I’ve been crossing the Yolo Causeway to get to work. It’s a familiar ride—from Davis to Sacramento. I can remember being a kid in the backseat of the family car as one of my parents zoomed over this long viaduct above what is now called the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area. The original causeway opened in 1916—the current incarnation was built in 1962. I was born that year. I once walked with my late father on a Davis levee as he explained how the man-made structure was protecting the region from flooding. During the rainy season I came to expect the waters that drained down the Sierras and inched up the side of the levee. Whenever this happened, drives on the causeway turned dramatic with glinting ripples on either side of the car.

As an adult, I visited Davis during dryer years, only to ruminate on how all that water seemed to be a distance memory. People were happily claiming Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area for hiking and bird watching. One time I went hiking along a well-established trail down there wondering if the water would ever again be as high as it was during the sixties. Well, it’s relatively high right now. I’ve been enjoying a sense of déjà vu on my commutes to Sacramento City College, where I’ve just begun working as an adjunct librarian.

It’s interesting to work as a librarian in my homeland after being away almost 43 years. Recently, I poked around a Sacramento Bee database to discover a cryptic ad my great-grandfather placed in the Bee back in 1909. This was under “Ready Reference Guide of Leading Superior California Firms.”

“Sherritt House, Leading commercial, reasonable. O. B. Wergeland”

I knew my great-grandparents had run a boarding house in Truckee. Was this the one?

I dug deeper to discover the Sherritt House burned down in 1913.

“$75,000 Fire in Heart of Truckee: Sherritt and Ashton Rooming Houses, Each Three Stories in Hight [sic], Razed, and Two Saloons, Bakery and Barber Shop Damaged This Morning” (September 18, 1913).

“The Sherritt House was a landmark. It was erected more than forty years ago, and at one time was the leading hostelry here.” (September 18, 1913)

More family members showed up to greet me in the Bee. For example, I’m wondering if my grandfather, Irving Wergeland, was out and about in April of 1927.

“H. L. Beabes and I. W. Wergeland surveyed the road from Summit to the head of Donner Lake on skis Sunday and found snow from three to seventeen feet deep, the greatest depth being in the cut west of Donner bridge for a distance of 200 feet.”

My grandfather was definitely a skier and his name Irving, but death records reveal Norman as his middle name.

My grandmother, who went to her grave with the name Merle Hooper, was a contestant in a 1932 beauty contest.

“If Merle Wergeland, above, should be selected queen in the Winter Sports Carnival, to be held in the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, January 7^th, her friends say she will be well qualified for the honors. She is the entrant of the Auburn Ski Club, and in addition to beauty she is a skier of ability.”

A follow-up article announced my grandmother placed third. Meanwhile, Grandfather Irving was also active in the Auburn Ski Club.

“The Auburn Ski Club this week unanimously elected Wendell Robie Of Auburn president of the club for the 1933-34 season. Irving Wergeland of Auburn is the new vice president of the club, and Lane Calder, a past president of the association, is treasurer.”

I read about how my great-grandfather died.

“O. B. Wergeland, 71, a prominent citizen of Truckee, died suddenly from a heart attack in the woodshed of his home.

Wergeland yesterday afternoon was engaged in piling wood in the shed. When Mrs. Wergeland chanced to visit the shed she found her husband’s body sprawled on the floor.

She summoned a physician, who pronounced the man dead.” (August 26, 1938)

Turns out he and my great-grandmother, Anna Wergeland, were residents of Truckee for forty years before he died (I knew they’d lived there, but I did not know how long).

There was more to uncover.

“Summer season students at the University of California at Davis will stage two plays by French Playwright Alfred Jarry July 18, 19, 20 and 21 in the UCD Main Theater.

Alan A. Stambusky will direct “King Ubu” and “Ubu Unchained.

The first play, which follows Ubu’s adventures in Poland, will star Paul Ford in the title role, while Jean Wergeland will play his ‘equally disgusting wife,’ Stambusky said.” (July 7, 1968)

Jean Wergeland is my mother. I remember seeing one of those plays when I was six years old.

And my late father appeared in the Sacramento Bee to answer a few questions.

“The University of California in Davis old book sale to buy new books will be held Sunday starting noon in the tree-shaded courtyard of the Shields Library at UCD. Wayne Wergeland, general chairman, and his committee have 9,000 books, something for everyone who reads. There will be an informal auction of about 40 rare and unusual volumes beginning at 1:30 p.m. ‘All books will be moderately and even cheaply priced, encouraging all who attend to buy at least one book,‘ Wergeland discloses.” (May 16, 1975)

Last weekend a friend and I took the California Zephyr across trestles running parallel to the Yolo Causeway over the water-filled Yolo Basin—and then on to Truckee. We enjoyed some fine views as the train wound its way into the Sierra Nevada foothills, shooting past Auburn, birthplace of my father. Before long the scenery out the window turned white, and we looked over the snowpack that had been there a while, though fresh snow adorned green conifers. As we lunched in the dining car, our ride in this new dimension remained enchanting. We stepped off the train into snow flurries, marveling at the snowbanks along the tracks. Truckee streets had clearly been tended by snowplows all winter, so it wasn’t difficult to get around on foot.

Fortunately, we didn’t have to walk far to get to the historic Truckee Hotel (formerly the New Whitney House, which barely survived the fire that took out the Sherritt House. I’ve come to discover the Sherritt House was once situated across the street from the New Whitney. A former Bank of America takes up that corner now. It has morphed into a saloon fondly known as Bar of America.

We checked into our second-floor room with plenty of old world charm and views of the town (the bathroom is down the hall, thank you very much!). I could imagine what Ole and Anna Wergeland’s world must have been like. Truckee exists at 5,817 feet, not far from Donner Pass, where the famed Mormon pioneers underwent their terrible ordeal. I’ve heard my great-grandfather helped build snow sheds covering the train tracks in those parts. Perhaps he turned to this line of work after the Sherritt House was destroyed. Now Truckee is an enjoyable getaway with a number of worthy eating establishments. Most had waiting lists the night we went in search of food.

 

For my students working on research papers—here’s my Works Cited list:

Arden, Tom. “Tom Arden’s Town.” Sacramento Bee, NY Stocks Final ed., 16 May 1975, p. 32. NewsBank, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=image/v2:144FDEA786229ACC@EANX-NB-15D61E8A36BCDD3F@2442549-15D607B511F674BF@31-15D607B511F674BF@. Accessed 29 Mar. 2019.

“Auburn Beauty.” Sacramento Bee, One Star ed., 26 Dec. 1932, p. 7. NewsBank, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=image/v2:144FDEA786229ACC@EANX-NB-15319E9795C77513@2427068-15319D0F5E8345FA@6-15319D0F5E8345FA@. Accessed 29 Mar. 2019.

“Davis Students Will Stage Alfred Jerry’s UBU Plays.” Sacramento Bee, Home ed., 7 July 1968, p. 115. NewsBank, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=image/v2:144FDEA786229ACC@EANX-NB-16F1EC96F5591436@2440045-16F1E6B7EDB4F8B6@114-16F1E6B7EDB4F8B6@. Accessed 29 Mar. 2019.

“O. B. Wergeland Dies Suddenly in Truckee.” Sacramento Bee, 26 Aug. 1938, p. 8. NewsBank, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=image/v2:144FDEA786229ACC@EANX-NB-16474658B575138C@2429137-16473C7CC4B0801C@7-16473C7CC4B0801C@. Accessed 29 Mar. 2019.

“Pioneer Truckee Hotel Razed by Fire.” Sacramento Bee, 18 Sept. 1913, p. 8. NewsBank, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=image/v2:144FDEA786229ACC@EANX-NB-14F2556E689C754E@2420029-14EF343BF58DC23B@7. Accessed 29 Mar. 2019.

“Ready Reference Guide of Leading Superior California Firms.” Sacramento Bee, Two Star ed., 8 May 1909, p. 15. NewsBank, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=image/v2:144FDEA786229ACC@EANX-NB-14EFADF16600576F@2418435-14EFA8E85A041C07@14-14EFA8E85A041C07@. Accessed 29 Mar. 2019.

“Robie is Again Ski Club Head.” Sacramento Bee, One Star ed., 10 Nov. 1933, p. 8. NewsBank, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=image/v2:144FDEA786229ACC@EANX-NB-1536E9558310FE00@2427387-1536835EF99091DA@7-1536835EF99091DA@. Accessed 29 Mar. 2019.

“$75,000 Fire in Heart of Truckee.” Sacramento Bee, 18 Sept. 1913, p. 1. NewsBank, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=image/v2:144FDEA786229ACC@EANX-NB-14F2556E689C754E@2420029-14EF343B8B3BAEF6@0. Accessed 29 Mar. 2019.

“Snow 3 to 17 Feet Deep on Road Near Summit.” Sacramento Bee, 27 Apr. 1927, p. 24. NewsBank, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=image/v2:144FDEA786229ACC@EANX-NB-14FD542766BD4319@2424998-14F39F6BA84ED2F8@23-14F39F6BA84ED2F8@. Accessed 29 Mar. 2019.