Old Cap - The Eccentric Engineer
Orval Olmstead — 'Old Cap' to the children — brought the ways of a sailing ship to a cabin on Mill Creek.
One interesting character that lived on Mill Creek was Orval Olmstead who loved it when the children called him “Old Cap.” Having been to sea in the days of sailing ships, he now sometimes fancied himself as a retired ship captain.
“He was a real character,” Mabel writes. “He worked at the Mill as ‘the engineer’, a title of his own choosing. He kept the great boiler going, stoking in great lengths of wood. He blew the whistle for the start of work, at the beginning of the noon hour, and again at quitting time, with great regularity.
Old Cap swore like a trooper and used rough language but quoted Shakespeare, Tennyson, or the Bible eloquently. Friends from the city sent him great rolls of newspaper so we had access to the San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle funnies. That was a big treat for us. Old Cap had his own cabin up the logway. His yard was filled with masses of flowers which he tended with loving care. He was often left in charge of us when the folks went on trips.”