BILL NUMBER: SCR 114 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
RESOLUTION CHAPTER 140
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 8, 2006
ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 31, 2006
ADOPTED IN SENATE AUGUST 10, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 12, 2006
INTRODUCED BY Senator Chesbro
APRIL 18, 2006
Relative to the Mignon "Minnie" Stoddard Lilley Memorial Bridge.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 114, Chesbro Mignon "Minnie" Stoddard Lilley Memorial Bridge.
This measure would designate the new South Fork Eel River Bridge,
located on State Highway Route 101 in the County of Mendocino near
Confusion Hill, as the Mignon "Minnie" Stoddard Lilley Memorial
Bridge. The measure would also request the Department of
Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing
this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate
sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.
WHEREAS, Mignon "Minnie" Stoddard Lilley was a woman of many
facets and dimensions; and
WHEREAS, Minnie was courageous, intelligent, creative, kind,
stern, hard working, musically inclined, honest, religious,
impetuous, practical, and also, by all accounts, quite an attractive
woman; and
WHEREAS, Minnie was a teacher, environmentalist, homesteader,
entrepreneur, healer, visionary, and a true pioneer in every sense of
the word; and
WHEREAS, Minnie led a full vigorous life and was highly thought of
by all who came in contact with her; and
WHEREAS, Minnie taught for over 40 years and left her mark on many
young minds and occasionally, when necessary, on their backsides
too; and
WHEREAS, Minnie lived in a time when a person was required to deal
with the harsh realities of living on the "frontier." A person had
to offer something of value to the community to become part of it and
there were no free rides. In fact, during this time everyone walked;
and
WHEREAS, As a teacher, Minnie offered the community something that
was important to them and as a person she set a positive example for
all by her unselfish concern for all those around her; and
WHEREAS, From 1904 to 1936, Minnie taught in the one room
schoolhouses of the Andersonia/Piercy area. Minnie spent her entire
teaching career in the County of Mendocino teaching at Usal, Moody,
Bear Harbor, Alder Glen, Franklin, and Buck Mountain before settling
down and staying in the Andersonia/Piercy area; and
WHEREAS, All these once thriving settlements have, for the most
part, disappeared over the years; and
WHEREAS, Minnie can also lay claim to being the first schoolbus
driver in the area because around 1919, having acquired a horse-drawn
buggie, she would pick up some of her students and give them a ride
to school; and
WHEREAS, Minnie met William G. Lilley while she was teaching at
Andersonia and they were married January 25, 1905, at the Grand Hotel
in San Francisco. An article in the Fort Bragg Advocate newspaper
described Mr. Lilley as being "one of Mendocino's most promising
young men, a man of sterling principles" and the same article
described Minnie as "a young lady of many accomplishments and one of
Mendocino's most successful teachers;" and
WHEREAS, In the spring of 1904, Minnie set out to homestead a
claim up the Eel River in the redwoods. For many years Minnie had
walked over 5 miles to the schoolhouse so a solitary hike up the
South Fork of the Eel River through some "darn tough country" was no
big deal to her. A quote from a 1950 Humboldt Times article reads "as
soon as the spring rains had subsided enough so that the Eel River
could be crossed safely, she went into the depths of the redwood
forest, fording on a homemade raft the turbulent waters, and set up
her location markers;" and
WHEREAS, Minnie then hired a man to build her a simple one room
cabin on the property. Minnie loved telling people about her first
night in the cabin, all alone way out there in the forest which she
spent "with prayer on my lips and a pistol in my hand;" and
WHEREAS, Minnie had "true grit" and started making a habit to
travel to her cabin on weekends, weather permitting. On one
occasion, Minnie arrived to find that three men were there with the
intentions of jumping her claim and were building a cabin on her
property. What actually transpired between Minnie and the would-be
claim jumpers was never known, but it is known that she stayed and
they did not; and
WHEREAS, Around 1925, Minnie and William bought a 55 acre parcel
adjoining the homestead and that property included a particular tree
Minnie lovingly called "The Fraternal Monarch." This amazing redwood
tree stands over 250 feet tall, is 101 feet in circumference, and has
had the center burned out by a fire some 300 years ago. Today this
tree is known as "The World Famous Tree House;" and
WHEREAS, When William and Minnie bought the property, there were
no roads of any kind along the Eel River; and
WHEREAS, In 1919, construction of the Redwood Highway through the
canyon of the South Fork of the Eel River began; and
WHEREAS, In 1929, Minnie and William started building a few small
cabins near The World Famous Tree House; and
WHEREAS, On May 14, 1931, for the sum of $10, the Lilley's deeded
enough land to the State of California to make improvements to the
new road that ran through their property; and
WHEREAS, During construction of the highway, the tree house was a
camp for the convict labor that was used to work on the road. These
men actually used the old burned out tree as a shelter to sleep in;
and
WHEREAS, Now that tourists were visiting the redwoods, William and
Minnie were in a great position to benefit from this new situation;
and
WHEREAS, One day, Minnie decided to put a gift shop inside The
World Famous Tree House and she had a floor, windows, and a door
fitted to the measurements of the burned out hole in the redwood.
This was one of the very first gift shops on the Redwood Highway; and
WHEREAS, On March 8, 1947, Minnie, a remarkable pioneering woman,
passed away and, according to her wishes to be with her beloved trees
through eternity, she was interred in her mausoleum right near The
Fraternal Monarch; now, therefor, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature recognizes the contributions
of Mignon "Minnie" Stoddard Lilley to the history of California and
designates the new South Fork Eel River Bridge (Bridge number
10-0299, Kilometer Post 160.03), located on State Highway Route 101,
in the County of Mendocino near Confusion Hill, as the Mignon "Minnie"
Stoddard Lilley Memorial Bridge; and be it further
Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to
determine the cost of appropriate signs consistent with the signing
requirements for the state highway system, showing this special
designation, and upon receiving donations from nonstate sources
sufficient to cover the cost, to erect those signs; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the Department of Transportation and to the author for
appropriate distribution.