MENDOCINO ESCAPES

In 1852 Henry Meiggs heard about a big river and gigantic redwood forests that were located close to the shoreline far to the north of his mill in Bodega. He built the very first sawmill there that same year and for a brief time the place was known as Meiggsville. Meiggs got into financial difficulties in 1854 and moved to Chile. His company was taken over by his partners and their creditors and eventually became profitable. The town, known popularly as Big River at the time, grew steadily and by the end of the civil war had a permanent population of about 700.