Patrick A. Taylor - Memories of Pinecrest

Patrick A Taylor

Published by Taylor Press at Smashwords

This book is available in print atAmazon.com, Barnes and Noble .com, or by visiting www.pinecrestlake.net

Smashwords Edition, LicenseNotes

This ebook is licensed for your personalenjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away toother people. If you would like to share this book with anotherperson, please purchase an additional copy for each person. Ifyoure reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was notpurchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.comand purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard workof this author.

Copyright 2010 Patrick A. Taylor

I wish to thank the following people for helpingmake this book possible.

My wife, Mayda, for understanding why I stayedup so late and devoted more time to this book than I did her, andfor not questioning why I received so many e-mails from formergirlfriends.

To my neighbor and friend Robert C., for hisliterary expertise and daily sandwiches.

To Linda J., Sheila H., Nancy B., Sandra C.,Joan Y., Karen K., Linda T., and Norm S. (how did he get in there?)and everyone else that contributed remembrances.

It is my hope that you, the reader, willenjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

It has taken over 24 years of research tocomplete. True, 21 of those years were spent living life while only3 years were actually spent in its compellation. It is anon-fiction work whose sole purpose is not only to inform andentertain, but also to make one probe into the recesses of theirminds for the happiest moments in their youth. It is a means ofescape. It is hoped that it will bring back memories to the readerthat have long been suppressed.

While this book is about experiences in asmall resort area located on the western slopes of the SierraNevada mountain range in California, it could be any locationacross the globe where youth comes of age.

Did everything you wrote about reallyhappen as you say it did?; What you remember of Pinecrest is notwhat I remember. These are questions and comments that were postedin the guest book on my website during the writing and research ofthis book.

Why is it then, that two (or more) peoplecan experience the same event at the same time, or for that mattersimilar events in the same environment, even at different times,and have different recollections of what actually took place? Ormaybe didnt take place? Confusing? Read on

There has been a plethora of research on thesubject of memory fluctuations and loss. One such explanation mightbe the natural process of aging and decay of the brain, known astransience. Another might be misattribution, which is believingyou have seen something you havent. Yet another might besuggestibility, which is the incorporation of misinformation intomemory due to leading questions, deception, or other causes. Evenabsent-mindedness, which usually occurs when so many things arehappening at once that your main focus prevents you from giving theproper attention to everything else. It makes you give secondthoughts to the benefits of multi-tasking, which may bebeneficial to computers, but may have detrimental effects inhumans. In my case, I think I am experiencing all of these symptomsat once!

Now that we completely understand what it isI am trying to say, or what I didnt say but meant to if I remembercorrectly, we must move on to a time and place that exists, or atleast used to exist not only in our minds but in actuality as well.I think.

I had one reader remark that Pinecrest ismagical. It is timeless. It is the one last place on earth wheresummer love still comes true generation after generation. PerhapsI was under a misconception that the Pinecrest of today does nothold the magical allure that was so apparent in the past. Itappears that the magic might still exist even though there are nolonger nightly bonfires on the beach, nor the organized dances thatbrought us together in the hopes of meeting that one true summerlove. I have come to the conclusion that it must be the overallbeauty of the area alone that awakens all our senses and createsthose everlasting memories.

A final note: All the names of actualpersons except politicians and the author have been changed toprotect the innocent and guilty alike.

PLEASE NOTE: ALL PICTURES AVAILABLE IN THEPRINT VERSION OF THIS BOOK HAVE BEEN REMOVED IN ORDER TO JUSTIFYTHE CONDITIONS OF THIS EBOOK VERSION. HOWEVER, ALL PICTURES AREAVAILABLE AT http://www.pinecrestlake.net

When I was younger, I could rememberanything, whether it happened or not.

~Mark Twain

A memory is what is left when somethinghappens and does not completely unhappen.

~Edward de Bono

When time who steals our years away

Shall steal our pleasures too

The memry of the past will stay

And half our joys renew

~Thomas Moore

After all the years I spent growing up inPinecrest, I never knew the history of the area, or how it came tobe named, until I started doing research for this book. I doremember when the name was changed from Strawberry Lake toPinecrest Lake in 1960, but why, when or how, was a mystery. I alsoalways thought that it was called Strawberry Lake because the lakeitself was shaped like a strawberry.

Much of the data I was able to collect camefrom a booklet written by Carl T. Fisher (1977) titled Pinecrest,Past and Present and A Place Called Pinecrest (1999) by HerbertE. McLean, Sr. Both booklets are available from the Tuolumne CountyMuseum and History Center in Sonora. Information from the UnitedStates Forest Service website, and Chispa, a quarterlypublication from the Tuolumne County Historical Society were alsoused, as well as various Internet sites.

The Miwok

The first inhabitants of the area now knownas Pinecrest were the Miwok Indians, (the name Miwok is spelledmany different ways, but I elected to use this spelling) who forover 9000 years lived near the snow line of the western slope ofthe Sierras, from Yosemite in the south, to Chico in the north.

According to Tribes of California byStephen Powers (1877), north of the Stanislaus River they wereknown as Mi-wok (meaning men or people), and on the upperTuolumne River, they were known as Wakalumi (most likely theorigin of Mokelumne).

As the snow receded each spring, the Miwokwould travel eastward to Sonora Pass to barter for obsidian andother necessities with their Eastern Sierra neighbors, the Piute.One of their favorite campsites along the way was the Pinecrestarea. There are several places that one can still find evidence ofthe Miwok in the form of acorn grinding holes in large graniteboulders. One such place is across the street from the SummitRanger Station at the Y. Since there are no oak trees in thearea, nor have any chakas (a cha'ka is a structure severalfeet high resembling a large basket with a roof in which the Miwokstored their acorns during the winter) been found, I think we canassume that the Miwok brought the acorns from their winter homesand ground them on site. Acorns were the main staple for thepeople, and were made into soup, mush, or bread.

Chief Fuller (1873-1958), chief of theMiwok, told a story his mother, Jenite would tell, of a skirmishbetween the Piute and the Miwok in the early 1800s. The Miwok, whowere generally a peaceful tribe, came across a band of Piute on themeadow (which is now Pinecrest Lake). During the night, the Miwokattacked and killed most of the Piute. It is not known what sparkedthe massacre since the two tribes were trading partners, but thefollowing year, the Piute responded in kind. They attacked theMiwok at Stoddard Spring, which is located along Highway 108 nearLittle Sweden (6 miles west of Pinecrest), killed the braves, andtook the squaws and babies with them. Evidently, this was the endof the trading between the two tribes.