Three Natives of the Klamath

Ray Stores, the man who killed the lion, is holding the heard: Rudolph Blockwell is twisting the lion’s tail. Ray has killed many of these big cats and by so doing has saved the lives of many deer, as it is estimated that a lion will kill one deer a week.

The building pctured here is that of the old (American House Hotel) Cuddihy place and is now owned by Mr. & Mrs. Baker. It looks the same as it did over fifty years ago on my first visit to Happy Camp. It was then that I first met Martin Cuddihy. I arrived there tired and footsore, hungry and thirsty after a long walk over a steep pack trail. There were no roads to Happy Camp at that time, now was it in Siskiyou County but was a part of Del Norte County. Martin Cuddihy tried to persuade me to have a small drop of liquor, and he did not have to try very hard. He then offered me food and shelter for as long as I cared to stay. He told me that he set the best table of any hotel in Northern California and in that respect I soon found that he was telling the truth. I also found that Martin never refused food to a hungry man, even though he knew that he would never receive any money.

Martin Cuddihy crossed the Great Divide many years ago. They have missed him in Happy Camp, and we all know that His “eternal lot as been cast with those who know no sorrow and can feel no pain” And so9 long as I* live I will remember Martin Cuddihy as one of the finest among those fine old timers.