Bidwell CA 1946

This picture from Uncle Doyle Dickinson’s archives is from the summer of 1946 and brings a flood of memories of one of the most interesting chapters of my life. After WW II had ended, Grandfather Dickinson bought an old hotel and 360 acres of sagebrush in the remote area of Ft Bidwell, CA, from his sister. We all moved from Portland Oregon in the hopes of forming a kind of family pioneer united order.

The picture shows two malnourished urchins, forced to work in the woods cutting cedar posts, in the Modoc forest above Ft Bidwell, CA. We worked with our four uncles, Doyle, Max, Vern, and Dick, who was about our age.  We do look happy, as if we did not understand how hard life was! I was 12 years old and younger than my brother Frank, but always a bit larger in stature. We always were best friends growing up and that made everything we did more fun!

The trees were cut and bucked with a two man crosscut saw that was taller than me. It was a trick to pull and push at just the right time to keep the saw moving, and I doubt that we really kept up our end very well. Once the truck was loaded with posts, we drove down the mountain road with three older uncles inside the truck, and Frank and I and Dick precariously riding on top of the load. The posts were sold to the ranchers for about 50 cents each and that helped keep the family financed.

After a series of disasters, including the hotel burning down along with much of the town, we all finally starved out and everyone moved on. This is a great story that I will tell in more detail in the upcoming biography that I intend to complete, as soon as I get around to it!