In 1911 a Yahi   Indian was taken into custody in the  outskirts of Oroville, suspected of attempting to steal meat from a slaughterhouse. He was kept at the Butte County  Jail for 8 days and 7 nights. During that time over 1,000 visitors a day came to the jail to get a look at him.  Tonight Author and Anthropologist Richard Burrill will present the story of Ishi    who contrary to what has been written about him was not the last of his tribe, but was the last steeped in traditional ways and skills like a time traveler before the California Gold Rush Era.
click to hear Richard Burrill
The “Wild Man of Oroville,”  as Ishi was known, became a nationwide sensation when another  photo of him was first published in the San Francisco Call in August 1911.  Burrill’s presentation on Ishi will be this evening, Nov. 15  beginning at 7pm in the Community Room at the Madelyn Helling Library in Nevada City as part of the Nevada County Historical Society Speaker Night presentations. The lecture  is free and open to the public..