Sunday, August 06, 2006 Looking Back is a regular feature of the Modoc Record, a weekly newspaper, published in Alturas, California. The following is transcribed from the July 27, 2006 issue. Looking Back 97 Years Ago –1909 THE FOLLOWING officers have been elected to conduct the activities of the Anti-Saloon League: president, Hon. W.T. Cressler; first vice president, Mrs. W.J. Dorris; second vice president, C.A. Ballard; third vice president, C.H. Essex; secretary, G.H. Wentzel; treasurer, C.B. Towle…. The first mail over the Alturas Steel Swamp Tulelake line arrived this week. Mail leaves Alturas at 6 p.m. Monday and arrives at 6 p.m. Tuesday There were only five letters in the first dispatch….Goose Lake is destined to become one of the great summer resorts of the coast and the placing of a steamer to ply its water is but the first step. Nowhere else in California can be found a body of water of such extent and of such beauty. It contains a surface area of 284 square miles with an average depth of 15 feet teaming with trout weighing up to 10 pounds. 95 Years Ago – 1911 THE REWARD totaling $8,000 for the destruction or capture of the Little High Rock Canyon murderers will be divided among 19 men of the posse. Sheriff Smith’s share will be about $600, which he says will about pay his expenses…. Lynn Kramer was down from Davis Creek yesterday and informed us that it was expected that rails would be laid to the town yesterday. Just when the trains will be run to Davis Creek is of course unknown…. Clark Smith has received blanks for 600 hunting licenses in Modoc County for the upcoming deer season; deer season opens in Modoc this year on August 15. 90 Years Ago – 1916 Standard Oil Company is making preparations to rush the work on their plant to be installed in Alturas. The location of the various buildings will be surveyed this week. L.M. Carpenter and J.C. Jarman of Alturas are preparing bids for the work and two contractors from Reno are putting in bids…. Modoc County has asked for continuation of the rabies quarantine….Dr. S.D. Conwell who has made several trips through Modoc County, has decided to locate in Alturas permanently. At the present time the doctor is located at the Hotel Niles. 85 Years Ago – 1921 TOTAL GROSS receipts of the Alturas Roundup Association during the Fourth of July celebration was about $12,000, which should indicate that this first local rodeo should become an annual event. The buildings and grounds represent an investment for the stockholders, of whom there are 130, of over $15, 000. Five thousand dollars was raised by the selling of stock. Official figures have not been issued, but it looks as though the association is clean and out of the red. 80 Years Ago – 1926 YOU, DEAR readers, may be interested in the cost of Modoc county schools during the 1920-21 fiscal year. Last year the elementary schools cost a total of $89,764 and the high school cost $65,863. Teachers and assistant teachers in the elementary schools are paid $1,215 to $1,500 a year. High school teachers get From $1,750 to $2,500, principals, $3,600 PER YEAR. I cannot help but comment that school teachers and principals did not receive much of an increase in their wages from 1926 to 1950, a 24 year period of time. When I started teaching I received $2,880 per year. My first year as a principal I received $5,000. I really thought that I was in financial heaven when I received that amount. Everything is relative, I suppose. I knew Mrs. Dorris from the 97 year column; she lived across the street from us and was a very sweet person. In the 90 year column is mentioned J.C. (Crate) Jarman. He was the Ford dealer in Alturas and Lakeview. He was a short, heavy man and he was garrulous; he loved to tell stories, drink whiskey, and hunt, in that order. He and my dad were great friends and I hunted with the both of them and learned a lot about cussing, drinking and shooting from them. There were times that my dad was a little embarrassed by some of Crates stories about sex etc. He thought I probably should not hear those stories from Crate, but nobody could stop old Crate when he was on a roll telling stories. See you all again next week, I hope. Ron Morgan