Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Major Ervin A. Hadley

This comment was included in a post below about Richardson's Grove, somehow we have a tendency to get off-subject here on this blog. It's a fact that I actually encourage people to dive in with off-subject comments, because the comments bring up subjects are sometimes much more interesting:

Hans said...
"It's appropriate to also remember "Bunny" Hadley who gave his life piloting the Army Helicopers bringing relief to folks during the 64 flood. He'd be in his 80's now had he lived. Thanks Bunny for all you did and gave!"


Robin Shelley sent me this newspaper clipping of Major Ervin A. Hadley. She also sent me some dramatic photos of the '64 flood which will become another post. Olmanriver has emailed me a ton of stuff including interviews with Old-Timers, which pretty much bears out what I've been trying to say about how hard it rained before the '64 flood. I want to put this post up here and include some history later. please feel free to add any history about the many heroes who saved the stranded people of the north coast. I'm sure there are many stories I haven't heard yet. Click on these pictures and they will become full size and readable.

Does anyone know anything about this fellow?

5 comments:

"Bob" said...

A couple of months ago the Humboldt Historical Society put on a program about the flood at the library in Eureka. I did not get to attend, but I wrote a piece for the North Coast Journal calendar section in advance of the meeting. I spoke with a couple of guys who were involved in rescue operations. Of course Bunny Hadley's name came up.

Unfortunately Blogger won't let me post the whole thing here at once - "Must be at most 4,096 characters," it tells me. And for reasons to complicated to explain here, it's not on the Journal website - so I guess I'll send it to Ernie - maybe he can add it to some future post.

Ernie Branscomb said...

Bob
Thank-you. My email address is up there in the left hand corner of my front page. I would be glad to print anything that you want to send me. I will give you proper credit.

Well, I'm off to Bell Springs today, to work on a walk-in cooler at the Linser Ranch. Has anyone ever heard of the Linsers?

Humboldt said...

Old timey ranchers of German extraction. Owned half of the Bell Springs Ranch in the old days. You'd best get that cooler fixed Ernie- it's getting hot down there and we don't want food to go to waste.

Jeff Muskrat said...

History of Richardson Grove

1922

The first memorial grove was established in honor of Colonel Raynal C. Bolling, commemorating the first American Army officer of high rank to fall in World War I. The grove includes 100 acres of redwood forest on the South Fork of the Eel River.
From:http://saverichardsongrove.org/history_rg.html

Way to go Ernie.

The hypocracy found in others is easier indentified than the hypocracy found within.

Save Richardson Grove. Save Humboldt County!
http://saverichardsongrove.org/
http://saverichardsongrove.blogspot.com/

MistyForestDreamer said...

Hi...have to make a correction about history here, and it is not your fault as the history was wrong on the main website. The main SaveRichardsonGrove.org website has corrected the history now. The date of Richardson Grove becoming a State Park is correct, as it was dedicated in 1922.

1921 was the inception of Bolling Memorial Grove. Bolling was the first memorial grove and it was established in honor of Colonel Raynal C. Bolling, commemorating the first American Army officer of high rank to fall in World War I. This is true, but of Bolling and has nothing to do with Richardson Grove.

Richardson Grove was dedicated in 1922, and named after the governor at the time who was Friend Richardson, and it was previously protected from logging by Henry Mooney Devoy and his wife Ella Devoy from 1900 until it became a state park in 1922. A man from Kentucky was the previous owner before that.

Richardson Grove State Park is seven miles south of Garberville, and originally it included 120 acres of old growth redwoods that was part of a larger grove called Devoy Grove, and now Richardson Grove includes close to 2,000 as previously logged areas that are surrounding have been acquired as a buffer to the small area of old growth trees that have remained that could be 2,000 or more years old.

The canopy Caltrans wants to cut into is most likely thousands of years old, and any disturbance could possibly kill the old growth trees there by the road; the amazing entrance to Humboldt County.

True, it is on the South Fork of the Eel River. It is just north of the Mendocino Line, and the entry way to Humboldt County. Devoy Grove (used to be a resort before the flood of 1964) it was at the north edge of the Mendocino County Line. This all used to be one larger grove to include Devoy and Richardson Grove.

Before and after Richardson Groves inception as a State Park, Henry Devoy invited people from near and far to come up and camp in huge tents on platforms and swim in the Eel River, and they hired a cook to cook for everyone. Freeman leased Richardson Grove from Henry M Devoy, and he built the cookhouse and the cabins.

Henry M Devoy continued to promote visiting the redwoods by railroad and automobile until he had a stroke and had to move to Alameda a few years before his death in 1933. We continued the tradition of coming to the old growth redwoods every summer, and we all learned to swim in the Eel River.