Captain John P Simpson

I got a comment on one of my back blogs about "Early Laytonville Indian History". A person identifying their self as "Violawarrior" left this comment:

"Hi, my name's Allie Simpson and I'm a descendent of Cpt John P Simpson. Thanks so much for the stories! My sister and I are trying to learn more about our family history and this blog gives dimension to the facts and records we've seen so far. If you have any more Simpson stories, please let me know!"

She did not send me an email so I can't reply to her except as a comment. Most people don't know that there is no trail back from a comment, so my hands are tied. I did find her subject to be of some local interest, so I decided to post it here and see what comes up!

 As everybody knows Capt. John P Simpson and his partner James N White were the first to settle in Long Valley. (laytonville)

From internet: "In 1854,[James N White] with Capt. J. P. Simpson located at Cahto. At the time there was a lake there, and plenty of game, thousands of ducks and geese. The Indians named it Cahto, meaning "Fat water." They located government land; drained the lake, which gave them two hundred acres of rich land, which was formerly the bottom of the lake. They built and started a store, as also a hotel and livery stable, purchased land adjoining and the Cahto ranch which embraced about thirty-two hundred acres. Robert White was postmaster and express agent. They also owned the Blue Rock ranch, but that ranch was later owned by James N. White and Captain Simpson. The captain was found dead by J. N. White, having succumbed to heart disease.'

 Here are some interesting links to Capt. J P Simpson:

 link 1

link 2

link 3

 link 4

I hear the song of a far-off swan.

Image from Google Images

I hear the song of a far-off swan. A swan trying to find a reason to live.

Recently, I have been greatly saddened by the apparent loss of a local blogsite “SoHum Parlance”. It seems Eric Kirk, the blogs author, has been discouraged with the irresponsible comments that litter the bogs nowadays. I’m sure that he has other pressing reasons for not wanting to post to the extent that he once did. I have felt some of those pressures myself. I also feel that having a blog was one of the most learning and enjoyable experiences of my life. I miss the Good Ol’ Days of the blogs heyday before they were hijacked by spam, irresponsible comments and mediums like facebook, twitter, and so forth. I promise that I will never quit entirely, but the posting will definitely be further separated and maybe more pertinent.

Blogs are not as popular as they were a few years ago. They seem to have become the dwelling spot of the immature verbal stink bomb throwers that claim that they will defend to the death their right to anonyminity. (I know, anonyminity is not a word, but it should be.) They like to throw up phrases like “Thomas Jefferson wrote anonymously”.

Yes, Thomas Jefferson wrote anonymously, but most people would agree that his writing were far more relevant and pertinent to the subject of the times than those who break into a post about a traumatic event, shout “first” then run off giggling. Who needs that?

The sad thing about the rampant immaturity rife in the blogs lately is that it discourages any real thought. Most people realize that any great effort that they give to making a well thought-out and reasoned comment will only be snowed under by immature and sometimes evil crap. There is a longstanding tradition amongst mature intelligent people to never argue with a fool, so that precludes most conversation on the average blogsite anymore. Sad.

They say that cavemen had a larger brain than modern humans and that they used most of their brain for survival. The weak died off.  Today’s society protects and defends the weak, as it should be. It is the natural instinct of all creatures to defend their offspring. Pre 1960’s children were raised to be “seen and not heard”. It was well understood that they were under the direction of their parents. The Flower Children of the 60s promoted the idea that children should be raised as free-spirits and not be stifled with rules. We now have the children of those children among us. They were not taught rules, or ethics. Sadly, most weren’t even taught to know how to think. The new rule seems to be, “If it’s fun, or feels good, do it”.

We now struggle to make progress amongst self-centered-immature-unruly brats, most of them that have now come of age, and are adamant that the world owes them a living. From birth they have been given, without question, everything that they have ever whimpered for. They never had to build, argue or reason for the things that they wanted. They have never had to follow any rules given to them by their parents. It is no great surprise that some people can’t reason or follow rules. They don’t even try to understand why there might be a rule. Their thoughtless immaturity dictates that they do as they please, as they have been taught to do from birth.

At this juncture I should point out that there are still good parents out there that are trying desperately to raise their children with values. They are the first to tell you how difficult it is to raise children in a valueless society. Some move to far-away places thinking that somehow they can find a place to raise their children with ethics, character. and values. It’s a desperate search at best. However, for the most part, they succeed. We all see well mannered bright young children with bright futures… And, parents hoping that somehow their children aren’t led astray, and become the zombies that we now see littering the streets. It happens…

With all of the explanations of the ills of society left behind, I will share some of my thoughts about current events, and how they seem to be affected by lack of reasoning. Not that I’m right, by any stretch of the imagination, but I am open to conversation. Just try to justify your thoughts.

The recent drought has brought the non-thinkers out of the woodwork. There is the opinion that “there is a drought, so we should not use water”. If we don’t use water in the South Fork of the Eel it simply goes into the ocean If you think it all the way through, using water will add to the local ground water. Actually we should be storing water right now to use later when the water really is gone. Anytime we flush a toilet, the water eventually finds it’s way back to the river. We all need to fill water tanks and water supplies right now. Use water quick! Don’t let it get away! Utilize Tasha McKee’s plan, fill water tanks in the winter to use in the summer. Non-use of summer water, and using stored water gives the fish a better chance of survival, by providing water when flows would be their lowest.

Possibly the perception that we should not use water comes from those who were wise enough to build reservoirs. Yes, those that are feeding from precious water reserves should limit their use. Save water for later use. Like Eureka, they get their water from Ruth Lake. Or Healdsburg, or San Francisco, they all feed off reserves and should conserve all that they can.

Use South Fork water this winter, it’s good for us.

And, just to prove that Mother Nature agrees with me she just sent us a nice little rain. Just in time to water the Daffodils.

Life is great if you live it!
Ernie