Volume 036-3 - July 1982 (8 pages)

has made good use of the option he has taken. Since the Searls letters are a major source of the book, Niles Searlsis one of the central figures. Many of the letters are quoted verbatim, not only those sent home by Niles, but also letters written by family members in the East to each other. They give a vivid picture of the people Niles left behind and describe the background from which Niles came. This is important, too often do we have only the scantiest information on the cultural background of our pioneers. Sharing the center of the stage is Charles Mulford, a relative of Niles, who shared his adventures in California; at least for the time span covered in this book. Another central stage figure in the book is Tallman H. Rolfe of whose early history is not so much known than that of the Searls and Mulfords, but who is well documented as soon as he arrives in California. Finally, there is Chief Wema and his tribe of Indians who open up the book and who appear at various times again later. The author here attempts to see the white invasion of their territory through Indian eyes, a task in which he succeeds very well. The book is illustrated by the author with 21 india ink pen sketches, of which we reproduce two in this issue of the Bulletin and 10 very informative maps. In addition, there is a quite complete bibliography. It will not be necessary to remark that this book belongs on every Nevada County history shelf. We hope that the book will be received well, if only to encourage the author to complete his trilogy. vdP. Mgr. J.T. Dwyer, The Story of Mount Saint Mary’s. Grass Valley; Privately printed; 1982. When Mount Saint Mary’s Academy in Grass Valley celebrated its hundredth birthday in 1966, a memorial volume containing the history of the building and of the Sisters of Mercy who conducted at various times an orphanage or a school in this building was published. This book, long out of print, is how available again. Some introductory material and the advertisements have been omitted while the story has been brought up to date by the addition of some three pages of new material. Most of the illustrations have been retained and the typography is markedly improved. The original building once housed the first orphanage in the State of California and is one of the oldest, still existing buildings in Grass Valley. As the activities in the building changed, more space was needed, hence additions were made to the building which culminated in the erection of Saint Joseph’s Chapel in the eighteen nineties. For almost a century the building housed the various educational and charitable activities of the Sisters; its use came to an end when the Sisters decided to discontinue their High School in 1968 and concentrated their activities in the brick building which was erected in 1927. The empty building, doomed to decay or even demolition was rescued from such fate by a group, the Mt. St. Mary’s Historic Preservation Committee, founded to save and restore the building and make it available for cultural uses. Obviously, this booklet contains a good deal of Grass Valley history and it is for this reason of interest to the members of our Historical Society. In addition, it is a tribute to the Sisters, those women who dedicated their lives to the service of God and mankind, who conducted their work in the old building and continue to do so in the newer one. The booklet is available at the Grass Valley Museum, located in the old orphanage building at the corner of South Church and Chapel Streets. vdP. OUR MUSEA THE INDIAN EXHIBIT AT THE FIRE HOUSE MUSEUM We are fortunate in having an extensive collection of baskets and other Indian artifacts in our Indian case. Many of the objects were made by local Nisenan (Maidu) Indians, or Washo Indians from over the Sierras, but we have a few things from other areas in California, such as four baskets worn by women as caps from the Northwest Coast (Yurok tribe). Basket weaving was a skill passed down from mothers to daughters, as only the women made baskets. Every basket, as well as having the particular design of the woman who madeit, hada distinct purpose. We can tell what it was made for by the shape. The large conical shaped burden baskets, usually loosely twined, were used for gathering acorns or pinon pine nuts. After cracking the shells, nuts were put in large flat winnowing trays and shaken to remove the outer shell. Mortars and pestles were then used to grind the acorns into coarse meal. After repeated leaching, the meal was cooked in large heavy waterproof baskets by stone boiling (hot stones taken from the fire were immersed into the acorn and water mixture in the cooking basket). To prevent burning a hole in the basket, the woman had to keep stirring the hot rocks with a stick. After an indefinite amount of cooking, the meal became thick and was eaten as mush. One of our special and rare objects made of basketry is an _ original cradleboard covered with deerskin and decorated with red and yellow beads. Sometimes different colored beads were used to show the sex of the baby. Chief Louis Kelly, the last chief of the local Oustumah tribe, donated his cane, rattle and pottery drum to the museum before he died. The local Nisenan Indians were not pottery workers originally, but after white contact, we know that old Betsy at least enjoyed working with clay, for we have a small clay pitcher she made. Betsy and Josie were well known Nevada City Indian women who enjoyed marching in many local parades. Their portraits are on the wall near the Indian case. There are some beautiful examples of Indian belts and necklaces. Two woven bead belts have the interesting combinations of colored glass trade beads obtained from the whites, and abalone shell pendants. Abalone was greatly prized and traded all over California. There are also several strings of clamshell disk beads which were used as money for trading. Some of these were found in an Alta Sierra burial ground. The arrowheads were mostly collected by Mr. Granholm in Nevada County. When the Indians could get hold of it, they used obsidian to make them, but since it wasn’t found in this area, they traded with the Washo Indians for it when they could get it, and when they couldn’t they used local stones. Mr. Granholm also has a display of arrowheads he himself made, some of modern materials such as glass. Indians, however, also used glass bottles to make arrowheads after white contact. : The wooden Indian doll in the case has an interesting story. Two brothers named Samuel and George Holt. had built a sawmill near a creek near Grass Valley, and it must have been disturbing the fishing area of the Indians, because some nearby Indians became very upsetand attacked the mill in May 1850. Sam and some Indians were killed, and brother George made the wooden dol! as a memorandum of the event. He covered it with hair from’ the Indian who had killed Sam. The doll was passed down through the Holt family whomoved away, and eventually it wound up ina San Rafael toy shop. In 1978 it was donated to our 23

has made good use of the option he has taken. Since the Searls letters are a major source of the book, Niles Searlsis one of the central figures. Many of the letters are quoted verbatim, not only those sent home by Niles, but also letters written by family members in the East to each other. They give a vivid picture of the people Niles left behind and describe the background from which Niles came. This is important, too often do we have only the scantiest information on the cultural background of our pioneers. Sharing the center of the stage is Charles Mulford, a relative of Niles, who shared his adventures in California; at least for the time span covered in this book. Another central stage figure in the book is Tallman H. Rolfe of whose early history is not so much known than that of the Searls and Mulfords, but who is well documented as soon as he arrives in California. Finally, there is Chief Wema and his tribe of Indians who open up the book and who appear at various times again later. The author here attempts to see the white invasion of their territory through Indian eyes, a task in which he succeeds very well. The book is illustrated by the author with 21 india ink pen sketches, of which we reproduce two in this issue of the Bulletin and 10 very informative maps. In addition, there is a quite complete bibliography. It will not be necessary to remark that this book belongs on every Nevada County history shelf. We hope that the book will be received well, if only to encourage the author to complete his trilogy. vdP. Mgr. J.T. Dwyer, The Story of Mount Saint Mary’s. Grass Valley; Privately printed; 1982. When Mount Saint Mary’s Academy in Grass Valley celebrated its hundredth birthday in 1966, a memorial volume containing the history of the building and of the Sisters of Mercy who conducted at various times an orphanage or a school in this building was published. This book, long out of print, is how available again. Some introductory material and the advertisements have been omitted while the story has been brought up to date by the addition of some three pages of new material. Most of the illustrations have been retained and the typography is markedly improved. The original building once housed the first orphanage in the State of California and is one of the oldest, still existing buildings in Grass Valley. As the activities in the building changed, more space was needed, hence additions were made to the building which culminated in the erection of Saint Joseph’s Chapel in the eighteen nineties. For almost a century the building housed the various educational and charitable activities of the Sisters; its use came to an end when the Sisters decided to discontinue their High School in 1968 and concentrated their activities in the brick building which was erected in 1927. The empty building, doomed to decay or even demolition was rescued from such fate by a group, the Mt. St. Mary’s Historic Preservation Committee, founded to save and restore the building and make it available for cultural uses. Obviously, this booklet contains a good deal of Grass Valley history and it is for this reason of interest to the members of our Historical Society. In addition, it is a tribute to the Sisters, those women who dedicated their lives to the service of God and mankind, who conducted their work in the old building and continue to do so in the newer one. The booklet is available at the Grass Valley Museum, located in the old orphanage building at the corner of South Church and Chapel Streets. vdP. OUR MUSEA

THE INDIAN EXHIBIT AT THE FIRE HOUSE MUSEUM We are fortunate in having an extensive collection of baskets and other Indian artifacts in our Indian case. Many of the objects were made by local Nisenan (Maidu) Indians, or Washo Indians from over the Sierras, but we have a few things from other areas in California, such as four baskets worn by women as caps from the Northwest Coast (Yurok tribe). Basket weaving was a skill passed down from mothers to daughters, as only the women made baskets. Every basket, as well as having the particular design of the woman who madeit, hada distinct purpose. We can tell what it was made for by the shape. The large conical shaped burden baskets, usually loosely twined, were used for gathering acorns or pinon pine nuts. After cracking the shells, nuts were put in large flat winnowing trays and shaken to remove the outer shell. Mortars and pestles were then used to grind the acorns into coarse meal. After repeated leaching, the meal was cooked in large heavy waterproof baskets by stone boiling (hot stones taken from the fire were immersed into the acorn and water mixture in the cooking basket). To prevent burning a hole in the basket, the woman had to keep stirring the hot rocks with a stick. After an indefinite amount of cooking, the meal became thick and was eaten as mush. One of our special and rare objects made of basketry is an _ original cradleboard covered with deerskin and decorated with red and yellow beads. Sometimes different colored beads were used to show the sex of the baby. Chief Louis Kelly, the last chief of the local Oustumah tribe, donated his cane, rattle and pottery drum to the museum before he died. The local Nisenan Indians were not pottery workers originally, but after white contact, we know that old Betsy at least enjoyed working with clay, for we have a small clay pitcher she made. Betsy and Josie were well known Nevada City Indian women who enjoyed marching in many local parades. Their portraits are on the wall near the Indian case. There are some beautiful examples of Indian belts and necklaces. Two woven bead belts have the interesting combinations of colored glass trade beads obtained from the whites, and abalone shell pendants. Abalone was greatly prized and traded all over California. There are also several strings of clamshell disk beads which were used as money for trading. Some of these were found in an Alta Sierra burial ground. The arrowheads were mostly collected by Mr. Granholm in Nevada County. When the Indians could get hold of it, they used obsidian to make them, but since it wasn’t found in this area, they traded with the Washo Indians for it when they could get it, and when they couldn’t they used local stones. Mr. Granholm also has a display of arrowheads he himself made, some of modern materials such as glass. Indians, however, also used glass bottles to make arrowheads after white contact. : The wooden Indian doll in the case has an interesting story. Two brothers named Samuel and George Holt. had built a sawmill near a creek near Grass Valley, and it must have been disturbing the fishing area of the Indians, because some nearby Indians became very upsetand attacked the mill in May 1850. Sam and some Indians were killed, and brother George made the wooden dol! as a memorandum of the event. He covered it with hair from’ the Indian who had killed Sam. The doll was passed down through the Holt family whomoved away, and eventually it wound up ina San Rafael toy shop. In 1978 it was donated to our 23