Exhibit item:
HARRY DIDIER LAMOTTE
Statement from Harry Didier LaMotte: manuscript, undated

Harry LaMotte was only eighteen when he came to California in 1849 and set out to find gold in Humboldt County. In his dictation for Hubert Howe Bancroft he tells of an Indian belief that the corners of the square earth are supported on the shoulders of four grizzly bears. When an earthquake occurs, the Indians must all stand up and yell to persuade the bears to stop fighting and quiet down.