Berenda’s surprise visitor from the mountains
The appearance of big game on the floor of the San Joaquin Valley was not an unusual sight during the 19th century. Bear, mountain lions, deer, and antelope were often found along the waterways that coursed across the plains. By the turn of the century, however, only the ubiquitous jackrabbit was left. Civilization had eliminated […]
President Grant got a surprise in Madera
As the little town of Madera was growing up in the 19th century, several important politicians visited here. Presidents, former Presidents, and would-be Presidents met at Captain Mace’s hotel on the corner of E and Yosemite Avenue to begin a journey that would take them to the Big Trees and beyond. One of these was […]
Corporal Lou Emmert’s final roll call
Corporal Emmert finished her earthly tour of duty, and retreat was called for her on June 5, 2022. She had been at her post for almost 100 years. Born Lou Hughes (later Emmert, wife of Madera farmer Charles Emmert), she was the daughter of Marshall Hughes, granddaughter of William Hughes, and great-granddaughter of Thomas E. […]
Coarsegold: A Madera County treasure
Long before the town of Madera was on the map, gold — heavy, coarse gold — was discovered in abundance along a gulch in what is now Eastern Madera County. With miners probing for placers on every creek and stream of the southern Mother Lode, it is no surprise that this entire area, approximately 35 […]
Off-duty peccadilloes turned deadly for lumberjacks
On May 16, 1905, the Madera County coroner held an inquest into the demise of one Blucher N. Settle. It was determined that he had met his death from gunshot wounds inflicted by John Enos at Sugar Pine. The incident, which caused quite a stir at the time, occurred at Steven’s Place and revealed a […]
Westfall: A sheriff of second chances
When Samson Westfall ran against John Jones in 1910 and jerked the sheriff’s badge away from the two-term lawman, he thought the job would be a breeze. After all, he had served once before as sheriff of Madera County, from 1895 to 1899, and things had gone along smoothly then. He had reckoned, however, without […]
Madera’s downtown fires
Madera was founded in 1876, and from then until now it has been ever mindful of the constant threat of fire. That fear is real. There have been enough conflagrations on Yosemite Avenue alone to fill a book on the subject. One of the more memorable blazes was the 1886 fire, which destroyed Mace’s Hotel […]
Madera County’s vagabond schoolteacher
There might be a few Madera County residents who remember J.G. Smale; he might even have some descendants here today. The chances are good, however, that there are none who recalls being in the classroom of this ubiquitous teacher, but he deserves to be remembered. Smale was one of the few men who sought a […]
Raymond man had independent streak
Nearly everyone agrees that mountain folks tend to be just a bit independent, especially Madera County mountain folks. For years they have more or less marched to their own drum, refusing on numerous occasions to conform to “conventional wisdom.” In the summer of 1914, however, even the residents of Raymond met their match in the […]
Integrating Madera’s swimming pool
Tension was in the air in Madera in 1947. The long-standing exclusion of African-Americans from the City’s swimming pool was being challenged, and the integration attempts weren’t set well with some of the town’s power brokers, especially the publisher of the Madera Tribune. Howard Clark, whose father had founded the paper in 1892, took umbrage […]
