This 2002 episode of California’s Gold offers yet another great example of the colorful pieces of history that are lost over time. If you were to glance out the window of your commuter train and see the flat marsh of Drawbridge Island extending off into the distance, you might never dream there had once been a bustling make-shift community of […]
After coming home from a Folsom Lake hike with the Big Guy yesterday, we both collapsed in front of the TV and somehow found ourselves watching a couple of great Vincent Price movies: The Last Man on Earth (1964) and Master of the World (1961). I had never heard of either of them, but they got me thinking about this […]
I just happened to read a news report last night that a beloved landmark along the coast in Montaña de Oro State Park, the Spooner’s Cove Arch, has collapsed, and people are sharing their memories of visiting the spot. I’ve never been to this part of the California coast, but I recognized the name from my Huell Howser archive list. […]
Although I’ve long been familiar with the name and reputation of Will Rogers, I have to admit I don’t know a whole lot about the man himself. So it was great to hear some personal recollections from his youngest son in this episode of California’s Gold, which originally aired in 2001. I would also say that the family home, now […]
This Wednesday I’ve decided to repeat one of my favorite Christmas episodes that I originally featured back in 2018. Just as I wrote the first time I shared this 2004 episode of California’s Gold, I thought it would be good to take another look at where and how these beautiful Christmas flowers are grown and their history in Southern California. Although the Eckes were a huge part of the poinsettia industry for nearly 100 years, the family sold their ranch in 2015, and the job of producing all those beautiful poinsettia plants now belongs to a Dutch company known as Dümmen Orange. I would note (again) that the ‘crazy’ colors that frequently show up in the stores this time of year are not a special variety but are dyed with a substance that doesn’t harm the plants. And if you’re wondering about the best way to care for your poinsettia plant, the Laidback Gardener has some really great advice on his blog. Albert Ecke immigrated from Germany to Southern California in 1902 and opened a roadside stall selling fruits and vegetables. By the 1920s his son Paul started selling some of the wild poinsettia plants that grew in the hills above their stall. From these small beginnings, it is now estimated that over 90% of all flowering poinsettias get their start at the Paul Ecke Ranch. Join Huell as he meets Paul, Paul Jr. & Paul III, who give them […]
I don’t think I’ve ever visited the town of Volcano, but it does seem that it would be ideally located as a base for exploring this part of historic Amador County. It’s reasonably close to both Indian Grinding Rock SHP and Black Chasm Cavern, which has been on my bucket list for quite awhile now. For many years, visitors searching […]
Although I was completely unaware of its existence during my two visits to the Queen Mary in 1974 and 1985, the giant crane featured in the first half of this 1993 episode of California’s Gold was sitting a mere five miles away. It was that very same crane (built in 1941) which lifted the “Spruce Goose” from its original hanger […]
Last Wednesday I featured an exciting episode of California’s Gold in which Huell climbed to the top of Half Dome; and this week he’s also in Yosemite. This time he spends some time at a much lower elevation, learning about the original inhabitants of the Yosemite Valley and exploring some of the structures similar to those I’ve seen at Indian […]
Later this week we’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving in the US. While I have plenty to be thankful for personally, I also can’t help thinking about what this holiday must feel like from an indigenous perspective. Like most places in the world, California’s history contains both great feats of bravery and terrible acts of destruction and cruelty. Indigenous people and pioneers […]