When the Association of Northern California Records and Research (ANCHR’s predecessor) formed in the 1970s, members spent several years collecting and transcribing a number of oral histories. These histories have languished in storage files for decades. We rediscovered them this year and decided these voices and their stories needed to be heard…These personal accounts provide a priceless window to a past long gone. They also show that people back then did what we do now—live.
Next Meeting will be January 4, 2018 at 10 a.m. in the Community Room at the Orland Free Library, 333 Mill Street, Orland.
Special Guests: the Editor’s of “Conversations With The Past,” have been invited to tell about this recent publication of the Association for Northern California Historical Research (ANCHR). From their Publications Editor comes the following message:
When the Association of Northern California Records and Research (ANCHR’s predecessor) formed in the 1970s, members spent several years collecting and transcribing a number of oral histories. These histories have languished in storage files for decades. We rediscovered them this year and decided these voices and their stories needed to be heard. Please join us as we present a brief presentation about our 2017 book, Conversations With the Past, to the Friends of the Orland Free Library. This book is a collection of oral histories from seven Northern California counties including Glenn and Colusa counties.
These personal accounts provide a priceless window to a past long gone. They also show that people back then did what we do now—live.
These memories range from personal accounts about the Bidwells, family cattle drives, early days in Paradise and Chico, hitching canoe rides on riverboat barges near Ord Bend, Chico’s first aviator, the discovery of Ishi in Oroville, western Colusa County Indian life from Stonyford’s very own Sharky Moore and John Bidwell’s explorations of the country that would become early Colusi County, herding geese on Dr. Hugh Glenn’s ranch, pioneer life in Orland and Newville as told by Llewellyn Gay (which includes a tale about a feud between two Civil War veterans from opposite sides), memories of Modoc County, the town of Prattville and Big Meadows before Lake Almanor flooded the areas, railroad torpedoes, and President Kennedy’s visit to Lassen Volcanic National Park in 1963.
Twelve local museums including your very own Orland Historical & Cultural Society/Alta Schmidt House Museum helped provide background and opened their archives to provide photographs that visually enhance this 256-page book. Putting together this book was a labor of love for us, and we hope you agree. History is best when shared!
—Josie Smith, ANCHR Publications Editor
