May 24
Sterley Epperson
Sterley was married to my mom, he was a wise yet simple man.
His wisdom was folksy salt of the earth.
He was from Oklahoma and had that rural Oakie .
Sterley was my Mom's happiest relationship I think.
they had a placer claim on Pauley Creek About 2.5 miles in from the trail head of the 2nd divide . north east of Downieville.
Sterley had a true talent for gold prospecting.I was really frustrating to work all day with him in places just a few feet apart and he would find nugget after nugget while I found flakes or color.
Sterley was about 5-10 wiry built thin and tough.
I remember visiting his Mom in Marysville She lived in a small simple green house .
We had lunch there and a woman friend was there she was a casino card dealer. She basically taught me that there was very little chance to win in a game with a good dealer.
Sterley had a 49 Dodge pickup truck with a home built camper on the back. We parked the truck at the trailhead and used it as our store of dry goods which we carried in as needed . We wanted to avoid trips for groceries. Downieville had very few stores and they were expensive. so we bought bulk in Sacramento and stored them in the truck.
Sterley made his own Guitar and often we would sit around the campfire and sing "Country songs" In the pines in the pines where the sun don't shine I'll shiver when the cold wind blows"
Some quotes.
as we walked into the claim we were about half way in and stopped for a smoke and a rest. Sterley smoked Pall Mall red.
Sterley asked me "Well how do you like it here in the mountains?" I said' It's great except for the snakes" he thought for a minute and said' Well at least here in the mountains you know where they are. unlike the city where the can come from behind, referring to snake like people.
How I got there. I was facing the draft with a number 3 and 1A classification. so I Thought I did not want to leave the USA to avoid the draft. I thought I would just go to the mountains and wait for the call. I had already gotten a promise from the Navy if I joined t be a Fire control technician. Thanks to Perry Mejia and Joe Williams who gave me a set of Navy Electronics course work which prepared me for the Navy tests.
Sterlley and Mom had Erica my sweet little half sister.
Erica was a big baby
Beautiful; girl./
Sterley as I mentioned a Pall Mall Reds. He got lung cancer and died at age 53-54 Erica was only 2-3 years old.
I last saw him in Enloe Hospital Chico . The same hospital I had recovered from my Motorcycle wreck at.
It was sad to lose him a good man and a friend ..
