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Marion Plaskett Apple Tree Famous on Coast
One gnarled survivor of Marion Plaskett's orchard fed the whole coast apples of impossible size.
Stories
True stories of the Plasketts and their neighbors — bears and gold, shipwrecks and weddings — drawn from letters, newspapers, and family memory.
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Albert Barnes Orchard on Pepperwood Ridge
Sarah's brother Albert Barnes proved up a quarter-section on Pepperwood Ridge and set it to fruit trees.
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Marno Dutton Recalls Giant Apples at Cruikshank Orchard
Marno Dutton remembered Cruikshank apples so big a child could eat only half of one.
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Mendocina First White Child
Born in Anderson Valley in 1856, Mendocina Plaskett was the first white child born in Mendocino County.
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Too Thickly Settled
When neighbors appeared on the San Joaquin horizon, William Lucas decided it was time to find emptier country.
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Symmes Land Grant Ohio Journey
In 1789 the Plasketts spent a year building a boat in Pennsylvania — their road to Ohio was a river.
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The Great Journey to Pacific Valley
July 1869: ox teams over Pacheco Pass, Indian trails over the coast range, and a valley at the end of it.
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Claiming 2000 Acres
Two thousand acres between the ocean and the mountains — the Plasketts claimed the whole narrow valley.
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Building the Plaskett Creek Sawmill
First the sawmill on Plaskett Creek, then the cabins — the family carpentered its way through the first winter.
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Byron's House Torn Down
Byron's sturdy ten-room house survived every coastal winter — but not the sale to Hearst.
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The Moby Dick Connection - Marriage to the Essex Captain's Sister
A Plaskett captain married the sister of the Essex's captain — the shipwreck that inspired Moby-Dick.
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The Masonic Pitcher from Canton, China
In Canton harbor, Captain Plaskett ordered a Masonic pitcher from Chinese artisans. It survives him.