The Sands Divorce Scandal
A courtroom divorce was almost unheard of. Ed Sands got one, then left for Reno to start over.
Ed and Lydia Sands received a formal divorce in a court of law - something that was rare in those days. Mabel’s father, Ed Sands, then moved to Reno, Nevada where he found a job as Chief of the Biological Survey for the States of California and Nevada.
Lydia chose to go south with Ed’s cousin Louie Domeyer, whom she then married. It was a minor scandal in those days, especially in a little gossiping community like theirs, for a woman to divorce her husband then marry his cousin. Before this, Louie had been married to a woman named Mertyl and had one son named Dewie.
Soon after the divorce, a strange fire broke out that destroyed all the buildings Ed Sands had constructed at Mill Creek - buildings so familiar to Mabel in her childhood. He sold the land itself on Mill Creek to the two Jolon Indians who worked for him, Joe and Dave Moro, at a low price. He also sold the mill and all of its equipment to Henry Kilsdonk, who moved it to Canietti Canyon.