The columns are historically accurate, but far from stodgy. Reifschneider-Smith asks readers to “get ready for a rollicking trip into Tehama County’s past,” and so it is. “Is that an ostrich swimming across the Sacramento River, twice? … While paying respect to a man’s lonely grave in the Paskenta Cemetery, are those war whoops and gunfire you hear riding in the wind?” All the answers are found within.
“Gerber’s Saxophone Field Day” in 1927 had me laughing out loud. A newspaper in Illinois noted that “They are threatening to make it a national event; isn’t there some law to compel them to quarantine it and keep it?”
More than 500 saxophone players showed up and, Reifschneider-Smith writes, “there was even a saxophone throwing contest where ‘grown men will pitch a saxophone with the bell filled with lead. If the horn hits a “gobbler” (saxophone player) and kills him, the thrower will be given a free ticket to the inquest’ (Red Bluff Daily News, August 18, 1927).”
“On May 20, 1914, the same day Ranger Abbey from Mineral watched in disbelief as Lassen Peak awoke with a blast of ash and steam, 20-some miles to the northwest, an 18-year-old sawmill worker stared in wonder from the porch of the crew’s bunkhouse as Lassen erupted. The young man’s name was Floyd Tipple. Two weeks later, he would find himself scrambling for his life during an eruption while visiting the crater.” Historical photographs complement the text.
Personalities obscured by time are brought to life, like J. Granville Doll who in 1853 pretty much owned Red Bluff. 1950 brought “the naked lady of Vina.” And in 1954, Annie Wilkins passed through Red Bluff, the “last of the saddle tramps.”
“Tales From Tehama” is a wonderful guide, a history book with sax appeal.
