Novelist Terry Pratchett said, “It is important that we know where we come from, because if you do not know where you come from, then you don't know where you are, and if you don't know where you are, you don't know where you're going. And if you don't know where you're going, you're probably going wrong.”
The Humboldt County Commission took Pratchett’s words seriously and approved an agreement with local author Carolyn Dufurrena to compose historic and cultural documents which will be added to the county’s master plan.
Humboldt County Manager Dave Mendiola told the commission that “we want people to know, when they look at our master plan, who we are, [what] our history is, where we came from, and how we became this great county and community that we have.”
Mendiola said the original historical and cultural portion of the plan needed refreshing. “Our current cultural and historical information is very old. It’s been around for probably 25 or 30 years.” He said the old document focused on trappers and early immigrants who traveled through the area but there are other influences that need to be brought to light such as the Basque, the mining and gaming industries as well as individual people who played an important part in shaping the county.
Commission Chairman Jim French agreed. “That was one of my major concerns,” he said, “when we were first cracking open the older version of the master plan is that from a historical perspective, it’s pretty abbreviated and … didn't spell out exactly how this county got to be where it is right now.”
