[UPDATE 10:54 a.m.] Head-On Collision Leaves One Dead and Traffic Stopped on Highway 101 South of Hopland
Debris scattered across 101 after the crash. [All photos from Matt LaFever]
Traffic is backed up at least a mile and first responders are working to clear the roadway. But according to the CHP a long strip of roadway is being closed. They report that Hwy 101 is now being closed near Cloverdale at mile marker 53.5 and the intersection of 101 and Hwy 175 Near Hopland.
A line of vehicles stretches into the distance.
The big rig is down the embankment in the dry riverbed next to the Russian River. Environmental Health has been requested to the scene to inspect the riverbed where the semi-truck came to rest.
The semi is over an embankment.
Pedestrians are outside of their vehicles, watching the incident. The roadway will require clearing before the roadway can be opened.
Emergency workers are dealing with a large amount of debris at the scene.
Commuters looking to avoid the traffic snarl can take Mountain House Road which will lead you through the hills east west of the incident and drop you near Cloverdale.
Agencies represented at scene include Hopland Fire, Ukiah Valley Fire Authority, California Highway Patrol, and the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
UPDATE 8:23 a.m.: Caltrans spokesperson Myles Cochrane tells us, “According to dispatch, the estimated time of reopening is 10:30 a.m.”
UPDATE 9:07 a.m.: The CHP is reporting that the northbound lanes are open.
UPDATE 10:39 a.m.: Both northbound and southbound lanes are open at this time. Caltrans QuickMap shows that traffic is still creeping through the area.
UPDATE 10:54 a.m.: A dispatcher at Ukiah’s California Highway Patrol office clarified that as of 10:52 a.m., there is currently one-way controlled traffic, allowing both north and southbound traffic to move one at a time. The CHP Incident Information page indicates that the northbound lane will be shutdown between 5-6 hours.
UPDATE: CHP Releases Information on This Morning’s Fatal Crash the Closed 101 South of Hopland
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That accident makes me sick to my stomach. It looks like the motorhome just exploded from the impact. My condolences to the family and friends of the person who passed away. RIP. A very big thank you to the California Highway Patrol, Hopland Fire, Ukiah Valley Fire Authority, and Mendocino Sheriff’s Office for your care and work at the scene.
Thanks I’m the uncle
What is the deceased’s name, please? My condolences.
Jesse Pearce
Where is Frog Woman Rock? I have not heard of it.
Its the Pomo name for what was known as Squaw Rock for decades
Used to be called Squaw Rock by some. It’s south of Hopland and overlooks a bend in the Russian River. It is huge one can’t miss it.
Lots of interesting info in these RHBB articles (and comments) from 2011 and 2020:
https://kymkemp.com/2011/08/04/squaw-rock-becomes-frog-woman-rock/
https://kymkemp.com/2020/09/04/odd-old-news-afloat-and-afoot-travels-through-mendocino-county-into-humboldt-pt-1/
I believe it is area where there is the train tunnel. Also where the road goes to one lane each way, for now.
Squaw Rock for us diehard old timers, but the liberals forced a change on us because squaw is supposed to be like the N-word.
Squaw is an extremely bigoted and offensive term
to whom
Seriously. The ever growing list of supposedly racist terms is getting annoying. Didn’t know that Eskimo is racist? Well then, you must be a racist, even if you didn’t know it. Manufactured egg shell walking, brought to you by your local thirty-something wokester.
bunch of snow flake culture cancelling nimby’s
Squaw is actually the Algonkian word for woman, picked up by early settlers in the Northeast, where most Algonkians live. Yurok is an Algonkian language and their word for woman is pretty much the same. It has become pejorative, but in its origins, it is a perfectly good word.
That isn’t quite correct. The word squaw is European in origin. There are some bits in longer Algonquian words that Europeans use, but the use of the term “squaw” is not the word for a woman, which is Ikwe or some variation.
Also, this is Pomo, certainly not part of the language family that Algonquian belongs to.
I won’t begin to speak for the Yurok, but I did just look up what the Yurok word for woman is. It is Wenchokws. Now that comes from a quick google and as I said, I would be happy to be corrected, by a Yurok speaking person.
Words of wisdom from Wlibomkanni,
“The sound “squaw,” regardless of its spelling, is OUR word for woman, and it is NOT to be used as an insult! When I hear it spoken by Native peoples, in its proper context, I hear the voices of the ancestors. I am reminded of powerful grandmothers who nurtured our people and fed the strangers, of proud women chiefs who stood up against them, and of mothers and daughters and sisters who still stand here today. In their honor I demand that our language, our women, and our history, be treated with respect.
Thank you for listening.”
Wlibomkanni, travel well.
Please click on the following link for a complete explanation of how “Squaw Rock” got its name If you click on the photo and zoom it in you can clearly see and Indian Woman with a robe wrapped around her staring at the sky. That is how the Old-Timers explained it to me (and I knew most of the local Old-Timers of Mendo. Some were family.)
Squaw Rock Naming: https://ernielb.blogspot.com/2008/11/betcha-didnt-know.html
❤❤❤❤❤❤
NoExcuse, the term squaw does not bother me one bit. Just and Indian name for a woman. Better than Frog Rock!
Just like “rosco” might be the “a” word here.
Pretty sure the Pomo are the “old timers” in this case.
Well! You certainly sound Prickly!
You should read further in the comments, or read Wikipedia, that bastion of brainwashed liberals and conservatives alike, as Julie did, and look up the origin of frog woman rock.
You won’t have to die so hard as you obviously know the geographic name once used, as well as the current name. You’re also sensitive to the reason for change or you might have spelled out n——
Just how old are you to make you an “Old Timer” anyway? My guess is you’re just a baby redneck like me.
Change is constant, and you can too! Hang in there DHOT!
Kym wrote about the name change back in 2011: https://kymkemp.com/2011/08/04/squaw-rock-becomes-frog-woman-rock/
I wonder how it happened, a head on collision between a big rig and an RV; somebody was doing something they weren’t supposed to do. I wonder who…very sad 💔
The initial CHP incident report came across as “VEH W/ A UHAUL TYPE TRAILER CROSSED OVER INTO SB LANES FROM NB LANES” then shows “MH AND TRUCK HEAD ON TC”
The Rv hit the big rig it swirled into the southbound lane , my husband is the big rig driver he had to be airlifted to the hospital and is in critical condition
We are so sorry for your husband and for you and all affected by this tragedy
What is your husband’s first name, Paula. I am friends with the driver of the RV. I would like to mention your husband at the memorial. How is he doing?
“Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel.”
If everybody stayed in their own lanes, this wouldn’t happen. How hard is that? It’s a lot easier when you drive slowly, i know that. No matter what the cause of the “drifting.”
This looks absolutely horrible.
the amount of ignorance in your statement is absolutely ridiculous. ever heard of drivers fatigue ? no respect for a life lost, isnt it an accident for a reason ?
Thank you for this comment I am the cousin of the person who lost his life
People with driver’s fatigue should pull over and nap!
Of course i’m sorry for the loss of life of a person who may have had a medical emergency, swerved to avoid something in the roadway, etc. Who knows.
But i feel just as bad or worse for the truck driver who was going along minding his own business, and all the rules, and saw his worst nightmare come true; and is now fighting for his life in the hospital.
So i stand by my advice of “Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel.” And stay in your lane!
If you have a problem with this, you shouldn’t ever be behind the wheel.
What you should be saying is that you feel sorry for his parents. They now have lost both children tragically!!! A little more empath is needed here. This is a very sad an traumatic accident and obviously his family is watching the posts!
Yeah. Some people just need to express themselves… Even when it has nothing to do with them, or the facts.
Look at the squaw discussion above 🤷
I was best friends with Jesse, & I’m sure he fell asleep or worse… Totally sucks for the big rig driver… I’m going to reach out to his wife.
Please be nice to one another – love is the answer.
I haven’t spoken with Jay in over 2 years. 😭
This photo is us, with a random stranger back in 2010
Thank you for your comment my husband was the driver he is in very bad condition but we thank god that he is alive
Paula, please reach out to me… You can find me on Facebook.
Thank you I’m his mom.
Please consider that the family can see your comments. A mother lost her only remaining child today after already losing her daughter to childhood cancer.
I feel bad for the mother but also feel bad for the trucker and his family as he fights for his life ! And now have to figure out how they will pay bills due to him not working ! For his family god knows how they felt when they received the news
I wouldn’t recommend the back roads for large vehicles, cars with trailers, trucks, etc. The roads are super narrow, very curvy, and badly paved.
Isn’t Mountain House Rd west of 101?
I believe it is. There is no through road to the East.
Mountain house is worse than 80.
From Wikipedia:
Archival research at the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah revealed specific ethnographic information relevant to the California Landmark. John Hudson was a medical doctor and ethnologist living in Mendocino County in the late 1800s. A vast amount of primary information concerning Pomo tribes is recorded in various journals, notebooks, sketches, paintings, photographs, maps, recordings, and collections of the Hudson family. The following extract is taken from John Hudson’s unpublished Pomo Linguistic Manuscript Ukiah 8 21,069 (circa 1892). The Pomo words identified in the Hudson notebook appear to be in the Northern Pomo language. The orthography (spelling of the words) is as it appears in Hudson’s notebook.
Ka-lo’ko-ko. Small flat opposite Squaw Rock. Trail to the west of the rock. The rock is avoided because of Bi-tsin’ ma-ca living there.
Bi-tsin’ ma-ca Ka-be’. (frog woman cliff) Squaw Rock. A bold headland near Pieta.
Bi-tsin’ ma-ca (frog woman) syn. (Ba-tak’ ma’ca) The white woman of beautiful face but body of a frog. Could jump a hundred feet and snatch a man who after administering to her pleasures was devoured. She had a den in the face of Squaw Rock.
Frog Woman is an important figure in Pomo traditional beliefs. She is generally portrayed as the clever and powerful wife of Coyote, the principal trickster character in many Pomo stories.[8] In some of the stories, she is the mother of Obsidian Man. Frog Woman lived at the place that later became known as Squaw Rock. Pomo people avoided the rock for fear of being eaten by Frog Woman.
In 1985, as part of her doctoral dissertation, research linguist Victoria Patterson conducted ethnographic interviews with Frances Jack, one of the last fluent speakers of the Central Pomo language. Patterson documents that in the Central Pomo dialect “Squaw Rock” was called kawao maatha qhabe, Frog Woman Rock. Thus, there is cultural and ethnographic evidence from speakers of both the Northern Pomo and Central Pomo language that this location was, and still is, known by local Native Pomo as the dwelling of Frog Woman.
In summary, there is evidence of Pomo mythology that this place was inhabited by a supernatural frog woman. This is confirmed by ethnographic sources of both the Northern and Central Pomo peoples.
In 2011, the State Office of Historic Preservation updated this California Historical Landmark by changing the formal designation to “Frog Woman Rock” as a way to honor and respect the cultural heritage of the Pomo peoples of this region.[9]
I had a terrible accident there in 2018, and then learned about the legend. I was lucky not to have been killed. My heart goes out to the families of those poor folks. Be extremely careful on that stretch of road, there have been many, many accidents there. Including drownings.
Thank you for the nice words I am the uncle of the person in the motorhome that passed
Julie and Mark, I doubt that you would be reading this months later, in April 2021 my car ricocheted in the same location into oncoming lane, my car is in excellent mechanical condition, I got back into my lane of traffic pulled off on shoulder and noticed that the impact of the ricochet caused my car to ride onto the sidewall of drivers front tire. I was not speeding, the ricochet happened suddenly. I was so shaken from the incident, I canceled my plans and went directly to CHP in Ukiah and reported the defect in the road, however I did not have the mile marker number. I would bet money on it, that motor-home was in the slow lane heading north when it hit that ricochet in the turn! This should have been fixed by Dept of Transportation! My heart goes out to the both of you in your tragedies there close to the rock. A friend of mine’s son ended his life by the rock, I couldn’t help but feel some how he guarded me as an angel that day that I did not hit anyone in my car.
My daughter just tried to go through 10 minutes ago and cannot get through northbound. She said still completely closed. It’s 10:42 a.m. as I write this.
A dispatcher at Ukiah’s California Highway Patrol office clarified that as of 10:52 a.m., there is currently one-way controlled traffic, allowing both north and southbound traffic to move one at a time. The CHP Incident Information page indicates that the northbound lane will be shutdown between 5-6 hours.
Thank you. They turned around and went to Cloverdale to hang out a while since the 3 girls would get cranky pretty quickly. Very sad for all involved.
It is too bad that the parking area beneath Frog Woman Rock was eliminated when 101 was widened to four lanes because it was nice to pull over and look down at the river and look up at the rock. Can’t really do that now.
Very sad but not to sad
This is a really dangerous area.
Lane barriers needed here. This area is constantly changing making navigation , especially with a trailer, difficult. (I wish the public could get copies of these accident reports. They would help us to be more aware and become better drivers).
As a retired CalFire Captain I responded to many terrible accidents on 101 between Ukiah and Cloverdale. There is a reason CalTrans posted a 45 mph zone in the construction zone. As an occasional commuter I can say most drivers are going way to fast. SLOW DOWN!!!
My heartfelt condolences to the deceased person’s family. All our roads into and out of Humboldt county are deadly for motorists but doubly so for large RV’s. Narrow roads, long hills and being followed by tailgating, impatient
drivers are only a few of the problems.
I truly hope everyone driving these roads appreciates how difficult it is to get in, or out of here in a large RV.
Thank you I am the cousin
I feel bad for the dog most of all. And fellow truck driver brother that was just doing his job when he was careened into.
Thank you my husband was the truck driver we thank god he is alive and survived this terrible accident now the recovery
https://gofund.me/32b70c23
Any donation helps thank you
I am LUCIA CHIEN-GALVEZ & PAUL GIRO.
WE ARE IN SHOCK OF JESSE PEARCE’S LOSS OF PRECIOUS LIFE.
WE WERE GOOD FRIENDS FROM SEBASTOPOL, SONOMA COUNTY.,💓
[…] Jesse Pearce, who Oliver Marks just found out died along with his dog in a terrible head on RV accident on 101 in June this year. Jesse lived in his RV and did several odd jobs for Oliver in the fall of 2019 […]