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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.
Today’s featured story
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
Mabel Eva Sans Plaskett (m1) 1896–1964
Mabel Eva Sans was born February 5, 1896, in Ben Lomond, Santa Cruz County, and grew up at the mouth of Mill Creek on the Big Sur coast, where her father, Edward R. Sans — the famous government trapper known as the "Coyote Man" — ran the sawmill that gave the creek its name. Her childhood, she wrote…
From the album
More to explore
mabel poem
To Michael
For a shining-eyed child named Michael — and the secret in him that time hasn't dulled yet.
mabel poem
To My Dad
Her tribute to E.R. Sans, the Coyote Man — 'the hero of our dreams, the well beloved, the noblest and the best.'
mabel poem
To My Love
A love poem: dreams brought back to vibrant life, 'and all because of you.'
mabel poem
To Peggy on her Twentieth Birthday
For her daughter Peggy at twenty — 'When first I held you in my arms... I thought that you were mine alone.'
mabel poem
To Uncle Charley on his Birthday
Rain or storm won't keep the family from 'The Topo' in spring — riding through the floral fields for Uncle Charley's birthday.
mabel poem
To Uncle Charlie and Aunt Elizabeth
For Uncle Charley and Aunt Elizabeth — the mill-stream childhood they blessed, and the sorrow of parting she never dreamed of.
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