"I Remember" by Cecil Petray as submitted by Holly Hoods

Photo 1:  Alva "Bill" Petray and Cecil, 1906, pictured with some of their mother's taxidermy.  Photo courtesy of Healdsburg Museum and Historical Society.

Photo 2: Cecil and Alice Petray, c. 1966. Photo courtesy of Healdsburg Museum and Historical Society.

Healdsburg Museum Research Curator Holly Hoods sent us this article, saying: "This is a short reminiscence that I found in the 'Petray' file at the Museum.  It was written by the late Cecil Petray in 1986 and typed for the Healdsburg History blog by Bryan Cook, HHS student volunteer."

I Remember

1906          I remember the terrible rumble of the 1906 earthquake as the tremor came and went by the house. The noise sounded like a high-speed train passing.

1908          My mother received her diploma from a Correspondence School. She had passed tests in Taxidermy.  As far as I know she was the first woman taxidermist in Sonoma County. She developed a profitable business in stuffed deer heads mounted on plaques, making buckskin from deer hides, tanning large hides with the hair for floor rugs, and stuffing small animals and one quite large sturgeon. We lived on a ranch in the country. My father worked for the County Road Commission part time. He would leave before daylight in the morning and arrive home after dark at night. For the use of two horses, one wagon, and his labor, he received $2.50 per day.

1910          In the northeast part of Healdsburg, at the home of a family named “World,” I was swinging in the apple tree when I saw this crippled old man walk out to the outhouse.

He was Wyatt Earp’s brother. They had wanted my father to take care of him while Wyatt had a small job to do. Dad could not do it, so the World family kept him. In a few days Wyatt came back, with two bodies tied on a horse. He picked up his brother and left town.

1911          I remember Halley’s Comet showing clearly in the night sky.  I remember going into Healdsburg, in the bed of the wagon, always seeing people at Kuck’s Corner where the road goes into Alexander Valley. I remember stopping at the Cerri and Maggenti Store, across the street from the old Safeway store, to buy imported Swiss cheese. I remember Lincoln Beachey flying the first plane to the Cloverdale Citrus Fair.

     My father tells of the last grizzly bear killed in this area. Dogs bayed at the bear in the roots of an oak tree in front of the Oriental School house. A Mr. Smith came with a loaded rifle and waited until the bear growled at the dogs. He shot the bear in the mouth, killing him with one shot.

     Geyserville was quite a rough town in the early days: three hotels, five saloons, one pool hall, two blacksmith shops, one butcher shop, and two combination grocery and hardware stores.

     The story goes that on Sunday most of the men gathered in town for drinking, horse play, and swapping stories. This Sunday a dog fight started, and one man kicked another man’s dog. Then the shooting started. When it was over, there were five men lying in the street with gunshot wounds.

     Healdsburg’s street-cleaning department. One man, one pushcart, one push broom, and one shovel, and he kept the streets clean all over town.

     The Fourth of July celebrations. One celebration made the front page of the San Francisco Examiner.  

 by Cecil Petray, 1986

Thank you Holly Hoods, Bryan Cook and Cecil Petray!

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