Mr. Calloway worked for Union Lumber Company from 1920 to 1970, working his way up from choker setter to topper to timber cruiser. . . .
The “Spanish flu” probably originated elsewhere. In fact, the first confirmed cases were in the United States. Two military bases in Kansas, Riley and Funston, at the very least contributed greatly to its spread. However, as news of the outbreaks there were kept under wraps, the first reports of the pandemic were printed in Spain, from which the flu got its name. It was a case of shooting the messenger, so to speak.
What became a global pandemic began in early March of 1918 and didn’t fade away until April of 1920—after a little more than two years.
The flu didn’t reach remote Mendocino County until late 1918, not long before Jackson’s return to the area. To be specific, October 19, 1918 was the first mention of the pandemic having made inroads into that rural county. A local newspaper story stated: “Spanish influenza has Ukiah in its grippe.” Schools were closed, and all public gatherings were prohibited. This meant that not only was school not in session but there were also no dances, motion picture shows, lodge meetings, or religious gatherings.
At an orphanage in Ukiah, 50 boys and three nuns were at one time simultaneously sick abed. Logging operations were so impacted in the area that some work shifts were eliminated and, in a few cases, the work came to a virtual standstill for a time.
Improvements came by the end of the year, though, and by early 1919, when Jackson returned, the county considered the flu defeated, and life began getting back to normal. After a couple of weeks of relative ease at home, enjoying being back “in the bosom of his family,” as his mother Gertie put it, Jackson was now ready to move on to the next phase of his life.
He went to work in the woods, as a logger; specifically, as a choker-setter, a dangerous job whose practitioners normally had all their digits, and needed all their senses, about them. Jackson had the latter, being of a serious turn of mind, but had to convince the “Bull of the woods” (the logging crew boss) that he could do the job sans two fingers. Being impressed with Jackson—and because he needed men, and out of regard for his military service—the boss gave Jackson a chance to prove himself to be not only willing, but also able, to perform the work.
Jackson did so, and in short order realized that he could prove himself as good as most any ten-fingered man—and earn higher wages—as a topper. Scaling the trees was difficult work, requiring physical strength, stamina, and daring, even for someone with no physical limitations, but in this, too, Jackson proved himself up to the job, and made the transition from choker-setter to topper. He took pride in the work, and found it both satisfying and rejuvenating. This was so because there was pride in performing a job which took skill and courage, and it was refreshing and thrilling to view the world from above, perched like an eagle scanning his domain—where his eye, to paraphrase Longfellow, could “see the world as one vast plain, and one boundless reach of sky.”
Yet, even while experiencing such satisfaction and even euphoria, Jackson felt an unassuaged yearning.
Chapter 1 of “Obituary of a 3-Century Man” can be read here.
Chapter 9 of “Obituary of a 3-Century Man” can be read here.