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About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1956)
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2. 1956 HERALD AND NEWS, KLAMATH FALLS. OREGON Alex Zeveiy Recalls Life In 'Good Old Days' Here By RUTH KING A told by Alex Ztvely Jr. (Editors Note: Alex Zeveiy of lakevlew. raised In the Klamatli country, Is the son of pioneer par ents, Alex and' Martha Zsvel;' whose lives and those of their children were closely interwoven with this area in the days ol the stockmen's wars, stage robberies, steamboats and cattle rustlers. In thLs article, he reveals some per. sonal experiences of those times.) A noonday meal of cold wild duck and drop dumplings and the . . ! N 7 Alex Zeveiy Jr. steady black eyes of a pretty girl above a shotgun barrel probably averted trouble between a cattle baron and a family of settlers . in the northernmost tip of Siskiyou County in the dnys when a water hole was as precious as gold In a leather poke. The log building that marks the apot where that meal was served still stands among the rocks and the sagebrush on the fringe of sand dunes near the California-Oregon line. The Modoc War of 1872--73, last local struggle of the Indian against the encroachment of the whiles in the Klamath country was history, but newcomers still shuddered at Ules of the war in the Lava Beds. The grasslands of the region, the streams that angled - across the valley and the easy access south to Montague, nearest-railroad load ing point, attracted both stockmen and those who turned a furrow for seeding grain. It was in this setting that Pres ley Dorris, lor whom the present town of Dorris is named, and his hard-riding cowboys met Mary Zeveiy, the nervy, handsome daughter of Alex and Martha Zev eiy and sister of Alex Jr., Pearl and Robert. ' It was her trigger finger that turned the tide of the controversy between Presley Dorris and her family for the right of the Zevely'a to establish a home on land that Dorris claimed for his range herd. Dorris and his riders rode the linaon a vast area of land on the west side of Lower Klamath Lake. 11 was inside this line that Mary's father decided to file a homestead claim on unsurveyed ground and build a home. On a May morning in the early days of that settlement era, the Zeveiy family, livestock, blankets, wagon and household gear, turned up around a blazing sagebrush fire inside a new Dorris-bullt barbed wire fence, its gate padlocked. The Zevelys had made the transi tion from the old to the new loca tion by the simple expedient of crawling beneath the wire, banding over the wagon's contents and the youngest children, dismantling the wagon and driving the livestock around the end of the fence where it met an arm of the lake. They' were there to stay. Flapjacks sizzled In a skillet, the foam still floated hish on a pail of warm milk and the Zeve'.y live stock nipped at the young meadow prn&s inside the enclosure when the first Dorris henchmen came by. Tom Brown, a Hot Creek Indian, trailed by two tall tribesmen and two small brown boys, was the fir.u to arrive to give the bos" ultimatum, "get off or look for trouble." Brown's cattle grazed with the Dorris herds. Brown scorned the printed per mit for settlement shown by the senior Zeveiy and left. The Zev eiy permit for homesteading was for land partially surrounded by water, an ideal spot for a stand against intruders, so the family waited. They threw up a temporary fence of sagebrush. Father Zeveiy. a ghostly figure in white sheets, stam peded the Dorris cattle driven through 'the fence on moonlight nights and daily repaired the fence. A pole cabin.'was started with the family all belpiug cut timber except Mary and young Zev. It was on one of these treks to the timber that Mary gave warning to Tom Brown and his henchmen that she would brook no nonsense where the family real estate was concerned-. Shotgun in hand she blasted away at the soles of several pairs of moccasins propped by their owners along the fence and scared the hecklers back into the brush lands. The Zeveiy garden was trampled into the ground by cattle mean dering through gates left open, and other depredations harassed the family until July 10. when, with the sun scorching the land,, the showdown came. Pres Dorris, in a buckboard, flanked by five mounted buclt aroos, rolled up to the now fin ished cabin in a cloud of dust. His first words, "Well. Zeveiy. we've come to move you off," shouted in the direction of the cabin doorway, brought the senior Zeveiy to the stoop, gun In hand. They also brought black-eyed Mary and her double-barreled weapon. Her back against a fence post, she leveled both barrels at the cattleman's head. Not one man said a word. All had heard of the plucky girl who had shot at Tom Brown. Her eyes roved over the riders and their boss while her right hand fondled the hammers on her gun. Her gaze moved to the lead cow hand who sat his sleek black mare without stirring a finger. His lips parted in a flashing smile and the girl protector of the Zeveiy acres smiled back. He said a word and the quintet of riders, before the startled eyes of their cattle boss, whirled their mounts and rode away. Mary dropped a curtsy toward the buckboard. Her voice was cold against the summer heat. "Mr. Dorris, if you Intend to move us off, I wish you'd hurrv as dinner is getting cold." "What is it?" asked the cow man. "Right now it's cold duck and dumplings, and you're welcome to It," came the answer. The black team, hitched to the buckboard was tied to the fence and Dorris ate at the Zeveiy table. It was the last time a move was made to Intimidate the Zeveiy family. Dorris and Zeveiy became good friends and the rider on the black horse returned to woo "the shoot ingest woman in the valley." On a fall day when the1 aspens were red and yellow on Uie creek banks. Mary rode away with Pros Dorris' top cowhand and in the magistrate's office in Yreka, be came the bride of Henry Baldock, and the two lived long to laugh about the days when Mary smiled above a shotgun. .., tit, mm JUNE GADDY of Alturat looks on triumphantly at KCNO'i Ted (Ache Payne washes the family dishes at her home. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Claude Gaddy of Alturas, Miss Saddy won a sot of dishes from Ingraham's Hardware for her letter describing her "aches and pains" and enclosed a March of Dimes donation which was judged winner of the radio contest over KCNO. Photo by Chas. E. Goulden I M I ft. 4-H NEWS THE RANCH COOKS The meeting was called to order by President Mark Dearborn. Roll call was read and we answered' by what we've made. Minutes were read and approved. Old business and new business were discussed. We have to hand our cards in the next meeting. Refreshments were then served. They were ham burger's made by Mark Dearborn. The meeting was then adjourned to play games. Paul Dearborn News Reporter Teachers Plan Conference A little "White Hoise Confer-1 "The educational conference will ence" on education has been ached- bo a general open meeting." uled for Friday. February 24. atlo'Harra said, "so that all Inter Mills auditorium, starting at 8 estcd persons can hear first hand that ara before Congress at this tune." 0 p.m. Tom O'Htura, chairman ol Klam ath Falls School District No. 1, has been named zone chairman of the Sinio Board of Education. In his correspondence with O'Har ra, Knapp asked that the confer ence be set up, as a public meet in?, to provide for discussion of all matters pertinent to national education problems. Mrs. Art Moore and Mrs. Hael Todd have been named as local conveners. They held their first meeting Tuesday with O'Hprra and Arnold Grn l:pp. superintendent of schools. In preparation for the Feb ruary 24 conference. Speakers will include Mrs Vic tor E. O'Neill who was a local delegate to the White House Con ference on Education in Washing ton. D C. Another delegate to the Washington conierence will be asked by the Ftate Board of Edu cation to appear on thn program with Mrs. O'Neill, O'Hnrra said. accounts of the White House Con ference-as well as participate in discussion of all legislative bills Actress Obtains Divorce Decree LOS ANGELES ift Chinese-born Hollywood film actress Marie Tsien has obtained a 'divorce from Ernest Tsien, Vancouver, B.C., importer, who, she says, held fast to the ancient customs of their native China but took advantage of modern telephones to make her conform. "I am now an American citi zen." Mrs. Tsien testified, "but my husband wanted me to be like the women In China. He wanted abso lute obedience and he had to know where I was every minute awny from him. I had to report to him by telephone many times a day." The Tslens were wed in Shang hai in 1947. She Is 25, he 40. DANIKL BOON KDTIltKS FORT HOOD, Tex. W Dnn'I' Bonne is hanging up his firearms to become an automobile sales man. Cnpt. ' Daniel H. Boone, a greal-great-Kieat-nreat grandson of the famous frontiersman, has retired after 'X years of continuous service with the Army. He's a fire arms expert hjmsclf and was a member of the U. S. pistol team in Austria for two years. He has1 bought a home at nearby Temple ' where he will work as an aulo-i mobile salesman. KNKK ORNAMKNT8 DEVALI.S BLUFF, Ark. lAV-The sign outside Jack Huflman's place reads: "Hundreds of well-shaped knecz Come In and feel around." There's a simple explanation, of course. The knees are cypress tree knees, cut in the White River bottoms. Boiled and peeled, they make unusual ornaments. Chas. J. 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The Hummels, left io right, Don Hummel, as . sistant branch forester for the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, DayjcL4, inirpnt of father,. Don,. 10, Mrs. Hummel and Jennifer, 8 years old. The family home is at 3857 Boardman Street. TLEADS GUILTV . HOUSTON, Tex. ifi James Les ter Coleson. 32, pleaded guilty be fore Dist. Judge Langstdn G. Kins to an Oct. 27 burglary In which only an icepick was taken and (tot a two-year sentence. Then he went before Dist. Judge A. C. Winborn, pleaded guilty to felony theft of an .TddliiK machine Sept; 4, setting an other two-year sentence. But the u sentences win run concurrently. ooooooooooo oToiro'o'o'o (1 0 51 NOTICE It There anyone In Klamath Falls named Goldie Kidder wha 3 married Bill O'.Mclley of Troy, 3 C Montana? Pleat act In tautk r "..v- with Marie Barton at A ft u rot. o California. 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