long, long talk.
Ghost asked her about the redheaded lady. She said that the woman just appeared on her front porch and knocked on the door. Ghost relayed that Burly also saw her in our house while we worked on Burly.
Jennie replied, “Well, must have been an angel. I do believe in the Blood of Jesus Christ. The whole while we were praying about moving north I would plead the Blood of Jesus over our family and all the people at Frugal’s site. When we moved up Burly and I talked about having a face to face with you all. It was rough moving away from our family down south. But we knew we had to get out of LA. I prayed constantly as Burly would leave for work. The look out tower job was the first time we had been apart in a long while. Burly and I went over our preps and as the quakes started happening and the river rose I thought we’d be in harms way. Our rental is up on Indian Creek. The floodwaters came with in two feet of the porch stairs. We have most of our stuff in a storage unit in Yreka. With the travel restrictions I could not get to our stuff. So the boys and I were just biding our time. “
I asked her, “Jennie, it may take time to get Burly back. Are you sure you want to stay here?”
She said, “ Yes I am sure. Your place looks like you could use a strong back and pair of hands to help out. I can pull our weight and I promise the boys will not be a bother. I took the liberty to off load my trailer with our yurt and other gear a couple miles up the forest service road. I promise that I am not a druggie and that the boys will be of help not a hindrance.”
Ghost asked her to wait in the greenhouse while he and I went up to the cabin to talk it over. Before we had made it through the middle field he stopped and took my hands in his, and said, “OK, you have an awesome God. In my gut I know this is right. Are you ok with sharing our place with Jennie and the boys?”
I replied, “It is a done deal.”
As we made our way back down to the garden we saw that Jennie and the boys had started stickering the lumber Ghost had not gotten around to in our busy last few days.
We walked up and Jennie said, “Are we in?”
Ghost said with tears in eyes, “Yep.”
Jennie said, “Would you help me go and get the trailer?”
Ghost said, “Sure, do the boys need to come?”
She said, “No, they can help Sis do chores, boys get to work, the animals need feeding and watering, and then bring in some fire wood.”
She gave me wink, and then she and Ghost got in her rig and headed out.
For the next two hours the boys did the chores and then came in and started asking endless questions, “How’d you get such white hair Sis? Do you have brothers or sisters? Do you love Jesus? Did papa cry when you helped him? Did ya see the pretty lady too? How much does it snow here? Where are your kids? Why is Ghost called Ghost? He does not look dead?”
Well, I replied, “My gray hair is from stress and wisdom. I have 6 brothers and 1 sister. Yes I love Jesus. No, your Papa did not cry even though he was hurt real bad. No, I did not see the lady. It usually snows a little, but this year we had lots of snow until the rains came a few days ago. My daughter is up north in Portland Oregon and my son is with Jesus. Ghost is called Ghost because, I'll let him tell you that story.”
By the time Jennie and Ghost got back it was getting dark. We ate left over elk stew and set the family up in the recently added back room of the cabin. Thankfully we had moved the bed over from the trailer weeks ago. Jennie skillfully built up a fire in the wood stove and we said goodnight.
As Ghost and I settled into bed we heard Lincoln and Edison saying their prayers. Ghost whispered to me, “How could she get the message from the forest service, when we made the call this morning, not yesterday morning?” I replied, “Another angel?” Then in loud voices the boys yelled out, “Good night Ghost and Sis.” We called back, “Goodnight Jennie, Lincoln, and Edison.” Man oh man; it sounded like a closing scene from the Walton’s, a TV show from the 70’s
Siskiyou Islands Chapters 10
The sounds of giggling little boys and bacon frying woke me. I reached over for Ghost and he was not there. I opened my eyes and silently began to praise God for a beautiful day with out rain falling outside. I stretched and realized their was distinct feeling of joy feeling my heart. In light of the horrific past week, I knew down to my marrow that God’s hand was over my home.
I got up and dressed and I made my way down the stairs from the loft. Sunlight was streaming into the windows and Jennie was in the kitchen making breakfast.
I went to the bathroom, again silently thanking God for Marshall having put in the septic system last Februrary. It was his 23 anniversary present. As a very frugal Pole he always bought “practical” gifts.
Then I suddenly realized that the glass bathroom door needed a curtain. Until now we had not needed one, since we lived alone here in the beautiful Marble Mountains of Siskiyou county. I decided instead to take a hike down to the old outhouse for a bit of privacy.
After I came back Jennie inquired how I had slept. I told her great. We served up the breakfast plates and went out to the deck and called Ghost up from the garden for breakfast.
After he arrived we sat down and the five of us dug in after Edison, the 7 year old prayed grace for us. He said,” Dear God, you are the awesomeist dude in the whole wide universe including Pluto. I ask that you bless this food and that you take care of Papa and get him on home soon. Amen and Amen.”
Ghost then asked if they had ever sung grace before? The boys said Nope.
So Ghost in his beautiful bass voice sang, “ Oh the Lords is good to me, and how I thank the Lord ,for the sun and the rain and the apple seed. The Lord is good to me, Ahhhwomen!” He always added that little twist to get folks knickers in a twist.
Lincoln then asked Ghost, “Hey Ghost, Sis would not tell us how you got your name. Please tell us.”
So Ghost proceeded to give an abbreviated version of how he got his nickname.
He began, “ Well long, long ago I lived in a beautiful canyon near LA called Box Canyon. I was a very poor hippie dude with a young wife and baby. I was seeking God and followed many gurus and teachers. Over time I got connected with a Vietnam vet who taught me the leather craft trade. I was working at the time at a boot factory and wanted to get out of the rat race. My first wife was Cynthia and she agreed. So this friend of mine taught me how to hand craft leather hats and belts and purses. I started marketing my wares up and down the southern California coast. Going to craft fairs and such. Well I had to have a name for my business. I had always respected the old native American ways. I had read about a movement of the tribes to bring back balance to the earth. They started a ritual called Ghost Dance. I was so moved by what I had read, I decided to call my business Ghost Dance Leather. Over time I had followed a guru from India. Then I followed a Sufi teacher for awhile. That is where I met Sis. We used to Sufi Dance together. Well over the years I got into construction. And I have to say that I have been in way too many accidents on the job. First at Prudho Bay in Alaska, then on a bridge job near Garberville. I have had many close encounters with death. Most of my coworkers thought I had been seriously injured or should of died. Well, they started calling me Ghost, since I was still alive. And of course I would tell them about my life before and my leather business. But I have to say that I now believe that my life was saved by a different Ghost. The Holy Ghost.”
Lincoln replied, “Oh, and I thought you were called Ghost cause you are so old and have white hair!”
We all laughed and cleared the table.
Jennie and Ghost figured the best spot for the yurt. In no time they had constructed a platform for the 20 foot diameter structure. Ghost ran an extension cord to the yurt. Jennie also had brought a collapsible shepherd wood stove. Her trailer was chock full of plastic storage containers. The boys and I helped Jennie and Ghost put up the yurt. It was like a little jigsaw puzzle. We had it up by noon. We broke for lunch. Jennie brought into the house a stainless steel bowl of dough. She said she was in the process of baking bread when the strange lady appeared. So she brought it with her.
I rolled it out and made pizza, using home canned tomato sauce put by last summer. We added garlic and slice pepperoni and lots of cheese.
Ghost went out to the oaks behind the house and harvested some mushrooms to top the pizza.
After lunch the boys went down for a nap and Jennie, Ghost and I sat by the fire and had a long talk on what Jennie could expect staying with us.
Siskiyou Islands Chapter 11
Authors Note:
Junior High teacher Mrs. Hansen aka Sis and her husband Marshall aka Ghost Dancer are surviviors of a series of earthquakes in northern California. They are now host to a small family who have joined them after their father/husband suffered a terrible injury.
The morning dawned clear and a bit chilly. The smell of bacon frying, and kids playing was pleasant to the ear.
It had been a long many years since Ghost and I had the blessing of young boys in our midst. As we snuggled in the early morning hours we just smiled. We got up and dressed. I am so glad that Ghost consented to putting in a sink in our loft bedroom. We brushed our teeth, washed up, and combed our hair. Then we went downstairs to the rich smell of fresh ground coffee and breakfast.
Jennie had made a great feast for us, using up the last of our fresh eggs and the bacon in the fridge. We sat down to breakfast and the tender grace said by Edison.
“Dear Papa God, thank you for Sis and Ghost, thank you for the food and please remember our Daddy as he gets well and make his way home.”
Jennie, Ghost and I discussed our plans for the day. I hoped to head down river to Orleans to check on how the relief efforts were going. When I was teaching full time, I had to take a break from Red Cross and the community response team I had joined. I wanted to see what was up, find out what the school scene was, and if any kind of official edicts were in place.
Jennie wanted to work on the garden. She had a wealth of experience farming and low and behold she knew a heck of a lot about alternative energy systems.
She and Ghost continued their conversation on what was needed to improve our hydroelectric system.
As I drove out of our piece of heaven in the mountains they were busy discussing improvements to our place.
I re-locked the gates behind me. I stopped by to visit our neighbors to see if they needed anything from Somes Bar or Orleans. With my list in hand I made my way down our long forest service access road.
For the first time I was carrying. The shotgun was handy as well as my bear spray and a competition 357 Ghost had given me a few years before.
There was no traffic on our road. When I got to the highway, as usual there was no traffic. I had put my mountain bike on its rack on the back of my rig, anticipating that I would have to resort to it, if the roads were blocked by slides.
Amazingly the National Guard had already put in place the promised Bailey Bridges. I was able to make it to Somes Bar in the usual 20 minutes. I stopped by the store to check the mail and the news.
The shop owner greeted me with a hug and fresh mug of coffee. He filled me on the latest news.
Mail was still being delivered once a week. Instead of coming from the coast, it came down river from Happy Camp.
He had a list posted of the deaths in our area. He also had a contact list for those who were still trying to reach local relatives.
A new addition to his place was above ground gas tanks. One for diesel, and one for regular gas.
He also had new section in his store on preparedness items such as radiation detectors, O2 absorbers, gas masks and filters and an array of books I had never thought I would see available locally.
He told me that he’d like a report when I made my way back that evening.
I gathered up our mail, got block ice, and scooped up the four dozen fresh eggs he had in the fridge.
I drove down to Orleans expecting the worse. As I neared town there was a roadblock. The local community response team had simple barricades across the highway. I recognized Tim, the local postmaster manning the station. As I rolled to a stop he asked, “Wow, Sis, we thought you were swept away.”
I told him the shortened story of how my students and I attempted to escape the backwash of the tsunami.
He told me, “Well, all of your students made it out safe and alive. They are definitely mountain kids. Most of the kids got swept away by the current and ended up way up or down river. Thank God they made it out ok. The loss of life in Orleans was limited to only 15 folks out of a population of 250.”
The volunteer fire department was successful in alerting most of the community of the high water coming and most folks took in those who had to evacuate the low lands of the river valley.
The VFD also took control over the relief efforts and due to the overwhelming response in the community; most folks did not have to go to the temporary shelter that the FEMA folks had set up.
The waters of the river washed out a lot of homes right next to the river, but already rebuilding had begun.
There were new gas tanks at the station, the Forest Service was up and running, and yes there was a meeting in two days to set up the school.
Tim waved me through and said, “I am glad to see that you are carrying. We have had a little bit of trouble of refugees trying to move on in. Keep an eye out and shoot first.”
As I drove down into the valley I was shocked by the transformation of the town. More than a few of the buildings were totally gone. The Orleans Market was closed, but outside a huge tent was set up with wares for sale. Now that the water levels had gone down I realized that most of the town survived.
As I drove into the school’s parking lot it was full of cars. The buildings were now washed clean of most of their contents. But there were delivery trucks bringing supplies for the small shelter in the cafeteria.
I walked into the school office and Sarah our secretary who burst into tears when she saw me.
She did not know that Thomas and I had made it out alive.
She said that the VFD came and rushed her and the cook out the door as the waters came.
She had a list of my students who had made it across the schoolyard to the boat one of the students had in his yard at the Indian housing unit behind the school grounds.
She said that indeed, each and every one of my students had survived. Most were still in town, and incredibly they wanted to come back to school as soon as possible.
The two lower grade classes had made it home the night before.
Only one set of parents had not made it home yet. The children of that family were taken in by their extended families.
She had not yet heard from the district office or the principal.
The Site council had met and determined that we should start school up the following Monday morning.
The roads up and down river were open and clear of slides. She had sent a note down river via a local resident to pass onto our students who lived below Weitchpec.
Hopefully they would find a way to school on Monday.
As I made my way to my classroom I expected the worse. There was about a foot of silt on the floor.
The mold had started to grow and all the material on the walls and the books were water soaked.
I went to the janitors closet and got a bunch of bags and then I found a shovel. I set to work cleaning out my classroom. As I opened my storage closet a gush of water greeted me. I was amazed that so much of my teaching stuff had stayed put in the classroom!
I gathered up the books in my class and set them out into the sun to dry.
I shoveled out the silt.
I washed and cleaned the whole day.
I left the door open when I left that late afternoon.
As I drove up river I prayed over my students.
I prayed for those who had lost family and friends.
I made a list of my squirreled away teaching supplies at Eyesee Two Creeks. My obsession with not throwing away teaching materials will benefit my class. I had stored away paper, extra copies of books from my class library, spare copies of textbooks, and art supplies. All of these supplies will help me next week when my class comes back together.
I made it to the Somes Bar store right at dusk. The shop owner was glad to have my brief report on the happenings in Orleans. I filled my gas tank, bought two jerry cans and filled them as well. I purchased the items on my list for my neighbors, got their mail, drove up river towards home.
After making my deliveries I wearily drove down our road. I carefully locked each gate after I went through them. As I pulled into my parking spot by the house, I was was overcome with thankfulness to the Lord my God.
The warm lights of the cabin greeted me. I smelled the sweet smoke of the oak wood fire as I neared the door. My cat Spot greeted me and sneaked in as I went through the door.
I smelled garlic and onions from something cooking on the stove, the cabin was warm and so soothing to enter.
I heard the sound of laughter coming from the back room. As I made my way through the cabin I noticed how tidy it was. When I entered the back room I saw Marshall and Jennie wrestling with the boys on the floor.
A new feeling of hope and dread filled me. The SHTF, and we were alive. But what did the future hold for us? It had been over two weeks since I had been able to contact my Frugal buddies. What was really going on in California? The USA? The world? What is real and what is not? All I could do was go in, join in the wrestling, eat, sleep and start the day again.
I am so grateful to be home. No matter what the future holds I have my man, new friends and old. I have a community in which to be a part of.
No matter what the feds or state officials decide to do. We, the people of the Siskiyou Mountains and Islands, will survive. We will survive because we are strong, wise, and willing to do what is needed to make it.
Chapter 12
What a long hot summer it has been.
After doing the cleanup at the school we heldclasses until the end of June under our own local control. Heard not a peep from the main office of the school district in Hoopa. Seems that the superintendent flew the coop and
went south to Mexico with his family. The school board was unable to hold a quorum and we could not get any help from the county office of education.
So we held school and graduated our eighth grade class of four students. We did not go on our planned eighth grade trip to San Francisco. Instead the class donated their funds towards the efforts to clean out the school from the flood waters.
In late June an eightenwheeler pulled up and delivered a container full of school supplies donated from the Save the Children Foundation. In May we had sent off a check for $3,ooo for the tsunami relief effort in Sumatra and the school that got those funds reciprocated when they heard of our disaster.
State government was as usual not functioning, so the staff, students and families decided to hold off on starting the next school year until January 2006That would get us through the summer and seasons of gardening, fishing, hunting, and hopefully find us in a better state of affairs.
Parents and guardians of our students were very supportive. We distributed the salvaged school supplies among the families as we knew that in the fall flooding could occur again.
The town folks instituted an ad hoc security detail. In mid July, believe or not, out of state basket weavers showed up for the annual Indigenous Basket Weavers Camp.
Imagine our surprise when a convoy of ten vehicles showed up with the most respected weavers of the state of California and their families.
In the early spring the class had gone on a field trip to gather basket making sticks. Wespent the day gathering and stripping willow sticks. I was so glad we had gone to that effort.
The weavers stayed for two weeks. The gathering was free, all you had to bring was food, a tent, and desire to either learn or teach .
(Note: This is a real life event, do a Google California Native Basket Weavers or on Indigenous Basket Weavers Associations to connect with your local tribal association). For that summer, the gathering was the only truly “normal” community gathering.
The local tribal folks decided that of all years, this was the one that needed to have the yearly “World Renewal Dance” at the sacred dance grounds. The local Assembly of God Pastor decided that she to needed to have the yearly revival. So not matter which way you believed, the spirits were moving on the Klamath River.
The only down side was the crew of bikers who tried to make their run up to Happy Camp on July 4th weekend. The Californian Highway Patrol banned them at road blocks set up in Happy Camp and Willow Creek. All in all it was a quiet summer of 05. If you did not take into account the volcanic activity in Yellowstone and Shasta and the continued efforts of the earth to split apart near Sumatra.
As families returned to their homes in the area now known as the Siskiyou Islands of California where they rebuilt, planted, hunted, and established a militia to support the freedom of the people in their neck of the woods. They also keenly observed who went where. It quickly became known to the shady elements of the region to not mess with those crazy folks in the hills.
Sis and Ghost Dancer reaped the rewards of having two young house guests staying with them. The boys had proved to be admirable hunters and fishermen. Bubba had taken them out almost daily on his jaunts on the mighty Klamath River.
They waited eagerly for the return of their father the Burlyman. In mid August their mother gave birth to a strapping nine pound baby girl. The boys wanted to name her Gerta, because they heard their Mom yell out during labor, get her out of me!!
They settled on Sara Maria Hollyhock. The hollyhocks were in bloom and she was a bit blue purple at birth, so they liked the name. We had not heard from the Burlyman since early in the summer. He was still in the hospital and had to go through one more reconstructive surgery for his mangled stump of an arm.
Ghost had finished up the root cellar and contracted with a local guy to move two big containers to the property for a proper “earth quake shelter”.
Due to the devastation on the coast the clan of the Ghost Dancer made their way up to Medford to try and do as much shopping as they could in late August.
On their list:
cloth diapers
clothes for the boys
ammo
fuel stabilizer
chain saw chain, oil, sharpening tools
medical supplies
over the counter meds
food
clothes for the baby
tires for the rigs
chickens
Due to the road blocks it took them over 9 hours to go the distance that normally took 5 hours. They did not stay the night, but headed back south after the shopping was complete. Gas in Medford was only $4.99 a gallon at the COSTCO in Medford. In Happy Camp it was at $8.99. While in Medford the group decided to hit the vaccinationclinic at the local mall. The boys and baby got their regularly scheduled shots and the adults got boosters for tetnus and Hepatitis B. They passed on the flu shots. 9 months
later they were glad they had passed on the flu shots.....
After making coffee Bubba, Marta, Ghost and I sit down and have long conversation. Marta reported that the eastern part of Siskiyou county was reeling from the increase in after shocks and was in large part under the control of the National Guard and California Highway patrol. Arnold our esteemed governor was still in office and had declared a state of emergency.
According to the news reports our coastal area had endured the tsunami with a limited loss of life (estimated to be 75,000) from the San Fransico bay area up to the Oregon border. Oregon faired very well due to their long standing tsunami warning system in place since the early 80’s.
She also told us of the many miracles in Humboldt County. The local NEST (Neighborhood Emergency System) and Red Cross had been able to convince the local county government to implement the draft tsunami response system written in early January.
The result was a surprising amount of cooperation between state and federal agencies to warn citizens to get to higher ground. A lot of property damage had occurred and key infrastructure (sewer, power, phone/communication) systems were heavily damaged or outright destroyed.
The cooling ponds for the spent nuclear fuel at the old Humboldt Bay Power Plant did go critical. The emergency evacuation of the local school, the mall, the junior college and the down town area had reduced possibe loss of life ten fold over the most dire predictions.
She also said she had great news regarding the two classes from Orleans who where on the coast for field trips. Both classes shared the bus ride over to go to the Mad River Dunes, Patrick’s Point Park and Chapman’s Rock Shop in Fortuna. The teachers had decided to cut the trip short and were almost all the way to Willow Creek when the first big quake hit. Due to a land slide they were stuck in Willow Creek and decided to wait it out at Trinity Valley Elementary.
Due to it’s high elevation, Willow Creek sustained very little damage from the back wash of the tsunami as it traveled up the Klamath and the Trinity Rivers. The students and teachers were waiting it out until they could find a back way home to Orleans.
She also reported that FEMA was impressed with the search and rescue operation in Orleans. The local volunteer fire department had been able to warn a significant number of locals about the high water coming and moved many of the residents to higher ground. FEMA flew in tents and a medical crew to help provide shelter and medical care. The most seriously injured were flown to Yreka, the dead were being identified and buried in the old Karuk burial grounds.
Although the town was scoured out by the water, almost all of the survivors chose to decline the offer to be flown to the FEMA relocation camp in Happy Camp or Yreka.
The National Guard was in the process of securing Bailey Bridges for the four washed out bridges on Highway 96. She told us how the FEMA Coordinator was relieved that folks in Somes Bar, Orleans, Forks of Salmon, Sawyers Bar and Cecileville were choosing to stay put. The coordinator confided to Marta that FEMA could barely meet the bare minimum of help for those already in the camp at the Fairground. Our little hamlet were officially designated "isolated pockets of humanity" and were low on the list of priority assistance for the feds.
With Mt. Shasta and Mt. Lassen acting up FEMA planned to relocate as many people up into Oregon to the Rogue Valley Area. She also told Marta that FEMA was scrapping plans to relocated folks from the coast to Willow Creek and Hoopa Valley.
Hoopa (name of the area) was still underwater in most of the valley and the tribe had taken a stand of being sovereign in determining what emergency relief would be provided there. The tribe had long standing relationships with other tribal nations around the country and relief supplies and aid was being flown in from tribal nations through out the west.
Hupa (the name of the tribe) Tribe had in the past decade participated in mutual relief operations assisting in Wildland fire operations and disaster relief projects and were now reaping reciprocal assistance.
The Hupa were providing assistance to both the downriver Yurok tribe and the upriver Karuk people all the way up the Klamath to Happy Camp.
Marta also spoke at length of the sheriff officially recognizing the Jefferson State Militia. Up to this point the militia had been a very loosely organized group of men and women who wanted less government and more say in local politics. Now they were being given “official” training and recognition. The county supervisors implemented price controls of all commodities and arranged for the transfer of all the county jail prisoners south to Oroville’s newly enlarged county jail. The Siskiyou county jail had suffered major water and quake damage and the supervisors felt it was in the best interest of the county prisoners to be moved to a more safe and humane facility.
Marta also reported that there was a large number of unsolved murders in the Happy Camp area. Seems that all of the men and women on the “Megan’s Law” website had suddenly died under suspicious circumstances. Megan’s Law was passed to post the identities and addresses of paroled sex offenders. For far too long rural counties in California had become the dumping ground for parolees.
As Marta continued talking Ghost and I made dinner. We pulled out an elk roast out of the freezer, put it in our pressure cooker with onions, garlic, celery, red peppers, carrots and a can of chicken broth. With in a hour dinner was made and eaten with much enthusiasm.
We shared with Marta the story of the Burly Man and shared a bottle of home brew our neighbor Eric had given us. After dinner Bubba and Marta headed home and we finally went to bed.
The next day we did our morning chores and then drove to Mike’s place on Look Out to try and get a message to Jennie, the Burly Man’s lady. Mike was able to connect with the Forest Service Office in Happy Camp. We passed on the message along with an invitation for the family to come down for a visit once Burly got back to Happy Camp.
On our way back home we noticed an increase in tire tracks on the forest service road. We stopped at the homes we had agreed to check on and found a lot more of our neighbors had made it home.
At Drake and Mandy’s we found that both had made it back safely. Mandy had been pretty much stuck in Yreka by FEMA and road blocks. Luckily by the time Drake had made it to Yreka, he too had been diverted to the fairgrounds. He located Mandy and with his forest service credentials and being on the local fire department roster, they were cleared to travel back to their home.
Mandy reported that most folks at the camp were getting antsy to leave. Those locals who were able to prove that they could sustain themselves (after giving up half of their provisions to the FEMA escort which accompanied them to their homes) were able to go home.
The Interstate 5 travelers who could show valid identity cards were allowed to go on their way. Those with out valid identification were being bussed to a camp in Chico. Folks who chose to stay in the camp were mostly the very poor whose homes were uninhabitable or who had no food or money to get it. The county was trying to assist them in locating relatives out of the area to bus them to.
A large amount of residents were choosing to stay put and organize their own relief. Often there were conflicts in just who had jurisdiction and who did not. The National Guard and FEMA did not like the Jefferson Militia deputized but could not prevent it.
As the major highways opened up to interstate travel the local Wal Mart and Ray’s food market were fully stocked and running. Fuel was delivered to the local gas distributor and the National Guard provided a Field Hospital to alleviate the loss of most of the Yreka Hospital.
The four retirement/elder care facilities were evacuated to Redding.
God only knows why they were moved with in the possible destruction zone south east of Mt. Shasta.
The reservoirs of the north state were being drained due to the earthquake damage and as a result there was significant flooding in the upper Sacramento valley.
Beal Air Force base had been closed for some time. Now it was re-opened to relocated the Air Force and Army out of the greater Sacramento area.
White Power radicals in Butte, Yolo, Tehama and Shasta counties had been having a hey day attacking immigrants, African Americans, Native Americans and Asians. The Jewish temple in Redding had been burned to the ground and the rabbi and his family brutalized and left for dead. Their neighbor finally came out and with the power of his shot gun sent the perps to an early demise. He was arrested and then let go the next day. Turns out a rotten LEO was one of the perps. If the neighbors wife had not gotten some of the attack on video, the neighbor would of faced murder charges.
The concept of militia caught fire and over the last two weeks more and more counties were offering training and deputizing both men and women. Patrols were being established and neighbors sought out neighbors to assist in mutual protection and provisions.
After the Sacramento Bee got a hold of the story of how FEMA was taking half of any vital supplies from families choosing home over camp talk radio went nuts. FEMA continued the practice, but many citizens got smart and learned how to share less by declaring less.
FEMA specifically asked residents about arms, ammo, shelters, stored preparedness food and fuel. Local businesses were asked to hand over the sales records for major purchases of fuel, arms and ammo, hunting and fishing license records, preparedness supplies and food. It was amazing Mandy said that all the records were lost due to the power outages and flooding.
The local funeral parlor was doing a hefty business due to the loss of life due to lack of power to the frail and elderly who were dependent on life sustaining medical equipment, the loss of power to the hospital resulted in many deaths as well. Factor in the murders, car wrecks and vendettas getting paid, Mr. Jones and Son’s was busier than in his entire career.
The mentally ill in Yreka were roaming the streets and it was decided to round them up and send them south or north, to what ever agency would take them in.
Mandy and Drake split up our list of neighbors to check on and after lunch we went on our way to our next to nearest neighbors place. All was well there and we hope to see them home soon.
We decided to start locking the gates again and after the long drive in we found a strange SUV parked in front of the cabin. We stopped the truck and pulled out our shotguns. As we approached the house we heard the sound of children laughing and playing. As we walked down to the garden we saw the green house door open and saw through the glass strangers weeding the plant starts. Who were these people?
As we made our way around the green house As we made our way around the green house I saw two young boys and beautiful woman in her mid forties diligently weeding my long neglected plant starts.
Marshall covered me as I neared the door and said, “Hello in the green house, please put your hands in front of you and sit on the dirt.” The boys looked up and smiled and promptly sat down. I thought that was odd since I had a shotgun pointed at them. The woman slowly turned, I could see the handgun belted to her bulging belly and she to sat down quickly with a huge smile on her face.
She said, “Hello Sis, I am Jennie and these are Burly’s and my sons, Lincoln and Edison. My side arm is loaded, and if you wish I will take it off and hand it to you.”
I was startled once again. How did she get here and know who I was?
I replied, “Jennie, nice to meet you. No, it is ok. Please get up.”
Both she and the boys got up and rushed me, giving me huge hugs and almost knocked me over.
I yelled out to Ghost, “It is ok, it is our Squirrel friends.”
Ghost shook his head and joined us in the greenhouse.
Ghost and I introduced ourselves properly and asked Jennie how they got to our place.
She relayed the following story. Seems that two days before she started having dreams about Burly being in trouble. She told us that a beautiful red headed lady visited her and the boys the day before. The lady had said that there had been an accident and that Burly was hurt and that Sis had helped him. And that Burly was going to be ok. And that she should head to Sis’s home near Somes Bar. The lady had a very strong scent of roses and had the calmest reassuring presence. When Jennie started to ask her a question, all of a sudden the lady had virtually disappeared in thin air. Then she got a knock on the door and a forest service employee had the message from us.
She was able to convince the forest service employee to let her use the phone at the forest service office to call the hospital where Burly had been transferred. He had gone through emergency surgery to repair as much of the damage to his hand as possible. He was supposed to be in the hospital for two more weeks but was putting up a fuss to come home. He had connected with the Life Flight Crew and could get a ride out of Redding back to our area on the next med flight out. He was biding his time, ready to get out of Dodge, and planned to check himself out even if the hospital did not recommend it.
He told her how to get our place the back assward route in. She loaded up her SUV to the gills, got out her GPS system and early this morning found her way to our hide away.
She asked if she could set up her yurt and stay with us until Burly made it home. As her son’s continued to play we sat down for a long, long talk.
Ghost asked her about the redheaded lady. She said that the woman just appeared on her front porch and knocked on the door. Ghost relayed that Burly also saw her in our house while we worked on Burly.
Jennie replied, “Well, must have been an angel. I do believe in the Blood of Jesus Christ. The whole while we were praying about moving north I would plead the Blood of Jesus over our family and all the people at Frugal’s site. When we moved up Burly and I talked about having a face to face with you all. It was rough moving away from our family down south. But we knew we had to get out of LA. I prayed constantly as Burly would leave for work. The look out tower job was the first time we had been apart in a long while. Burly and I went over our preps and as the quakes started happening and the river rose I thought we’d be in harms way. Our rental is up on Indian Creek. The floodwaters came with in two feet of the porch stairs. We have most of our stuff in a storage unit in Yreka. With the travel restrictions I could not get to our stuff. So the boys and I were just biding our time. “
I asked her, “Jennie, it may take time to get Burly back. Are you sure you want to stay here?”
She said, “ Yes I am sure. Your place looks like you could use a strong back and pair of hands to help out. I can pull our weight and I promise the boys will not be a bother. I took the liberty to off load my trailer with our yurt and other gear a couple miles up the forest service road. I promise that I am not a druggie and that the boys will be of help not a hindrance.”
Ghost asked her to wait in the greenhouse while he and I went up to the cabin to talk it over. Before we had made it through the middle field he stopped and took my hands in his, and said, “OK, you have an awesome God. In my gut I know this is right. Are you ok with sharing our place with Jennie and the boys?”
I replied, “It is a done deal.”
As we made our way back down to the garden we saw that Jennie and the boys had started stickering the lumber Ghost had not gotten around to in our busy last few days.
We walked up and Jennie said, “Are we in?”
Ghost said with tears in eyes, “Yep.”
Jennie said, “Would you help me go and get the trailer?”
Ghost said, “Sure, do the boys need to come?”
She said, “No, they can help Sis do chores, boys get to work, the animals need feeding and watering, and then bring in some fire wood.”
She gave me wink, and then she and Ghost got in her rig and headed out.
For the next two hours the boys did the chores and then came in and started asking endless questions, “How’d you get such white hair Sis? Do you have brothers or sisters? Do you love Jesus? Did papa cry when you helped him? Did ya see the pretty lady too? How much does it snow here? Where are your kids? Why is Ghost called Ghost? He does not look dead?”
Well, I replied, “My gray hair is from stress and wisdom. I have 6 brothers and 1 sister. Yes I love Jesus. No, your Papa did not cry even though he was hurt real bad. No, I did not see the lady. It usually snows a little, but this year we had lots of snow until the rains came a few days ago. My daughter is up north in Portland Oregon and my son is with Jesus. Ghost is called Ghost because, I'll let him tell you that story.”
By the time Jennie and Ghost got back it was getting dark. We ate left over elk stew and set the family up in the recently added back room of the cabin. Thankfully we had moved the bed over from the trailer weeks ago. Jennie skillfully built up a fire in the wood stove and we said goodnight.
As Ghost and I settled into bed we heard Lincoln and Edison saying their prayers. Ghost whispered to me, “How could she get the message from the forest service, when we made the call this morning, not yesterday morning?” I replied, “Another angel?” Then in loud voices the boys yelled out, “Good night Ghost and Sis.” We called back, “Goodnight Jennie, Lincoln, and Edison.” Man oh man; it sounded like a closing scene from the Walton’s, a TV show from the 70’s
Siskiyou Islands Chapters 10
The sounds of giggling little boys and bacon frying woke me. I reached over for Ghost and he was not there. I opened my eyes and silently began to praise God for a beautiful day with out rain falling outside. I stretched and realized their was distinct feeling of joy feeling my heart. In light of the horrific past week, I knew down to my marrow that God’s hand was over my home.
I got up and dressed and I made my way down the stairs from the loft. Sunlight was streaming into the windows and Jennie was in the kitchen making breakfast.
I went to the bathroom, again silently thanking God for Marshall having put in the septic system last Februrary. It was his 23 anniversary present. As a very frugal Pole he always bought “practical” gifts.
Then I suddenly realized that the glass bathroom door needed a curtain. Until now we had not needed one, since we lived alone here in the beautiful Marble Mountains of Siskiyou county. I decided instead to take a hike down to the old outhouse for a bit of privacy.
After I came back Jennie inquired how I had slept. I told her great. We served up the breakfast plates and went out to the deck and called Ghost up from the garden for breakfast.
After he arrived we sat down and the five of us dug in after Edison, the 7 year old prayed grace for us. He said,” Dear God, you are the awesomeist dude in the whole wide universe including Pluto. I ask that you bless this food and that you take care of Papa and get him on home soon. Amen and Amen.”
Ghost then asked if they had ever sung grace before? The boys said Nope.
So Ghost in his beautiful bass voice sang, “ Oh the Lords is good to me, and how I thank the Lord ,for the sun and the rain and the apple seed. The Lord is good to me, Ahhhwomen!” He always added that little twist to get folks knickers in a twist.
Lincoln then asked Ghost, “Hey Ghost, Sis would not tell us how you got your name. Please tell us.”
So Ghost proceeded to give an abbreviated version of how he got his nickname.
He began, “ Well long, long ago I lived in a beautiful canyon near LA called Box Canyon. I was a very poor hippie dude with a young wife and baby. I was seeking God and followed many gurus and teachers. Over time I got connected with a Vietnam vet who taught me the leather craft trade. I was working at the time at a boot factory and wanted to get out of the rat race. My first wife was Cynthia and she agreed. So this friend of mine taught me how to hand craft leather hats and belts and purses. I started marketing my wares up and down the southern California coast. Going to craft fairs and such. Well I had to have a name for my business. I had always respected the old native American ways. I had read about a movement of the tribes to bring back balance to the earth. They started a ritual called Ghost Dance. I was so moved by what I had read, I decided to call my business Ghost Dance Leather. Over time I had followed a guru from India. Then I followed a Sufi teacher for awhile. That is where I met Sis. We used to Sufi Dance together. Well over the years I got into construction. And I have to say that I have been in way too many accidents on the job. First at Prudho Bay in Alaska, then on a bridge job near Garberville. I have had many close encounters with death. Most of my coworkers thought I had been seriously injured or should of died. Well, they started calling me Ghost, since I was still alive. And of course I would tell them about my life before and my leather business. But I have to say that I now believe that my life was saved by a different Ghost. The Holy Ghost.”
Lincoln replied, “Oh, and I thought you were called Ghost cause you are so old and have white hair!”
We all laughed and cleared the table.
Jennie and Ghost figured the best spot for the yurt. In no time they had constructed a platform for the 20 foot diameter structure. Ghost ran an extension cord to the yurt. Jennie also had brought a collapsible shepherd wood stove. Her trailer was chock full of plastic storage containers. The boys and I helped Jennie and Ghost put up the yurt. It was like a little jigsaw puzzle. We had it up by noon. We broke for lunch. Jennie brought into the house a stainless steel bowl of dough. She said she was in the process of baking bread when the strange lady appeared. So she brought it with her.
I rolled it out and made pizza, using home canned tomato sauce put by last summer. We added garlic and slice pepperoni and lots of cheese.
Ghost went out to the oaks behind the house and harvested some mushrooms to top the pizza.
After lunch the boys went down for a nap and Jennie, Ghost and I sat by the fire and had a long talk on what Jennie could expect staying with us.
Siskiyou Islands Chapter 11
Authors Note:
Junior High teacher Mrs. Hansen aka Sis and her husband Marshall aka Ghost Dancer are surviviors of a series of earthquakes in northern California. They are now host to a small family who have joined them after their father/husband suffered a terrible injury.
The morning dawned clear and a bit chilly. The smell of bacon frying, and kids playing was pleasant to the ear.
It had been a long many years since Ghost and I had the blessing of young boys in our midst. As we snuggled in the early morning hours we just smiled. We got up and dressed. I am so glad that Ghost consented to putting in a sink in our loft bedroom. We brushed our teeth, washed up, and combed our hair. Then we went downstairs to the rich smell of fresh ground coffee and breakfast.
Jennie had made a great feast for us, using up the last of our fresh eggs and the bacon in the fridge. We sat down to breakfast and the tender grace said by Edison.
“Dear Papa God, thank you for Sis and Ghost, thank you for the food and please remember our Daddy as he gets well and make his way home.”
Jennie, Ghost and I discussed our plans for the day. I hoped to head down river to Orleans to check on how the relief efforts were going. When I was teaching full time, I had to take a break from Red Cross and the community response team I had joined. I wanted to see what was up, find out what the school scene was, and if any kind of official edicts were in place.
Jennie wanted to work on the garden. She had a wealth of experience farming and low and behold she knew a heck of a lot about alternative energy systems.
She and Ghost continued their conversation on what was needed to improve our hydroelectric system.
As I drove out of our piece of heaven in the mountains they were busy discussing improvements to our place.
I re-locked the gates behind me. I stopped by to visit our neighbors to see if they needed anything from Somes Bar or Orleans. With my list in hand I made my way down our long forest service access road.
For the first time I was carrying. The shotgun was handy as well as my bear spray and a competition 357 Ghost had given me a few years before.
There was no traffic on our road. When I got to the highway, as usual there was no traffic. I had put my mountain bike on its rack on the back of my rig, anticipating that I would have to resort to it, if the roads were blocked by slides.
Amazingly the National Guard had already put in place the promised Bailey Bridges. I was able to make it to Somes Bar in the usual 20 minutes. I stopped by the store to check the mail and the news.
The shop owner greeted me with a hug and fresh mug of coffee. He filled me on the latest news.
Mail was still being delivered once a week. Instead of coming from the coast, it came down river from Happy Camp.
He had a list posted of the deaths in our area. He also had a contact list for those who were still trying to reach local relatives.
A new addition to his place was above ground gas tanks. One for diesel, and one for regular gas.
He also had new section in his store on preparedness items such as radiation detectors, O2 absorbers, gas masks and filters and an array of books I had never thought I would see available locally.
He told me that he’d like a report when I made my way back that evening.
I gathered up our mail, got block ice, and scooped up the four dozen fresh eggs he had in the fridge.
I drove down to Orleans expecting the worse. As I neared town there was a roadblock. The local community response team had simple barricades across the highway. I recognized Tim, the local postmaster manning the station. As I rolled to a stop he asked, “Wow, Sis, we thought you were swept away.”
I told him the shortened story of how my students and I attempted to escape the backwash of the tsunami.
He told me, “Well, all of your students made it out safe and alive. They are definitely mountain kids. Most of the kids got swept away by the current and ended up way up or down river. Thank God they made it out ok. The loss of life in Orleans was limited to only 15 folks out of a population of 250.”
The volunteer fire department was successful in alerting most of the community of the high water coming and most folks took in those who had to evacuate the low lands of the river valley.
The VFD also took control over the relief efforts and due to the overwhelming response in the community; most folks did not have to go to the temporary shelter that the FEMA folks had set up.
The waters of the river washed out a lot of homes right next to the river, but already rebuilding had begun.
There were new gas tanks at the station, the Forest Service was up and running, and yes there was a meeting in two days to set up the school.
Tim waved me through and said, “I am glad to see that you are carrying. We have had a little bit of trouble of refugees trying to move on in. Keep an eye out and shoot first.”
As I drove down into the valley I was shocked by the transformation of the town. More than a few of the buildings were totally gone. The Orleans Market was closed, but outside a huge tent was set up with wares for sale. Now that the water levels had gone down I realized that most of the town survived.
As I drove into the school’s parking lot it was full of cars. The buildings were now washed clean of most of their contents. But there were delivery trucks bringing supplies for the small shelter in the cafeteria.
I walked into the school office and Sarah our secretary who burst into tears when she saw me.
She did not know that Thomas and I had made it out alive.
She said that the VFD came and rushed her and the cook out the door as the waters came.
She had a list of my students who had made it across the schoolyard to the boat one of the students had in his yard at the Indian housing unit behind the school grounds.
She said that indeed, each and every one of my students had survived. Most were still in town, and incredibly they wanted to come back to school as soon as possible.
The two lower grade classes had made it home the night before.
Only one set of parents had not made it home yet. The children of that family were taken in by their extended families.
She had not yet heard from the district office or the principal.
The Site council had met and determined that we should start school up the following Monday morning.
The roads up and down river were open and clear of slides. She had sent a note down river via a local resident to pass onto our students who lived below Weitchpec.
Hopefully they would find a way to school on Monday.
As I made my way to my classroom I expected the worse. There was about a foot of silt on the floor.
The mold had started to grow and all the material on the walls and the books were water soaked.
I went to the janitors closet and got a bunch of bags and then I found a shovel. I set to work cleaning out my classroom. As I opened my storage closet a gush of water greeted me. I was amazed that so much of my teaching stuff had stayed put in the classroom!
I gathered up the books in my class and set them out into the sun to dry.
I shoveled out the silt.
I washed and cleaned the whole day.
I left the door open when I left that late afternoon.
As I drove up river I prayed over my students.
I prayed for those who had lost family and friends.
I made a list of my squirreled away teaching supplies at Eyesee Two Creeks. My obsession with not throwing away teaching materials will benefit my class. I had stored away paper, extra copies of books from my class library, spare copies of textbooks, and art supplies. All of these supplies will help me next week when my class comes back together.
I made it to the Somes Bar store right at dusk. The shop owner was glad to have my brief report on the happenings in Orleans. I filled my gas tank, bought two jerry cans and filled them as well. I purchased the items on my list for my neighbors, got their mail, drove up river towards home.
After making my deliveries I wearily drove down our road. I carefully locked each gate after I went through them. As I pulled into my parking spot by the house, I was was overcome with thankfulness to the Lord my God.
The warm lights of the cabin greeted me. I smelled the sweet smoke of the oak wood fire as I neared the door. My cat Spot greeted me and sneaked in as I went through the door.
I smelled garlic and onions from something cooking on the stove, the cabin was warm and so soothing to enter.
I heard the sound of laughter coming from the back room. As I made my way through the cabin I noticed how tidy it was. When I entered the back room I saw Marshall and Jennie wrestling with the boys on the floor.
A new feeling of hope and dread filled me. The SHTF, and we were alive. But what did the future hold for us? It had been over two weeks since I had been able to contact my Frugal buddies. What was really going on in California? The USA? The world? What is real and what is not? All I could do was go in, join in the wrestling, eat, sleep and start the day again.
I am so grateful to be home. No matter what the future holds I have my man, new friends and old. I have a community in which to be a part of.
No matter what the feds or state officials decide to do. We, the people of the Siskiyou Mountains and Islands, will survive. We will survive because we are strong, wise, and willing to do what is needed to make it.
Chapter 12
What a long hot summer it has been.
After doing the cleanup at the school we heldclasses until the end of June under our own local control. Heard not a peep from the main office of the school district in Hoopa. Seems that the superintendent flew the coop and
went south to Mexico with his family. The school board was unable to hold a quorum and we could not get any help from the county office of education.
So we held school and graduated our eighth grade class of four students. We did not go on our planned eighth grade trip to San Francisco. Instead the class donated their funds towards the efforts to clean out the school from the flood waters.
In late June an eightenwheeler pulled up and delivered a container full of school supplies donated from the Save the Children Foundation. In May we had sent off a check for $3,ooo for the tsunami relief effort in Sumatra and the school that got those funds reciprocated when they heard of our disaster.
State government was as usual not functioning, so the staff, students and families decided to hold off on starting the next school year until January 2006That would get us through the summer and seasons of gardening, fishing, hunting, and hopefully find us in a better state of affairs.
Parents and guardians of our students were very supportive. We distributed the salvaged school supplies among the families as we knew that in the fall flooding could occur again.
The town folks instituted an ad hoc security detail. In mid July, believe or not, out of state basket weavers showed up for the annual Indigenous Basket Weavers Camp.
Imagine our surprise when a convoy of ten vehicles showed up with the most respected weavers of the state of California and their families.
In the early spring the class had gone on a field trip to gather basket making sticks. Wespent the day gathering and stripping willow sticks. I was so glad we had gone to that effort.
The weavers stayed for two weeks. The gathering was free, all you had to bring was food, a tent, and desire to either learn or teach .
(Note: This is a real life event, do a Google California Native Basket Weavers or on Indigenous Basket Weavers Associations to connect with your local tribal association). For that summer, the gathering was the only truly “normal” community gathering.
The local tribal folks decided that of all years, this was the one that needed to have the yearly “World Renewal Dance” at the sacred dance grounds. The local Assembly of God Pastor decided that she to needed to have the yearly revival. So not matter which way you believed, the spirits were moving on the Klamath River.
The only down side was the crew of bikers who tried to make their run up to Happy Camp on July 4th weekend. The Californian Highway Patrol banned them at road blocks set up in Happy Camp and Willow Creek. All in all it was a quiet summer of 05. If you did not take into account the volcanic activity in Yellowstone and Shasta and the continued efforts of the earth to split apart near Sumatra.
As families returned to their homes in the area now known as the Siskiyou Islands of California where they rebuilt, planted, hunted, and established a militia to support the freedom of the people in their neck of the woods. They also keenly observed who went where. It quickly became known to the shady elements of the region to not mess with those crazy folks in the hills.
Sis and Ghost Dancer reaped the rewards of having two young house guests staying with them. The boys had proved to be admirable hunters and fishermen. Bubba had taken them out almost daily on his jaunts on the mighty Klamath River.
They waited eagerly for the return of their father the Burlyman. In mid August their mother gave birth to a strapping nine pound baby girl. The boys wanted to name her Gerta, because they heard their Mom yell out during labor, get her out of me!!
They settled on Sara Maria Hollyhock. The hollyhocks were in bloom and she was a bit blue purple at birth, so they liked the name. We had not heard from the Burlyman since early in the summer. He was still in the hospital and had to go through one more reconstructive surgery for his mangled stump of an arm.
Ghost had finished up the root cellar and contracted with a local guy to move two big containers to the property for a proper “earth quake shelter”.
Due to the devastation on the coast the clan of the Ghost Dancer made their way up to Medford to try and do as much shopping as they could in late August.
On their list:
cloth diapers
clothes for the boys
ammo
fuel stabilizer
chain saw chain, oil, sharpening tools
medical supplies
over the counter meds
food
clothes for the baby
tires for the rigs
chickens
Due to the road blocks it took them over 9 hours to go the distance that normally took 5 hours. They did not stay the night, but headed back south after the shopping was complete. Gas in Medford was only $4.99 a gallon at the COSTCO in Medford. In Happy Camp it was at $8.99. While in Medford the group decided to hit the vaccinationclinic at the local mall. The boys and baby got their regularly scheduled shots and the adults got boosters for tetnus and Hepatitis B. They passed on the flu shots. 9 months
later they were glad they had passed on the flu shots.....