Sutter-Yuba County CA Archives History - Books .....Chapter 8 Work Of The Women's Clubs 1924 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 January 5, 2012, 12:42 pm Book Title: History Of Yuba And Sutter Counties CHAPTER VIII WORK OF THE WOMEN'S CLUBS It may interest the reader of this volume in future years to know that at the present Sutter County is maintaining six of the most active clubs of the California Federation of Women's Clubs. These six clubs are: The Bogue Wednesday Club, a rural organization of 150 members holding meetings in their own club house twice each month; the Live Oak Women's Club of Live Oak, having over fifty members, and meeting twice a month in their own club house; the W r ilson Women's Club, an active country club of the southern part of the county, now planning upon its own club house, its membership being fifty-five, and meeting every other week; the Tierra Buena Improvement Club, another rural organization, with a membership of fifty, also meeting twice a month in a new $6000 house of their own building; the Ladies' Improvement Club of Sutter, at the foot of the famous Sutter Buttes, with a membership of forty-eight, meeting in their own community hall ever}- other week; and the Woman's Club of Meridian, comprised of forty members, meeting twice a month in the auditorium of Meridian's fine new grammar school. These clubs are all doing active departmental work along federation lines, in music, art, health, conservation, legislation, home economics, Americanization, motion pictures, early California history, civic and social improvement, and community betterment. Bi-County Federation of Women's Clubs Together with the two federated clubs of Yuba County — the Marysville Art Club and the Wheatland Civic Improvement Club — these clubs met in May, 1920, and formed the Bi-County Federation of Women's Clubs. Three times during each year this Bi-County Federation has held an all-day convention at various club centers. This organization has proven and bears out the State motto. "Strength United is Stronger." Concerted action in the departmental work has borne fruit along several lines, including better motion pictures, legislation and the restoration and preservation of historic landmarks. Sutter and Yuba Counties having many locations of historical importance, the Bi-County Federation planned the marking of these historic spots with bronze tablets or other suitable monuments as rapidly as funds could be obtained for the purpose. Unveiling of Monument to Fremont Sunday, April 15. 1923, witnessed the first important dedication of a landmark on the Sutter side of the river. On that date, beginning at two o'clock in the afternoon, in the presence of a large assemblage, the Bi-County Federation, of which Mrs. C. H. Dam of Wheatland was then president, unveiled a monument erected upon the spot in the South Butte Pass where Capt. John C. Fremont, the, "Pathfinder," camped in 1846. A newspaper printed on the following day contained the following story of the unveiling of the monument, which stands by the side of the road about a mile from Sutter City: "Credit for possessing the same adventurous spirit that inspired his forebears in France and America to face the unknown, and dare the seemingly impossible, was given Major-General John C. Fremont by Fred H. Greely of Marysville, Sunday afternoon, in an address which Greely delivered during the dedicatory ceremonies in connection with the unveiling of a monument to the memory of General Fremont on the DeAVitt place in South Butte Pass. In the center of the monument, which marks the spot where General Fremont, the 'Pathfinder,' camped for eight days in the year 1846, is a marker bearing this inscription: " 'In commemoration of Major-General John C. Fremont, United States Army, and his expedition. " 'Encamped in the Sutter Buttes in this vicinity. May 30, 1846, to June 8, 1846, while on the march from Klamath Lake to Sonoma, where he represented the United States government during the Bear Flag uprising, which resulted in the acquisition of California from Mexico. " 'Erected by the Bi-County Federation of Women's Clubs, Sutter and Yuba Counties, 1923.' "Greely, past president of the Native Sons of the Golden West, traced the career of General Fremont from his birth in Virginia, in 1813, to the days when he acquired from Senator Benton, who afterward was his father-in-law, the desire for exploration. Greely quoted Benton as predicting that 'the fringe of civilization on the eastern coast of America was to stretch from sea to sea.' "General Fremont's three expeditions were described by the speaker, the first to the Rocky Mountains, and south of the Lewis and Clark line; the second beyond the Rockies; and the third to California, supported by sixty-two of the finest marksmen in America, and with instructions from the government to hold the country against the Mexicans. When ordered by the Mexican governor, Castro, to leave the State, Fremont first defied him and then, in the way of acquiescing, moved north by way of the Kern River to Yuba City, thence to Klamath Lake. It was while returning south that he camped on the north side of the Sutter Buttes, remaining there only a few days, and then moving to the spot where the marker was placed yesterday, on account of a heavy wind. Behind South Butte he found shelter from the wind, and camped there eight days. "H. P. Peterson, field man for the landmarks section of the State Library, who followed Greely, confessed that some difficulty had been experienced in locating the spot where General Fremont first camped in the Buttes. Gradually, however, aided by Fremont's own memoirs, marks are being found which may yet uncover the spot. Peterson thanked the board of supervisors for their liberal subscription to the fund that made the Fremont marker possible, and also expressed his gratitude to the club women who worked so unceasingly in order that the monument might be erected. "Mrs. A. L. Miller of Marysville, past president of the Northern District Federation of California Women's Clubs, detailed the object of the clubs' department of history and landmarks of California. "In presenting the marker to the care of Sutter County, Mrs. C. H. Dam of Wheatland, president of the Bi-County Federation, handed to Supervisor Frank H. Graves, of Pennington, a deed to the ground upon which the monument stands. The deed shows that Mrs. Florence DeWitt, widow of the late W. G. DeWitt, donated the plat upon which the monument is erected. DeWitt Bros., sons of Mrs. DeWitt, donated the rock and granite, hauling all the material from the quarry, a mile distant. The deed to the ground is to the State of California, but the Sutter supervisors will constitute the caretakers of the landmark. "During the unveiling of the monument by Miss Ada Ohleyer and Miss Edna Hewitt, the Marysville Grammar School Boys' Band rendered 'The Star-Spangled Banner.' Fred H. Greely then said that it was peculiarly fitting and extremely fortunate that Miss Ohleyer should take part in the ceremony of unveiling. He referred to Miss Ohleyer as 'a daughter of a man who deserves the name of Preserver of the Valley.' Greely paid a warm tribute to the late George Ohleyer, newspaper man of Yuba City in his lifetime, as 'a leader among the men who so valiantly fought for the valley and saved it from being buried in the silt from the hydraulic mining process.' "Among those who occupied seats of honor on the speakers' stand was W. C. Gibson, Grand Army veteran of Sutter City. Gibson served for a time with General John C. Fremont during the Civil War, being a member of Company I, Twelfth Kansas Volunteer Infantry. He is one of five surviving members of Corinth Post, No. 80, Grand Army of the Republic. Others occupying the stand were Rev. W. B. Redburn of Yuba City, who delivered the invocation; H. P. Stabler, who told of meetings he had with General Vallejo; Supervisor F. H. Graves; Mrs. A. L. McPherrin; and Mrs. C. K. Dam, of Berkeley, who is a pioneer of the Wheatland section. "Nevada County sent a delegation to the ceremony, comprising Mrs. Allison F. Watt of Grass Valley, a Past Grand President of the Native Daughters of the Golden West; Mrs. Maud Waldron, president of Manzanita Parlor of Native Daughters of Grass Valley; Mrs. Beatrice George, a past president of the same parlor; and Ray George, a past president of Quartz Parlor of Native Sons of the same place. "It is estimated that 1000 people attended the exercises." After the successful termination of their campaign for the Fremont memorial, the clubs began to plan for a marker on the spot on Hock Farm, nine miles below Yuba City on the Feather River, where Gen. John A. Sutter built a fort and home in 1848. Cross to Surmount Buttes A movement to erect an immense cross at the peak of the Sutter Buttes, under which Easter-morn sunrise services may be held annually, has met with the approval of Rt. Rev. Bishop William Hall Moreland, of the Episcopal diocese of Sacramento. For the past two years sunrise services have been conducted before a temporary cross erected on a convenient peak not far from Sutter City. On Sunday, April 22, 1923, Bishop Moreland issued the following' statement in advocacy of the movement for a permanent cross: "The erection of a great cross on the Sutter Buttes, which may be seen from every side, is a beautiful conception and should be carried out. A bountiful Creator has poured His blessings with a lavish hand upon California, and nowhere does the smile of His favor shine with more brilliancy than upon the rich fields and orchards, the fertile lands, the prosperous towns, happy homes, the schools, churches, hospitals and other evidences of His presence among men, that center about the city of Marysville. "The cross, standing out as a landmark over the countryside, will remind the thousands of residents, travelers and visitors that California is a God-fearing State; that, amid their material possessions and prospects, our people do not forget that Christian character is the supreme achievement. It will lead to a more thoughtful, spiritual life, and be an educational influence of great value to all, especially to the children." For the purpose of furthering the movement, the Sutter Butte Cross Association has been formed among the citizens of Yuba and Sutter Counties. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF YUBA and SUTTER COUNTIES CALIFORNIA WITH Biographical Sketches OF The Leading Men and Women of the Counties Who Have Been Identified with Their Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present HISTORY BY PETER J. DELAY ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 1924 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/sutter/history/1924/historyo/chapter8340gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/ File size: 11.3 Kb