Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum

There's still time for holiday shopping! The Museum Giftshop is open Fridays from 12 to 4 and Saturdays from 10 to 4 now through Christmas.

Some things never change: From the Vallejo Evening Chronicle October 8, 1869 Yesterday afternoon the heavens became overcast with a thick and heavy haze or smoke, which completely obscured the sun and objects in the horizon within the limits of common vision. A strong, sultry north wind sprung up, and the atmosphere was filled with floating flakes of ashes, during the continuance of the hazy appearance. The tules were reported to be on fire some distance above town, an...d fires were also stated to be burning in the mountains in the upper part of Napa County. The chemisal* and grass have been burning in that section for two weeks, and farmers along the foothills have been compelled to fight the fire to prevent the destruction of fences, crops and other property. These fires are supposed to be kindled through the carelessness of hunters who are very disregardful of where burning gun wads may alight. *Chemisal (also spelled chamisal) is a California rosaceous shrub (Adenostoma fasciculatum) which often forms an impenetrable chaparral.

Need a holiday gift that says "Vallejo?" The Museum Giftshop is open Fridays from 12 to 4 and Saturdays from 10 to 4 now through Christmas.

http://vallejomuseum.blogspot.com//election-hijinx-in-vall

Frank B. Head was a yeoman and chief petty officer aboard the U.S.S. Arizona when he died in the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Head was born on Colorado in 1909 and enlisted in the Navy in 1928. He later settled with his family in Seattle but re-enlisted in the Navy in 1935 at Mare Island. He left a wife and two children.

Solano Chronicles, Dec. 6, 2020 By Brendan Riley The trial nearly a century ago of a Vallejo, Calif., thug who killed his city street department boss was no ...ordinary court proceeding. The case that ended with Martin Colwell going to prison for the rest of his life marked the first, precedent-setting use of bullet fingerprints as evidence in American courts. Colwell’s 1926 conviction for gunning down John McCarty was not easy for the prosecution despite strong circumstantial evidence, including Colwell’s threats of revenge after McCarty fired him from a street labor gang two days before the shooting. Colwell also was known to be violent and had a lengthy criminal record that resulted in three previous prison terms, one for burglary and two for assaults with a deadly weapon. But prosecutors, after one deadlocked trial in a Fairfield courtroom, managed in a second trial to convince jurors of Colwell’s guilt with the help of famed criminologist Edward O. Heinrich, their star witness. Heinrich, the so-called Wizard of Berkeley and American Sherlock Holmes, produced microscopic evidence that the bullet fired point-blank into McCarty’s chest could only have been fired from Colwell’s .38 revolver. Heinrich reached his conclusion after test-firing a live bullet found in Colwell’s pocket, along with several others from a box of ammunition found in the defendant’s waterfront ark. Using a stereoscopic microscope, he compared the bullets with the bullet that killed McCarty and found similar rifling scratches on all of them. He then produced photographs of the marks, which he called bullet fingerprints. Such images had not been seen before in U.S. courts. Heinrich explained that gun manufacturers, to improve bullet accuracy, used steel bars with cutting edges to make spiral riflings inside gun barrels, and the rifling marks were never identical. The result is a gun barrel autograph on any bullet fired from the weapon. Colwell’s second trial began on May 18, 1926, and jurors found him guilty of murder on June 8. Three days later, Superior Court Judge William O’Donnell sentenced him to life in prison. Colwell, 59 when he started his term at San Quentin Prison, was later transferred to Folsom Prison, where he died in 1938. He’s buried in the prison cemetery, with a small marker identifying him only as inmate 14237. On Dec. 19, 1925, McCarty, 40, had just returned from work to his 915 Pennsylvania St. cabin when he heard someone calling him. Shot as he opened his door, McCarty staggered across the street to the Vallejo Ice Co. for help and kept saying, I fired Colwell. McCarty died in an ambulance taking him to the hospital. About two hours after the shooting, police arrested Colwell as he headed out of town, walking along the railroad tracks. His .38 revolver, with one chamber empty, was in his pocket along with three bullets. Four shells were gone from the box of shells found in his room. Colwell couldn’t account for the missing bullet, insisting he had been drunk the day of the shooting and remembered nothing. Officers also found opium, cocaine and other drugs, describing him as a walking drug store. Besides his state prison time, Colwell also had served county jail time. One newspaper account said he had run amuck in 1912 while being held at the Solano County jail in Fairfield and was sent to the state hospital in Napa. He escaped from that institution in 1916. Colwell used the aliases John Barry, Joe Kelly and Marty Holleran, but no matter what name he used Colwell wasn’t hard to identify. He had tattoos of an eagle, flags, an anchor, girls and stars on his arms and back, and of a full-rigged sailing ship on his chest. When not behind bars, Colwell, a Massachusetts native, had all sorts of jobs around Vallejo over a span of more than 30 years. Besides his street repair job, he had worked as a printer, fireman and carpenter and in his 20s may have acted in local theater groups. He also had merchant seaman papers and enlisted in the Navy at Mare Island in 1888. He had managed to save some money and used his savings to retain two prominent Vallejo lawyers, Thomas J. Horan and Arthur Lindauer, a former Solano County district attorney, to fight the charge that he killed McCarty. During the first trial, Vallejo Police Chief William Stanford testified that Colwell made a jail cell comment that If I did kill him, it was not me it was whiskey. But the defense attorneys managed to get a deadlock seven for conviction, five against -- mainly by putting on another criminologist, Chauncey McGovern, to contradict Heinrich’s expert testimony. In the second trial, the defense offered new alibi witnesses and kept trying to discredit Heinrich. But he was better prepared this time. At a juror’s request, approved by the judge, Heinrich set up his microscope in the courtroom to demonstrate how he photographed the bullets. One by one, jurors walked up to the microscope and peered into it. He also took additional photos that matched earlier images supporting the prosecution argument that the fatal bullet was fired from Colwell’s gun. After closing arguments, jurors deliberated for only an hour and five minutes before returning with their unanimous guilty verdict. Over the years, there have been references to the trial in articles and books about criminology and forensic firearm examination. They include a March 2008 paper about Heinrich published by the American College of Forensic Examiners. The paper includes details of the precedent-setting Colwell trial and concludes that Heinrich, who died in 1953, would have enjoyed seeing the procedures he developed or refined nearly a century ago still being used today to make mute evidence speak. ---- Vallejo and other Solano County communities are treasure troves of early-day California history. The Solano Chronicles column, running every other Sunday, highlights various aspects of that history. My source references are available upon request. If you have local stories or photos to share, email me at [email protected]. You can also send any material care of the Times-Herald, 420 Virginia St.; or the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, 734 Marin St., Vallejo 94590.

We Are Open! After being closed for nearly seven months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Museum has finally been able to reopen. Like most other businesses, we have implemented some new procedures and protocols, but we are confident that your visit will be safe and enjoyable. Masks, of course, are required and we have set up several hand sanitizing stations throughout the Museum and in the Giftshop. At present, no more than ten visitors will be permitted inside at the same time. The most difficult part of this new normal is our inability to host larger groups, i.e. community events, piano recitals, school field trips, etc. The Research Library is also closed for in-person research because social distancing cannot take place in that small space. But for now, we are just happy to be open again. Come on down for a visit!

The Museum Giftshop is open today until 4 pm.

Thank you to everyone who watched the premier of the Virtual Vallejo Garden Tour on Sunday, September 20. If you missed it, you can still view it on this page, on the Vallejo Garden Tour's Facebook page or by visiting www.vallejomuseum.net. And if you enjoy the Tour, please consider making a donation to help support the Museum!

The Museum Giftshop will be open Fridays 12 to 4 and Saturdays 10 to 4, now through Christmas. (The Museum itself remains closed due to Covid restrictions). Season's Greetings!

Thank you to everyone who watched the premier of the Virtual Vallejo Garden Tour on Sunday. If you missed it, you can still view it on the Museum's Facebook page or by visiting www.vallejomuseum.net. And if you enjoy the Tour, please consider making a donation to help support the Museum!

For those who missed it yesterday. #VallejoGardenTour

Vallejo Garden Tour Navigation 0:00 Video Start 02:50 The Craig Yard... 06:46 The Gaea Yard 17:56 The Guidry Yard 23:27 The Horst Yard 30:06 Vallejo People's Garden 35:56 The McCoy Yard The 2020 Vallejo Garden Tour is going virtual, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. On Sunday, September 20 at 10:00 a.m. visit the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum’s website at vallejomuseum.net or to start the Tour. You will enjoy five beautiful private Vallejo gardens and the Vallejo People’s Garden at Mare Island along with descriptions of the various plantings, landscaping techniques, water features, and more. Additionally there will be links to gardening websites, videos, and more. The link to the Tour will be active for at least two weeks, so visit as often as you’d like! The virtual Garden Tour will be free, but we encourage everyone to click the Donate Now button to support the Museum.

Vallejo Garden Tour | Sunday September 20 | 10am

We've received news that legendary Civil War Historian Ed Bearss has passed away. A decorated WWII Marine Corps veteran, Bearss, who was 97 years old, rose to n...ational prominence as a talking head during the Ken Burns documentary The Civil War, but that is only a small part of his fantastic legacy. Among his innumerable accomplishments, Bearss was the former chief historian of the National Park Service. He was known for his discovery of the ironclad USS Cairo in the Yazoo river and his efforts to have it raised and preserved, his tremendous efforts to protect hallowed ground, and for giving countless battlefield tours across the spectrum of American military history, but with a focus on the Civil War. As anyone who attended his tours can attest, his indefatigable energy and vigor put many decades younger than him to shame. Bearss lived a long and fruitful life pursing his passion for history, and engaging others in his interest. We won’t see the likes of this amazing charismatic personality again. He was one of a kind. Rest in peace. See more

"Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence." a special online exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution Travelling Exhibition Service. http://vallejomuseum.blogspot.com//votes-for-women-portrai

We have one of these murals in Vallejo at the old Home Savings on Sonoma Blvd. Now a dental office.

Today is your final opportunity to pledge. Help us reach our goal!

USS Ohio BB-12 in drydock at Mare Island August 10, 1915.