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Bears, Cougars, and Wild Animals of Pacific Valley
Winter in Pacific Valley meant bears in the stock pens and cougars in the hills.
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From Mabel’s pen
Sea Otter Population on the Upswing Along the Coast
Hunted to near-extinction for their fur, the sea otters were rediscovered off Bixby Bridge in 1938 — and by Mabel's day were thriving down the whole coast.
Family spotlight
Henry Melville
Henry F. Melville came to the coast for the Los Burros gold at the height of the excitement, and stayed in the family's stories for his strength. A man of giant stature, he came upon two men robbing his cabin at Los Burros — one standing in the doorway keeping watch while his partner gathered the g…
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William Lucas Plaskett - Educated at William & Mary
A William & Mary man on the frontier: William Lucas set bones and doctored neighbors a hundred miles from help.
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Coast Road Opens - 1937
In 1937 the pavement finally reached the coast the Plasketts had settled 68 years earlier.
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Navy Pilot Parachute Failure in Panama
Myrtle Sans's son jumped from his crippled plane over Panama so the others might make it. His parachute failed.
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Charles Sans Kills Grizzly with Poison Honey
A grizzly kept raiding Charles Sans's stock — so he answered with honey laced with poison.
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Manuel Sans Shoots Grizzly from Tree Platform
Manuel Sans waited all night in a tree over a honey bait for the grizzly that came at dawn.
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Cholera Kills Half the Sans Family on Overland Trail
Fourteen-year-old Charles Sans watched cholera take half his family on the wagon road to California.
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