Piccolotti Children Fishing at Boyle’s Camp, c. 1928.
The children are standing on what appears to be a wharf or bridge with a wooden railing, and are holding up several strings of small fish they have presumably caught from Big River. A fishing pole is held upright by one child. The youngest are wearing overalls, and some are barefoot.
Pete Piccolotti, his wife Rosa, and their family of eight children lived on what used to be the Mendocino Lumber Company’s Lower Ranch, which was located 14 miles up Big River from Mendocino. Since the 1890s, this ranch raised vegetables and fruit, notably apples, for the various logging camps, and hay was grown there to feed the working animals. Woodsmen could stop at the ranch on their way to camp. In addition to providing food to the camps, the Piccolotti family also brought truckloads of fresh produce into Mendocino to sell to the townsfolk.
Boyle’s Camp was located downriver from their ranch, near what became the Mendocino Woodlands.
Children pictured are (left to right): Fred, George, Ida, Louis, Henry, Albert, and (in front) Emil. Alice, the youngest sibling, was not born yet.
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