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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.
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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1791 Ohio River Indian Attack
On the Ohio River in 1791, the flatboat carrying William Plaskett's family came under attack.
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William Plaskett and Son Joseph Drown on Hunting Trip
William Plaskett Jr. and his son Joseph set out on a hunting trip in 1796. Neither came home.
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Pigeon Roost Massacre Letter
Days after the Pigeon Roost Massacre of 1812, William Plaskett wrote down what the survivors saw.
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Carl Sans Drowns in Well
Carl Sans was being hauled up from the bottom of a well when the rope failed him.
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Olive Plaskett Dies During Pregnancy
Olive Sans married at fifteen, dark-eyed and sun-browned from the coast — and died carrying her child.
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The Sans Divorce Scandal
A courtroom divorce was almost unheard of. Ed Sans got one, then left for Reno to start over.
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The Earthquake Girl
She picked her own birthday: the day San Francisco shook to pieces in 1906.
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Byron Plaskett the Postmaster
From 1890 Byron Plaskett carried the mail from Jolon Road twice a week, rain or shine, with a string of up to ten horses.
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Building St. Lukes Church
Three Plaskett brothers built St. Luke's at Jolon in 1884 — and it still stands.
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The Jolon Indians - Joe and Dave Moro
Joe and Dave Moro of Chalk Peak worked the Sans sawmill for ten years — two of the last Jolon Indians.
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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.