Lompoc High School - La Purisima Yearbook (Lompoc, CA)

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LOM'POC UNIONI 16 lHIGH Scuool. .sf or '-lf , , . L - f - i -.1-Irilxiyiiciiik Ykivl l it -I 'A ii i gill!!! La Purissima La Purissimal your crumbling 'dobe wall, Your arch, your column tall, Your floor, where weeds now grow, Remind us of the days of long ago, When Indians 'round the Mission dwelt, And padres by the altars knelt. Then each morn the bells were rung, Each night the evening vespers sung. No more is heard the sound of bells, No more the padre by the altar kneels, No more the Indian tills the lands, The Mission now in ruin stands. -Robert Hibbits, '27. NATACHA Why, this looks like Indian-ware, grandadl It isg but don't touch it, boy! Why, that belonged to Natachaf' said the old Lnan as he reached out and took an earthen jar, covered with skins, from the boy's ands. Natacha? Who on earth was Natacha, and why is that old thing so precious ? You remember old Doc Jones, don't you? Well, he and I were old hunting cronies, and one year we had decided to try our luck at other hunting on old Santa Rosa Island. But, grandad, I asked you about Natacha--what's that to do with ........ ? Now, you just wait. I'm a-getting to her as soon as I can. The old man pulled his chair up to the fire saying, It's a mighty long story, lad. so you'd better sit down here, too.-Now, where was I? Oh! Yes ........ We went over in my boat, and after unloading we pitched our camp in a sheltered cave. The next morning one of the men, while looking around, found three small enclosures made of stakes covered with skins. They were very crudely made, yet showed signs of recent habitation. Could anyone be living there? No, no one could possibly have survived in that bleak place. Still, it seemed to me that I had once heard something or other about some Indians being left there: but that was so long ago it couldn't be the same one. By the time we had just about decided that some hunter had made them, we found some whale meat spread out to dry. The fact that it was only a few weeks old made us more excited than ever. We searched cautiously all the lower end of the island, not going into the upper part because the upper end was so overgrown with brush, and there were tall cliffs, which made it seem impossible for anyone to be up there. On our way back to the camp we walked along slowly, fearful, yet hoping to find something else. 'Jim, come hereg you can't imagine what I've found,' old Doc called to me excitedly.

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LoMPoc UNIONll51HIGHiSCH'OOL' EDITORIAL La Purissima, the third annual of the Lompoc Union High School, has been published by the Associated Student Body with the assistance of an advisory com- mittee from the faculty and financial aid from the Board of Trustees. The Staff has allotted a section to each school activity. This year has been distinguished by the formation of several organizations such as the Girls' League, the High Y, the Lyric Club, and the Spanish Glee Club. A new branch of athletics, tumbling, has also been established by Mr. Sheue. Many students have been benefitted by participating in these societies. The aims of all groups are iden- tical-the improvement of the individual and the arousing of an enthusiastic school spirit. The students gave evidence of their loyalty by supporting any enterprise spon- sored by the school. The enthusiasm displayed at the games deserves commendation. The High Jinx party, the Stag party, and the dances have attracted unusually large number of participants. School activities have been a hundred per cent better. Under the supervision of Miss Ramona Little, the music department has been a credit to the school. The orchestra deserves especial mention because it has per- formed so successfully at Student Body meetings and at various civic entertainments. As for the Scholarship Society it is now an active factor in our school. Many more students have been eligible this year. There are now eighteen members. On account of the keen competition, the name that will be placed upon the scholarship cup is unknown. A Much of the success of La Purissima is due to the efforts of our faculty ad- visors, Miss Bowen and Miss Colledge. Miss Bowen, of the English department, has supervised the literary articles of the students. The poems and stories were contributed by Hazel Scolari, Blanche Gilkeson, Howard Schuyler, Genevieve Ruffner, and Robert Hibbitts. Credit for the art work belongs to lVIiss Colledge, of the art department, who has supervised the drawing of the annual headings. The cuts were designed by the following students: Katherine Brendel, Carmen Oliver, Howard Marsh, Eugene Skinner, Robert Hibbits, Edna Davidson, and Lynn Ber- kenkamp. ,V 4 The success of the annual is due not only to the literary contributions of the students, but also to the Hnancial aid that has been donated. I wish to thank the different classes for their generosity. The class of '25 deserves particular praise for its liberality. The Trustees made this edition possible by making up the deficit that the Student Body was unable to meet. g I wish to express my gratitude to the Trustees, to the students of Lompoc High School, and to my efficient staff for their ,co-operation in this undertaking. -Kathryn Adam.

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LoMPoc UNIONI l71H1oH SCHOOL 'What now,' I cried as I ran quickly over. To my surprise, it was a footprint. Could it be ?-No! Yes, it was a woman's footprint. We could only find the one footprint, so we returned to camp. That evening, while sitting around the camp fire, we began to tell some of the old Indian legends. All of a sudden one came to me of the 'Lost Woman of Santa Rosa,' which went something like this: At one time some Aztec Indians had been left on the island by a Russian trader. The padres from the Santa Barbara Mission decided that they should be rescued and brought back to their homes. A boat, 'El Peor que Nada,' Cand worse than nothing it proved to bel was sent out after themg but, in the excite- ment of leaving, one of them, Natacha, discovered that her son was not with the other children as she had supposed, and rushed back to find him. In the meantime, a heavy storm was seen coming up, forcing them to leave before her return. The padres expected to go back for her, but the old channel was treacherous and in attempting her rescue, 'El Peor que Nada,' the only large boat on the coast, capsized and was wrecked, thus making it impossible to reach the island. By the time another large boat came it seemed impossible that any person could possibly have survived the hardships alone, so there was no further attempt at a rescue. Now, after twenty years, was it possible that she was still alive? Someone surely was on the island. Our adventurous spirit got the better of us: and I'll have to admit what little sleeping we did that night was spent in dreams of find- ing Natacha. The next morning we set out to explore the northern end of the island. After climbing up and down rocks and cliffs, and through brush, we were re- warded by finding another enclosure such as the ones we found the first day. ' Here the old gentleman seemed to forget himself, and stopped his story. Grandad, don't stop, go on! Let me see, why, where was I?-Oh! Now I know-inside the hut. Inside of the hut there was a willow basket containing a dress of skins held together by thongs of some material, some whalebone needles were there too, as well as dried Esh. We spread the things out believipg that if they belonged to Natacha she would replace them. After hunting vainly a little longer we returned to camp. On the following day we returned to the hut. 'Oh, they are replaced 3' Doc seemed as joyful as a child in his discovery. Through the spy-glasses Doc discovered another 3 needless to say, we rushed quickly over there. As we neared it, we saw a woman sitting there. We could hardly believe our eyes. Go on, grandad, go on, interrupted Jack. The woman was surrounded by wild dogs, which she called to her in a strange dialect as we came up. She stood up and we could see that she was dressed in a dress like the one we had found in the basket. Her head was uncovered but for long hair, which evidently once had been yellow, but which then was burnt, matted, and horrible to look at. It looked as if wind, rain, and sun had alike played with it. She could not understand our language, and though Doc knew many Indian dialects, she had either forgotten hers or we didn't know it. After trying, without avail, to tell her we wanted to take her back, we tried signs. I pointed to our boat which could be seen from the hill, then towards the mainland. She seemed to understand, and began to pick up her things. To our surprise, she didn't seem overjoyed as we had expected, but she was willing to go. We returned to camp, embarking for Santa Barbara the next day. She wanted to sew, and with much help finally made a skirt, over which she was as pleased as a child. , '