[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 97 (Thursday, July 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1388]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO LOLETA, CA, ON ITS CENTENNIAL

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                            HON. FRANK RIGGS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 9, 1997

  Mr. RIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the centennial of the 
beautiful community of Loleta in Humboldt County, CA, which I am 
privileged to represent.
  I visited Loleta, which overlooks the picturesque Eel River Valley, 
just 2 weeks ago. The origin of its name is credited to the Wiyot 
Indians of the valley as a name for a pleasant landmark. In this case, 
we are told, a quiet slough.
  A.J. Doolittle made a map of Humboldt County in 1860, and it was 
adopted by the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors. There was no 
Loleta then, nor much of anything else. But from the gentle slope of 
the last of the foothills now occupied by today's Loleta, the map shows 
a nearby road from Dungan's Ferry, past W.J. Wing's, W. Ellery's, T.H. 
Foss', to L.H. Hawk's, en route to J.A. Sawyer's on Table Bluff.
  An old Humboldt County Great Register for 1888 indicates Samuel 
Swauger, a 59-year-old native of Pennsylvania, ranched on what is now 
Loleta and registered to vote the previous year.
  The late historian M.A. Parry, who wrote his masters thesis at 
Humboldt State University on Loleta, said Eel River & Eureka Railroad 
built Swauger's Station, now Loleta, in 1886. ``From 1884 to 1886 the 
station amounted to no more than an uncovered loading platform standing 
beside a short length of track,'' he wrote. In 1898, as traffic 
increased, a new and larger depot was constructed. Swauger Station had 
been on the old structure, while ``Loleta'' appeared on the new.
  Parry had this to say about the name of Swauger and Loleta: ``In 
1897, a faction of the community not satisfied with the name of the 
town, settled on `Loleta' as what they wanted in place of `Swauger's 
Station.' The word was of Indian origin and was said to mean `pleasant 
place.' Actually it was three Indian words, `Lo-le-tah,' meaning, 
`pleasant place at the end of the water.' Loleta was just that; a 
pleasant place at the end of Hawk's Slough which no longer extends so 
far inland.''
  By adopting Loleta as the town name, the community did no more than 
adopt the name the community's Indians had used for years. The name 
became official in February 1897 when Will Perrott filed a map with the 
county recorder entitled ``Loleta--Amended Map of Swauger's.'' The 
railroad company and the post office followed suit the following year.
  And now, beautiful Loleta, famous for its fine dairy farms and 
livestock ranches, prepares for the centennial celebration. I 
congratulate Robert Laffranchi, president of the Loleta Chamber of 
Commerce, and all the people of Loleta for what I'm sure will be a 
wonderful day of festivities.

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