Charles Dubois concludes his account of the Early Day with Reminiscences of Swimming, Hunting and Fishing
by Laurie Thompson
“Game was plentiful all over the hills and on the marshes and I was not slow in learning the use of fire arms and joining the hunters. Doves, ducks and squirrels were my first prey and later deer and other large game which were plentiful in those early times.
Swimming, fishing and hunting were favorite pastimes for us boys and we had a swimming hole at West End, one at San Anselmo Station, another at Ross Station near the vegetable garden, another at the old McAllister place, also [another] near where the Bon Air Hotel now stands near Escalle, and still another at the Brick Yard. We were not troubled about bathing suits. In all our pranks -riding the hand cars, stealing fruit, etc., we stood in deadly fear of Mr Cochrane the city marshal. He carried a “black snake.” [?]
Willow Camp (Stinson Beach) was the seaside resort for Marin and Sonoma County also. We reached there by trails either on foot or horseback.
San Anselmo was known then as “The Junction”; the station building only marked its place. Yolanda and surrounding countryside was considered too low for residential property at that time and was covered with brush as far as Fairfax. Mr. Saunders owned it. Today one sees what ditching and dredging can do for a community.”
Part III of an Oral History with Charles DuBois conducted by Anne Ricksecker, c.1936.
Source: Anne T. Kent California Room WPA essay collection; file: S-200: Personal Accounts.
Originally published at https://annetkent.kontribune.com.
