Mignon "Minnie" Stoddard Lilley

Mignon "Minnie" Stoddard Lilley. . In the woods across the road behind you lies the mausoleum of Minnie Stoddard Lilley, a homesteader, pioneer and teacher of early Mendocino County. From 1904 to 1936 Stoddard taught in a one room schoolhouse in the Andersonia/Percy area. For many years, she used a horse-drawn buggy to pick-up some of her students to bring them to school. In 1904 Minnie set out to homestead a claim on the South Fork Eel River and discribed her first night alone in her cabin as having " a prayer on my lips and pistol in my hand." She married William Lilley in 1905. In 1925, they purchased a 55-acre parcel of redwood trees, simply because it contained the "Fraternal Monarch," a 301-foot-tall tree with a burned out center which now is known as "The World Famous Tree House." When construction of the Redwood Highway began in 1929, the Lilleys deeded land for the project to the state for $10.00 and the convict laborers working on the road lived in the Tree House during construction. With the subsequent rise in tourism in the Redwood Country, Minnie opened the first gift shop in the area in the center of her Tree House. Minnie passed away on March 8, 1947 and was buried, according to her wishes, to be amongst her beloved trees for eternity.