Southwest Sierra — #51

Nugget and Miss Peepers at the Mott Cabin 1977

Pets ~ The first birth that I ever witnessed was at our house (since torn down) in Grass Valley next to the Golf Course. I was 8 years old when our cat Nugget gave birth to two kittens in a box in the laundry room. She had an audience of five kids intently watching (Hall & Bell kids). One kitten was a solid gray male, and the other was a gray and white tuxedo female. Steven got the male and named him Bogart and I got the female and named her Miss Peepers. Bogart vanished in the woods one day while we lived at the Mott Cabin. He followed us around like a dog. In SS #37 I mentioned how Nugget and Miss Peepers went feral with the Brook’s racoons after we moved to the Kanaka Club. Nugget soon vanished, but Miss Peepers took up residence in a vacant house in the Plaza (the little cabin next to the firehouse).

My older brother DBJ came back to live with us when were at the Kanaka Club. He had been living with his biological mother in Hollywood for about two years. He recently reminded me that he did move north with us. (In a previous article I stated that he stayed behind when we moved). All I really remember about his sudden absence was missing him and the fact that he was not there at the Mott Cabin. Shortly after he returned, we moved from the Kanaka Club down to the “lower road” now called “Miners Street” to the house across from the 16 to 1 Mine gate (509 Miners Street).

While living there, both of our dogs, Ruby and Thunder gave birth within days of each other in the crawl space under the house. DBJ and I spent hours crawling in the dusty dirt to retrieve the pups. We made a giant bed for both litters in the back shed. Ruby and Thunder shared nursing duty with the giant litter. All 21 of them! Yep, 21 mostly black puppies (a few of them had a little white on their toes or chests). Once the pups were old enough, my younger brothers and I were stationed in front of grocery stores in Grass Valley and Nevada City to try finding homes for them. In the end, despite our protests, Dad took some of them to the pound.

Around the time that we were getting ready to move to the Golden Bear Mine, Miss Peepers gave birth to three kittens at the vacant house in the Plaza. I don’t remember how I knew this, except that I had been keeping tabs on her. I recruited DBJ to help me catch the kittens. We had to pry a window open to get inside. We managed to catch two out of three kittens, but not without a little bloodshed (I got bitten). One kitten was a black and white tuxedo, and the other was a tabby with a white chest. Both were long-haired males. I named the tux Thompson (or Thomson after the twins in the Tintin books) and the tabby’s moniker was Leo. When we moved to the Golden Bear Mine Bunkhouse these two kittens came with us. Miss Peepers evaded capture and was left on her own in Alleghany. The kittens never did tame down completely, I was the only human who could pet them. Leo grew into a very large cat; I was sure that Iris Davis’ male coon cat was the father. Leo had his size, coat, and coloring except for the white chest. Iris lived near the school (528 Miners St) and was the School Cook. At the Golden Bear Mine, Thompson only lasted for a year or two before he vanished, but Leo was around for several years. Occasionally he would be gone for months at a time, then miraculously he would be there at the French Door on the back of the bunkhouse looking in and asking to be fed.

About the author: Rae Bell (aka Pauline) grew up in the Ruby Mine area. She currently resides in Alleghany proper and can be reached at

raebell44@gmail.com or PO Box 919, Alleghany, CA 95910.