Today is the Day!! Tell Your Story!!!

Judy E. Bushy
Tell Your Story!!
You have a story to tell. Many times people who grew up in Happy Camp write to us and say it was the most wonderful childhood they could have imagined. Have you had that experience??

Stella Did!
Stella W. Patterson was an elderly lady when she left the Circle P (for Patterson) Ranch down by Willow Creek and moved to a mining cabin on the Klamath River at Ferry Point. She wrote the story of her year there, along with her friends, Fred (DearSir) Upn’Up and his wife and new baby (Benji,) a Karuk gal that lived across the Klamath River and came to visit. … Frenchy, all those wonderful characters who have been read about for decades.

Readers Became Fans!
When her story was published in 1959, and only arrived the day of her funeral, it was a best seller!! It was a book club selection! It had various foreign printings as well. People loved it then, and still today people tell us that they read it over and over again. They Love It!!

Naturegraph has kept the book in print, and after the fire, Barbara promised not to forget Dear Mad’m. It is now available again from Naturegraph!! They love it.

National Write Your Story Day — March 14

20th Karuk Reunion was a Great Gathering

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by Judy Bushy

Although the day was warm, it wasn’t quite as hot as some Karuk Tribal Reunion days have been in the past! Tents were all over. This year was the 20th annual event at the Tribal compound, Administrative, medical and dental clinic and other offices are there as well as the People’s Museum and Multipurpose Building that used to be the Happy Camp Elementary until back in 1989 when the new school was build on Park Way.

The largest and most prominent white tent being the one where all the Health Services were located. Keeping people safe and healthy is very important to the Karuk Tribe and we are grateful for all that they provide, not only for Karuk Tribal members and descendants, but also for the entire community.

The most fun of the event, to me at least, was to see bunches of children in joyous play swooping down the water slides, splashing and playing! In a day when there is concern that our children spend far too much of their time glued to modern technology, cell phones, I-pods, and computer screens and games, Active play in the out of doors in water play was fun to watch! The kids all wore big smiles, some with toothless grins common among youngsters in the early primary years. They were all especially cute, at that age in life when new teeth are a momentous occasion!
After watching them for awhile, and trying without much success to catch the blur of their activity and constant motion on camera, it was time to go to lunch in the air conditioned Senior Nutrition site.

It was ther that I had the pleasure of meeting Huddleston Oakes! Huddleston grew up at Ferry Point and his sister, Arlene was the young girl who visited Stella in her book about living on the Klamath River, Dear Mad’m! He uis listed, with Arlene in the Methodist /church roll for 1939. It was happy news to hear that he can read Klamath Views in the Siskiyou Daily News in Weed as well. His mother, Virginia Effman Oakes, and later added Anderson) wrote newspaper articles before my dayu. Debbie Wilkinson and Hazel Davis Gendron wrote articles about Happy Camp. Wouldn’t it be fun to read all their articles now!! Hazel has been sharing some items that she found in old newspaper research on the Facebook page, Growing up In Happy Camp, and we enjoy them so much!

We went back to the reunion later, as there were more old time friends and family still to visit with, but Huddleston left us wishing we knew more about the families, Southards, Oakes, Effman, Hastings Brothers and Taylors as well as the Coverts, Cy Jenson (Up’n Up) Fred Crooks (DearSir) and others no longer here. Those characters who lived down where Tinkum Creek met Titus Creek before joining the Klamath where Robert E. Southard and his family had their cabin.
!

What can you tell us about Cy Jensen and Laura??

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By Judy Bushy

Perhaps you recall Cy Jensenj, well known from the story of Dear Mad’m by Stella W. Patterson, when he was called “Up’nUp”. Do you remember the days down by Ferry Point south of the Clear Creek post office when he was mining with Fred Crooks, “DearSir” in the story.

Thanks to Roberta, we’ve found that Laura came from Trinity (there was hint in the book!!) and they went to Washington to be married.

Do you remember the years along the Klamath, when a couple of men could bring in gold and fish along the Klamath River?? Stella turned 80 years old in 1946 and wrote the book, DearMad’m about a year deciding if a woman of her age could live the adventurous life on the River.
Tell us your stories and remembrances of those wonderful ol’ days along the Klamath River!! Thanks!!

Come Celebrate Dear Mad’m Day With Us

Happy Camp is celebrating a literary pioneer from our community. Dear Mad’m Day will be Saturday with a Picnic Luncheon at 11 o’clock (for a $5 donation.) The picnic luncheon will be held in the shade of the sycamore trees on the lawn of the Klamath River Resort Inn on the Klamath River east of Happy Camp, a beautiful setting for a picnic!! Bring your folding chair or blanket for the picnic…..see further details on Community Page.

Check out the Calendar and let us know of any events your organization has planned that isn’t on the calendar, please. You can send notices to jbushy (at) happycampnews.com. Thank you for your help in sharing the events with our Klamath Neighbors!!!

Further information on the First Annual Dear Mad’m Day is on www.happycamphistory.com also.
There’s further winner’s announced for the Chilli Cookoff and the Karuk Reunion on Community page also as well as new business news.

Thank you for your encouragement and support of Happy Camp News!