[Ron] So, Lady Bird actually selected that site?
Oh yeah, we showed her three sties.
[Ron] What were the other two?
One was up Redwood Creek from Orick about, well there was an old road up in there, and we used to be able to drive up where that trail is now. We went up there about three miles and it was on the left, a beautiful spot. The other one was in a State Park.
[Bill] The Stout Grove?
Yeah, the Stout Grove, but that got ruled out real quick, because it was the state.
[Bill] I can see why, the state wouldn’t go for it.
But she liked the spot that was used, she really liked that. Then of course later, Bill and Ryan and a bunch of other folks came down for the dedication when President Nixon and President Johnson were here. That was fun.
[Bill] The three musketeers.
[Ron] That was certainly a unique moment in Redwoods history. Bill Everhart thinks that is the only example of three presidents participating in a dedication, of course Reagan was Governor at that time.
Yeah, it was strictly for Lady Bird, was what it was for. She’s a marvelous lady and a most gracious woman.
[Bill] She was a very charming woman.
I was lucky enough to see her a couple of the times after that down at her home in Texas. I was working on the Buffalo River in Arkansas and we had a conference down in Austin and she invited us to come down and see her, the ranch and where LBJ was buried and the whole bit, a delightful lady.
Now in your leaving Crater Lake, Buffalo River was next?
Yeah, I went to Buffalo, it was a new area. I picked that up, when the Redwoods legislation was signed. Nels Murdock came in as Superintendent. Down at Buffalo River in Arkansas, I picked it up from the day the authorizing legislation passed to put that package together. So we bought the land, assembled staff, plans and all the tings that you go through putting a park together.
So really a continuation of setting up a park?
Yeah, another piece of the action. That was deliberate, Hartzog said, “Are you getting tired of sailing out there at Klamath Lake?” I said I never get tired of sailing. He said, “Well, get a canoe cause you are going to Buffalo.” I had never hared of Buffalo either, but you get rather insulated when you are working these things, tremendous concentration of hours and hours. So I never heard of Buffalo River in Arkansas. We started from scratch to put that one together.
