'ROSITA AND DORINA' (Con't) Five Senseless Murders ----------------------------------------------------------------- Dorina Brennan, a pretty Irish lass with striking red hair and twinkling brown eyes, was 27 years old when she and her husband Michael came to California. Leaving a comfortable brick home in New York City and a good position on the editorial staff of the Daily Press, Michael, like thousands of other men, dreamed only of gold. He also had plans to one day bring his mother and sister to America from their home in Ireland. Like her husband, Dorina had been born in Ireland and brought up with a deep regard for family and God. She often missed the rolling green hills and the bright wild flowers that splashed across the eastern countryside every spring. But it was her duty to stay by her husband's side, even after he decided to move her and their two children from New York to Grass Valley, California. "Well," she said, smiling at her small children, "Daddy is at least going to have a job when we get there." He would indeed have work. Michael had been employed by the Mount Hope Mining Company to superintend the company's operations on the newly constructed Massachusetts Hill Mine. the long journey from New York to California had not been easy for Dorina, who was already expecting her third child. Even Elle, 5, and Rob, 3, often tired of the trips. But despite the hardships of overland travel, the Brennans arrived safely in Grass Valley in 1856. That winter, snow capped the Sierra Nevadas, and a strong, piercing wind blew through the folds of the high mountains, filling the log cabins and tents with a bone-tingling cold. Despite the poor weather, the town was rapidly growing. The city already measured one square mile, the center being a junction of Broad and Pine Streets. A new hotel, the Monumental, had been opened in December and the local government was proceeding better than expected. In the fall election, over 2,000 people turned out, a number exceeded only in San Francisco and Sacramento. And six miles above the city a new dam was being planned to provide a reservoir. Michael spent much of his time at the mine, trying to make it more productive. Dorina, meanwhile, made friends with her new neighbors, setting up housekeeping in a small wooden cabin close to town. The few things she had brought with her were treasured and used daily. The first summer was exciting and rewarding for the entire family. Little Dorina was born, healthy and well, and the mine appeared to be doing fine. Despite the difficulties of pioneer life, Dorina collected wild berries to flavor her meals and gathered mustard greens, sprigs of dock, and other native plants known for their medicinal as well as nutritional values. She planted a garden, and fruits and vegetables were dried for the next winter's use. But as 1857 neared, Michael's personal investments began to dry up, and the mine was not producing as much ore as had been as expected. To Be Continued . . . "Perhaps we should go back east." ----------------------------------------------------------------- Copied by Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert May 5, 2005 iggy29@rnetinc.net