Decidedly Grim

As promised, I thought I’d give a review of one of my favorite recent reads, “Death In California” by David Kulczyk.

Death In California: The Bizarre, Freakish, and Just Curious Ways People Die in the Golden State
by David Kulczyk

This is another wonderful little dare-you-to-put-it-down anthology of Horrible Things that have happened in the Golden State. What I love most about David’s anthologies (his previous work was California Justice) is that many of the stories he writes about occurred in my old neck of the woods (Northern California near Chico), an area that isn’t often discussed in books. The fascinating but true stories he dredges up make me wonder why on earth I hadn’t done research of this variety myself when I lived there. How much more enriching would my trips to various destinations in the state have been if I’d known the morbid history that played out there? The answer: Much more enriching. Of course. As they will be the next time I visit them with Death In California in hand!

This particular volume is my favorite of his tomes, as it discusses a wide variety of interesting deaths from murderous drunken pioneers, wicked stepmothers, and doomed snake charmers to plane crashes, mysterious celebrity deaths, and toddlers trapped in wells. Some of the stories you will no doubt have heard before, though rarely told as well, but the best tales are the ones veiled in obscurity – like the Wheatland Hop Riot of August 3, 1913, where a labor dispute ended with three men dead and several injured. It was the second major labor dispute in United States history – and I’d never heard of it before.

Another highly fascinating tale is that of The Ape Boy, Gordon Stewart Northcott, who raped and murdered several boys at the Wineville Chicken Ranch in Los Angeles County. In fact, the photographs of Northcott that accompany the text are creepy enough all by themselves!

However, for me, the best part of the book comes early on, when David tells a story that is all too rarely voiced in California history: the plight of the Native Americans of the state, who had lived in peace and prosperity for thousands of years before they were hunted, double-crossed, enslaved, and impoverished by the invading pioneers. In fact, reading a few of the stories left me hungry to learn more about the atrocities. Perhaps the most disgusting was the poisoning of hundreds of Shasta Indians at a treaty-signing feast on November 4, 1851. Stories like this really put into perspective the horrible price paid for Manifest Destiny.

I sincerely hope David keeps up the good work. There are so many obscure tales just waiting for him to get out the shovel and exhume them. I’m looking forward to his next collection of esoteric morbidity!

Library

It’s always a rare occasion when I can feature a morbid fact that has personal significance to me and today’s fact is just such one occasion. I grew up in Butte County, California, and, as you might expect, frequented the cemeteries of the area. One of my favorites is Clear Creek Cemetery – a tiny pioneer-era graveyard along Clark Road just south of my hometown of Paradise. One of the gravestones in the cemetery has always intrigued me – a modern stone that commemorates the Lewis children, Jimmy and Johnny, with the inscription, “Killed by Mill Creek Indians”. I always wondered the full story of the 1863 murders and my friend, author David Kulczyk, satiated my curiosity by detailing the tale in his excellent 2009 tome, Death In California.

Today’s Notorious Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

The notorious Mill Creek Indians, led by a cruel, six-toed native called Bigfoot, began vicious attacks in the early summer of 1863; the most despicable was the abduction and subsequent murder of the Lewis children on July 5 or 6 of that year.

Sam Lewis owned a ranch near Dry Creek off Cherokee Road. His children – eleven-year-old Jimmy, nine-year-old Arenia, and six-year-old Johnny – left their school together, along with their teacher and a couple of other students. They parted ways at Littlefield Creek. Little Johnny wasn’t old enough to go to school, but Mrs. Lewis had allowed the little boy to go with his siblings that day.

Stopping for a drink of water, Jimmy was shot and fell face first into the water. Natives sprung out of the bushes and threw heavy rocks onto his lifeless body, while his sister and little brother trembled in fear.

A group of ten natives grabbed the surviving two children and headed for the hills, with Chief Bigfoot leading them. They forced the barefooted children to run through the rocky terrain, until they came to Nance Canyon, where they camped for the night. Arenia cuddled her little brother throughout the chilly night.

They left the camp early in the morning, and when Johnny started crying, four of the Mill Creek Indians took the little boy away and killed him. They rejoined the band, wearing his clothes.

After crossing several creeks, the band came across some of Captain Bidwell’s cattle. They killed one and ate strips of meat raw. After making moccasins from the cowhide, the natives were ready to start hiking again, taking much of the beef along with them, but only after two of the natives expressed their desire to tear Arenia’s two gold earrings out of her ear. The girl took the earrings out, causing the two natives to fight over who would get them. Arenia settled the matter by handing each of them an earring.

The native in charge of Arenia was crippled, and he was additionally encumbered by the stolen meat. He told the girl that he had been shot by a white man. The two lagged farther and farther behind the rest of the group and when they got to Big Chico Creek, Arenia asked if she could sit down. The lame native told her yes, but he told her he would shoot her if she moved off the boulder that she was sitting on. As soon as the natives were out of sight, Arenia rolled off the rock and scurried through the brush and down a creek. As she hid in the water, she could hear the natives looking for her. They eventually gave up and Arenia ran to the nearby Thomasson Ranch and safety.

After her ordeal, Arenia Lewis changed her name to Thankful. She lived to a ripe old age, marrying three times.

Culled from: Death In California by David Kulczyk

While I was back home visiting my family last February, I took an excursion to the cemetery with my Holga and took a shot of the Lewis grave. Unfortunately, the focus was off so the gravestone is not legible, but you can get a sense of the beautiful, lonely atmosphere of the cemetery, in any event. Next time I go back home, I’ll be sure to get a better shot of the grave.

Oh, and I’ll have a full review of Death In California tomorrow.

Facts

Today’s Questioning Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Famous Last Words: On her deathbed in 1946, American writer Gertrude Stein asked, “What is the answer?” When no answer was given, she laughed and said, “In that case, what is the question?”

Culled from: Death: A History Of Man’s Obsessions and Fears

Facts

It looks like death by Niagara Falls is actually extremely popular. Well, damn. I’ll have scratch that off the potential suicide method list, then. The Comtesse doesn’t *do* popular. Sigh…

Suicide Season

Web

Fascinating artwork by The Chapman Brothers. I love “If Hitler Had Been A Hippy How Happy Would We Be” (under Exhibitions) which depicts all sorts of horrible yet imaginative tortures via dioramas laid out in the shape of a swastika. Provocative, to say the least.

The Chapman Brothers

Art

Street Anatomy is a fantastic blog. Mike (who sent me the link) describes it as: “Vintage medical illustration. Street art. Fashion. Jewelry. Interior design. More, More, More. All depicting, inspired or designed around parts of the human body in virtually any context and collected from around the world. Vigorously updated. Hell Yes.”

It’s fantastic – check it out!

Street Anatomy

Web

If the Comtesse were to ever do anything so vulgar as get married, this is the pillow she would have the rings resting on. Perhaps you might consider the same?

Available from Shabee Stitches.

Trinkets

Lady Morgana sent me an interesting story about a 7-year-old boy who went over Niagara Falls back in 1960, and survived. The survivor describes the experience of going over the falls as “total vertigo and the best way I can describe it is I was in a cloud — a cloud of mist. It was peaceful and totally uneventful.” Hmmmm… Excuse me while I add ‘Death By Niagara Falls’ to my list of potential suicide methods…

Anyway, here’s the full story if you’re interested:
When a 7-Year-Old Boy Beat the Falls

News

Today’s Legendary Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

The facts: On August 27, 1891, a passenger train jumped the tracks on a tall bridge near Statesville, North Carolina, sending seven rail cars below and about 30 people to their deaths. The legend: On the wreck’s anniversary, the sounds of screeching wheels, screaming passengers and a horrific crash might still be heard. You might also see a uniformed man with a gold watch. Shortly before 3 a.m. Friday (8/27/10), on the 119th anniversary of the Bostian Bridge train tragedy and at about the same time, between 10 and 12 ghost hunters were on that approximately 300-foot long span. They were hoping to hear the sounds of the crash, and perhaps see something. Instead, a real Norfolk-Southern train — three engines and one car — turned the corner as it headed east to Statesville, about 35 miles north of Charlotte, authorities said. The terrified “amateur ghost watchers” ran away, back toward Statesville, trying to cover the nearly 150 feet to safety, said Iredell County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Darren Campbell. All but two made it. Christopher Kaiser, 29, of Charlotte, was struck and killed. A woman who witnesses say Kaiser pushed to safety fell about 30 to 40 feet from the trestle and was injured. Her name and condition were not known Friday night. She was being treated at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. “There was no way out, said Campbell. “They almost made it.” The engineer of the train, which was traveling at its customary 35 to 40 mph, hit the horn and “stopped as fast as he could”. A woman who did not want to be identified, but who was part of the group of onlookers, told CNN affiliate WCNC, “We were there looking for what people say happened. You hear the train wreck or hear people screaming. We were just watching.”

Culled from: CNN

Can’t wait to hear the EVP’s and see the videos for *that* ghost hunt. Way more fruitful than a normal one, that’s for sure.

Facts

Don’t you just love the buried history of cities? I know I do! Turns out there are hundreds (thousands?) of slave graves in the Ground Zero area of NYC. Hmmmm… time to get out the shovel and see what I can dig up here in Chicago?

Ground Zero’s Slave Graves

News