A Real Mecca

Mendocino Village As Seen From Hwy 1

Today working, living or existing within our economic dilemma, slow recovery, burdens of the business entrepreneur, the corporate juggler, the retiree, or the returning vet, needing the perfect environment for repair, mending, or transformation of our inner selves. We need to discover an area, a mecca for refreshing the stamina used for dealing with these overloads.

Anthony De Mello teaches his reader about the discovery of their self, the awakening of their soul. The Way To Love We are awakened by different experiences. The introduction of new individuals into our lives. Self search and examination of our disconnects from self and world. This opportunity was recently provided for us, and truly we re-discovered such a mecca. Doesn't the Japanese believe that we are introduced to strangers by chance to gain an awakening from that meeting?

Our daughter and future son-in-law offered us a two night stay at a Mendocino Inn that was the vehicle for such an awakening. This was also the catalyst that provided the opportunity for a re-connection of close friends.

Thom and Don, thank you for the introduction, of not only yourselves, but also to Hillary and Eric, who we hope to meet again. Sharing your special Inn nestled amongst the woods and viewing the California coast line was another peaceful catalyst. This Inn is part of the local history, Abalone poaching is one clue.

Mendocino, California was settled in 1850 as a lumber community. First named after Henry Meggs (Meggsville). Much of the lumber used to build Virginia City, Nevada along for the building and re-building of San Francisco was from this area. Shipped down the coast to San Francisco for milling then traveled by wagons over the Sierras to Virginia City. See earlier posts about Virginia City, Nevada or our fictional piece about early technology.

Transformed from a thriving lumber community to its present day relaxing Mecca. This village has maintained the 1800 theme with the original structures, homes, and establishments. It's skyline accented with towering water towers, some of these towers remodeled into bungalows for homes and used by many bed & breakfast as rooms.

Strolling the streets offers the visitor access to specialty shops, art, coffee shops, restaurants of quality Cuisine, highlighted by the view of the Pacific ocean. Stand along the bluffs gazing out to sea you may by chance see the migrating whales spouting. The whales migrate October thru February - south & February thru July - north. What a peaceful, meditative activity for our inner exploration.

North of Mendocino, is Fort Bragg another small town that was established as a military fort prior to the Civil War (1857). The military was responsible for maintaining order on the Pomo Indian Reservation located along the Noyo river.

The reservation was closed and the area opened for settlement in 1866. Lumber Mill's started springing up at the mouth of various rivers in 1869. Allowing the lumber industry to become self sufficient, no longer having to ship logs to San Francisco for milling.

Glass Beach In Fort Bragg



Today we are exposed to the history of this area and experience multiple places for lodging eating and exploring. I assume many of these establishments utilized the lumber from the area for constructing the towns buildings and homes.

Truly this entire area offers anyone seeking inner exploration, a mecca of reaching solidarity with ourselves.

Some interesting visits are:

Glass Beach - once the city dump, now a State Park. The name came from the great amount of glass that over time has become smooth from the sanding action of the salt water waves.

Hiking - Trails along the headlands, exploring the cliffs and wild life. WARNING hiking in some areas of the forest can be dangerous. Please ask Rangers and/or locals for the safe trails before taking the venture and do not stray from these established trails.

Cabrillo Point Light House



Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg - great hike from Highway 1 to the cliffs of the ocean.

Brewery within Fort Bragg offers great beers and foods.

Mendocino Art Center - Offers classes, pieces for sale of the local artists.

Mendocino & Fort Bragg - offers theatre group put on by local actors



Advertise on Jodie & Don Travels Blog to reach potential cliental from not only the United States but also Europe, Japan along with our local readers from California.

Email: docrickets@gmail.com for details.

For the times you do not want to eat at a Resturant, I suggest stopping at Harvest at Mendosas on Lansing street. Great salad bar, soup bar and various other international Cusine to take back to the room. Serve with a bottle of wine.

Garden Bakery fresh baked pastries which can be taken around the corner to Moody's coffee bar.

For Pet Supplies we recommend:

Evergreen Pet Grocers Mendocino

Highway 20 Feed

A new member of our travel team is "Sidney." She is a Rhodesian Ridgeback, Charpe mix. She joined our team through our son, William, and a special young lady that we had the privilege of meeting "Emily" happened upon this puppy straying through the streets and desert of Arizona. Sidney is a licensed, registered and certified "Service Dog." Should you have the chance to meet her, she will melt your heart.

We find that friends who live within the area, local shop keepers or owners, Independant blog authors, pet shop keepers are always the best references for the area.

The First Church

The Birth of The Territorial Enterprise

He walked out of the papers offices into the evening cold, heading to the express office. Mormon station had not yet been connected by telegraph, so express was the mode of transportation for letters.

He felt a sense of accomplishment from his new position with the Enterprise paper. This was a good opportunity for him to have a steady income stream, some stability from his haphazard wandering and failure to establish a vain for gold. The good Lord did not mean for him to be a rich man. This realization saddened him some, he wanted to return to the farm in Iowa, able to hire all of the hands needed to work and allow he and his brother-in-law to succeed more in farming. Instead, his writings earned him most of his and the families income.

“Henry” loudly announced William as he walked through the door. Henry was most likely asleep, a state brought on by his over consumption of whiskey.

“No need to yell, Bill! I’m right here ole man.” Henry was sitting at his desk, with a metal contraption connected to two wires placed in front of him. Another gentleman was sitting next to him.

“What the Hell is that?” Bill asked.

“Telegraph, my man,” Henry responded, “Telegraph. We are in the modern age my friend, no more Express riders, no more late mail, no more lost mail, we can now communicate directly and instantly with every connected telegraph office in the Union.”

Suddenly the contraption started clicking, startling Bill. He stood at the counter, watching and listening to the various clicks, stop, and more clicks the contraption would spit out. The two gentlemen were busily writing onto a piece of paper and listening intently. When the clicking finally stopped, they both sat for a minute to listen for more.

Henry read aloud, “To Mormon Station, Nevada Territory, telegraph office, stop. Henry you have successfully transmitted to the Virginia main telegraph office, via relay, stop. Henry O’Riley, has informed the Chief Master telegraph officer for the President of the Union, President Abraham Lincoln, that said office is now connected via telegraph, stop.”

William Wright, retrieved the note paper from his jacket pocket, quickly writing down notes of this momentous event.
“Mormon Station, you are now commissioned and directed to operate from 7 in the morning, until 8 in the evenings with no exception, stop.”

The two gentlemen compared notes, speaking softly to each other. Both of them ended their conversation with smiles and hand shakes. The gentleman walked out from behind the counter and left the office.

“We have now entered the future, my friend,” Henry stated proudly as he approached the counter.

“Can it be safely stated that all who want to communicate with their families, government officials, company’s, can now utilize telegraph?” Bill asked, writing down the question and waiting for the response.

“Yes, that is a fact, as long as there is a telegraph office in that town,” responded Henry. “You will also be able to send telegraphs to nearby towns to be delivered to the outlying town’s express office. This will allow your communications to arrive faster to those whom it is meant.”

Bill quickly jotted down the notes.

“How much will this modern day communication cost the consumer?” Bill inquired.

“One cent per word for the first five words, one half cent per word thereafter,” he answered.

“Seems expensive?” Bill stated. “Will there be a discount for more words?”

“Why?”

Bill, extracted the letter and money from his jacket pocket and provided the sealed envelope it to Henry.

“Oh, I understand the question. Yes, it would become costly for those who are writing letters home.”

William paid the postage while Henry wrote a note for the amount of money to be provided by the express office in Iowa. This receipt would inform the express office had received the money to be given to William’s wife.



“The charge is five cents,” Henry said.

“Thanks, Henry. It is nice to be in the modern age and hope that this will be the way of communications herein-out,” Bill said, while handing him the nickel for charges.

“I will inquire about discounts for letters, but don’t get your hopes up, my friend.”

“I won’t,” Bill said inserting his notes into his coat pocket and turning to leave. William Wright turned as he opened the door, “though we can communicate much faster.”

Henry turned and returned to his desk as the door to his office closed.

As William Wright slowly walked down the main street towards the saloon, he could not help but think of how the war was going to affect this new form of communications?

The voices from the saloon along with the music drifted out the door into the freezing night as he approached already tasting his first drink. He entered through the doors retracting his notes. He approached the bar waved to the bartender. The bartender acknowledged him and immediately poured him the first drink, then placed the bottle on the bar in order for William to pour his own.

“Are you finally settling in to our little town?” Jack asked.

“ Yes I’m finally settling in. Are you aware that your little town is now wired to send telegraphs all the way to the President of the United States?”

“I heard Henry talking about something like that when he was in earlier today. He and the guy from the telegraph company, Western Union, were in discussing what Henry needed to know for the operations of the telegraph. All they would order were a few beers, but took up an entire table.” Jack complained.

“I’m going to write an article for the paper about what I observed this evening. Quite amazing this new form of communication. What will they think of next and I must question what can happen to the express riders, are we not putting them out of work?”

“Never thought of it that way,” Jack said. “But they could become operator for Western Union?”

“Possibly, but that is a good observation and a great question to pose witin the article.”

Jack reached below the bar and placed on top of the bar a quill and ink well for Bill’s use.

“Hey, Jack can I ask for a beer also?”

William began writing down his observations along with posing the question, “will technology take the place of the worker?”

A story that will be in the mornings paper.

You can read more about Genoa in our past postings, photographs are also included. We hope that you enjoy these fictional writings of the history of a little city that would support the Civil War.

The Little City That Didn't Sleep

October 15, 1862

My dearest Caroline,

My writing continues to support myself, and the family. Enclosed you will find a minimal amount that I hope will sustain you and the children for a few more months?

The stagecoach ride from West Iowa to Genoa, Nevada was quite an experience. We stopped many times for meals and change of drivers. While the station hands harnessed fresh horses we would have the opportunity to eat a biscuit, drink some coffee and rest for an hour before we would continue our journey. The passengers would exchange riding, atop, with the driver. Perched next to the driver was not the best position upon the stage. One was exposed to all the dust, rain, mud and torture of listening to the drivers stories. This position did offer some advantage, of a full site of the scenery, fox’s, wolves, wild horses and sagebrush, with distant hills and mountains, at least when the dust was not blinding you.

Going through Indian country during night hours, we were not allowed to light the lantern within the stagecoach for fear that the savages would be see us at a distance. This left us with little to do but try and sleep, which we all found difficult. During this portion of our journey I am glad to report that I was not able to see an indian, speak to an indian, or meet an indian.

It has been five years since my departure from you and the children. I long to be with each of you and hope that I soon will be able to afford to send you money for transportation to join me, here in Genoa, Nevada Territory.

My travels within this territory area mining for gold has proved to be futile and nonproductive. Desperately I have panned the Carson River, dug deep into the Virginia mountains and almost pict myself all the way to hell, desperately trying to find gold. There have been many times that I was able to fine gold dust, which would take days to collect enough to even purchase supplies. What an ongoing battle, days mining and nights writing. It is this ongoing struggle that I have forsaken my search for gold.


Mr. Joseph Goodman proprietor of the Territorial Enterprise. Genoa, Nevada Territory, has offered me a position as a feature journalists for his news paper. Finally, I will be able to utilize my writing skills on a daily basis. No longer will I have to write stories for submittal and wait for payment to arrive. I Will be paid on a weekly basis to write feature stories. This will allow me a steady income not only for myself, but for you and the children, along with a permanent place for your loving correspondence.

Genoa has received 3 inches of snow, winter is setting in, waking to the cold mornings. The mountains, just above Genoa, are covered with snow. The same mountains that the settlers became stranded, the settlers that were reported in the newspaper several years back. How awful all those men, women and children freezing to death. I thank God that that was not a fate that I had to experience.

There has been some commotion east from here in the Virginia mountains due to the discovery of silver ore. This may be good to write for my first feature story, concerning this rumor.

I hope the war has not affected you and that you are safe with our girls and your brother working the farm.

Please give my best to the children, from their father and I hope soon to request your presence with me.

Your loving husband,

William Wright

Silver Mining - Nevada Series 5

John W. McKay silver barron
John W. McKay was born in Dublin Ireland on November 28, 1831. He was only 11 years old when his father died causing him to have to drop out of school and sell newspapers to support his mother and siblings.

McKay decided to seek his fortune in California he arrived November 9. 1851. He spent years near Downieville, in the Sierra Nevada foothills, in an effort to find gold. He moved from stake to stake acting as a pick and shovel man earning four dollars a day. Gambling his money away McKay spent nights studying English and geology.

In 1859 word spread throughout the Comstock load of silver and gold fields. McKay moved to Virginia City where he managed to find construction work. In those days contractors and workers received their pay in mining shares and McKay accumulated a slew of worthless certificates. But McKay would never give up easily.

His first big break came with the Kentuck a mine that produce low yielding. McKay along with his partner invested $60,000 that they borrowed from the bank and a loan that compounded 3% interest per month together they purchased the mine. After 15 hard years of mining, McKay struck a bonanza.  A year later McKay bought out his partner for $600,000 and was able to continue this silver flow until 1869. He refused to flout his wealth and continued to reside in a simple boarding house room. 

James Fair a mining superintendent and his wife were McKay’s closest friends introducing him to his future bride, Marie Louise Bryant a 23-year-old widow with a young daughter. At the time of their meeting, she was barely making a living as a seamstress and French teacher. The couple was married on November 25, 1867, in the home of the Fair’s; John McKay was 36 years old.

John built a two-story house for his wife and stepdaughter. Marie would not be able to sit still she had a longing to travel which the Comstock was unable to provide, she had very little interest in the Virginia City resources that provided for her, nor the lifestyle. On August 12, 1870, Marie gave birth to their son, John William Junior.

The following year the McKay’s took an extended trip to Europe. John was unable to find Europe to his liking and returned to the United States by himself

It was 1873 when Marie returned for a brief visit to San Francisco, the McKay’s would take up temporary residence on O’Farrell Street.

During her stay she gave birth to their second son Clarence. Marie’s enchantment with her native country left and took up residence in Paris, then London for 20 years. John would remain in the United States seeing his family during short visits overseas. San Francisco and New York were his Cities of choice living modestly in hotel rooms.

More to come to in future postings, we hope that you are all enjoying this series?