1948-1951 – Album 1

Event Photos by Patrick Mulvey, John Robinson Fellow

Roundup: January 13, 2016

Almansor Court – 700 S. Almansor, Alhambra, CA
Social Hour: 5:00 PM
Dinner: 6:00 PM

Speaker: Brian Dervin Dillon, Ph.D.
Subject: California’s Modoc Indian War, 1872-73: Fact, Fiction, and Fraud

California’s Modoc Indians tenaciously resisted the incursions of white prospectors and settlers. Then, after more than a decade of violence, they found ways to coexist with these new neighbors. Wrong-headed bureaucrats, however, forced the Modocs onto a reservation where they found life intolerable. The Indians only wanted to live in California’s  lightly populated “empty quarter,” but the U.S. Government would not let them. So, they fought, defeating and defying military forces up to 25 times their size. The Modoc War of 1872-73 was the most unnecessary and preventable of all 19^th Century Indian wars. It unfolded like a Classical Greek tragedy with all participants trapped, inexorably doomed. Insult compounded injury when this tragedy was later trivialized by photographic, literary, and cinematic fraud. The Modocs, one of the smallest of all American Indian tribes, still cast one of the largest shadows, over us all.

Make your reservations early for our first speaker of 2016, our own Brian Dervin Dillon, Deputy Sheriff. This will be a fascinating look into a very important aspect of California’s rich Native American history. Come one, come all!

John Selmer
Deputy Sheriff

Roundup: December 9, 2015

Almansor Court – 700 S. Almansor, Alhambra, CA
Social Hour: 5:00 PM
Dinner: 6:00 PM

Speaker: Juan Colato
Subject: Wells Fargo: Legendary Name, Artifacts, Fakes and “Fantasy” Items

For historians and those interested in other times and places, the name Wells Fargo is forever connected to adventurous and romantic images of runaway stagecoaches, shotgun guards, and treasure boxes filled with gold. It also includes the more mundane, if highly necessary, tools of doing business in the 19^th century-ledger books, hand stamps, documents and forms, letters, desks, lamps, etc. that the dedicated Wells Fargo agent needed to perform his or her work for customers.

These items large and small have become rare today and highly collectible. The marketplace notes that the name Wells Fargo on a gun or document or belt buckle adds greatly to its value. Many unscrupulous folks in the marketplace also note that it is easy to add the name or initials WF to an authentic antique or to create something today that looks old! Since its founding in 1852, a whole industry was born that dedicates itself to producing counterfeit Wells Fargo material.  Let those less informed be cautious, as there are numerous fakes out there to buy.

Come and enjoy this fascinating presentation with Juan Colato, Senior Wells Fargo History Museum Manager, from which you are sure to learn more than you think you know about Wells Fargo memorabilia.

John Selmer
Deputy Sheriff

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