I have many photos of my ancestors. This is one of my favorites. I love the composition; the young women are balanced by the ranch wagon and the mountains hold them in place. The large axe held by Anita makes a bold statement?. The jumble of legs and knees pulls my eye to their snagged black stockings and well worn boots; the woman at the left is the exception. Anita and Ruth are wearing some kind of bloomers that would allow modesty while riding a horse – something I assure you they didn’t care about.

When Anita was 92 years old, I asked her if she would tell me about this photograph. It was probably taken by my aunt Carrie Olsen Sands just after 1920. This is part of Anita’s response:

“The one sitting on the ground is Mary Pucci (pronounced Puch-ee) – a neighbor of Carrie’s at Fickle Hill. The other one is Maggie Donahue – lived across the road from Carrie. Carrie took the two girls on a visit with her to Fannie Slater at the Iaqua Butte Lookout where Slater works – Ruth and I rode up from our Iaqua (Tom Shaw place) to visit with them. We decided to look as tough as we could and have our pictures taken. Maggie chickened out and at the last minute pulled her skirt over her knee. We used to call her Sanka beside she never kept anyone awake. (Sanka, First Brand of Decaffeinated Coffee). She never had a date and she became a nun. I don’t know what happened to Mary. None of us knew her family. “

A bit of research reveals that Anita correctly identified all of the people mentioned in her letter. The 1920 census reveals that Maggie Donahue was 19 years old and the daughter of Irish immigrants. Mary Pucci was 17 years old and the daughter of Italian immigrants and they were neighbors of Carrie. Ruth and Anita were listed as 15 and 13 years old and living with their father, Tom Shaw in Iaqua. Francis Slater (Frannie) is listed as 34 years of age and Carrie as 31, so no doubt Carrie and Frannie were good friends. Isn’t it interesting that Ruth and Anita staged this photo and they were the youngest ones?

The Slaters had a ranch near the Iaqua Butte Lookout. The current lookout was built in 1936 so the structure would not be there at the time of their visit. An online journal, Moments in Dirt and Ink, states that “A telephone line was run to a local ranch where Mrs. Francis Slater was in charge of getting all the calls that came from this lookout and all of Trinity Forest (for it wasn’t Six Rivers yet) behind it directed for Eureka. Apparently Francis and Hugh Slater were “lookout attendants” here for at least 20 years, while others were the actual lookouts”.

Sanka decaffeinated coffee was invented in Germany in 1903. It became available in the United States in 1923; this must mean that the photo was taken after that date. An advertisement from  1932 makes it clear what Anita and Ruth had in mind for the description of their companion. .

Link to Anita and Ruth’s Family Tree