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History of Herbert & Bernice Pingree and Kramer Farm (7 pages)
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Page: of 7
Smartsville, but spent time with their jie who eventually bought land on McCourtney Road in Grass
valley when he continued to build his herd of cattle.
As Bill grew, be was a help to his father on the ranch. Big for his age, he spent every minute
outside the classroom riding his horse, rounding up cattle, branding, haying and doing other ranch chores.
The boy loved the outdoor life whether he was on the ranch or up in the mountain cabin at Texas Creek.
Each spring, it seemed an eternity to the boy until school let out and he could go with his father on the
cattle drive to the mountain pastures.
When he turned eighteen in 1895, he worked on the short line railroad that went out from
spaulding Lake taking logs to the mill. He was a true westerner and loved the country of the foothills and
the high mountains as his father di0. But when he grew old enough to marry) he fell in love with a
beautiful young lady from New England. Lois McPhee Dodge was a registered nurse from Boston
Massachusetts visiting a friend who had married into the Sanford family. Bills mother was a member of
the same family from Nova Scotia.
The young nurse from Boston first saw Bill while he was showing horses ano their destiny was
sealed by the time she left to go home. They corresponded for three wears, then they became engaged
through letters and didn’t see each other until Bill met Lois at the train station in Sacramento when she
came out to be married in 1905.
The young woman adapted quickly to the ways of her rancher husband, looking forward as eagerly
as he did to the annual trek to Texas Creek. When their daughters were small, Dorothy, three years old
and Bernice just a year old, their father would ‘4 up to the mountains as
e soon as the snows melted, leading the cattle over Route #20 to the road
which now leads to Fuller and Rucker Lakes.
Riding . along with his leather chaps and cowboy hat and assisted by
hired hel } he . drove the cattle up to Texas Creek in the later part of
June. They would pass the old mining town of Washington and up to
Canyon Creek which drains Bowman Lake, or by way of Laing’s Crossing,
passing through . <== Devil’s Gate (a narrow place between huge rocks) near the
bridge on the Texas Creek Cabin Yuba River starting up to Fuller Lake. There, Mr.
Scriebner was waiting for them. He had a mine and stayed in his little
cabin year round, keeping no horse or mule and biking out for supplies. The resourceful miner who had
picked the seeds of dogwood trees for winter chicken feed also augmented his income by putting up people
for the night. He provided hay for the Black family horses and a place to bed down for the night.
It took three days to drive the cattle to Texas Creek where the main part of the pasture was a V
between Lindsay Lake and Texas Creek.
In the middle of July when Bill had the cattle settled on the mountain range, he would come back
to the anc) on McCourtney Road, where after catching up on the chores, be would load the wagon with
supplies for the summer and take Lois and the two girls to Teocas Creek for a six-week stay.
It was never lonely and company was frequent and plentiful. Aunts, uncles and cousins came to
join the family at camp. Bonfires blazed in the darkness and there was singing and laughter and there was
ice cream. The little girls made sure that they packed enough eggs and sugar for the ice cream that would
be such a treat at camp. There was always enough snow in the shady patches to pack in the old ice cream
freezer.
There were horseback rides for the girls -sharing a saddle and icy baths in the creek. They had