Where did this medal come from? Scottish Thistle Games, Shell Mound Park, July 4th, 1891, L. A. Lamory, 2nd place - The San Francisco Examiner - 05 Jul 1891, Sun - Page 10

This is on Ebay: 1891 San Francisco Scottish Thistle Club Medal For Bicycle Race SILVER & GOLD for $499.50. I have a standard search for bicycle stuff in the 1890s, and it caught this one. I was curious about it. Seller is in Placerville, about 125 miles Northeast of where the medal was won.

FORMER SLAVE TELLS PIONEER TALES - Oakland Tribune - 29 Nov 1933, Wed - Page 12

FORMER SLAVE, NOW 96, TELLS PIONEER TALES Wed, Nov 29, 1933 – Page 12 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Alameda, California, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

FORMER SLAVE TELLS PIONEER TALES 

Mrs. Katherine Smith Came To California in Early '50s; Has Lived Here Many Years 

Mrs. Katherine Smith, 96, Negro resident of Oakland, who recalls the days when she was a slave. Mrs. Smith came to California with her owner in the Gold Rush Days. - Tribune photo

Slave days on a plantation near Jackson, Mississippi, where she was born In 1837, and the pioneer era in California during the '50's are highlights in the life of Mrs. Katherine Smith, Negro, 98, of 2123 Chestnut Street. [Note, that familysearch.org link is a guess. - MF]

Nearing the century mark, Mrs. Smith still vividly recalls incidents of her early life. As a young girl she was brought by her owner to New Orleans, to be sold on the slave block in the historic Traders' Yard. The stigma of going on the block, however, was spared her, for according to her account, she was bought in the yard proper, without being auctioned. A sister, from whom she never heard again, was sold at the same time.

SAW SAN FRANCISCO SWALLOWED AT GULP - Oakland Tribune - 14 Jul 1907, Sun - Page 36

SAW SAN FRANCISCO SWALLOWED AT GULP Sun, Jul 14, 1907 – Page 36 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Alameda, California, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

SAW SAN FRANCISCO SWALLOWED AT GULP 

Mountaineer Is Witness to Phenomena of Greater Disturbance Than Has Been Recorded by Man

BY THE MAN AFOOT

I have always gathered from stories with morals and ethical lecturer that bad habits grow upon the victim while good habits must be assiduously cultivated. In this walking habit I have discovered an exception. Taking it for granted that pedestrianism is a good habit it seems to have all the vitality and tenacity of a bad one.

JOY TRIPS ARE MANY; BEAUTY-SPOTS PLENTY - Oakland Tribune - 28 Feb 1915, Sun - Page 8

JOY TRIPS ARE MANY; BEAUTY-SPOTS PLENTY Silva Classen TO BLOG Sun, Feb 28, 1915 – Page 8 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Alameda, California, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

JOY TRIPS ARE MANY; BEAUTY-SPOTS PLENTY

Now that Old Sol has renewed his acquaintance with stranger Earth after the long domination of the storm clouds, the call of the great outdoors is heard insistently appealing to the able-bodied to come out and play. Oaklanders are fortunate in having at their very doors the opportunity to answer the call. They are fortunate in having play-space in the heart of the city provided by the authorities where they may come out and frolic, but they are even more fortunate in being amply cared for by the great provider Nature, who has encircled the city with a ring of beautiful hills, and laid in her lap a sunny bay.

The Knave - Oakland Tribune - Sunday, September 28, 1941

The Knave Unknown Forty-Niner Redwood Peak The Hights graves Sun, Sep 28, 1941 – Page 21 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Alameda, California, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

I'm leaving out the first few paragraphs, which deal with current politics, and moving right to the histories and stories. Click the image above if you want to read what you missed, here. - MF

Unknown Forty-Niner

When we started in to recall the old days of redwood lumbering in the hills crowning Oakland, many an old-timer responded as we had hoped, and enlarged the tale out of memory of family records. But the other day I got from Theodore E. Merritt a story of contrasts and disclosures.

The Knave - Oakland Tribune - 19 Oct 1941, Sun - Page 17

More on Our Redwoods Sun, Oct 19, 1941 – Page 17 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Alameda, California, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

I'm leaving out the first few paragraphs, which deal with current politics, and moving right to the histories and stories. Click the image above if you want to read what you missed, here. - MF

Ruins of Donner Cabin? 

From Harry P. Bagley who does a thorough job of historical research and reporting for the Sacramento Bee, I learn of the part Edwin H. Johnson of Wilton, and of Oakland, played in discovering what he is certain are the sites of the shelters which housed George and Jacob Donner, their families and associates, during the tragic Winter of 1346. Mr. Johnson recently wrote an article on the subject and it was one to attract the particular attention of Mrs. Jennie Calloway Graham Westlow of Sacramento who, as a girl, lived in the Alder Creek section where the ruins were found, and remembers seeing, in a thicket of willows near the emigrant trail the rotting ruins of a crude habitation. Her mother, a California pioneer, who knew the Donners in Illinois before they started their fatal journey, shared the discovery and identified the moldering hut as one of the Donner cabins. Mrs. Westlow, now 81 years old, wrote to Johnson, telling him of her girlhood experience. As an outgrowth of her letter Mrs. Westlow, Johnson and Bagley spent several days, late in August, seeking the site of Jacob Donner's cabin on Alder Creek. And Mrs. Westlow believes that she and Johnson have solved a riddle which for almost a century has puzzled students of the tragic Donner story.

REDWOOD PEAK MYSTERY LIGHT HALTED BY U.S. - Wed, Jul 18, 1917 - The San Francisco Examiner

Wed, Jul 18, 1917 – 1 · The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

REDWOOD PEAK MYSTERY LIGHT HALTED BY U.S. 

Big Searchlights Seized by Secret Service Men on Suspicion of Being Teuton Signals.

The federal government yesterday put an end to the mysterious signal system that has been operated for several weeks by unknown men on the summit of Redwood Peak, Alameda county.

First Century of 1902.

I have no idea what this means. Seen on ebay, "1902 Waukegan IL News Sun Newpaper Comic Halbert Grout Automobile Bicycle"

The description reads:

Up for auction is a vintage 1902 newspaper comic from the Waukegan News Sun in Illinois. It is a photo of H E Halbert riding a bicycle in the snow towards Waukegan. Halbert later drove a Grout Automobile to a victory in the Chicago Motor Club 1000 Mile Reliability Contest. The bottom corners of the comic are cut at an angle and the paper has yellowed from age. It is fastened to black rigid paper, similar to what you saw with photos from that era. The comic measures 3” by 4 1/4”. Winning bidder pays $3.00 for USPS shipping. I only ship to addresses in the USA and Canada. Illinois residents must pay 7.0% for sales tax. Good luck and happy bidding!

New 'Inspiration Point' on Sequoia Park Road Uncovered - Oakland Tribune - 17 Dec 1930, Wed - Page 14

New 'Inspiration Point' on Sequoia Park Road Uncovered Wed, Dec 17, 1930 – Page 14 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Alameda, California, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

UNEMPLOYED RELIEF WORK BENEFITS PARKS 

New 'Inspiration Point' on Sequoia Park Road Uncovered 

A permanent and tangible benefit to the city of Oakland, for its work in creating jobs for the unemployed, began to appear in the public eye today when the park department revealed a new "inspiration point" in the hills which is said to give the finest view of the Eastbay cities, the bay, San Francisco, and the northern bay, that has ever been offered to citizens and tourists.

The new view-point is lower, and not higher, than the present Sequoia Point which it will supplant at the junction of the Sequoia Park and the Joaquin Miller road. The present Sequoia point, with its wide circle for automobiles, gives a splendid view but it is mostly southward because a hillside cuts off the northern view. The new point further down is at the brow of a hill and gives a view in all directions.

Superintendent Leo Kerfoot of the park department has had his emergency workmen cut down 1000 trees already, as well as large volumes of brush, to clear away the new vantage point. A road will be built and all facilities will be made for tourists, he says.

Meanwhile, Kerfoot is employing 12 additional men today, to extend the pipe line in Sequoia park. He declares that, although the unemployment situation is regrettable, it has helped beautify the parks more than ever before.

TOURING CAR WITH STATEROOMS - American Motorist, Volume 4, American Automobile Association, 1912

 American Motorist, Volume 4 Front Cover American Automobile Association, 1912 page 815

#vanlife

For Touring de Luxe

TOURING CAR WITH STATEROOMS 

Luxury in motor travel, together with independence from hotels, has been achieved by U. H. Dandurand, of Montreal, in a Pullman Packard. On a three-ton Packard truck chassis has been mounted a body whose interior arrangement is similar to that of a private railroad car. Twenty-five persons are easily carried on short trips and for long Journeys there are accommodations for the comfort of eleven including chauffeur and cook.

The body is twenty-five feet, three inches over all; six feet, six inches wide; nine feet, six inches, outside height; six feet, six inches, inside height. The compartments consist of a stateroom for the driver in front; a ladies stateroom with sleeping room for five; a men's stateroom with quarters for four. This section is also the dining and smoking room, with two extension tables and a folding desk.

In the rear is a kitchenette, compact and complete from stove to refrigerator.

There is a telephone system with four instruments, placing every compartment in touch with the driver.

The interior finish is mahogany; the drapings of green silk and plush with gold lace trimmings, with Pullman carpets to match.

The lighting system consists of a dynamo with two accumulators having a capacity of 160 amperes. The front of the car has six lights, two electric, two gas and two oil; the rear has a red tall light, an electric dome and two railway signal lights.

Under the body floor are five lockers containing planks to reinforce weak bridges, blocks and tackle, and an entire touring emergency outfit. The body was built by P Brault, Montreal. Special springs designed by Packard engineers insure easy riding. Mr Dandurand, who is president of the Comet Motor Car Company in Montreal, will go to Florida this fall with his family in his Packard Pullman and spend the winter touring

Dimond Is Destined to Be Starting Point of Hikers Harold French Contra Costa Hills Club - Oakland Tribune - 08 Mar 1922, Wed - Page 13

Dimond Is Destined to Be Starting Point of Hikers Harold French Contra Costa Hills Club Wed, Mar 8, 1922 – Page 13 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Alameda, California, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

Dimond Is Destined to Be Starting Point of Hikers 

Dimond is destined to become a popular starting point for hikers on their way to the woods and the hills. Like Mill Valley, it is the jumping-off place for picnic parties. Its two car lines make their intersection the natural objective for those who leave the trolley for the trails.

Tke Knave - Fish Ranch Road - Sheriff Hale & Hangings - Oakland Tribune - 23 Aug 1964, Sun - Page 144

Fish Ranch - John Olive Aug 23, 1964 - The Knave Sun, Aug 23, 1964 – 144 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Alameda, California, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

WHIMSY has a way of creeping into nomenclature probably more than in any other art or science. If this wasn't true, Oakland's Fish Ranch Road might very well be known today as Olive Road. After all, John Olive was indirectly responsible for its naming. He is the man who arrived in Contra Costa County in 1879 and established the Fish Ranch in the hills eight miles out (much closer today) from Oakland. John Olive's ranch produced just what it says - fish! And it wasn't long in winning fans from Oakland. The quaint and capricious name of Fish Ranch Road soon attached itself to the dirt roadway that meandered past Olive's new settlement. Little did it matter to John. More important was the fact that his new home soon became a stage stop. Actually, Fish Ranch Road is an extension of Claremont Avenue that bisects Berkeley and Oakland. The Fish Ranch Road hooks on to Claremont and goes on up over the hills to link Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. It was then Fish Ranch Road all the way to John Olive's place, and even beyond. Location of the Fish Ranch was at what was for a while called Rocky Point. Six high-speed traffic lanes swerve over the old ranch site now. All you can do is close your eyes and imagine the ranch setting. Outbound to Contra Costa from Oakland it would be somewhere before you reached the lane that now turns up the hill to the Kaiser rock quarry on the right side of Mt. Diablo Boulevard.

Final Link in Chain of Parks Assured as City Votes Funds - Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) 18 Sep 1946, Wed • Page 4

Final Link in Chain of Parks Assured as City Votes Funds Wed, Sep 18, 1946 – Page 4 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, Alameda, California, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

Final Link in Chain of Parks Assured as City Votes Funds 

Purchase of a 22-acre strip of property to complete Oakland's chain of parks was assured today as the City Council appropriated the remainder of the $13,000 required to obtain the final link.

GREAT PARK SYSTEM IS CITY'S HOPE - The San Francisco Examiner - 15 Apr 1917, Sun - Page 10

Sun, Apr 15, 1917 – 10 · The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America) · Newspapers.com

GREAT PARK SYSTEM IS CITY'S HOPE 

With The Hights as a Beginning, Oakland Is Planning to Acquire Chain of Public Grounds

FORESTS, STREAMS, GLENS 

Voters to Be Asked at October Election to Support Bond Issue to Acquire Valuable Tracts

The nucleus of a park projected by the city of Oakland, a park greater in area than Golden Gate Park, of greater natural beauty, and commanding unsurpassed views, has been secured through the acquisition of The Hights, the home of Joaquin Miller.