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Ronald G. Powell

Full cover spread of The Shadow of Loma Prieta: Part Three of the History of Rancho Soquel Augmentation

Press Release: The Shadow of Loma Prieta

The forgotten history of The Forest of Nisene Marks is revealed at last SANTA CRUZ, CA, October 23, 2022—The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park has a long history that has been largely forgotten. But not anymore. The Shadow of Loma Prieta follows the tumultuous history of the areas now known as The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park and the Soquel Demonstration State Forest from the early twentieth century to the present day. Expertly… Read More »Press Release: The Shadow of Loma Prieta

Speeder riders visiting the abandoned Loma Prieta mill, ca 1925
Speeder riders visiting the abandoned Loma Prieta mill, ca 1925. Photo by Bert Stoodley. Woods Mattingley Collection, Aptos History Museum.

The Rise and Fall of the Molino Timber Company

Editing the three volumes of The History of Rancho Soquel Augmentation by Ronald G. Powell has been an unexpected journey for me that has had some major highs and major lows. As I wrap up editing the third and final volume of the series, Powell did what he has often done to me over the past three years and thrown a curve ball. In this instance, it has to do with the history of the Molino… Read More »The Rise and Fall of the Molino Timber Company

Molino Timber Company workers on a bridge above Hinckley Gulch
Molino Timber Company workers on a bridge above Hinckley Gulch, 1910s. [Aptos Museum]

On wrapping up a trilogy

My journey from being introduced to Ronald G. Powell’s forgotten magnum opus on the history of Rancho Soquel Augmentation in May 2019 and publishing the final book derived from it—The Shadow of Loma Prieta—this autumn has been long with many unexpected turns. When Stan Stevens sent me scans of the first-draft manuscript that Powell had donated to the UC Santa Cruz McHenry Library in the late 1990s, I almost immediately set aside the work I… Read More »On wrapping up a trilogy

Title excerpt for The Reign of the Lumber Barons

Press Release: The Reign of the Lumber Barons

Explore mid-county history in new book on the lumber industry in the late 1800s SANTA CRUZ, CA, October 23, 2021—They came with axes. They came with oxen. They came with greed. Nearly 150 years ago, a group of venture capitalists began the clear-cutting of what became The Forest of Nisene Marks. By 1902, the decimation along Aptos Creek was complete, leaving behind nothing but broken trees and barren hills as far as the eye could… Read More »Press Release: The Reign of the Lumber Barons

A New Book and an Old Index

Perhaps unsurprisingly, New Zealand is in lockdown again. Equally unsurprising is the fact that I am still writing, editing, publishing, and getting The Reign of the Lumber Barons: Part Two of the History of Rancho Soquel Augmentation ready for your eager hands. The process of editing and re-writing this second part of Ronald G. Powell’s magnum opus has been quite different than the first book, The Tragedy of Martina Castro, and that really is apparent upon reflection.… Read More »A New Book and an Old Index