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Claudia Nelson
Beacon Correspondent
To talk with Frederica (Rica) Maher at her small, neat home in Hydesville, it might be necessary to follow her around. She lights for a minute and then springs out of her chair to dash from living room to kitchen. She's back with coffee and homemade cookies, then she's off again to look for photos.
Not only does she locate these, she flourishes a document she wrote in 1987 that briefly chronicles the lives of early-day relatives who pioneered in rural Templeton, where she spent her younger years. As such, the papers serve also as a brief memoir of that special time in her life.
”I wish everyone could have had that kind of life,” she says, her tone wistful as she begins reminiscing about what it was like to grow up on a large cattle ranch called the Santa Rita, a quarter part of a 25,000-acre Spanish land grant and situated 11 miles west of Templeton in San Luis Obispo County.
Her father--who in the late 1800s tried his hand at prospecting for gold in Alaska-- and his brothers bought the ranch in 1906; it was sold later in 1929, the year Maher graduated from high school.
A Humboldt County resident for 40 years, at 98 Rica Maher in many ways is still that competent ranch girl. Wiry and slight of build, she is strong, quick and active. Although she can no longer climb onto a horse (she used to do flying mounts), she travels, and at home tends animals, gardens, bakes, puts up preserves, and--until recently--chopped her own kindling. Well-informed on current events, she can offer an opinion on various topics--though not for print.
Why not? At an advanced age people certainly have earned the right to be heard. But no. Insightful as they may be, she's adamant in her objection to sharing her views. She shakes her head. “Why would anyone care what I think? Just because I turned 98!”
She observed her birthday Oct. 24 at her home with a gathering of friends and relatives, including her daughter, Carol Rigby, of Tehachapi, formerly of Hydesville. Born in 1911 at Templeton to Chris Juhl, a native of Denmark, and his wife, Christine, of German ancestry, Maher was the oldest of four children, and had two brothers, George and Chris, and a sister, Ellen.
”They're all gone now,” she says of her parents and siblings.
Maher lived on the 6,000-acre mountain ranch until she left home at age 17. After graduating from Templeton High School, she attended San Jose State College and then went into training to become a nurse, an occupation she practiced many years until her retirement.
Married to Floyd Maher in 1939, Maher lived in Concord for 27 years. She was widowed in 1968, a year before she moved north and resided first at Fortuna. Her daughter, Carol, and another daughter, Donna Golphenee, now of Medford, Ore. lived in the area, “and I followed them here and liked it,” Maher says. She has four grandchildren and some great grandchildren.
It's to those early years on the ranch that her memory returns. “I don't forget a thing,” she says.
She recalls riding horseback to attend school, and in a horse-drawn buggy and later, in a Model T Ford. Eventually, the family acquired their first car, an Overland. Although the ranch also contained a small dairy, the main occupation was raising beef cattle and she, along with the others, learned to ride horses at an early age.
”My father wanted a boy,” she says, adding, “I was that 'boy.'”
In her memoir she describes the ranch, with the Santa Rita Creek running its length, as a “constant playground.” The year's main event was the three-day round-up and cattle drive to Templeton, where the livestock was shipped by freight cars to market.
”We drove 200 head 11 miles,” she recalls.
The Juhls had the locale's only cattle scale, used also by other ranchers. She remembers the Moras who lived in that area, and that whenever Rafael Mora showed up on horseback, his little fox terrier was on the horse with him.
Dogs were valued, especially good cow dogs. As a helper, her father's dog, Tige, replaced a horseman when Maher's father was alone on the range.
Getting supplies in town was an all-day trip by horse and wagon. The family bought staples such as sugar and flour in 50 and 100 pound sacks. Neighbor helped neighbor--and with the Danes, Maher said, “The coffee pot was always on.” In the summer families worked haying and chopping corn for the silo.
With 15 cousins around, good times were plenty. She recalls barbecues on the ranch and picnics on the beach near Cayucas and Morro Bay.
”I wish our childhood on the Santa Rita could have been shared by everyone. We didn't have radios, television sets or VCRs but we had good books to read, all 6,000 acres outdoors for a playground, and a father and mother who always had time for us. We were truly blessed,” she wrote in her memoir.
Although her fondest recollections center around her past, Rica Maher is also a woman of the present and future. She lives independently and maintains her long-held interests, mainly those dealing with cooking, baking pies, cakes and cookies for the enjoyment of family and friends, and caring for animals.
”Ranching has always been my hobby, and as of now it's ended up that I'm caring for (several animals, including) two goats!”
She's a long-time member of the Carlotta Women's Club, now down to just six members. All of the members showed up for her birthday party.
”I'll give the Christmas party this year,” she announces.
It's her turn, and a lucky thing for the club, for it's a well-known fact that the descendants of Scandinavians, like their ancestors, are yet renowned for their hospitality, generosity, and delicious cooking. Those may also be traditionally-held virtues in rural and ranching families, regardless of nationality.
Claudia Nelson/Beacon
Frederica (Rica) Maher, fourth from left, is flanked by relatives at her 98th birthday celebration on Oct. 24 at her Hydesville home. From right are Donna Kay Bernardo of Arcata; Carol Rigby, Maher's daughter, of Tehachapi; Christine Hensen, Arcata; Maher; Grace Crow, of Rescue; and Crow's daughter, Kathy Wendell, of Arroyo Grande. The guests are cousins of Maher and her daughters. Another daughter, Donna Golphenee, of Medford, Ore. though unable to attend. Among the friends who helped Maher observe the occasion were all five members of the Carlotta Women's Club, of which Maher has been a longtime, active member.
