It must have been about 1972 or '74 for our number three son, Scott, was about 10 or 12 at the time. Our Volkswagon bug and we were about to be run over by a flock of charging sheep.It was then that I wished I could make a ewe turn (ug!)
We had been visiting the grounds of Mission San Miguel on the central California Coast in order to see the rooms where our ancestors, Michael and Louchlin Mc Donald ran their hotel and saloon. We also had shot some snaps of Michael's family gravestones in the little cemetery adjacent to the historic chapel. After that I drove Scott up the hill to the somewhat hidden cemetery where my great grandparents, Peter and Ellen Mc Adam were buried. Of course their markers were destroyed many years before, but Scott did see their son, Peter's, grave which is well marked. He was about Scott's age at the time of his accidental death. As long as we had driven up for the day from L.A. we decided we might as well drive out the Estrella Road in order to see where the family farm had been located. By L.A, standards, the road was almost deserted. We even forgot about the horrors of gridlock for awhile.
We were about two or three miles from the town of San Miguel and entering the heart of the Estrella Plain when a large mysterious cloud of dust appeared on the road up ahead. Suddenly in front of us two city boys was a large menacing heard of wooly creatures. We didn't know what to make of these beasts at first so we braced ourselves next to our trusty yellow bug and stoically anticipated the charge. Would they crush the yellow beattle? Would the wool be pulled over Scott and my eyes (another ug!)? All we could do was wait with the little German car as our shield from these furry, fearsome creatures.
Relentlessly the sheep continued to bear down on us and just at the last moment when I felt we would be stomped into the dust of the Estrella Plain, they spread themselves barely enough to spare us room but brushing up ever so gently and then moving on and leaving Scott, the bug and I still intact. Behind them came a
rather handsome, swarthy-complectioned looking young man with a shepard's stake in one hand. I stopped him and inquired about his flock. He told me he was Basque and sheepherding was his life's occupation. A strange feeling of deja vu came over me. Here I was in a vast expanse of farmland which had changed little over the last century, encircled by a flock of curly-haired sheep much like my grandfather had grazed on this same soil, and talking to a Basque shephard who could very easily have been the grandson of one of the farmhands who tended sheep for the Mc Donald Brothers. For a few seconds I expected to see the Dalton Brothers tearing down the road with Sheriff O'Neil in hot pursuit. My only regret was not learning whether these were Marino sheep like L and M raised for then I would have known I had gone full-circle.
I was recently reminded of Scott's and my visit to Estrella in a Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times which told of the recent disappearance in California of the Basque shepherds who had been the State's sheep for the past 100 years/ The Basque first came to this state for the same reason as many others, the lure of gold in the Sirra motherlode and when they did not find the riches, they sought they reurned to the occupation that had been bred into them since childhood in the Pyrenees Mountains of France. The L.A. Times staff writer described their skills thusly:
"The Basques quickly developed an enduring reputation as the finest sheepmen in the Americam West. Basque shepherds had an uncanny ability to find the richest pastures, sheepmen rarely lost lambs to predators and their ewes had the most offspring."
Readers might recall an earlier article in this newsletter in which I related how the Estrellians experienced a terribly dry year in 1877. There wasn't enough water to keep the flocks alive and many animals were lost. In order to save their stock, Michael took half of them down the coast and Loughlin, with his shepherds and camping gear left for Bishop, California. Those unfamiliar with California geography can not realize the significance of this adventure.Bishop is a valley east of California's two major north-south mountain ranges, the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada. I always had some skepticism about this story. How could a farmer and his small band of Basque shepherds, mainly on foot, navigate such a long treacherous journey? My skepticism was forever erased, however, when this recent newspaper story confirmed that generations of sheepmen had escorted their flocks over the century-old California Sheep Trail, one of the longest dtives in the nation...400 miles over the Tehachapes to Mohave up past Lone Pine to the summer meadows of Bishop Valley."
(Hell no, I wont go!)
Also, recently discovered Mc Donald homestead documents further verified this tale.
Michael and Louchlin Mc Donald saved the majority of their sheep in this way, and it is not beyond reason to believe that perhaps some of the sheep that were being expertly guided by their proud Basque shepherds that hot summer afternoon when Scott and I visited the Estrella were direct descendents of the sheep which had survived the long drive 100 years ago into the Bishop Valley.
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THERES NO PLACE LIKE IT
A new arrival at the Pearly Gates became curious about a group of people who seemed to be getting the the brush-off. When he reached the wicket he asked Saint Peter why others were being allowed to pass on ahead of them.
The saint answered, “Oh, them, they’re all from Cape Breton. What’s the use of admitting them? They’re no sooner inside than they want to go back home!”
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THE UNBROKEN CHAIN
(This has a lot of meaning for me. Does it for you?)
I saw behind me those who had gone, and before me those who are to come. I looked back and saw my father and his father and all our fathers, and in front to see my son and his son, and the sons upon sons beyond. And their eyes were my eyes. As I felt so they had felt, and were to feel, as then, so now, as tomorrow and forever. Then I was not afraid, for I was in a long line that had no beginning and no end. And the hand of his father grasped my father's hand and his hand was in mine, and my son took my right hand and all, up and down the line that stretched from Time That Was to Time That Is and Is Not Yet, raised their hands to show the link. And we found that we were one....
From: "How Green Was My Valley"
by Richard Llewellyn
As found on Dan Mac Donald’s web page
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ASSETS OF SENATOR WILLIAM Mc DONALD
A main intersections in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, is called “Senator’s Corner”, no wonder, for it appears that Senator Mac, or “Senator Billy”, as he was called by his friends, owned a big part of this city before his death. Here are his real property assets as shown in his will at the time of his death in 1915. This is exclusive of the $$ he bequethed to SFX, the diocese and his family:
Real Estate of late Hon. Wm. Mc Donald
Building& lot . Commercial &Union, Glace Bay
$12,000
Building & lot Main St. Block
$4000
½ Building and lot occupied by Samuels and Rice
$2,300
Land at rear of main St., Glace Bay
$1000
Three old buildings on same
$900
House and land Minte St. Glace Bay
$500
Land off York St., Glace Bay
$450
House and land Reser. Road, Glace Bay
$1700
Land on Number Four Road, Glace Bay
$600
Lot and dwelling, Union St.
$800
Lot and Barber shop Union St.
$300
Land Caribou Marsh Rd. , C.B.
$300
Land at Grand Lake, C.B.
$200
Land at Dutch Rd, Cape Breton
$100
Land at Mira Rd., Cape Breton
$100
Land at Birch Grove, Cape Breton
$800
Land at Ben Eoin, Cape Breton
$50
Do you realize how much one hundred 1915 dollars would buy today - over $400,000. The Bank of Canada advises that money doubles every seven years.
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Mission San Miguel Preservation Fund
(taken from Mission web page)
"For 200 years the doors of the Old Mission Church at San Miguel stood open to all who would enter. The curious entered to view the beautiful artwork painted by Native American Artisans. Others entered to seek solace in a moment of despair or to express joy and thanks for good fortune. And sometimes they entered to seek forgiveness and redemption. All were invited. All were welcomed.
On 11:15AM, December 22nd, 2003, the doors closed...
A mindless cataclysmic act of nature deep within the earth shook the Old Church adobe walls until they cracked... But the foundation held! And it is upon this foundation we begin our effort to preserve and reopen the Old Church.
The daunting task of reopening the church will be accomplished only through the work of many generous people pitching in and using their talents and creativity to help raise funds for the many needed repairs and preservation effort of the old historic adobe church. These people, "Mission Angels" to the Effort, will attack the Challenge in many different ways.
The following stories are just a few of the efforts that have been accomplished by a few of the wonderful "Angels" of the Mission.
Renown Mission artist Tony Quartuccio, who has sketched and painted ALL the Missions along the California coast, has a special love for Mission San Miguel. A secular third order Franciscan, Tony considers himself one of the Franciscan family. After moving to Paso Robles in 1997, he has attended Mass and served as an altar attendant daily. While preparing for Mass, the day after Easter, 1998, an event occurred that changed his life. He was having a heart attack. In the Mission Church alone,-scared-- and in pain, he didn't know what to do until he heard a voice, which he credits to God, telling him to go home. At that point, Tony made a promise that if he survived this attack, he would dedicate his remaining years to painting and selling his paintings to solely benefit the preservation of Mission San Miguel. Since then, he has done so, raising thousands of dollars.
In May 2004, Joel Dunbar was an eighth grader at St. Rose School. Joel took up the Challenge to help Mission San Miguel by selling Jamba Juice Smoothies to his fellow classmates and teachers on a bi-weekly basis. By getting the word out to his classmates via brochures and posters in advance of the new venture, Joel had an enthusiastic and receptive source of customers ready and willing to buy smoothies for the benefit of the old church. Joel arranged with the San Luis Obispo Jamba Juice manager to bring the smoothies to the school for sale. Over the period of five visits, he raised $1000.00! -Joel says "This project was a great experience for me because I got to make the kids at school happy, by bringing something that they enjoy, as well as helping in a small way to restore Mission San Miguel".
In March 2004, the post-quake newly reopened Paris Restaurant in downtown Paso Robles and Vina Robles Winery joined in a common effort to raise funds for the badly damaged Mission. The total Mission preservation project will require several million dollars to complete. Together, Vina Robles and Paris Restaurant wanted to help begin this monumental program with their own first step by hosting a benefit dinner for the Mission. The dinner was a three course Parisian Style Wine Dinner, prepared by chef and owner Claude Chazalon, paired with Vina Robles' Bordeaux and Rhone style wines. The evening featured fabulous food and wine in good company and support for North County's oldest historic landmark. Vina Robles is a family owned Paso Robles estate that was founded in 1996 by Swiss entrepreneur, Hans Nef. This benefit dinner raised almost $4000!
"This is your Mission - should you choose to accept it. -Take the ten dollars offered to you by PTO and turn it into a small fortune. -The money you raise will be donated to Mission San Miguel to help repair their earthquake damage." So read the intriguing flier. Five students from Lillian Larson Elementary DID indeed take up that challenge and impressively proved to all -- it can be done!
Four students ( Travis Walters, Brittany Walters, Bryan Salazar, and Donny Miller) pooled their money and by means of a successful car wash and bake sale, as well as a raffle and mailed-out letter-pleas to friends and relatives nation-wide, raised $2025.00! in one month's time! When fifth-grader Crystal Reuck heard about the challenge, she wanted to contribute too. -By selling cookies and lemonade, she raised $110.92.
Do you have an idea that might help Mission San Miguel get its doors open again? -Please help us! NO donation is too small -as all donations -big -or small-contribute to getting the Mission repaired, preserved and back open.
If you'd like to help us, your donation will be tax deductible. Send your check to:
Mission San Miguel Preservation Fund P.O. Box 69 San Miguel, CA 93451
For more information, please call Mission San Miguel at (805) 467-2131 or email at : friars@tcsn.net"
Please consider donating to this worthy cause in memory of our aunts, uncles and/or grandparents who were baptised there.
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